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[ "Lowell Thomas", "Gaffes", "What did he do", "Thomas's most amusing on-air gaffe", "What is this", "He was reading a story \"cold\" (going on the air without pre-reading his copy, contrary to his usual practice", "WHat did he say", "She suffered a near fatal heart attack\". The line came out of Thomas's mouth as", "What actually came out of his mouth", "line came out of Thomas's mouth as \"She suffered a near fart ... err fatal heart attack\".", "What did he do", "Realizing instantly what he had said, he tried to continue", "What happened", "eventually collapsed into gales of laughter, which continued into - and beyond - his announcer's chuckling sign-off for the day." ]	C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_0	Who helped him	7	Who helped Lowell Thomas after the gales of laughter?	Lowell Thomas	Thomas's most amusing on-air gaffe occurred during one of his daily broadcasts in the early 1960s. He was reading a story "cold" (going on the air without pre-reading his copy, contrary to his usual practice) which contained the phrase "She suffered a near fatal heart attack". The line came out of Thomas's mouth as "She suffered a near fart ... err fatal heart attack". Realizing instantly what he had said, he tried to continue but eventually collapsed into gales of laughter, which continued into - and beyond - his announcer's chuckling sign-off for the day. Thomas' long-time friend and ghostwriter Prosper Buranelli wrote the nightly newscasts. The day's script was sent by teletype to Thomas' home in Pawling, NY from which he usually did his broadcast. One evening, Buranelli's final story was about an actress going into a Los Angeles hotel with a Great Dane. The dog's tail got caught in the revolving door and she sued the hotel for $10,000. Buranelli added a comment to the story to give Thomas a laugh before going on air, but Thomas read the story as written with Buranelli's comment, "Who ever thought a piece of tail was worth 10 grand?" Another on-air mishap had Thomas reading a story about President Eisenhower's visit to Hershey, Pennsylvania "where he was greeted by the folks who make chocolate bars, with and without nuts." ("Nuts" is a euphemism for "testicles.") As Thomas read the next story, he could hear the announcer breaking up with laughter in the New York City studio, which caused Thomas to break up, as well. Air checks of some of Thomas' gaffes (as well as recreations of his "bloopers") are available to collectors. CANNOTANSWER	Thomas' long-time friend and ghostwriter Prosper Buranelli wrote the nightly newscasts.	Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards. Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation. Early life Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper. In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university. Career Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it. Lawrence of Arabia Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal. Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land". At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London. Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death. Cinerama Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date. Radio commentator and newscaster Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons. On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network. After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast. In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio. In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio. His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs. Personal life Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure. Legacy and honors The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him. Published works Among Thomas's books are: With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924 The First World Flight, 1925 Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925 Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927 European Skyways, 1927 The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927 Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928 Raiders of the Deep, 1928 The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929 Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929 The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929 The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930 Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930 India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930 Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore Tall Stories, 1931 Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932 This Side of Hell, 1932 Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933 Born to Raise Hell, 1933 The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935 Fan Mail, 1935 A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936 Men of Danger, 1936 Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936 Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936 Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936 Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937 Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937 Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937 Hungry Waters, 1937 Wings Over Asia, 1937 Magic Dials, 1939 In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939 Soft Ball! So What?, 1940 How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940 Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940 Pageant of Adventure, 1940 Pageant of Life, 1941 Pageant of Romance, 1943 These Men Shall Never Die, 1943 Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951) Back to Mandalay, 1951 Great True Adventures, 1955 The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955 Seven Wonders of the World, 1956 History As You Heard It 1957 The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957 The Vital Spark, 1959 Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961 More Great True Adventures, 1963 Book of the High Mountains, 1964 () Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 () Burma Jack, 1971 () Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 () Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 () So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 () Further reading References Notes Sources Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248 External links With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage "Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History. An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District. 1892 births 1981 deaths American broadcast news analysts 20th-century American businesspeople American male journalists American radio journalists American travel writers Peabody Award winners People from Darke County, Ohio Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients University of Denver alumni Princeton University alumni Valparaiso University alumni T. E. Lawrence Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows	false	[ "Ammachi Plavu literally translated from Malayalam, it means grandmother Jack-fruit tree or an old Jackfruit tree, Located in inside of Neyyattinkara Sree Krishna Swami Temple in Thiruvananthapuram Kerala.\n\nHistory\nAmmachi Plavu is legendarily connected with the period of Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (1729 -1758). The 'Ettuveetil Pillamar' had challenged Marthanda Varma who ruled Travancore. Ettuveetil Pillamar, who had a decisive influence in the country, had taken steps to end Marthanda Varma's supremacy and rule. Marthanda Varma had often gone into hiding in fear of the Ettuveetil Pillamar and he also regularly changed his residence so as not to be identified by Ettuveetil Pillamar. Marthanda Varma, certain that the enemy was behind him, crossed the Neyyar river and reached the opposite side. When he was trying to hide himself in a safe place, he saw a boy who was grazing cows. The boy hid him in the hollow trunk of a jackfruit tree and thus helped him escape his enemies. Jackfruit tree which helped the king save his life came to be known as \"Ammachi Plavu\". At present, the hollow trunk is preserved by the Kerala State Department of Archaeology. Later on, Marthanda Varma found that it was none other than Lord Krishna himself who saved him from his enemies, and he constructed a temple to him near the Jackfruit tree, which is now a very popular tourist spot in Southern Kerala.\n\nSee also\nNeyyattinkara Sree Krishna Swami Temple\nMarthanda Varma\nEttuveetil Pillamar\nNeyyar (river)\n\nReferences\n\nTrees\nHistory of Kerala\nHistorical geology\nKingdom of Travancore", "Nitchō (日頂, 1252 – April 19, 1317), also known as Niccho or Iyo-bo, was a Buddhist disciple of Nichiren who helped founding Ikegami Honmon-ji and Hongaku-ji.\n\nNitchō was the stepson of Toki Jonin. In his youth he studied Tendai Buddhism, but joined Nichiren on Jonin's recommendation, and followed him to Sado Island. He helped Nikkō found Honmon-ji.\n\nNitcho (日頂) is not to be confused with Nitcho (日澄) (1262-1310), who was Toki Jonin's biological son. Nitcho (日澄) became Nikko's disciple in 1300, and became the first chief instructor of Omosu Seminary in the Suruga province.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n The Six Major Disciples of Nichiren\n\n1252 births\n1317 deaths\nJapanese Buddhist clergy\nNichiren-shū Buddhist monks\nNichiren Buddhism\nKamakura period Buddhist clergy" ]
[ "Lowell Thomas", "Gaffes", "What did he do", "Thomas's most amusing on-air gaffe", "What is this", "He was reading a story \"cold\" (going on the air without pre-reading his copy, contrary to his usual practice", "WHat did he say", "She suffered a near fatal heart attack\". The line came out of Thomas's mouth as", "What actually came out of his mouth", "line came out of Thomas's mouth as \"She suffered a near fart ... err fatal heart attack\".", "What did he do", "Realizing instantly what he had said, he tried to continue", "What happened", "eventually collapsed into gales of laughter, which continued into - and beyond - his announcer's chuckling sign-off for the day.", "Who helped him", "Thomas' long-time friend and ghostwriter Prosper Buranelli wrote the nightly newscasts." ]	C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_0	What did he send him	8	What did Prosper Buranelli send Lowell Thomas?	Lowell Thomas	Thomas's most amusing on-air gaffe occurred during one of his daily broadcasts in the early 1960s. He was reading a story "cold" (going on the air without pre-reading his copy, contrary to his usual practice) which contained the phrase "She suffered a near fatal heart attack". The line came out of Thomas's mouth as "She suffered a near fart ... err fatal heart attack". Realizing instantly what he had said, he tried to continue but eventually collapsed into gales of laughter, which continued into - and beyond - his announcer's chuckling sign-off for the day. Thomas' long-time friend and ghostwriter Prosper Buranelli wrote the nightly newscasts. The day's script was sent by teletype to Thomas' home in Pawling, NY from which he usually did his broadcast. One evening, Buranelli's final story was about an actress going into a Los Angeles hotel with a Great Dane. The dog's tail got caught in the revolving door and she sued the hotel for $10,000. Buranelli added a comment to the story to give Thomas a laugh before going on air, but Thomas read the story as written with Buranelli's comment, "Who ever thought a piece of tail was worth 10 grand?" Another on-air mishap had Thomas reading a story about President Eisenhower's visit to Hershey, Pennsylvania "where he was greeted by the folks who make chocolate bars, with and without nuts." ("Nuts" is a euphemism for "testicles.") As Thomas read the next story, he could hear the announcer breaking up with laughter in the New York City studio, which caused Thomas to break up, as well. Air checks of some of Thomas' gaffes (as well as recreations of his "bloopers") are available to collectors. CANNOTANSWER	day's script was sent by teletype to Thomas' home in Pawling, NY	Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards. Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation. Early life Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper. In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university. Career Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it. Lawrence of Arabia Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal. Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land". At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London. Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death. Cinerama Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date. Radio commentator and newscaster Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons. On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network. After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast. In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio. In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio. His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs. Personal life Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure. Legacy and honors The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him. Published works Among Thomas's books are: With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924 The First World Flight, 1925 Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925 Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927 European Skyways, 1927 The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927 Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928 Raiders of the Deep, 1928 The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929 Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929 The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929 The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930 Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930 India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930 Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore Tall Stories, 1931 Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932 This Side of Hell, 1932 Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933 Born to Raise Hell, 1933 The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935 Fan Mail, 1935 A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936 Men of Danger, 1936 Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936 Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936 Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936 Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937 Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937 Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937 Hungry Waters, 1937 Wings Over Asia, 1937 Magic Dials, 1939 In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939 Soft Ball! So What?, 1940 How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940 Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940 Pageant of Adventure, 1940 Pageant of Life, 1941 Pageant of Romance, 1943 These Men Shall Never Die, 1943 Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951) Back to Mandalay, 1951 Great True Adventures, 1955 The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955 Seven Wonders of the World, 1956 History As You Heard It 1957 The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957 The Vital Spark, 1959 Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961 More Great True Adventures, 1963 Book of the High Mountains, 1964 () Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 () Burma Jack, 1971 () Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 () Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 () So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 () Further reading References Notes Sources Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248 External links With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage "Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History. An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District. 1892 births 1981 deaths American broadcast news analysts 20th-century American businesspeople American male journalists American radio journalists American travel writers Peabody Award winners People from Darke County, Ohio Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients University of Denver alumni Princeton University alumni Valparaiso University alumni T. E. Lawrence Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows	false	[ "Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 113 (P. Oxy. 113 or P. Oxy. I 113) is a letter, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written in the 2nd century. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (Cat. Gen. 10011) in Cairo, Egypt.\n\nDescription \nThe document is a letter from Corbolon to Heraclides. The measurements of the fragment are 187 by 100 mm.\n\nIt was discovered by Grenfell and Hunt in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1898.\n\nText\nCorobolon to Heraclides, greeting. I send you the key by Horion and the piece of the lock by Onnophris, the camel-driver of Apollonius. I enclosed in the former packet a pattern of white-violet color. I beg you to be good enough to match it and buy me two drachmas' weight, and send it to me at once by any messenger you can find, for the tunic is to be woven immediately. I received everything you told me to expect by Onnophris safely. I send you by the same Onnophris six quarts of good apples. I thank all the gods to think that I came upon Plution in the Oxyrhynchite nome. Do not think that I took no trouble about the key. The reason is that the smith is a long way from us. I wonder that you did not see your way to let me have what I asked you to send by Corbolon, especially when I wanted it for a festival. I beg you to buy me a silver seal and to send it me with all speed. Take care that Onnophris buys me what Irene's mother told him. I told him that Syntrophus said that nothing more should be given to Amarantus on my account. Let me know what you have given him that I may settle accounts with him. Otherwise I and my son will come for this purpose. I had the large cheeses from Corbolon. I did not however want large ones, but small. Let me know of anything that you want and I will gladly do it. Farewell. Payni the 1st. (P.S.) Send me an obols worth of cake for my nephew.\n\nSee also \n Oxyrhynchus Papyri\n Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 112\n Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 114\n\nReferences \n\n113\n2nd-century manuscripts\nEgyptian Museum", "John 1:20 is the twentieth verse in the first chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible.\n\nContent\nIn the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort this verse is:\nΚαὶ ὡμολόγησε, καὶ οὐκ ἠρνήσατο· καὶ ὡμολόγησεν ὅτι Οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ὁ Χριστός.\n\nIn the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:\nAnd he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.\n\nThe New International Version translates the passage as:\nHe did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, \"I am not the Christ. \"\n\nAnalysis\nMacEvilly explains that since John denied that he was the Christ, the messengers asked him if he were Elijah, because God took him away, so that he might be the forerunner of Christ. Therefore, the Jews of the time were then in expectation. As we read in Malachi 4:5, “Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord come,” which speaks of the day of judgment, when Christ will return as Judge of the world. Still, according to Lapide, it appears the Scribes did not understand this, assuming instead there would be only one advent of Christ, for which the precursor would be Elijah. However, according to Malachi 3:1 there would be another precursor of Christ: “For I,” saith the Lord, “do send My messenger, and he shall prepare My way before My face.”\n\nCommentary from the Church Fathers\nOrigen: \"John, as it appears, saw from the question, that the Priests and Levites had doubts whether it might not be the Christ, who was baptizing; which doubts however they were afraid to profess openly, for fear of incurring the charge of credulity. He wisely determines therefore first to correct their mistake, and then to proclaim the truth. Accordingly, he first of all shows that he is not the Christ: And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. We may add here, that at this time the people had already begun to be impressed with the idea that Christ’s advent was at hand, in consequence of the interpretations which the lawyers had collected out of the sacred writings to that effect. Thus Theudas had been enabled to collect together a considerable body, on the strength of his pretending to be the Christ; and after him Judas, in the days of the, taxation, had done the same. (Acts 5) Such being the strong expectation of Christ’s advent then prevalent, the Jews send to John, intending by the question, Who art thou? to extract from him whether he were the Christ.\"\n\nGregory the Great: \"He denied directly being what he was not, but he did not deny what he was: thus, by his speaking truth, becoming a true member of Him Whose name he had not dishonestly usurped.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOther translations of John 1:20 at BibleHub\n\n01:20" ]
[ "Lowell Thomas", "Gaffes", "What did he do", "Thomas's most amusing on-air gaffe", "What is this", "He was reading a story \"cold\" (going on the air without pre-reading his copy, contrary to his usual practice", "WHat did he say", "She suffered a near fatal heart attack\". The line came out of Thomas's mouth as", "What actually came out of his mouth", "line came out of Thomas's mouth as \"She suffered a near fart ... err fatal heart attack\".", "What did he do", "Realizing instantly what he had said, he tried to continue", "What happened", "eventually collapsed into gales of laughter, which continued into - and beyond - his announcer's chuckling sign-off for the day.", "Who helped him", "Thomas' long-time friend and ghostwriter Prosper Buranelli wrote the nightly newscasts.", "What did he send him", "day's script was sent by teletype to Thomas' home in Pawling, NY" ]	C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_0	Where did he work from	9	Where did Prosper Buranelli work from?	Lowell Thomas	Thomas's most amusing on-air gaffe occurred during one of his daily broadcasts in the early 1960s. He was reading a story "cold" (going on the air without pre-reading his copy, contrary to his usual practice) which contained the phrase "She suffered a near fatal heart attack". The line came out of Thomas's mouth as "She suffered a near fart ... err fatal heart attack". Realizing instantly what he had said, he tried to continue but eventually collapsed into gales of laughter, which continued into - and beyond - his announcer's chuckling sign-off for the day. Thomas' long-time friend and ghostwriter Prosper Buranelli wrote the nightly newscasts. The day's script was sent by teletype to Thomas' home in Pawling, NY from which he usually did his broadcast. One evening, Buranelli's final story was about an actress going into a Los Angeles hotel with a Great Dane. The dog's tail got caught in the revolving door and she sued the hotel for $10,000. Buranelli added a comment to the story to give Thomas a laugh before going on air, but Thomas read the story as written with Buranelli's comment, "Who ever thought a piece of tail was worth 10 grand?" Another on-air mishap had Thomas reading a story about President Eisenhower's visit to Hershey, Pennsylvania "where he was greeted by the folks who make chocolate bars, with and without nuts." ("Nuts" is a euphemism for "testicles.") As Thomas read the next story, he could hear the announcer breaking up with laughter in the New York City studio, which caused Thomas to break up, as well. Air checks of some of Thomas' gaffes (as well as recreations of his "bloopers") are available to collectors. CANNOTANSWER	One evening, Buranelli's final story was about an actress going into a Los Angeles hotel with a Great Dane.	Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards. Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation. Early life Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper. In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university. Career Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it. Lawrence of Arabia Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal. Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land". At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London. Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death. Cinerama Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date. Radio commentator and newscaster Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons. On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network. After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast. In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio. In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio. His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs. Personal life Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure. Legacy and honors The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him. Published works Among Thomas's books are: With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924 The First World Flight, 1925 Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925 Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927 European Skyways, 1927 The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927 Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928 Raiders of the Deep, 1928 The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929 Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929 The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929 The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930 Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930 India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930 Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore Tall Stories, 1931 Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932 This Side of Hell, 1932 Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933 Born to Raise Hell, 1933 The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935 Fan Mail, 1935 A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936 Men of Danger, 1936 Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936 Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936 Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936 Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937 Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937 Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937 Hungry Waters, 1937 Wings Over Asia, 1937 Magic Dials, 1939 In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939 Soft Ball! So What?, 1940 How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940 Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940 Pageant of Adventure, 1940 Pageant of Life, 1941 Pageant of Romance, 1943 These Men Shall Never Die, 1943 Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951) Back to Mandalay, 1951 Great True Adventures, 1955 The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955 Seven Wonders of the World, 1956 History As You Heard It 1957 The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957 The Vital Spark, 1959 Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961 More Great True Adventures, 1963 Book of the High Mountains, 1964 () Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 () Burma Jack, 1971 () Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 () Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 () So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 () Further reading References Notes Sources Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248 External links With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage "Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History. An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District. 1892 births 1981 deaths American broadcast news analysts 20th-century American businesspeople American male journalists American radio journalists American travel writers Peabody Award winners People from Darke County, Ohio Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients University of Denver alumni Princeton University alumni Valparaiso University alumni T. E. Lawrence Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows	false	[ "Shamim Farooqui (25 December 1943 – 29 August 2014) was an Urdu poet from India.\n\nEarly life \nHe was from Bihar, India. He did his schooling from Gumla High School and did M.A. in Urdu from Ranchi University.\n\nPublished work \n Zaiqa Mere Lahoo Ka\n\nSee also\n List of Indian poets\n List of Urdu language poets\n\nReferences\n\n1943 births\n2014 deaths\nUrdu-language poets from India\n20th-century Indian poets\nPoets from Bihar\nPeople from Gaya, India\nIndian male poets\n20th-century Indian male writers", "Dan Arnold Killian (February 5, 1880 – January 15, 1953) was an American football and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1904 to 1906, compiling a record of 8–6–2. Killian was also the head coach of the LSU baseball team from 1905 to 1906 (tallying a mark of 14–9), as well as head coach of the LSU Tigers track and field team from 1905 to 1906. He also served as athletic director.\n\nKillian was a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he lettered as a shortstop in baseball in 1902. He also reportedly played quarterback on the football team, but if he did, he apparently did not qualify for a letter.\n\nIn 1906 he left coaching \"to do sporting work for a newspaper\" in Chicago.\n\nHe died in Lansing, Michigan in 1953.\n\nHead coaching record\n\nFootball\n\nBaseball\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1880 births\n1953 deaths\nCollege track and field coaches in the United States\nLSU Tigers football coaches\nLSU Tigers baseball coaches\nLSU Tigers and Lady Tigers track and field coaches\nLSU Tigers and Lady Tigers athletic directors\nUniversity of Michigan alumni\nPeople from Allegan, Michigan\nCoaches of American football from Michigan\nBaseball coaches from Michigan" ]
[ "Lowell Thomas", "Gaffes", "What did he do", "Thomas's most amusing on-air gaffe", "What is this", "He was reading a story \"cold\" (going on the air without pre-reading his copy, contrary to his usual practice", "WHat did he say", "She suffered a near fatal heart attack\". The line came out of Thomas's mouth as", "What actually came out of his mouth", "line came out of Thomas's mouth as \"She suffered a near fart ... err fatal heart attack\".", "What did he do", "Realizing instantly what he had said, he tried to continue", "What happened", "eventually collapsed into gales of laughter, which continued into - and beyond - his announcer's chuckling sign-off for the day.", "Who helped him", "Thomas' long-time friend and ghostwriter Prosper Buranelli wrote the nightly newscasts.", "What did he send him", "day's script was sent by teletype to Thomas' home in Pawling, NY", "Where did he work from", "One evening, Buranelli's final story was about an actress going into a Los Angeles hotel with a Great Dane." ]	C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_0	What was the joke	10	What was the joke that Buranelli made?	Lowell Thomas	Thomas's most amusing on-air gaffe occurred during one of his daily broadcasts in the early 1960s. He was reading a story "cold" (going on the air without pre-reading his copy, contrary to his usual practice) which contained the phrase "She suffered a near fatal heart attack". The line came out of Thomas's mouth as "She suffered a near fart ... err fatal heart attack". Realizing instantly what he had said, he tried to continue but eventually collapsed into gales of laughter, which continued into - and beyond - his announcer's chuckling sign-off for the day. Thomas' long-time friend and ghostwriter Prosper Buranelli wrote the nightly newscasts. The day's script was sent by teletype to Thomas' home in Pawling, NY from which he usually did his broadcast. One evening, Buranelli's final story was about an actress going into a Los Angeles hotel with a Great Dane. The dog's tail got caught in the revolving door and she sued the hotel for $10,000. Buranelli added a comment to the story to give Thomas a laugh before going on air, but Thomas read the story as written with Buranelli's comment, "Who ever thought a piece of tail was worth 10 grand?" Another on-air mishap had Thomas reading a story about President Eisenhower's visit to Hershey, Pennsylvania "where he was greeted by the folks who make chocolate bars, with and without nuts." ("Nuts" is a euphemism for "testicles.") As Thomas read the next story, he could hear the announcer breaking up with laughter in the New York City studio, which caused Thomas to break up, as well. Air checks of some of Thomas' gaffes (as well as recreations of his "bloopers") are available to collectors. CANNOTANSWER	Thomas read the story as written with Buranelli's comment, "Who ever thought a piece of tail was worth 10 grand?"	Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards. Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation. Early life Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper. In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university. Career Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it. Lawrence of Arabia Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal. Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land". At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London. Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death. Cinerama Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date. Radio commentator and newscaster Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons. On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network. After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast. In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio. In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio. His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs. Personal life Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure. Legacy and honors The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him. Published works Among Thomas's books are: With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924 The First World Flight, 1925 Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925 Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927 European Skyways, 1927 The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927 Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928 Raiders of the Deep, 1928 The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929 Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929 The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929 The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930 Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930 India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930 Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore Tall Stories, 1931 Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932 This Side of Hell, 1932 Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933 Born to Raise Hell, 1933 The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935 Fan Mail, 1935 A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936 Men of Danger, 1936 Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936 Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936 Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936 Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937 Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937 Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937 Hungry Waters, 1937 Wings Over Asia, 1937 Magic Dials, 1939 In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939 Soft Ball! So What?, 1940 How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940 Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940 Pageant of Adventure, 1940 Pageant of Life, 1941 Pageant of Romance, 1943 These Men Shall Never Die, 1943 Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951) Back to Mandalay, 1951 Great True Adventures, 1955 The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955 Seven Wonders of the World, 1956 History As You Heard It 1957 The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957 The Vital Spark, 1959 Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961 More Great True Adventures, 1963 Book of the High Mountains, 1964 () Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 () Burma Jack, 1971 () Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 () Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 () So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 () Further reading References Notes Sources Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248 External links With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage "Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History. An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District. 1892 births 1981 deaths American broadcast news analysts 20th-century American businesspeople American male journalists American radio journalists American travel writers Peabody Award winners People from Darke County, Ohio Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients University of Denver alumni Princeton University alumni Valparaiso University alumni T. E. Lawrence Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows	false	[ "The knock-knock joke is a type of audience-participatory joke cycle, typically ending with a pun. Knock-knock jokes are primarily seen as children's jokes, though there are exceptions.\n\nThe scenario is of a person knocking on the front door to a house. The teller of the joke says, \"Knock, knock!\"; the recipient responds, \"Who's there?\" The teller gives a name (such as \"Noah\"), a description (such as \"Police\"), or something that purports to be a name (such as \"Needle\"). The other person then responds by asking the caller's surname (\"Noah who?\" / \"Police who?\" / \"Needle who?\"), to which the joke-teller delivers a pun involving the name (\" place I can spend the night?\" / \" let me in—it's cold out here!\" / \" help with the groceries!\").\n\nThe formula of the joke is usually followed strictly, though there are cases where it is subverted.\n\nHistory\nA possible source of the joke is William Shakespeare's Macbeth; first performed in 1606. In Act 2, Scene 3 the porter is very hungover from the previous night. During his monologue he uses \"Knock, knock! Who's there\" as a refrain while he is speaking:\n\nWriting in the Oakland Tribune, Merely McEvoy recalled a style of joke from around 1900 where a person would ask a question such as \"Do you know Arthur?\", the unsuspecting listener responding with \"Arthur who?\" and the joke teller answering \"Arthurmometer!\"\n\nA variation of the format in the form of a children's game was described in 1929. In the game of Buff, a child with a stick thumps it on the ground, and the dialogue ensues:\n\nIn 1936, Bob Dunn authored the book Knock Knock: Featuring Enoch Knox, and he is regarded by some as having invented the modern knock-knock joke.\n\nIn 1936, the standard knock-knock joke format was used in a newspaper advertisement. That joke was:\n\nA 1936 Associated Press newspaper article said that \"What's This?\" had given way to \"Knock Knock!\" as a favorite parlor game. The article also said that \"knock knock\" seemed to be an outgrowth of making up sentences with difficult words, an old parlor favorite. A popular joke of 1936 was \"Knock knock. Who's there? Edward Rex. Edward Rex who? the Coronation.\" Fred Allen's 30 December 1936 radio broadcast included a humorous wrapup of the year's least important events, including a supposed interview with the man who \"invented a negative craze\" on 1 April: \"Ramrod Dank... the first man to coin a Knock Knock.\"\n\nThe format is so well known that it can be changed to humorous effect. This is shown in this circa 1980 joke:\nKnock, knock. \nWho's there? \nInterrupting Cow.\nInterrupting Cow who? (of course interrupted by unexpected and loud moo!).\nOther variations feature an Interrupting pig, Interrupting duck and other equally bothersome animals.\n\nPopular culture\n\"Knock knock\" was the catchphrase of music hall performer Wee Georgie Wood, who was recorded in 1936 saying it in a radio play, but he simply used the words as a reference to his surname and did not use it as part of the well-known joke formula. The format was well known in the UK and US in the 1950s and 1960s before falling out of favor. It then enjoyed a renaissance after the jokes became a regular part of the badinage on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.\n\nReferences\n\nJoke cycles\nPuns\nDoors", "\"Joke\" is a comedy sketch written and performed by English comedians Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis. It was performed live during Atkinson's 1980 tour of the United Kingdom. A live recording was made at the Grand Opera House in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 19 or 20 September 1980 and released as the last track on Atkinson's live comedy album, Live in Belfast.\n\nSynopsis\nAt the start of the sketch, Rowan Atkinson's character tells Richard Curtis' character he's \"got a joke\". He goes on to explain, \"It's one of those ones where I ask a question and you say 'I don't know, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot'.\" Rowan begins the joke by saying, \"I say, I say, I say, what is the secret of great comedy?\" Richard replies by literally saying, \"I don't know, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot.\" After laughing at his own wit, Richard tells the annoyed Rowan that he'll \"do it again.\" Rowan repeats the question and Richard replies, \"I don't know. What is the secret to great comedy?\" However, before Richard can finish his reply, Rowan interrupts, \"timing.\" The point of the joke is that Rowan deliberately got his timing wrong when saying that timing is the secret to great comedy; however, Richard does not understand the joke. Bewildered by Richard's stupidity, Rowan enquires, \"But didn't you see?\" \"Sorry, was it a visual joke?\" Richard replies, still confused. After trying the joke a third time, Richard still does not understand the irony of the joke. Annoyed by Richard, Rowan asks, \"Don't you think that's a clever joke?\" to which Richard replies, \"Clever... no. Joke... no.\" Disheartened by his joke falling flat with Richard, he claims \"it was very funny when Michael told it,\" then makes the excuse that his timing might be out to which Richard replies, \"It could be other factors like the complete absence of anything funny in the joke.\" Rowan proclaims, \"It's so difficult telling jokes,\" before suddenly exclaiming that he has another joke that is \"far more straightforward\" to which Richard replies, \"As long as it's funny, I don't mind.\"\n\nThe second joke begins with Rowan saying, \"Knock! Knock! Who's there? Death...\" but he is interrupted by Richard who complains that knock-knock jokes \"are meant to be two-handers\". Rowan argues that this joke \"doesn't work that way\". It becomes apparent that Rowan is attempting to tell the same joke told by Toby, the Devil, during a previous sketch. The joke is meant to go \"Knock, Knock. Who's there? Death. Death wh...\" at which point the person telling the joke pretends to die. If a second person was replying in the joke, they would not know to pretend to die when saying \"Death who?\". Richard protests and Rowan gives in and the pair attempt the knock-knock joke in the \"old way\". Richard, ignorant to the fact he is meant to say the punch line, replies \"Death who?\" and Rowan replies \"Ah, now, that's where it goes wrong.\" Rowan explains to Richard how he is meant to say the punch-line but after another attempt at the joke, Richard replies wrong. Rowan, getting increasingly more annoyed as the sketch goes on, says he has another joke and this time he will be \"third time lucky\".\n\nRowan explains that the third joke is \"a very old joke but a very good joke\". Rowan begins to tell the classic joke, which begins \"I say, I say, I say, my wife's gone to Jamaica\". The person replying is meant to say, \"Jamaica?\" which sounds like \"D'you make 'er?\" or \"Did you make her?\". The joke-teller then replies, \"No, of her own accord.\" However, when Rowan says, \"I say, I say, I say, my wife's gone to Jamaica,\" Richard replies, \"Of her own accord?\" which ruins the whole joke and causes Rowan to swear loudly and give up telling jokes to Richard.\n\nPersonnel\nRowan Atkinson – joke-teller\nRichard Curtis – joke receiver\nHoward Goodall – musical accompaniment\n\nLive in Belfast track listing\nSide one\n\"Man in Seat C23\"\n\"Sir Marcus Browning M.P.\"\n\"Mary Jane\"\n\"The Wedding a. The Vicar\"\n\"The Wedding b. The Best Man\"\n\"The Wedding c. The Father of the Bride\"\n\"I Hate the French\"\n\"Interval Announcement\"\nSide two\n\"Do Bears Sha la la\"\n\"Senator Brea's Dead\"\n\"The Devil\"\n\"Impatient Man in Queue Behind Student\"\n\"Station Announcement\"\n\"Joke\"\n\nComedy\nWorks by Rowan Atkinson" ]
[ "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "Personal life and education" ]	C_15e775d39cc647c7987d95fdc23b6587_1	Where did Erdogan go to college?	1	Where did Recep Tayyip Erdoğan go to college?	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province. His parents are Ahmet Erdogan and Tenzile Erdogan. Erdogan reportedly said in 2003, "I'm a Georgian, my family is a Georgian family which migrated from Batumi to Rize." But in a 2014 televised interview on the NTV news network, he said, "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian... forgive me for saying this... even much uglier things, they have even called me an Armenian, but I am Turkish." In an account based on registry records, his genealogy was tracked to an ethnic Turkish family. Erdogan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father Ahmet Erdogan (1905 - 1988) was a Captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. Erdogan had a brother Mustafa (b. 1958) and sister Vesile (b. 1965). His summer holidays were mostly spent in Guneysu, Rize, where his family originates from. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdogan was 13 years old. As a teenager, he sold lemonade and sesame buns (simit) on the streets of the city's rougher districts to earn extra money. Brought up in an observant Muslim family, Erdogan graduated from Kasimpasa Piyale primary school in 1965, and Imam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. He received his high school diploma from Eyup High School. He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences, now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences--although several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated. In his youth, Erdogan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahce wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasimpasa S.K. is named after him. Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (born 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons; Ahmet Burak and Necmettin Bilal, and two daughters, Esra and Sumeyye. His father, Ahmet Erdogan, died in 1988 and his 88-year-old mother, Tenzile Erdogan, died in 2011. He is a member of the Community of Iskenderpasa, a Turkish sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. CANNOTANSWER	He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences,	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to election victories in 2002, 2007, and 2011 general elections before being required to stand down upon his election as President in 2014. He later returned to the AKP leadership in 2017 following the constitutional referendum that year. Coming from an Islamist political background and self-describing as a conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration. Following the 1994 local elections, Erdoğan was elected mayor of Istanbul as the candidate of the Islamist Welfare Party. He was later stripped of his position, banned from political office, and imprisoned for four months for inciting religious hatred, due to his recitation of a poem by Ziya Gökalp. Erdoğan subsequently abandoned openly Islamist politics, establishing the moderate conservative AKP in 2001, which he went on to lead to a landslide victory in 2002. With Erdoğan still technically prohibited from holding office, the AKP's co-founder, Abdullah Gül, instead became prime minister, and later annulled Erdoğan's political ban. After winning a by-election in Siirt in 2003, Erdoğan replaced Gül as prime minister, with Gül instead becoming the AKP's candidate for the presidency. Erdoğan led the AKP to two more election victories in 2007 and 2011. The early years of Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister saw advances in negotiations for Turkey's membership of the European Union, an economic recovery following a economic crisis in 2001 and investments in infrastructure including roads, airports, and a high-speed train network. He also won two successful constitutional referendums in 2007 and 2010. However, his government remained controversial for its close links with Fethullah Gülen and his Gülen Movement (since designated as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish state) with whom the AKP was accused of orchestrating purges against secular bureaucrats and military officers through the Balyoz and Ergenekon trials. In late 2012, his government began peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to end the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present). The ceasefire broke down in 2015, leading to a renewed escalation in conflict. Erdoğan's foreign policy has been described as Neo-Ottoman and has led to the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, with its focus on preventing the Syrian Democratic Forces from gaining ground on the Syria–Turkey border during the Syrian Civil War. In the more recent years of Erdoğan's rule, Turkey has experienced democratic backsliding and corruption. Starting with the anti-government protests in 2013, his government imposed growing censorship on the press and social media, temporarily restricting access to sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. This stalled negotiations related to Turkey's EU membership. A US$100 billion corruption scandal in 2013 led to the arrests of Erdoğan's close allies, and incriminated Erdoğan. After 11 years as head of government (Prime Minister), Erdoğan decided to run for President in 2014. At the time, the presidency was a somewhat ceremonial function. Following the 2014 elections, Erdoğan became the first popularly elected president of Turkey. The souring in relations with Gülen continued, as the government proceeded to purge his supporters from judicial, bureaucratic and military positions. A failed military coup d'état attempt in July 2016 resulted in further purges and a temporary state of emergency. The government claimed that the coup leaders were linked to Gülen, but he has denied any role in it. Erdoğan's rule has been marked with increasing authoritarianism, expansionism, censorship and banning of parties or dissent. Erdoğan supported the 2017 referendum which changed Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential system, thus setting for the first time in Turkish history a term limit for the head of government (two full five-year terms). This new system of government formally came into place after the 2018 general election, where Erdoğan became an executive president. His party however lost the majority in the parliament and is currently in a coalition (People's Alliance) with the Turkish nationalist MHP. Erdoğan has since been tackling, but also accused of contributing to, the Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018, which has caused a significant decline in his popularity and is widely believed to have contributed to the results of the 2019 local elections, in which his party lost power in big cities like Ankara and Istanbul to opposition parties for the first time in 15 years. Family and personal life Early life Erdoğan was born in Kasımpaşa, a poor neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province in the 1930s. Erdoğan's tribe is originally from Adjara, a region in Georgia. His parents were Ahmet Erdoğan (1905–88) and Tenzile Erdoğan (née Mutlu; 1924–2011). Erdoğan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father was a captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. His summer holidays were mostly spent in Güneysu, Rize, where his family originates. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdoğan was 13 years old. As a teenager, Erdoğan's father provided him with a weekly allowance of 2.5 Turkish lira, less than a dollar. With it, Erdoğan bought postcards and resold them on the street. He sold bottles of water to drivers stuck in traffic. Erdoğan also worked as a street vendor selling simit (sesame bread rings), wearing a white gown and selling the simit from a red three-wheel cart with the rolls stacked behind glass. In his youth, Erdoğan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahçe wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasımpaşa S.K. is named after him. Erdoğan is a member of the Community of İskenderpaşa, a Turkish Sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. Education Erdoğan graduated from Kasımpaşa Piyale primary school in 1965, and İmam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. The same educational path was followed by other co-founders of the AKP party. One quarter of the curriculum of İmam Hatip schools involves study of the Qurʼān, the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the Arabic language. Erdoğan studied the Qurʼān at an İmam Hatip, where his classmates began calling him "hoca" ("Muslim teacher"). Erdoğan attended a meeting of the nationalist student group National Turkish Student Union (Milli Türk Talebe Birliği), who sought to raise a conservative cohort of young people to counter the rising movement of leftists in Turkey. Within the group, Erdoğan was distinguished by his oratorical skills, developing a penchant for public speaking and excelling in front of an audience. He won first place in a poetry-reading competition organized by the Community of Turkish Technical Painters, and began preparing for speeches through reading and research. Erdoğan would later comment on these competitions as "enhancing our courage to speak in front of the masses". Erdoğan wanted to pursue advanced studies at Mekteb-i Mülkiye, but Mülkiye accepted only students with regular high school diplomas, and not İmam Hatip graduates. Mülkiye was known for its political science department, which trained many statesmen and politicians in Turkey. Erdoğan was then admitted to Eyüp High School, a regular state school, and eventually received his high school diploma from Eyüp. According to his official biography, he subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences (), now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated, or even attended at all. Family Erdoğan married Emine Gülbaran (b. 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons, Ahmet Burak (b. 1979) and Necmettin Bilal (b. 1981), and two daughters, Esra (b. 1983) and Sümeyye (b. 1985). His father, Ahmet Erdoğan, died in 1988 and his mother, Tenzile Erdoğan, died in 2011 at the age of 88. Erdoğan has a brother, Mustafa (b. 1958), and a sister, Vesile (b. 1965). From his father's first marriage to Havuli Erdoğan (d. 1980), he had two half-brothers: Mehmet (1926–1988) and Hasan (1929–2006). Early political career In 1976, Erdoğan engaged in politics by joining the National Turkish Student Union, an anti-communist action group. In the same year, he became the head of the Beyoğlu youth branch of the Islamist National Salvation Party (MSP), and was later promoted to chair of the Istanbul youth branch of the party. Holding this position until 1980, he served as consultant and senior executive in the private sector during the era following the 1980 military coup when political parties were closed down. In 1983, Erdoğan followed most of Necmettin Erbakan's followers into the Islamist Welfare Party. He became the party's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984, and in 1985 he became the chair of the Istanbul city branch. He was elected to parliament in 1991, but was barred from taking his seat. Mayor of Istanbul (1994–1998) In the local elections of 27 March 1994, Erdoğan was elected Mayor of Istanbul with 25.19% of the popular vote. Erdoğan was a 40-year-old dark horse candidate who had been mocked by the mainstream media and treated as a country bumpkin by his opponents. He was pragmatic in office, tackling many chronic problems in Istanbul including water shortage, pollution and traffic chaos. The water shortage problem was solved with the laying of hundreds of kilometers of new pipelines. The garbage problem was solved with the establishment of state-of-the-art recycling facilities. While Erdoğan was in office, air pollution was reduced through a plan developed to switch to natural gas. He changed the public buses to environmentally friendly ones. The city's traffic and transportation jams were reduced with more than fifty bridges, viaducts, and highways built. He took precautions to prevent corruption, using measures to ensure that municipal funds were used prudently. He paid back a major portion of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's two-billion-dollar debt and invested four billion dollars in the city. Erdoğan initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors. A seven-member international jury from the United Nations unanimously awarded Erdoğan the UN-Habitat award. Imprisonment In 1998, the fundamentalist Welfare Party was declared unconstitutional on the grounds of threatening the secularism of Turkey and was shut down by the Turkish constitutional court. Erdoğan became a prominent speaker at demonstrations held by his party colleagues. In December 1997 in Siirt, Erdoğan recited a poem from a work written by Ziya Gökalp, a pan-Turkish activist of the early 20th century. His recitation included verses translated as "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...." which are not in the original version of the poem. Erdoğan said the poem had been approved by the education ministry to be published in textbooks. Under article 312/2 of the Turkish penal code his recitation was regarded as an incitement to violence and religious or racial hatred. He was given a ten-month prison sentence of which he served four months, from 24 March 1999 to 27 July 1999. Due to his conviction, Erdoğan was forced to give up his mayoral position. The conviction also stipulated a political ban, which prevented him from participating in parliamentary elections. He had appealed for the sentence to be converted to a monetary fine, but it was reduced to 120 days instead. In 2017, this period of Erdoğan's life was made into a film titled Reis. Justice and Development Party Erdoğan was member of political parties that kept getting banned by the army or judges. Within his Virtue Party, there was a dispute about the appropriate discourse of the party between traditional politicians and pro-reform politicians. The latter envisioned a party that could operate within the limits of the system, and thus not getting banned as its predecessors like National Order Party, National Salvation Party and Welfare Party. They wanted to give the group the character of an ordinary conservative party following the example of the European Christian democratic parties. When the Virtue Party was also banned in 2001, a definitive split took place: the followers of Necmettin Erbakan founded the Felicity Party (SP) and the reformers founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) under the leadership of Abdullah Gül and Erdoğan. The pro-reform politicians realized that a strictly Islamic party would never be accepted as a governing party by the state apparatus and they believed that an Islamic party did not appeal to more than about 20 percent of the Turkish electorate. The AK party emphatically placed itself as a broad democratic conservative party with new politicians from the political center (like Ali Babacan and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu), while respecting Islamic norms and values, but without an explicit religious program. This turned out to be successful as the new party won 34% of the vote in the general elections of 2002. Erdoğan became prime minister in March 2003 after the Gül government ended his political ban. Premiership (2003–2014) General elections The elections of 2002 were the first elections in which Erdoğan participated as a party leader. All parties previously elected to parliament failed to win enough votes to re-enter the parliament. The AKP won 34.3% of the national vote and formed the new government. Turkish stocks rose more than 7% on Monday morning. Politicians of the previous generation, such as Ecevit, Bahceli, Yılmaz and Çiller, resigned. The second largest party, the CHP, received 19.4% of the votes. The AKP won a landslide victory in the parliament, taking nearly two-thirds of the seats. Erdoğan could not become Prime Minister as he was still banned from politics by the judiciary for his speech in Siirt. Gül became the Prime Minister instead. In December 2002, the Supreme Election Board canceled the general election results from Siirt due to voting irregularities and scheduled a new election for 9 February 2003. By this time, party leader Erdoğan was able to run for parliament due to a legal change made possible by the opposition Republican People's Party. The AKP duly listed Erdoğan as a candidate for the rescheduled election, which he won, becoming Prime Minister after Gül handed over the post. On 14 April 2007, an estimated 300,000 people marched in Ankara to protest against the possible candidacy of Erdoğan in the 2007 presidential election, afraid that if elected as president, he would alter the secular nature of the Turkish state. Erdoğan announced on 24 April 2007 that the party had nominated Abdullah Gül as the AKP candidate in the presidential election. The protests continued over the next several weeks, with over one million people reported to have turned out at a 29 April rally in Istanbul, tens of thousands at separate protests on 4 May in Manisa and Çanakkale, and one million in İzmir on 13 May. The stage of the elections of 2007 was set for a fight for legitimacy in the eyes of voters between his government and the CHP. Erdoğan used the event that took place during the ill-fated Presidential elections a few months earlier as a part of the general election campaign of his party. On 22 July 2007, the AKP won an important victory over the opposition, garnering 46.7% of the popular vote. 22 July elections marked only the second time in the Republic of Turkey's history whereby an incumbent governing party won an election by increasing its share of popular support. On 14 March 2008, Turkey's Chief Prosecutor asked the country's Constitutional Court to ban Erdoğan's governing party. The party escaped a ban on 30 July 2008, a year after winning 46.7% of the vote in national elections, although judges did cut the party's public funding by 50%. In the June 2011 elections, Erdoğan's governing party won 327 seats (49.83% of the popular vote) making Erdoğan the only prime minister in Turkey's history to win three consecutive general elections, each time receiving more votes than the previous election. The second party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), received 135 seats (25.94%), the nationalist MHP received 53 seats (13.01%), and the Independents received 35 seats (6.58%). Referendums After the opposition parties deadlocked the 2007 presidential election by boycotting the parliament, the ruling AKP proposed a constitutional reform package. The reform package was first vetoed by president Sezer. Then he applied to the Turkish constitutional court about the reform package, because the president is unable to veto amendments for the second time. The Turkish constitutional court did not find any problems in the packet and 68.95% of the voters supported the constitutional changes. The reforms consisted of electing the president by popular vote instead of by parliament; reducing the presidential term from seven years to five; allowing the president to stand for re-election for a second term; holding general elections every four years instead of five; and reducing from 367 to 184 the quorum of lawmakers needed for parliamentary decisions. Reforming the Constitution was one of the main pledges of the AKP during the 2007 election campaign. The main opposition party CHP was not interested in altering the Constitution on a big scale, making it impossible to form a Constitutional Commission (Anayasa Uzlaşma Komisyonu). The amendments lacked the two-thirds majority needed to become law instantly, but secured 336 votes in the 550-seat parliament – enough to put the proposals to a referendum. The reform package included a number of issues such as the right of individuals to appeal to the highest court, the creation of the ombudsman's office; the possibility to negotiate a nationwide labour contract; gender equality; the ability of civilian courts to convict members of the military; the right of civil servants to go on strike; a privacy law; and the structure of the Constitutional Court. The referendum was agreed by a majority of 58%. Domestic Policy Kurdish issue In 2009, Prime Minister Erdoğan's government announced a plan to help end the quarter-century-long Turkey–Kurdistan Workers' Party conflict that had cost more than 40,000 lives. The government's plan, supported by the European Union, intended to allow the Kurdish language to be used in all broadcast media and political campaigns, and restored Kurdish names to cities and towns that had been given Turkish ones. Erdoğan said, "We took a courageous step to resolve chronic issues that constitute an obstacle along Turkey's development, progression and empowerment". Erdoğan passed a partial amnesty to reduce penalties faced by many members of the Kurdish guerrilla movement PKK who had surrendered to the government. On 23 November 2011, during a televised meeting of his party in Ankara, he apologised on behalf of the state for the Dersim massacre, where many Alevis and Zazas were killed. In 2013 the government of Erdoğan began a peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish Government, mediated by parliamentarians of the Peoples' Democratic party (HDP). In 2015 he decided that the peace process was over and supported the lift of the parliamentary immunity of the HDP parliamentarians. During his presidency a law was introduced which banned the use of the word Kurdistan in parliament and in a speech he held for the local election of 2019 he told the HDP politicians that if there is no Kurdistan in Turkey and if they looked for one they should go to Northern Iraq. Armenian genocide Prime Minister Erdoğan expressed multiple times that Turkey would acknowledge the mass killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide only after a thorough investigation by a joint Turkish-Armenian commission consisting of historians, archaeologists, political scientists and other experts. In 2005, Erdoğan and the main opposition party leader Deniz Baykal wrote a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, proposing the creation of a joint Turkish-Armenian commission. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian rejected the offer because he asserted that the proposal itself was "insincere and not serious". He added: "This issue cannot be considered at historical level with Turks, who themselves politicized the problem". In December 2008, Erdoğan criticised the I Apologize campaign by Turkish intellectuals to recognize the Armenian Genocide, saying, "I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologise ... It will not have any benefit other than stirring up trouble, disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have been taken". In November 2009, he said, "it is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide". In 2011, Erdoğan ordered the tearing-down of the Statue of Humanity, a Turkish–Armenian friendship monument in Kars, which was commissioned in 2006 and represented a metaphor of the rapprochement of the two countries after many years of dispute over the events of 1915. Erdoğan justified the removal by stating that the monument was offensively close to the tomb of an 11th-century Islamic scholar, and that its shadow ruined the view of that site, while Kars municipality officials said it was illegally erected in a protected area. However, the former mayor of Kars who approved the original construction of the monument said the municipality was destroying not just a "monument to humanity" but "humanity itself". The demolition was not unopposed; among its detractors were several Turkish artists. Two of them, the painter Bedri Baykam and his associate, Pyramid Art Gallery general coordinator Tugba Kurtulmus, were stabbed after a meeting with other artists at the Istanbul Akatlar cultural center. On 23 April 2014, Erdoğan's office issued a statement in nine languages (including two dialects of Armenian), offering condolences for the mass killings of Armenians and stating that the events of 1915 had inhumane consequences. The statement described the mass killings as the two nations' shared pain and said: "Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences – such as relocation – during the First World War, (it) should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among one another". The Ottoman Parliament of 1915 had previously used the term "relocation" to describe the purpose of the Tehcir Law, which resulted in the deaths of anywhere between 800,000 and over 1,800,000 Armenian civilians in what is commonly referred to as the Armenian Genocide. Pope Francis in April 2015, at a special mass in St. Peter's Basilica marking the centenary of the events, described atrocities against Armenian civilians in 1915–1922 as "the first genocide of the 20th century". In protest, Erdoğan recalled the Turkish ambassador from the Vatican, and summoned the Vatican's ambassador, to express "disappointment" at what he called a discriminatory message. He later stated "we don’t carry a stain or a shadow like genocide". US President Barack Obama called for a "full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts", but again stopped short of labelling it "genocide", despite his campaign promise to do so. Human rights During Erdoğan's time as Prime Minister, the far-reaching powers of the 1991 Anti-Terror Law were reduced and the Democratic initiative process was initiated, with the goal to improve democratic standards in general and the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in particular. However, after Turkey's bid to join the European Union stalled, European officials noted a return to more authoritarian ways, notably on freedom of speech, freedom of the press and Kurdish minority rights. Demands by activists for the recognition of LGBT rights were publicly rejected by government members, and members of the Turkish LGBT community were insulted by cabinet members. Reporters Without Borders observed a continuous decrease in Freedom of the Press during Erdoğan's later terms, with a rank of around 100 on the Press Freedom Index during his first term and a rank of 153 out of a total of 179 countries in 2021. Freedom House saw a slight recovery in later years and awarded Turkey a Press Freedom Score of 55/100 in 2012 after a low point of 48/100 in 2006. In 2011, Erdoğan's government made legal reforms to return properties of Christian and Jewish minorities which were seized by the Turkish government in the 1930s. The total value of the properties returned reached $2 billion (USD). Under Erdoğan, the Turkish government tightened the laws on the sale and consumption of alcohol, banning all advertising and increasing the tax on alcoholic beverages. Economy In 2002, Erdoğan inherited a Turkish economy that was beginning to recover from a recession as a result of reforms implemented by Kemal Derviş. Erdoğan supported Finance Minister Ali Babacan in enforcing macro-economic policies. Erdoğan tried to attract more foreign investors to Turkey and lifted many government regulations. The cash-flow into the Turkish economy between 2002 and 2012 caused a growth of 64% in real GDP and a 43% increase in GDP per capita; considerably higher numbers were commonly advertised but these did not account for the inflation of the US dollar between 2002 and 2012. The average annual growth in GDP per capita was 3.6%. The growth in real GDP between 2002 and 2012 was higher than the values from developed countries, but was close to average when developing countries are also taken into account. The ranking of the Turkish economy in terms of GDP moved slightly from 17 to 16 during this decade. A major consequence of the policies between 2002 and 2012 was the widening of the current account deficit from US$600 million to US$58 billion (2013 est.) Since 1961, Turkey has signed 19 IMF loan accords. Erdoğan's government satisfied the budgetary and market requirements of the two during his administration and received every loan installment, the only time any Turkish government has done so. Erdoğan inherited a debt of $23.5 billion to the IMF, which was reduced to $0.9 billion in 2012. He decided not to sign a new deal. Turkey's debt to the IMF was thus declared to be completely paid and he announced that the IMF could borrow from Turkey. In 2010, five-year credit default swaps for Turkey's sovereign debt were trading at a record low of 1.17%, below those of nine EU member countries and Russia. In 2002, the Turkish Central Bank had $26.5 billion in reserves. This amount reached $92.2 billion in 2011. During Erdoğan's leadership, inflation fell from 32% to 9.0% in 2004. Since then, Turkish inflation has continued to fluctuate around 9% and is still one of the highest inflation rates in the world. The Turkish public debt as a percentage of annual GDP declined from 74% in 2002 to 39% in 2009. In 2012, Turkey had a lower ratio of public debt to GDP than 21 of 27 members of the European Union and a lower budget deficit to GDP ratio than 23 of them. In 2003, Erdoğan's government pushed through the Labor Act, a comprehensive reform of Turkey's labor laws. The law greatly expanded the rights of employees, establishing a 45-hour workweek and limiting overtime work to 270 hours a year, provided legal protection against discrimination due to sex, religion, or political affiliation, prohibited discrimination between permanent and temporary workers, entitled employees terminated without "valid cause" to compensation, and mandated written contracts for employment arrangements lasting a year or more. Education Erdoğan increased the budget of the Ministry of Education from 7.5 billion lira in 2002 to 34 billion lira in 2011, the highest share of the national budget given to one ministry. Before his prime ministership the military received the highest share of the national budget. Compulsory education was increased from eight years to twelve. In 2003, the Turkish government, together with UNICEF, initiated a campaign called "Come on girls, [let's go] to school!" (). The goal of this campaign was to close the gender gap in primary school enrollment through the provision of a quality basic education for all girls, especially in southeast Turkey. In 2005, the parliament granted amnesty to students expelled from universities before 2003. The amnesty applied to students dismissed on academic or disciplinary grounds. In 2004, textbooks became free of charge and since 2008 every province in Turkey has its own university. During Erdoğan's Premiership, the number of universities in Turkey nearly doubled, from 98 in 2002 to 186 in October 2012. The Prime Minister kept his campaign promises by starting the Fatih project in which all state schools, from preschool to high school level, received a total of 620,000 smart boards, while tablet computers were distributed to 17 million students and approximately one million teachers and administrators. In June 2017 a draft proposal by the ministry of education was approved by Erdoğan, in which the curriculum for schools excluded the teaching of the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin by 2019. From then on the teaching will be postponed and start at undergraduate level. Infrastructure Under Erdoğan's government, the number of airports in Turkey increased from 26 to 50 in the period of 10 years. Between the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and 2002, there had been 6,000 km of dual carriageway roads created. Between 2002 and 2011, another 13,500 km of expressway were built. Due to these measures, the number of motor accidents fell by 50 percent. For the first time in Turkish history, high speed railway lines were constructed, and the country's high-speed train service began in 2009. In 8 years, 1,076 km of railway were built and 5,449 km of railway renewed. The construction of Marmaray, an undersea rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait, started in 2004. It was inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the Turkish Republic 29 October 2013. The inauguration of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third bridge over the Bosphorus, was on 26 August 2016. Justice In March 2006, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) held a press conference to publicly protest the obstruction of the appointment of judges to the high courts for over 10 months. The HSYK said Erdoğan wanted to fill the vacant posts with his own appointees. Erdoğan was accused of creating a rift with Turkey's highest court of appeal, the Yargıtay, and high administrative court, the Danıştay. Erdoğan stated that the constitution gave the power to assign these posts to his elected party. In May 2007, the head of Turkey's High Court asked prosecutors to consider whether Erdoğan should be charged over critical comments regarding the election of Abdullah Gül as president. Erdoğan said the ruling was "a disgrace to the justice system", and criticized the Constitutional Court which had invalidated a presidential vote because a boycott by other parties meant there was no quorum. Prosecutors investigated his earlier comments, including saying it had fired a "bullet at democracy". Tülay Tuğcu, head of the Constitutional Court, condemned Erdoğan for "threats, insults and hostility" towards the justice system. Civil–military relations The Turkish military has had a record of intervening in politics, having removed elected governments four times in the past. During the Erdoğan government, civil–military relationship moved towards normalization in which the influence of the military in politics was significantly reduced. The ruling Justice and Development Party has often faced off against the military, gaining political power by challenging a pillar of the country's laicistic establishment. The most significant issue that caused deep fissures between the army and the government was the midnight e-memorandum posted on the military's website objecting to the selection of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül as the ruling party's candidate for the Presidency in 2007. The military argued that the election of Gül, whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf, could undermine the laicistic order of the country. Contrary to expectations, the government responded harshly to former Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt's e-memorandum, stating the military had nothing to do with the selection of the presidential candidate. Health care After assuming power in 2003, Erdoğan's government embarked on a sweeping reform program of the Turkish healthcare system, called the Health Transformation Program (HTP), to greatly increase the quality of healthcare and protect all citizens from financial risks. Its introduction coincided with the period of sustained economic growth, allowing the Turkish government to put greater investments into the healthcare system. As part of the reforms, the "Green Card" program, which provides health benefits to the poor, was expanded in 2004. The reform program aimed at increasing the ratio of private to state-run healthcare, which, along with long queues in state-run hospitals, resulted in the rise of private medical care in Turkey, forcing state-run hospitals to compete by increasing quality. In April 2006, Erdoğan unveiled a social security reform package demanded by the International Monetary Fund under a loan deal. The move, which Erdoğan called one of the most radical reforms ever, was passed with fierce opposition. Turkey's three social security bodies were united under one roof, bringing equal health services and retirement benefits for members of all three bodies. The previous system had been criticized for reserving the best healthcare for civil servants and relegating others to wait in long queues. Under the second bill, everyone under the age of 18 years was entitled to free health services, irrespective of whether they pay premiums to any social security organization. The bill also envisages a gradual increase in the retirement age: starting from 2036, the retirement age will increase to 65 by 2048 for both women and men. In January 2008, the Turkish Parliament adopted a law to prohibit smoking in most public places. Erdoğan is outspokenly anti-smoking. Foreign policy Turkish foreign policy during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister has been associated with the name of Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu was the chief foreign policy advisor of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before he was appointed foreign minister in 2009. The basis of Erdoğan's foreign policy is based on the principle of "don't make enemies, make friends" and the pursuit of "zero problems" with neighboring countries. Erdoğan is co-founder of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (AOC). The initiative seeks to galvanize international action against extremism through the forging of international, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation. European Union When Erdoğan came to power, he continued Turkey's long ambition of joining the European Union. On 3 October 2005 negotiations began for Turkey's accession to the European Union. Erdoğan was named "The European of the Year 2004" by the newspaper European Voice for the reforms in his country in order to accomplish the accession of Turkey to the European Union. He said in a comment that "Turkey's accession shows that Europe is a continent where civilisations reconcile and not clash." On 3 October 2005, the negotiations for Turkey's accession to the EU formally started during Erdoğan's tenure as Prime Minister. The European Commission generally supports Erdoğan's reforms, but remains critical of his policies. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize EU member state Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus dispute Relations between Greece and Turkey were normalized during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister. In May 2004, Erdoğan became the first Turkish Prime Minister to visit Greece since 1988, and the first to visit the Turkish minority of Thrace since 1952. In 2007, Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis inaugurated the Greek-Turkish natural gas pipeline giving Caspian gas its first direct Western outlet. Turkey and Greece signed an agreement to create a Combined Joint Operational Unit within the framework of NATO to participate in Peace Support Operations. Erdoğan and his party strongly supported the EU-backed referendum to reunify Cyprus in 2004. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships as a consequence of the economic isolation of the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the failure of the EU to end the isolation, as it had promised in 2004. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize the Republic of Cyprus. Armenia Armenia is Turkey's only neighbor which Erdoğan has not visited during his premiership. The Turkish-Armenian border has been closed since 1993 because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Turkey's close ally Azerbaijan. Diplomatic efforts resulted in the signing of protocols between Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers in Switzerland to improve relations between the two countries. One of the points of the agreement was the creation of a joint commission on the issue. The Armenian Constitutional Court decided that the commission contradicts the Armenian constitution. Turkey responded saying that Armenian court's ruling on the protocols is not acceptable, resulting in a suspension of the rectification process by the Turkish side. Erdoğan has said that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan should apologize for calling on school children to re-occupy eastern Turkey. When asked by a student at a literature contest ceremony if Armenians will be able to get back their "western territories" along with Mt. Ararat, Sarksyan said, "This is the task of your generation". Russia In December 2004, President Putin visited Turkey, making it the first presidential visit in the history of Turkish-Russian relations besides that of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Nikolai Podgorny in 1972. In November 2005, Putin attended the inauguration of a jointly constructed Blue Stream natural gas pipeline in Turkey. This sequence of top-level visits has brought several important bilateral issues to the forefront. The two countries consider it their strategic goal to achieve "multidimensional co-operation", especially in the fields of energy, transport and the military. Specifically, Russia aims to invest in Turkey's fuel and energy industries, and it also expects to participate in tenders for the modernisation of Turkey's military. The relations during this time are described by President Medvedev as "Turkey is one of our most important partners with respect to regional and international issues. We can confidently say that Russian-Turkish relations have advanced to the level of a multidimensional strategic partnership". In May 2010, Turkey and Russia signed 17 agreements to enhance cooperation in energy and other fields, including pacts to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant and further plans for an oil pipeline from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The leaders of both countries also signed an agreement on visa-free travel, enabling tourists to get into the other country for free and stay there for up to 30 days. United States When Barack Obama became President of United States, he made his first overseas bilateral meeting to Turkey in April 2009. At a joint news conference in Turkey, Obama said: "I'm trying to make a statement about the importance of Turkey, not just to the United States but to the world. I think that where there's the most promise of building stronger U.S.-Turkish relations is in the recognition that Turkey and the United States can build a model partnership in which a predominantly Christian nation, a predominantly Muslim nation – a Western nation and a nation that straddles two continents," he continued, "that we can create a modern international community that is respectful, that is secure, that is prosperous, that there are not tensions – inevitable tensions between cultures – which I think is extraordinarily important." Iraq Turkey under Erdoğan was named by the Bush Administration as a part of the "coalition of the willing" that was central to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On 1 March 2003, a motion allowing Turkish military to participate in the U.S-led coalition's invasion of Iraq, along with the permission for foreign troops to be stationed in Turkey for this purpose, was overruled by the Turkish Parliament. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq and Turkey signed 48 trade agreements on issues including security, energy, and water. The Turkish government attempted to mend relations with Iraqi Kurdistan by opening a Turkish university in Erbil, and a Turkish consulate in Mosul. Erdoğan's government fostered economic and political relations with Irbil, and Turkey began to consider the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq as an ally against Maliki's government. Israel Erdoğan visited Israel on 1 May 2005, a gesture unusual for a leader of a Muslim majority country. During his trip, Erdoğan visited the Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The President of Israel Shimon Peres addressed the Turkish parliament during a visit in 2007, the first time an Israeli leader had addressed the legislature of a predominantly Muslim nation. Their relationship worsened at the 2009 World Economic Forum conference over Israel's actions during the Gaza War. Erdoğan was interrupted by the moderator while he was responding to Peres. Erdoğan stated: "Mister Peres, you are older than I am. Maybe you are feeling guilty and that is why you are raising your voice. When it comes to killing you know it too well. I remember how you killed the children on beaches..." Upon the moderator's reminder that they needed to adjourn for dinner, Erdoğan left the panel, accusing the moderator of giving Peres more time than all the other panelists combined. Tensions increased further following the Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010. Erdoğan strongly condemned the raid, describing it as "state terrorism", and demanded an Israeli apology. In February 2013, Erdoğan called Zionism a "crime against humanity", comparing it to Islamophobia, antisemitism, and fascism. He later retracted the statement, saying he had been misinterpreted. He said "everyone should know" that his comments were directed at "Israeli policies", especially as regards to "Gaza and the settlements." Erdoğan's statements were criticized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, among others. In August 2013, the Hürriyet reported that Erdoğan had claimed to have evidence of Israel's responsibility for the removal of Morsi from office in Egypt. The Israeli and Egyptian governments dismissed the suggestion. In response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. He also stated that "If Israel continues with this attitude, it will definitely be tried at international courts." Syria During Erdoğan's term of office, diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria significantly deteriorated. In 2004, President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Turkey for the first official visit by a Syrian President in 57 years. In late 2004, Erdoğan signed a free trade agreement with Syria. Visa restrictions between the two countries were lifted in 2009, which caused an economic boom in the regions near the Syrian border. However, in 2011 the relationship between the two countries was strained following the outbreak of conflict in Syria. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he was trying to "cultivate a favorable relationship with whatever government would take the place of Assad". However, he began to support the opposition in Syria, after demonstrations turned violent, creating a serious Syrian refugee problem in Turkey. Erdoğan's policy of providing military training for anti-Damascus fighters has also created conflict with Syria's ally and a neighbour of Turkey, Iran. Saudi Arabia In August 2006, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz as-Saud made a visit to Turkey. This was the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Turkey in the last four decades. The monarch made a second visit, on 9 November 2007. Turk-Saudi trade volume has exceeded 3.2 billion in 2006, almost double the figure achieved in 2003. In 2009, this amount reached 5.5 billion and the goal for the year 2010 was 10 billion. Erdoğan condemned the Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain and characterized the Saudi movement as "a new Karbala." He demanded withdrawal of Saudi forces from Bahrain. Egypt Erdoğan had made his first official visit to Egypt on 12 September 2011, accompanied by six ministers and 200 businessmen. This visit was made very soon after Turkey had ejected Israeli ambassadors, cutting off all diplomatic relations with Israel because Israel refused to apologize for the Gaza flotilla raid which killed eight Turkish and one Turco-American. Erdoğan's visit to Egypt was met with much enthusiasm by Egyptians. CNN reported some Egyptians saying "We consider him as the Islamic leader in the Middle East", while others were appreciative of his role in supporting Gaza. Erdoğan was later honored in Tahrir Square by members of the Egyptian Revolution Youth Union, and members of the Turkish embassy were presented with a coat of arms in acknowledgment of the Prime Minister's support of the Egyptian Revolution. Erdoğan stated in a 2011 interview that he supported secularism for Egypt, which generated an angry reaction among Islamic movements, especially the Freedom and Justice Party, which was the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. However, commentators suggest that by forming an alliance with the military junta during Egypt's transition to democracy, Erdoğan may have tipped the balance in favor of an authoritarian government. Erdoğan condemned the sit-in dispersals conducted by Egyptian police on 14 August 2013 at the Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares, where violent clashes between police officers and pro-Morsi Islamist protesters led to hundreds of deaths, mostly protesters. In July 2014, one year after the removal of Mohamed Morsi from office, Erdoğan described Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as an "illegitimate tyrant". Somalia Erdoğan's administration maintains strong ties with the Somali government. During the drought of 2011, Erdoğan's government contributed over $201 million to humanitarian relief efforts in the impacted parts of Somalia. Following a greatly improved security situation in Mogadishu in mid-2011, the Turkish government also re-opened its foreign embassy with the intention of more effectively assisting in the post-conflict development process. It was among the first foreign governments to resume formal diplomatic relations with Somalia after the civil war. In May 2010, the Turkish and Somali governments signed a military training agreement, in keeping with the provisions outlined in the Djibouti Peace Process. Turkish Airlines became the first long-distance international commercial airline in two decades to resume flights to and from Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport. Turkey also launched various development and infrastructure projects in Somalia including building several hospitals and helping renovate the National Assembly building. Protests 2013 Gezi Park protests against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdoğan and his policies, starting from a small sit-in in Istanbul in defense of a city park. After the police's intense reaction with tear gas, the protests grew each day. Faced by the largest mass protest in a decade, Erdoğan made this controversial remark in a televised speech: "The police were there yesterday, they are there today, and they will be there tomorrow". After weeks of clashes in the streets of Istanbul, his government at first apologized to the protestors and called for a plebiscite, but then ordered a crackdown on the protesters. Presidency (2014–present) Erdoğan took the oath of office on 28 August 2014 and became the 12th president of Turkey. He administered the new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's oath on 29 August. When asked about his lower-than-expected 51.79% share of the vote, he allegedly responded, "there were even those who did not like the Prophet. I, however, won 52%". Assuming the role of President, Erdoğan was criticized for openly stating that he would not maintain the tradition of presidential neutrality. Erdoğan has also stated his intention to pursue a more active role as president, such as utilising the President's rarely used cabinet-calling powers. The political opposition has argued that Erdoğan will continue to pursue his own political agenda, controlling the government, while his new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would be docile and submissive. Furthermore, the domination of loyal Erdoğan supporters in Davutoğlu's cabinet fuelled speculation that Erdoğan intended to exercise substantial control over the government. Presidential elections On 1 July 2014, Erdoğan was named the AKP's presidential candidate in the Turkish presidential election. His candidacy was announced by the Deputy President of the AKP, Mehmet Ali Şahin. Erdoğan made a speech after the announcement and used the 'Erdoğan logo' for the first time. The logo was criticised because it was very similar to the logo that U.S. President Barack Obama used in the 2008 presidential election. Erdoğan was elected as the President of Turkey in the first round of the election with 51.79% of the vote, obviating the need for a run-off by winning over 50%. The joint candidate of the CHP, MHP and 13 other opposition parties, former Organisation of Islamic Co-operation general secretary Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu won 38.44% of the vote. The pro-Kurdish HDP candidate Selahattin Demirtaş won 9.76%. The 2018 Turkish presidential election took place as part of the 2018 general election, alongside parliamentary elections on the same day. Following the approval of constitutional changes in a referendum held in 2017, the elected President will be both the head of state and head of government of Turkey, taking over the latter role from the to-be-abolished office of the Prime Minister. Incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared his candidacy for the People's Alliance (Turkish: Cumhur İttifakı) on 27 April 2018. Erdoğan's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, nominated Muharrem İnce, a member of the parliament known for his combative opposition and spirited speeches against Erdoğan. Besides these candidates, Meral Akşener, the founder and leader of İyi Party, Temel Karamollaoğlu, the leader of the Felicity Party and Doğu Perinçek, the leader of the Patriotic Party, have announced their candidacies and collected the 100,000 signatures required for nomination. The alliance which Erdoğan was candidate for won 52.59% of the popular vote. Referendum In April 2017, a constitutional referendum was held, where the voters in Turkey (and Turkish citizens abroad) approved a set of 18 proposed amendments to the Constitution of Turkey. The amendments included the replacement of the existing parliamentary system with a presidential system. The post of Prime Minister would be abolished, and the presidency would become an executive post vested with broad executive powers. The parliament seats would be increased from 550 to 600 and the age of candidacy to the parliament was lowered from 25 to 18. The referendum also called for changes to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors. Local elections In the 2019 local elections, the ruling party AKP lost control of Istanbul and Ankara for the first time in 25 years, as well as 5 of Turkey's 6 largest cities. The loss has been widely attributed to Erdoğan's mismanagement of the Turkish economic crisis, rising authoritarianism as well as the alleged government inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis. Soon after the elections, Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey ordered a re-election in Istanbul, cancelling Ekrem İmamoğlu's mayoral certificate. The decision led to a significant decrease of Erdoğan's and AKP's popularity and his party lost the elections again in June with a greater margin. The result was seen as a huge blow to Erdoğan, who had once said that if his party 'lost Istanbul, we would lose Turkey. The opposition's victory was characterised as 'the beginning of the end' for Erdoğan', with international commentators calling the re-run a huge government miscalculation that led to a potential İmamoğlu candidacy in the next scheduled presidential election. It is suspected that the scale of the government's defeat could provoke a cabinet reshuffle and early general elections, currently scheduled for June 2023. The New Zealand and Australian governments and opposition CHP party have criticized Erdoğan after he repeatedly showed video taken by the Christchurch mosque shooter to his supporters at campaign rallies for 31 March local elections and said Australians and New Zealanders who came to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments "would be sent back in coffins like their grandfathers" at Gallipoli. Domestic policy Presidential palace Erdoğan has also received criticism for the construction of a new palace called Ak Saray (pure white palace), which occupies approximately 50 acres of Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ) in Ankara. Since the AOÇ is protected land, several court orders were issued to halt the construction of the new palace, though building work went on nonetheless. The opposition described the move as a clear disregard for the rule of law. The project was subject to heavy criticism and allegations were made; of corruption during the construction process, wildlife destruction and the complete obliteration of the zoo in the AOÇ in order to make way for the new compound. The fact that the palace is technically illegal has led to it being branded as the 'Kaç-Ak Saray', the word kaçak in Turkish meaning 'illegal'. Ak Saray was originally designed as a new office for the Prime Minister. However, upon assuming the presidency, Erdoğan announced that the palace would become the new Presidential Palace, while the Çankaya Mansion will be used by the Prime Minister instead. The move was seen as a historic change since the Çankaya Mansion had been used as the iconic office of the presidency ever since its inception. The Ak Saray has almost 1,000 rooms and cost $350 million (€270 million), leading to huge criticism at a time when mining accidents and workers' rights had been dominating the agenda. On 29 October 2014, Erdoğan was due to hold a Republic Day reception in the new palace to commemorate the 91st anniversary of the Republic of Turkey and to officially inaugurate the Presidential Palace. However, after most invited participants announced that they would boycott the event and a mining accident occurred in the district of Ermenek in Karaman, the reception was cancelled. The media President Erdoğan and his government continue to press for court action against the remaining free press in Turkey. The latest newspaper that has been seized is Zaman, in March 2016. After the seizure Morton Abramowitz and Eric Edelman, former U.S. ambassadors to Turkey, condemned President Erdoğan's actions in an opinion piece published by The Washington Post: "Clearly, democracy cannot flourish under Erdoğan now". "The overall pace of reforms in Turkey has not only slowed down but in some key areas, such as freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary, there has been a regression, which is particularly worrying", rapporteur Kati Piri said in April 2016 after the European Parliament passed its annual progress report on Turkey. On 22 June 2016, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that he considered himself successful in "destroying" Turkish civil groups "working against the state", a conclusion that had been confirmed some days earlier by Sedat Laçiner, Professor of International Relations and rector of the Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University: "Outlawing unarmed and peaceful opposition, sentencing people to unfair punishment under erroneous terror accusations, will feed genuine terrorism in Erdoğan’s Turkey. Guns and violence will become the sole alternative for legally expressing free thought". After the coup attempt, over 200 journalists were arrested and over 120 media outlets were closed. Cumhuriyet journalists were detained in November 2016 after a long-standing crackdown on the newspaper. Subsequently, Reporters Without Borders called Erdoğan an "enemy of press freedom" and said that he "hides his aggressive dictatorship under a veneer of democracy". In April 2017, Turkey blocked all access to Wikipedia over a content dispute. The Turkish government lifted a two-and-a-half-year ban on Wikipedia on 15 January 2020, restoring access to the online encyclopedia a month after Turkey's top court ruled that blocking Wikipedia was unconstitutional. On 1 July 2020, in a statement made to his party members, Erdoğan announced that the government would introduce new measures and regulations to control or shut down social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Netflix. Through these new measures, each company would be required to appoint an official representative in the country to respond to legal concerns. The decision comes after a number of Twitter users insulted his daughter Esra after she welcomed her fourth child. State of emergency and purges On 20 July 2016, President Erdoğan declared the state of emergency, citing the coup d'état attempt as justification. It was first scheduled to last three months. The Turkish parliament approved this measure. The state of emergency was later extended for another three months, amidst the ongoing 2016 Turkish purges including comprehensive purges of independent media and detention of tens of thousands of Turkish citizens politically opposed to Erdoğan. More than 50,000 people have been arrested and over 160,000 fired from their jobs by March 2018. In August 2016, Erdoğan began rounding up journalists who had been publishing, or who were about to publish articles questioning corruption within the Erdoğan administration, and incarcerating them. The number of Turkish journalists jailed by Turkey is higher than any other country, including all of those journalists currently jailed in North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and China combined. In the wake of the coup attempt of July 2016 the Erdoğan administration began rounding up tens of thousands of individuals, both from within the government, and from the public sector, and incarcerating them on charges of alleged "terrorism". As a result of these arrests, many in the international community complained about the lack of proper judicial process in the incarceration of Erdoğan's opposition. In April 2017 Erdoğan successfully sponsored legislation effectively making it illegal for the Turkish legislative branch to investigate his executive branch of government. Without the checks and balances of freedom of speech, and the freedom of the Turkish legislature to hold him accountable for his actions, many have likened Turkey's current form of government to a dictatorship with only nominal forms of democracy in practice. At the time of Erdoğan's successful passing of the most recent legislation silencing his opposition, United States President Donald Trump called Erdoğan to congratulate him for his "recent referendum victory". On 29 April 2017 Erdoğan's administration began an internal Internet block of all of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia site via Turkey's domestic Internet filtering system. This blocking action took place after the government had first made a request for Wikipedia to remove what it referred to as "offensive content". In response, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales replied via a post on Twitter stating, "Access to information is a fundamental human right. Turkish people, I will always stand with you and fight for this right." In January 2016, more than a thousand academics signed a petition criticizing Turkey's military crackdown on ethnic Kurdish towns and neighborhoods in the east of the country, such as Sur (a district of Diyarbakır), Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre and Silopi, and asking an end to violence. Erdoğan accused those who signed the petition of "terrorist propaganda", calling them "the darkest of people". He called for action by institutions and universities, stating, "Everyone who benefits from this state but is now an enemy of the state must be punished without further delay". Within days, over 30 of the signatories were arrested, many in dawn-time raids on their homes. Although all were quickly released, nearly half were fired from their jobs, eliciting a denunciation from Turkey's Science Academy for such "wrong and disturbing" treatment. Erdoğan vowed that the academics would pay the price for "falling into a pit of treachery". On 8 July 2018, Erdoğan sacked 18,000 officials for alleged ties to US based cleric Fethullah Gülen, shortly before renewing his term as an executive president. Of those removed, 9000 were police officers with 5000 from the armed forces with the addition of hundreds of academics. Foreign policy Europe In February 2016, Erdoğan threatened to send the millions of refugees in Turkey to EU member states, saying: "We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses ... So how will you deal with refugees if you don't get a deal?" In an interview to the news magazine Der Spiegel, German minister of defence Ursula von der Leyen said on 11 March 2016 that the refugee crisis had made good cooperation between EU and Turkey an "existentially important" issue. "Therefore it is right to advance now negotiations on Turkey's EU accession". In its resolution "The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey" from 22 June 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe warned that "recent developments in Turkey pertaining to freedom of the media and of expression, erosion of the rule of law and the human rights violations in relation to anti-terrorism security operations in south-east Turkey have ... raised serious questions about the functioning of its democratic institutions". On 20 August 2016, Erdoğan told his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko that Turkey would not recognize the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea; calling it "Crimea's occupation". In January 2017, Erdoğan said that the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Cyprus is "out of the question" and Turkey will be in Cyprus "forever". There is a long-standing dispute between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea. Erdoğan warned that Greece will pay a "heavy price" if Turkey's gas exploration vessel – in what Turkey said are disputed waters – is attacked. In September 2020, Erdoğan declared his government's support for Azerbaijan following clashes between Armenian and Azeri forces over a disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. He dismissed demands for a ceasefire. Diaspora In March 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated to the Turks in Europe, "Make not three, but five children. Because you are the future of Europe. That will be the best response to the injustices against you." This has been interpreted as an imperialist call for demographic warfare. According to The Economist, Erdoğan is the first Turkish leader to take the Turkish diaspora seriously, which has created friction within these diaspora communities and between the Turkish government and several of its European counterparts. The Balkans In February 2018, President Erdoğan expressed Turkish support of the Republic of Macedonia's position during negotiations over the Macedonia naming dispute saying that Greece's position is wrong. In March 2018, President Erdoğan criticized the Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj for dismissing his Interior Minister and Intelligence Chief for failing to inform him of an unauthorized and illegal secret operation conducted by the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey on Kosovo's territory that led to the arrest of six people allegedly associated with the Gülen movement. On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck the Durrës region of Albania. President Erdoğan expressed his condolences. and citing close Albanian-Turkish relations, he committed Turkey to reconstructing 500 earthquake destroyed homes and other civic structures in Laç, Albania. In Istanbul, Erdoğan organised and attended a donors conference (8 December) to assist Albania that included Turkish businessmen, investors and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. United Kingdom In May 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed Erdoğan to the United Kingdom for a three-day state visit. Erdoğan declared that the United Kingdom is "an ally and a strategic partner, but also a real friend. The cooperation we have is well beyond any mechanism that we have established with other partners." Israel Relations between Turkey and Israel began to normalize after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu officially apologized for the death of the nine Turkish activists during the Gaza flotilla raid. However, in response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of being "more barbaric than Hitler", and conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. In December 2017, President Erdoğan issued a warning to Donald Trump, after the U.S. President acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Erdoğan stated, "Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims", indicating that naming Jerusalem as Israel's capital would alienate Palestinians and other Muslims from the city, undermining hopes at a future capital of a Palestinian State. Erdoğan called Israel a "terrorist state". Naftali Bennett dismissed the threats, claiming "Erdoğan does not miss an opportunity to attack Israel". In April 2019, Erdoğan said the West Bank belongs to Palestinians, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would annex Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if he is re-elected. Erdoğan condemned the Israel–UAE peace agreement, stating that Turkey was considering suspending or cutting off diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates in retaliation. Syrian Civil War Amid allegations of Turkish collaboration with the Islamic State, the 2014 Kobanî protests broke out near the Syrian border city of Kobanî, in protest against the government's perceived facilitation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during the Siege of Kobanî. 42 protestors were killed during a brutal police crackdown. Asserting that aid to the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Syria would assist the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) (then on ceasefire) in Turkey, Erdoğan held bilateral talks with Barack Obama regarding IS during the 5–6 September 2014 NATO summit in Newport, Wales. In early October, United States Vice President Joe Biden criticised the Turkish government for supplying jihadists in Syria and said Erdoğan had expressed regret to him about letting foreign jihadists transit through Turkey en route to Syria. Erdoğan angrily responded, "Biden has to apologize for his statements" adding that if no apology is made, Biden would become "history to me." Biden subsequently apologised. In response to the U.S. request to use İncirlik Air Base to conduct air strikes against IS, Erdoğan demanded that Bashar al-Assad be removed from power first. Turkey lost its bid for a Security Council seat in the United Nations during the 2014 election; the unexpected result is believed to have been a reaction to Erdoğan's hostile treatment of the Kurds fighting ISIS on the Syrian border and a rebuke of his willingness to support IS-aligned insurgents opposed to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In 2015, there were consistent allegations that Erdoğan maintained financial links with the Islamic State, including allegation of his son-in-law Berat Albayrak's involvement with oil production and smuggling in ISIL. Revelations that the state was supplying arms to militant groups in Syria in the 2014 National Intelligence Organisation lorry scandal led to accusations of high treason. In July 2015, Turkey became involved in the international military intervention against ISIL, simultaneously launching airstrikes against PKK bases in Iraqi Kurdistan. As of 2015, Turkey began openly supporting the Army of Conquest, a coalition of Syrian rebel groups that included al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham. In late November 2016, Erdoğan said that the Turkish military launched its operations in Syria to end Assad's rule, but retracted this statement shortly afterwards. In January 2018, the Turkish military and its Syrian National Army and Sham Legion allies began the Turkish military operation in Afrin in the Kurdish-majority Afrin Canton in Northern Syria, against the YPG. On 10 April, Erdoğan rejected a Russian demand to return Afrin to Syrian government control. In October 2019, after Erdoğan spoke to him, U.S. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, despite recently agreeing to a Northern Syria Buffer Zone. U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the border to avoid interference with the Turkish operation. After the U.S. pullout, Turkey proceeded to attack the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Rejecting criticism of the invasion, Erdoğan claimed that NATO and European Union countries "sided with terrorists, and all of them attacked us". China Bilateral trade between Turkey and China increased from $1 billion a year in 2002 to $27 billion annually in 2017. Erdoğan has stated that Turkey might consider joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation instead of the European Union. Qatar blockade In June 2017 during a speech, Erdoğan called the isolation of Qatar as "inhumane and against Islamic values" and that "victimising Qatar through smear campaigns serves no purpose". Myanmar In September 2017, Erdoğan condemned the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar and accused Myanmar of "genocide" against the Muslim minority. United States Over time, Turkey began to look for ways to buy its own missile defense system and also to use that procurement to build up its own capacity to manufacture and sell an air and missile defense system. Turkey got serious about acquiring a missile defense system early in the first Obama administration when it opened a competition between the Raytheon Patriot PAC 2 system and systems from Europe, Russia, and even China. Taking advantage of the new low in U.S.-Turkish relations, Putin saw his chance to use an S-400 sale to Turkey, so in July 2017, he offered the air defense system to Turkey. In the months that followed, the United States warned Turkey that a S-400 purchase jeopardized Turkey's F-35 purchase. Integration of the Russian system into the NATO air defense net was also out of the question. Administration officials, including Mark Esper, warned that Turkey had to choose between the S-400 and the F-35. That they couldn't have both. The S-400 deliveries to Turkey began on 12 July. On 16 July, Trump mentioned to reporters that withholding the F-35 from Turkey was unfair. Said the president, "So what happens is we have a situation where Turkey is very good with us, very good, and we are now telling Turkey that because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we’re not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets". The U.S. Congress has made clear on a bipartisan basis that it expects the president to sanction Turkey for buying Russian equipment. Out of the F-35, Turkey now considers buying Russian fifth-generation jet fighter Su-57. On 1 August 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned two senior Turkish government ministers who were involved in the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Erdoğan said that the U.S. behavior will force Turkey to look for new friends and allies. The U.S.–Turkey tensions appear to be the most serious diplomatic crisis between the NATO allies in years. Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton claimed that President Donald Trump told Erdoğan he would 'take care' of investigation against Turkey's state-owned bank Halkbank accused of bank fraud charges and laundering up to $20 billion on behalf of Iranian entities. Turkey criticized Bolton's book, saying it included misleading accounts of conversations between Trump and Erdoğan. In August 2020, the former vice president and presidential candidate Joe Biden called for a new U.S. approach to the "autocrat" President Erdoğan and support for Turkish opposition parties. In September 2020, Biden demanded that Erdoğan "stay out" of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in which Turkey has supported the Azeris. Venezuela Relations with Venezuela were strengthened with recent developments and high level mutual visits. The first official visit between the two countries at presidential level was in October 2017 when Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro visited Turkey. In December 2018, Erdoğan visited Venezuela for the first time and expressed his will to build strong relations with Venezuela and expressed hope that high-level visits "will increasingly continue." Reuters reported that in 2018 23 tons of mined gold were taken from Venezuela to Istanbul. In the first nine months of 2018, Venezuela's gold exports to Turkey rose from zero in the previous year to US$900 million. During the Venezuelan presidential crisis, Erdoğan voiced solidarity with Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and criticized U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, saying that "political problems cannot be resolved by punishing an entire nation." Following the 2019 Venezuelan uprising attempt, Erdoğan condemned the actions of lawmaker Juan Guaidó, tweeting "Those who are in an effort to appoint a postmodern colonial governor to Venezuela, where the President was appointed by elections and where the people rule, should know that only democratic elections can determine how a country is governed". Events Coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a coup d'état was attempted by the military, with aims to remove Erdoğan from government. By the next day, Erdoğan's government managed to reassert effective control in the country. Reportedly, no government official was arrested or harmed, which, among other factors, raised the suspicion of a false flag event staged by the government itself. Erdoğan, as well as other government officials, has blamed an exiled cleric, and a former ally of Erdoğan, Fethullah Gülen, for staging the coup attempt. Süleyman Soylu, Minister of Labor in Erdoğan's government, accused the US of planning a coup to oust Erdoğan. Erdoğan, as well as other high-ranking Turkish government officials, has issued repeated demands to the US to extradite Gülen. Following the coup attempt, there has been a significant deterioration in Turkey-US relations. European and other world leaders have expressed their concerns over the situation in Turkey, with many of them warning Erdoğan not to use the coup attempt as an excuse to crack down on his opponents. The rise of ISIS and the collapse of the Kurdish peace process had led to a sharp rise in terror incidents in Turkey until 2016. Erdoğan was accused by his critics of having a 'soft corner' for ISIS. However, after the attempted coup, Erdoğan ordered the Turkish military into Syria to combat ISIS and Kurdish militant groups. Erdoğan's critics have decried purges in the education system and judiciary as undermining the rule of law however Erdoğan supporters argue this is a necessary measure as Gulen-linked schools cheated on entrance exams, requiring a purge in the education system and of the Gulen followers who then entered the judiciary. Erdoğan's plan is "to reconstitute Turkey as a presidential system. The plan would create a centralized system that would enable him to better tackle Turkey's internal and external threats. One of the main hurdles allegedly standing in his way is Fethullah Gulen's movement ..." In the aftermath of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, a groundswell of national unity and consensus emerged for cracking down on the coup plotters with a National Unity rally held in Turkey that included Islamists, secularists, liberals and nationalists. Erdoğan has used this consensus to remove Gulen's followers from the bureaucracy, curtail their role in NGOs, Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Turkish military, with 149 Generals discharged. In a foreign policy shift Erdoğan ordered the Turkish Armed Forces into battle in Syria and has liberated towns from IS control. As relations with Europe soured over in the aftermath of the attempted coup, Erdoğan developed alternative relationships with Russia, Saudi Arabia and a "strategic partnership" with Pakistan, with plans to cultivate relations through free trade agreements and deepening military relations for mutual co-operation with Turkey's regional allies. 2018 currency and debt crisis The Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018 was caused by the Turkish economy's excessive current account deficit and foreign-currency debt, in combination with Erdoğan's increasing authoritarianism and his unorthodox ideas about interest rate policy. Economist Paul Krugman described the unfolding crisis as "a classic currency-and-debt crisis, of a kind we’ve seen many times", adding: "At such a time, the quality of leadership suddenly matters a great deal. You need officials who understand what's happening, can devise a response and have enough credibility that markets give them the benefit of the doubt. Some emerging markets have those things, and they are riding out the turmoil fairly well. The Erdoğan regime has none of that". Ideology and public image Early during his premiership, Erdoğan was praised as a role model for emerging Middle Eastern nations due to several reform packages initiated by his government which expanded religious freedoms and minority rights as part of accession negotiations with the European Union. However, his government underwent several crises including the Sledgehammer coup and the Ergenekon trials, corruption scandals, accusations of media intimidation, as well as the pursuit of an increasingly polarizing political agenda; the opposition accused the government of inciting political hatred throughout the country. Critics say that Erdoğan's government legitimizes homophobia, as Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". Neo-Ottomanism As President, Erdoğan has overseen a revival of Ottoman tradition, greeting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas with an Ottoman-style ceremony in the new presidential palace, with guards dressed in costumes representing founders of 16 Great Turkish Empires in history. While serving as the Prime Minister of Turkey, Erdoğan's AKP made references to the Ottoman era during election campaigns, such as calling their supporters 'grandsons of Ottomans' (Osmanlı torunu). This proved controversial, since it was perceived to be an open attack against the republican nature of modern Turkey founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In 2015, Erdoğan made a statement in which he endorsed the old Ottoman term külliye to refer to university campuses rather than the standard Turkish word kampüs. Many critics have thus accused Erdoğan of wanting to become an Ottoman sultan and abandon the secular and democratic credentials of the Republic. One of the most cited scholars alive, Noam Chomsky, said that "Erdogan in Turkey is basically trying to create something like the Ottoman Caliphate, with him as caliph, supreme leader, throwing his weight around all over the place, and destroying the remnants of democracy in Turkey at the same time". When pressed on this issue in January 2015, Erdoğan denied these claims and said that he would aim to be more like Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom rather than like an Ottoman sultan. In July 2020, after the Council of State annulled the Cabinet's 1934 decision to establish the Hagia Sophia as museum and revoking the monument's status, Erdoğan ordered its reclassification as a mosque. The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia's waqf, endowed by Sultan Mehmed II, had designated the site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan. This redesignation is controversial, invoking condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO, the World Council of Churches, the Holy See, and many other international leaders. In August 2020, he also signed the order that transferred the administration of the Chora Church to the Directorate of Religious Affairs to open it for worship as a mosque. Initially converted to a mosque by the Ottomans, the building had then been designated as a museum by the government since 1934. Authoritarianism Erdoğan has served as the de facto leader of Turkey since 2002. In response to criticism, Erdoğan made a speech in May 2014 denouncing allegations of dictatorship, saying that the leader of the opposition, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was there at the speech, would not be able to "roam the streets" freely if he were a dictator. Kılıçdaroğlu responded that political tensions would cease to exist if Erdoğan stopped making his polarising speeches for three days. One observer said it was a measure of the state of Turkish democracy that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu could openly threaten, on 20 December 2015, that, if his party did not win the election, Turkish Kurds would endure a repeat of the era of the "white Toros", the Turkish name for the Renault 12, "a car associated with the gendarmarie’s fearsome intelligence agents, who carried out thousands of extrajudicial executions of Kurdish nationalists during the 1990s". In February 2015, a 13-year-old was charged by a prosecutor after allegedly insulting Erdoğan on Facebook. In 2016, a waiter was arrested for insulting Erdoğan by allegedly saying "If Erdoğan comes here, I will not even serve tea to him.". In April 2014, the President of the Constitutional Court, Haşim Kılıç, accused Erdoğan of damaging the credibility of the judiciary, labelling Erdoğan's attempts to increase political control over the courts as 'desperate'. During the chaotic 2007 presidential election, the military issued an E-memorandum warning the government to keep within the boundaries of secularism when choosing a candidate. Regardless, Erdoğan's close relations with Fethullah Gülen and his Cemaat Movement allowed his government to maintain a degree of influence within the judiciary through Gülen's supporters in high judicial and bureaucratic offices. Shortly after, an alleged coup plot codenamed Sledgehammer became public and resulted in the imprisonment of 300 military officers including İbrahim Fırtına, Çetin Doğan and Engin Alan. Several opposition politicians, journalists and military officers also went on trial for allegedly being part of an ultra-nationalist organisation called Ergenekon. Both cases were marred by irregularities and were condemned as a joint attempt by Erdoğan and Gülen to curb opposition to the AKP. The original Sledgehammer document containing the coup plans, allegedly written in 2003, was found to have been written using Microsoft Word 2007. Despite both domestic and international calls for these irregularities to be addressed in order to guarantee a fair trial, Erdoğan instead praised his government for bringing the coup plots to light. When Gülen publicly withdrew support and openly attacked Erdoğan in late 2013, several imprisoned military officers and journalists were released, with the government admitting that the judicial proceedings were unfair. When Gülen withdrew support from the AKP government in late 2013, a government corruption scandal broke out, leading to the arrest of several family members of cabinet ministers. Erdoğan accused Gülen of co-ordinating a "parallel state" within the judiciary in an attempt to topple him from power. He then removed or reassigned several judicial officials in an attempt to remove Gülen's supporters from office. Erdoğan's 'purge' was widely questioned and criticised by the European Union. In early 2014, a new law was passed by parliament giving the government greater control over the judiciary, which sparked public protest throughout the country. International organisations perceived the law to be a danger to the separation of powers. Several judicial officials removed from their posts said that they had been removed due to their secularist credentials. The political opposition accused Erdoğan of not only attempting to remove Gülen supporters, but supporters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's principles as well, in order to pave the way for increased politicisation of the judiciary. Several family members of Erdoğan's ministers who had been arrested as a result of the 2013 corruption scandal were released, and a judicial order to question Erdoğan's son Bilal Erdoğan was annulled. Controversy erupted when it emerged that many of the newly appointed judicial officials were actually AKP supporters. İslam Çiçek, a judge who ejected the cases of five ministers' relatives accused of corruption, was accused of being an AKP supporter and an official investigation was launched into his political affiliations. On 1 September 2014, the courts dissolved the cases of 96 suspects, which included Bilal Erdoğan. During a televised press conference he was asked if he believed a presidential system was possible in a unitary state. Erdoğan affirmed this and cited Nazi Germany (among other examples) as a case where such a combination existed. However, the Turkish president's office said that Erdoğan was not advocating a Hitler-style government when he called for a state system with a strong executive, and added that the Turkish president had declared the "Holocaust, anti-semitism and Islamophobia" as crimes against humanity and that it was out of the question for him to cite Hitler's Germany as a good example. Suppression of dissent Erdoğan has been criticised for his politicisation of the media, especially after the 2013 protests. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) alleged that over 1,863 journalists lost their jobs due to their anti-government views in 12 years of AKP rule. Opposition politicians have also alleged that intimidation in the media is due to the government's attempt to restructure the ownership of private media corporations. Journalists from the Cihan News Agency and the Gülenist Zaman newspaper were repeatedly barred from attending government press conferences or asking questions. Several opposition journalists such as Soner Yalçın were controversially arrested as part of the Ergenekon trials and Sledgehammer coup investigation. Veli Ağbaba, a CHP politician, has called the AKP the 'biggest media boss in Turkey.' In 2015, 74 US senators sent a letter to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to state their concern over what they saw as deviations from the basic principles of democracy in Turkey and oppressions of Erdoğan over media. Notable cases of media censorship occurred during the 2013 anti-government protests, when the mainstream media did not broadcast any news regarding the demonstrations for three days after they began. The lack of media coverage was symbolised by CNN International covering the protests while CNN Türk broadcast a documentary about penguins at the same time. The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) controversially issued a fine to pro-opposition news channels including Halk TV and Ulusal Kanal for their coverage of the protests, accusing them of broadcasting footage that could be morally, physically and mentally destabilising to children. Erdoğan was criticised for not responding to the accusations of media intimidation, and caused international outrage after telling a female journalist (Amberin Zaman of The Economist) to know her place and calling her a 'shameless militant' during his 2014 presidential election campaign. While the 2014 presidential election was not subject to substantial electoral fraud, Erdoğan was again criticised for receiving disproportionate media attention in comparison to his rivals. The British newspaper The Times commented that between 2 and 4 July, the state-owned media channel TRT gave 204 minutes of coverage to Erdoğan's campaign and less than a total of 3 minutes to both his rivals. Erdoğan also tightened controls over the Internet, signing into law a bill which allows the government to block websites without prior court order on 12 September 2014. His government blocked Twitter and YouTube in late March 2014 following the release of a recording of a conversation between him and his son Bilal, where Erdoğan allegedly warned his family to 'nullify' all cash reserves at their home amid the 2013 corruption scandal. Erdoğan has undertaken a media campaign that attempts to portray the presidential family as frugal and simple-living; their palace electricity-bill is estimated at $500,000 per month. In May 2016, former Miss Turkey model Merve Büyüksaraç was sentenced to more than a year in prison for allegedly insulting the president. In a 2016 news story, Bloomberg reported, "more than 2,000 cases have been opened against journalists, cartoonists, teachers, a former Miss Turkey, and even schoolchildren in the past two years". In November 2016, the Turkish government blocked access to social media in all of Turkey as well as sought to completely block Internet access for the citizens in the southeast of the country. Mehmet Aksoy lawsuit In 2009, Turkish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy created the Statue of Humanity in Kars to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. When visiting the city in 2011, Erdoğan deemed the statue a "freak", and months later it was demolished. Aksoy sued Erdoğan for "moral indemnities", although his lawyer said that his statement was a critique rather than an insult. In March 2015, a judge ordered Erdoğan to pay 10,000 liras. Erdoğanism Erdoğan has produced many aphorisms and catch-phrases known as Erdoğanisms. The term Erdoğanism first emerged shortly after Erdoğan's 2011 general election victory, where it was predominantly described as the AKP's liberal economic and conservative democratic ideals fused with Erdoğan demagoguery and cult of personality. Views on minorities LGBT In 2002, Erdoğan said that "homosexuals must be legally protected within the framework of their rights and freedoms. From time to time, we do not find the treatment they get on some television screens humane", he said. However, in 2017 Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey's top Muslim scholar and President of Religious Affairs, Ali Erbaş, said in a Friday Ramadan announcement that country condemns homosexuality because it "brings illness," insinuating that same sex relations are responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan backed Erbaş, saying that what Erbaş "said was totally right." Jews While Erdoğan has declared several times being against antisemitism, he has been accused of invoking antisemitic stereotypes in public statements. According to Erdoğan, he had been inspired by novelist and Islamist ideologue Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, a publisher (among others) of antisemitic literature. Others During a live interview in 2014, he said: "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian. Excuse me, but they have said even uglier things. They have called me Armenian, but I am Turkish." Honours and accolades Foreign honours Russia: Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan" (1 June 2006) Pakistan: Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award in Pakistan (26 October 2009) Georgia: Order of Golden Fleece, awarded for his contribution to development of bilateral relations (17 May 2010) Kyrgyzstan: Danaker Order in Bishkek (2 February 2011) Azerbaijan: Heydar Aliyev Order (3 September 2014) Belgium: Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold (5 October 2015) Madagascar: Knight Grand Cross in the national Order (25 January 2017) Gagauzia: Order of Gagauz-Yeri in Comrat (18 October 2018) Venezuela: Order of the Liberator, Grand Cordon (3 December 2018) Ukraine: Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (16 October 2020) Other awards 29 January 2004: Profile of Courage Award from the American Jewish Congress, for promoting peace between cultures. Returned at the request of the A.J.C. in July 2014. 13 June 2004: Golden Plate award from the Academy of Achievement during the conference in Chicago. 3 October 2004: German Quadriga prize for improving relationships between different cultures. 2 September 2005: Mediterranean Award for Institutions (). This was awarded by the Fondazione Mediterraneo. 8 August 2006: Caspian Energy Integration Award from the Caspian Integration Business Club. 1 November 2006: Outstanding Service award from the Turkish humanitarian organization Red Crescent. 2 February 2007: Dialogue Between Cultures Award from the President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev. 15 April 2007: Crystal Hermes Award from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the opening of the Hannover Industrial Fair. 11 July 2007: highest award of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Agricola Medal, in recognition of his contribution to agricultural and social development in Turkey. 11 May 2009: Avicenna award from the Avicenna Foundation in Frankfurt, Germany. 9 June 2009: guest of honor at the 20th Crans Montana Forum in Brussels and received the Prix de la Fondation, for democracy and freedom. 25 June 2009: Key to the City of Tirana on the occasion of his state visit to Albania. 29 December 2009: Award for Contribution to World Peace from the Turgut Özal Thought and Move Association. 12 January 2010: King Faisal International Prize for "service to Islam" from the King Faisal Foundation. 23 February 2010: Nodo Culture Award from the mayor of Seville for his efforts to launch the Alliance of Civilizations initiative. 1 March 2010: United Nations–HABITAT award in memorial of Rafik Hariri. A seven-member international jury unanimously found Erdoğan deserving of the award because of his "excellent achievement and commendable conduct in the area of leadership, statesmanship and good governance. Erdoğan also initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors." 27 May 2010: medal of honor from the Brazilian Federation of Industry for the State of São Paulo (FIESP) for his contributions to industry 31 May 2010: World Health Organization 2010 World No Tobacco Award for "his dedicated leadership on tobacco control in Turkey." 29 June 2010: 2010 World Family Award from the World Family Organization which operates under the umbrella of the United Nations. 4 November 2010: Golden Medal of Independence, an award conferred upon Kosovo citizens and foreigners that have contributed to the independence of Kosovo. 25 November 2010: "Leader of the Year" award presented by the Union of Arab Banks in Lebanon. 11 January 2011: "Outstanding Personality in the Islamic World Award" of the Sheikh Fahad al-Ahmad International Award for Charity in Kuwait. 25 October 2011: Palestinian International Award for Excellence and Creativity (PIA) 2011 for his support to the Palestinian people and cause. 21 January 2012: 'Gold Statue 2012 Special Award' by the Polish Business Center Club (BCC). Erdoğan was awarded for his systematic effort to clear barriers on the way to economic growth, striving to build democracy and free market relations. 2020: Ig Nobel Prize "for using the COVID-19 viral pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can." See also List of international presidential trips made by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Leadership approval polling for the 2023 Turkish general election The 500 Most Influential Muslims Notes References Further reading Cagaptay, Soner. The new sultan: Erdogan and the crisis of modern Turkey (2nd ed. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020). online review Cagaptay, Soner. "Making Turkey Great Again." Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 43 (2019): 169–78. online Kirişci, Kemal, and Amanda Sloat. "The rise and fall of liberal democracy in Turkey: Implications for the West" Foreign Policy at Brookings (2019) online Tziarras, Zenonas. "Erdoganist authoritarianism and the 'new' Turkey." Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 18.4 (2018): 593–598. online Yavuz, M. Hakan. "A framework for understanding the Intra-Islamist conflict between the AK party and the Gülen movement." Politics, Religion & Ideology 19.1 (2018): 11–32. online Yesil, Bilge. Media in New Turkey: The Origins of an Authoritarian Neoliberal State (University of Illinois Press, 2016) online review External links Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Instagram. Archived from the original. Welcome to demokrasi: how Erdoğan got more popular than ever by The Guardian 1954 births Living people 21st-century presidents of Turkey 21st-century prime ministers of Turkey Deniers of the Armenian genocide Deputies of Istanbul Deputies of Siirt Recep Tayyip Imam Hatip school alumni Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Leaders of political parties in Turkey Marmara University alumni Mayors of Istanbul Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Naqshbandi order People from Istanbul Politicians arrested in Turkey Presidents of Turkey Prime Ministers of Turkey Recipients of the Heydar Aliyev Order Recipients of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia) Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class Turkish Islamists Turkish Sunni Muslims Chairmen of the Organization of Turkic States Recipients of the Gagauz-Yeri Order Foreign recipients of the Nishan-e-Pakistan	false	[ "Ertuğrul Erdoğan (born October 18, 1968) is a Turkish professional basketball coach. He last served as a head coach for Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball Super League and the Basketball Champions League.\n\nCoaching career \nIn 1996, Erdogan began his professional level coaching career with Galatasaray.\n\nErdoğan later served as an assistant coach for the Fenerbahçe from 2000 to 2013. With Fenerbahçe, Erdoğan worked under legendary coaches Aydın Örs and Bogdan Tanjevic.\n\nDuring the 2009-2010 season, coach Tanjevic was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and left the team at late March, Erdogan took over and led Fenerbahçe to the 2009-10 Turkish Basketball League championship. Despite his success against the title favourites Efes Pilsen, he was not appointed as Fenerbahçe's head coach in the following season. Erdogan continued to serve in an assistant coach capacity with head coaches Neven Spahija and Simone Pianigiani in the following seasons. He left Fenerbahce in 2013, after 13 years.\n\nŽalgiris Kaunas' interest \nShortly after Sarunas Jasikevicius' decision to joining Barcelona in the summer of 2020, Ertugrul Erdogan has emerged the frontrunner for Zalgiris head coach position. Erdogan spoke with Zalgiris president and GM Paulius Motiejunas but there was never traction on reaching a contract agreement as the days wore on. Zalgiris opted to sign with the Salt Lake City Stars head coach, Martin Schiller. \n\nA couple of days after Zalgiris' interest, on July 14, 2020, Galatasaray officially signed head coach Ertugrul Erdogan to a 1+1 contract extension, the team announced.\n\nGalatasaray (2018-2020) \nOn July 26, 2018, Erdogan signed a two-year contract, and agreed to become the new head coach of the Turkish club Galatasaray.\n\nDuring his tenure at Galatasaray, Erdogan scouted and helped to promote many players into the Euroleague level. Rookies like Nigel Hayes, Aaron Harrison and Alex Poythress played under his leadership in their first seasons in Europe and then they signed with the Euroleague clubs Zalgiris, Olympiacos B.C and Zenit St. Petersburg respectively.\n\nZach Auguste, who was the starting center of Erdogan's Galatasaray for both seasons, agreed with Euroleague club Panathinaikos on July 20, 2020. Greg Whittington, another Galatasaray alum, \"will sign with an NBA team, unless a major Euroleague team makes a strong offer\" according to Whittington's agent Jerry Dianis. \n\nGalatasaray announced that the club has entered negotiations with head coach Ertugrul Erdogan for the mutual termination of his contract. On November 10, 2020, coach Erdogan bid his farewell to Galatasaray and their fans. “Without honesty, there is neither trust nor sustainable success. Thank you to everyone, mainly our fans, who supported me and my staff during my two and a half years at Galatasaray. My conscience is clear” he later tweeted.\n\nPersonal life \nErdogan graduated from Middle East Technical University Department of Physical Education and Sports.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Galatasaray.org\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Eurobasket.com\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Euroleague.net\n\n1968 births\nLiving people\nBasketbol Süper Ligi head coaches\nFenerbahçe basketball coaches\nGalatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) coaches\nTurkish basketball coaches\nTürk Telekom basketball coaches", "Altan Erdogan (born 29 June 1967, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch journalist. He is the former editor of the Dutch weekly magazine Nieuwe Revu.\n\nLife and career\nErdogan was born to a Turkish father and a Dutch mother. After his journalism studies at the School of Journalism in Utrecht, he worked as a reporter and editor for the Haarlem Dagblad, Het Parool and De Volkskrant. From 2002 he was managing editor and deputy of Times Magazine. In December 2007 he was the first foreign editor of a national magazine in the Netherlands.\n\nIn the years 2007-2010 Erdogan served as editor-in-chief of Nieuwe Revu. He changed the name to Revu but his successor, Frans Loman, changed it right back. In the Erdogan years the circulation of Nieuwe Revu dropped from 64,360 to 46,619 (by 28%), but this was not different from the previous and subsequent years.\n\nSubsequent to Nieuwe Revu, Erdogan worked for the Dutch broadcasters VARA and PowNed. From 2015 to 2021 he edited Folia, the free student and staff magazine of the University of Amsterdam.\n\nAfter his stint with the student newspaper he was announced as the editor in chief for the Amsterdam television station AT5. He started in October 2021.\n\nReferences \n\n1967 births\nLiving people\nDutch journalists\nDutch people of Turkish descent\nWriters from Amsterdam" ]
[ "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "Personal life and education", "Where did Erdogan go to college?", "He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences," ]	C_15e775d39cc647c7987d95fdc23b6587_1	Does Erdogan have children?	2	Does Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have children?	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province. His parents are Ahmet Erdogan and Tenzile Erdogan. Erdogan reportedly said in 2003, "I'm a Georgian, my family is a Georgian family which migrated from Batumi to Rize." But in a 2014 televised interview on the NTV news network, he said, "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian... forgive me for saying this... even much uglier things, they have even called me an Armenian, but I am Turkish." In an account based on registry records, his genealogy was tracked to an ethnic Turkish family. Erdogan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father Ahmet Erdogan (1905 - 1988) was a Captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. Erdogan had a brother Mustafa (b. 1958) and sister Vesile (b. 1965). His summer holidays were mostly spent in Guneysu, Rize, where his family originates from. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdogan was 13 years old. As a teenager, he sold lemonade and sesame buns (simit) on the streets of the city's rougher districts to earn extra money. Brought up in an observant Muslim family, Erdogan graduated from Kasimpasa Piyale primary school in 1965, and Imam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. He received his high school diploma from Eyup High School. He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences, now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences--although several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated. In his youth, Erdogan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahce wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasimpasa S.K. is named after him. Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (born 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons; Ahmet Burak and Necmettin Bilal, and two daughters, Esra and Sumeyye. His father, Ahmet Erdogan, died in 1988 and his 88-year-old mother, Tenzile Erdogan, died in 2011. He is a member of the Community of Iskenderpasa, a Turkish sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to election victories in 2002, 2007, and 2011 general elections before being required to stand down upon his election as President in 2014. He later returned to the AKP leadership in 2017 following the constitutional referendum that year. Coming from an Islamist political background and self-describing as a conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration. Following the 1994 local elections, Erdoğan was elected mayor of Istanbul as the candidate of the Islamist Welfare Party. He was later stripped of his position, banned from political office, and imprisoned for four months for inciting religious hatred, due to his recitation of a poem by Ziya Gökalp. Erdoğan subsequently abandoned openly Islamist politics, establishing the moderate conservative AKP in 2001, which he went on to lead to a landslide victory in 2002. With Erdoğan still technically prohibited from holding office, the AKP's co-founder, Abdullah Gül, instead became prime minister, and later annulled Erdoğan's political ban. After winning a by-election in Siirt in 2003, Erdoğan replaced Gül as prime minister, with Gül instead becoming the AKP's candidate for the presidency. Erdoğan led the AKP to two more election victories in 2007 and 2011. The early years of Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister saw advances in negotiations for Turkey's membership of the European Union, an economic recovery following a economic crisis in 2001 and investments in infrastructure including roads, airports, and a high-speed train network. He also won two successful constitutional referendums in 2007 and 2010. However, his government remained controversial for its close links with Fethullah Gülen and his Gülen Movement (since designated as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish state) with whom the AKP was accused of orchestrating purges against secular bureaucrats and military officers through the Balyoz and Ergenekon trials. In late 2012, his government began peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to end the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present). The ceasefire broke down in 2015, leading to a renewed escalation in conflict. Erdoğan's foreign policy has been described as Neo-Ottoman and has led to the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, with its focus on preventing the Syrian Democratic Forces from gaining ground on the Syria–Turkey border during the Syrian Civil War. In the more recent years of Erdoğan's rule, Turkey has experienced democratic backsliding and corruption. Starting with the anti-government protests in 2013, his government imposed growing censorship on the press and social media, temporarily restricting access to sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. This stalled negotiations related to Turkey's EU membership. A US$100 billion corruption scandal in 2013 led to the arrests of Erdoğan's close allies, and incriminated Erdoğan. After 11 years as head of government (Prime Minister), Erdoğan decided to run for President in 2014. At the time, the presidency was a somewhat ceremonial function. Following the 2014 elections, Erdoğan became the first popularly elected president of Turkey. The souring in relations with Gülen continued, as the government proceeded to purge his supporters from judicial, bureaucratic and military positions. A failed military coup d'état attempt in July 2016 resulted in further purges and a temporary state of emergency. The government claimed that the coup leaders were linked to Gülen, but he has denied any role in it. Erdoğan's rule has been marked with increasing authoritarianism, expansionism, censorship and banning of parties or dissent. Erdoğan supported the 2017 referendum which changed Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential system, thus setting for the first time in Turkish history a term limit for the head of government (two full five-year terms). This new system of government formally came into place after the 2018 general election, where Erdoğan became an executive president. His party however lost the majority in the parliament and is currently in a coalition (People's Alliance) with the Turkish nationalist MHP. Erdoğan has since been tackling, but also accused of contributing to, the Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018, which has caused a significant decline in his popularity and is widely believed to have contributed to the results of the 2019 local elections, in which his party lost power in big cities like Ankara and Istanbul to opposition parties for the first time in 15 years. Family and personal life Early life Erdoğan was born in Kasımpaşa, a poor neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province in the 1930s. Erdoğan's tribe is originally from Adjara, a region in Georgia. His parents were Ahmet Erdoğan (1905–88) and Tenzile Erdoğan (née Mutlu; 1924–2011). Erdoğan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father was a captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. His summer holidays were mostly spent in Güneysu, Rize, where his family originates. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdoğan was 13 years old. As a teenager, Erdoğan's father provided him with a weekly allowance of 2.5 Turkish lira, less than a dollar. With it, Erdoğan bought postcards and resold them on the street. He sold bottles of water to drivers stuck in traffic. Erdoğan also worked as a street vendor selling simit (sesame bread rings), wearing a white gown and selling the simit from a red three-wheel cart with the rolls stacked behind glass. In his youth, Erdoğan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahçe wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasımpaşa S.K. is named after him. Erdoğan is a member of the Community of İskenderpaşa, a Turkish Sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. Education Erdoğan graduated from Kasımpaşa Piyale primary school in 1965, and İmam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. The same educational path was followed by other co-founders of the AKP party. One quarter of the curriculum of İmam Hatip schools involves study of the Qurʼān, the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the Arabic language. Erdoğan studied the Qurʼān at an İmam Hatip, where his classmates began calling him "hoca" ("Muslim teacher"). Erdoğan attended a meeting of the nationalist student group National Turkish Student Union (Milli Türk Talebe Birliği), who sought to raise a conservative cohort of young people to counter the rising movement of leftists in Turkey. Within the group, Erdoğan was distinguished by his oratorical skills, developing a penchant for public speaking and excelling in front of an audience. He won first place in a poetry-reading competition organized by the Community of Turkish Technical Painters, and began preparing for speeches through reading and research. Erdoğan would later comment on these competitions as "enhancing our courage to speak in front of the masses". Erdoğan wanted to pursue advanced studies at Mekteb-i Mülkiye, but Mülkiye accepted only students with regular high school diplomas, and not İmam Hatip graduates. Mülkiye was known for its political science department, which trained many statesmen and politicians in Turkey. Erdoğan was then admitted to Eyüp High School, a regular state school, and eventually received his high school diploma from Eyüp. According to his official biography, he subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences (), now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated, or even attended at all. Family Erdoğan married Emine Gülbaran (b. 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons, Ahmet Burak (b. 1979) and Necmettin Bilal (b. 1981), and two daughters, Esra (b. 1983) and Sümeyye (b. 1985). His father, Ahmet Erdoğan, died in 1988 and his mother, Tenzile Erdoğan, died in 2011 at the age of 88. Erdoğan has a brother, Mustafa (b. 1958), and a sister, Vesile (b. 1965). From his father's first marriage to Havuli Erdoğan (d. 1980), he had two half-brothers: Mehmet (1926–1988) and Hasan (1929–2006). Early political career In 1976, Erdoğan engaged in politics by joining the National Turkish Student Union, an anti-communist action group. In the same year, he became the head of the Beyoğlu youth branch of the Islamist National Salvation Party (MSP), and was later promoted to chair of the Istanbul youth branch of the party. Holding this position until 1980, he served as consultant and senior executive in the private sector during the era following the 1980 military coup when political parties were closed down. In 1983, Erdoğan followed most of Necmettin Erbakan's followers into the Islamist Welfare Party. He became the party's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984, and in 1985 he became the chair of the Istanbul city branch. He was elected to parliament in 1991, but was barred from taking his seat. Mayor of Istanbul (1994–1998) In the local elections of 27 March 1994, Erdoğan was elected Mayor of Istanbul with 25.19% of the popular vote. Erdoğan was a 40-year-old dark horse candidate who had been mocked by the mainstream media and treated as a country bumpkin by his opponents. He was pragmatic in office, tackling many chronic problems in Istanbul including water shortage, pollution and traffic chaos. The water shortage problem was solved with the laying of hundreds of kilometers of new pipelines. The garbage problem was solved with the establishment of state-of-the-art recycling facilities. While Erdoğan was in office, air pollution was reduced through a plan developed to switch to natural gas. He changed the public buses to environmentally friendly ones. The city's traffic and transportation jams were reduced with more than fifty bridges, viaducts, and highways built. He took precautions to prevent corruption, using measures to ensure that municipal funds were used prudently. He paid back a major portion of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's two-billion-dollar debt and invested four billion dollars in the city. Erdoğan initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors. A seven-member international jury from the United Nations unanimously awarded Erdoğan the UN-Habitat award. Imprisonment In 1998, the fundamentalist Welfare Party was declared unconstitutional on the grounds of threatening the secularism of Turkey and was shut down by the Turkish constitutional court. Erdoğan became a prominent speaker at demonstrations held by his party colleagues. In December 1997 in Siirt, Erdoğan recited a poem from a work written by Ziya Gökalp, a pan-Turkish activist of the early 20th century. His recitation included verses translated as "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...." which are not in the original version of the poem. Erdoğan said the poem had been approved by the education ministry to be published in textbooks. Under article 312/2 of the Turkish penal code his recitation was regarded as an incitement to violence and religious or racial hatred. He was given a ten-month prison sentence of which he served four months, from 24 March 1999 to 27 July 1999. Due to his conviction, Erdoğan was forced to give up his mayoral position. The conviction also stipulated a political ban, which prevented him from participating in parliamentary elections. He had appealed for the sentence to be converted to a monetary fine, but it was reduced to 120 days instead. In 2017, this period of Erdoğan's life was made into a film titled Reis. Justice and Development Party Erdoğan was member of political parties that kept getting banned by the army or judges. Within his Virtue Party, there was a dispute about the appropriate discourse of the party between traditional politicians and pro-reform politicians. The latter envisioned a party that could operate within the limits of the system, and thus not getting banned as its predecessors like National Order Party, National Salvation Party and Welfare Party. They wanted to give the group the character of an ordinary conservative party following the example of the European Christian democratic parties. When the Virtue Party was also banned in 2001, a definitive split took place: the followers of Necmettin Erbakan founded the Felicity Party (SP) and the reformers founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) under the leadership of Abdullah Gül and Erdoğan. The pro-reform politicians realized that a strictly Islamic party would never be accepted as a governing party by the state apparatus and they believed that an Islamic party did not appeal to more than about 20 percent of the Turkish electorate. The AK party emphatically placed itself as a broad democratic conservative party with new politicians from the political center (like Ali Babacan and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu), while respecting Islamic norms and values, but without an explicit religious program. This turned out to be successful as the new party won 34% of the vote in the general elections of 2002. Erdoğan became prime minister in March 2003 after the Gül government ended his political ban. Premiership (2003–2014) General elections The elections of 2002 were the first elections in which Erdoğan participated as a party leader. All parties previously elected to parliament failed to win enough votes to re-enter the parliament. The AKP won 34.3% of the national vote and formed the new government. Turkish stocks rose more than 7% on Monday morning. Politicians of the previous generation, such as Ecevit, Bahceli, Yılmaz and Çiller, resigned. The second largest party, the CHP, received 19.4% of the votes. The AKP won a landslide victory in the parliament, taking nearly two-thirds of the seats. Erdoğan could not become Prime Minister as he was still banned from politics by the judiciary for his speech in Siirt. Gül became the Prime Minister instead. In December 2002, the Supreme Election Board canceled the general election results from Siirt due to voting irregularities and scheduled a new election for 9 February 2003. By this time, party leader Erdoğan was able to run for parliament due to a legal change made possible by the opposition Republican People's Party. The AKP duly listed Erdoğan as a candidate for the rescheduled election, which he won, becoming Prime Minister after Gül handed over the post. On 14 April 2007, an estimated 300,000 people marched in Ankara to protest against the possible candidacy of Erdoğan in the 2007 presidential election, afraid that if elected as president, he would alter the secular nature of the Turkish state. Erdoğan announced on 24 April 2007 that the party had nominated Abdullah Gül as the AKP candidate in the presidential election. The protests continued over the next several weeks, with over one million people reported to have turned out at a 29 April rally in Istanbul, tens of thousands at separate protests on 4 May in Manisa and Çanakkale, and one million in İzmir on 13 May. The stage of the elections of 2007 was set for a fight for legitimacy in the eyes of voters between his government and the CHP. Erdoğan used the event that took place during the ill-fated Presidential elections a few months earlier as a part of the general election campaign of his party. On 22 July 2007, the AKP won an important victory over the opposition, garnering 46.7% of the popular vote. 22 July elections marked only the second time in the Republic of Turkey's history whereby an incumbent governing party won an election by increasing its share of popular support. On 14 March 2008, Turkey's Chief Prosecutor asked the country's Constitutional Court to ban Erdoğan's governing party. The party escaped a ban on 30 July 2008, a year after winning 46.7% of the vote in national elections, although judges did cut the party's public funding by 50%. In the June 2011 elections, Erdoğan's governing party won 327 seats (49.83% of the popular vote) making Erdoğan the only prime minister in Turkey's history to win three consecutive general elections, each time receiving more votes than the previous election. The second party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), received 135 seats (25.94%), the nationalist MHP received 53 seats (13.01%), and the Independents received 35 seats (6.58%). Referendums After the opposition parties deadlocked the 2007 presidential election by boycotting the parliament, the ruling AKP proposed a constitutional reform package. The reform package was first vetoed by president Sezer. Then he applied to the Turkish constitutional court about the reform package, because the president is unable to veto amendments for the second time. The Turkish constitutional court did not find any problems in the packet and 68.95% of the voters supported the constitutional changes. The reforms consisted of electing the president by popular vote instead of by parliament; reducing the presidential term from seven years to five; allowing the president to stand for re-election for a second term; holding general elections every four years instead of five; and reducing from 367 to 184 the quorum of lawmakers needed for parliamentary decisions. Reforming the Constitution was one of the main pledges of the AKP during the 2007 election campaign. The main opposition party CHP was not interested in altering the Constitution on a big scale, making it impossible to form a Constitutional Commission (Anayasa Uzlaşma Komisyonu). The amendments lacked the two-thirds majority needed to become law instantly, but secured 336 votes in the 550-seat parliament – enough to put the proposals to a referendum. The reform package included a number of issues such as the right of individuals to appeal to the highest court, the creation of the ombudsman's office; the possibility to negotiate a nationwide labour contract; gender equality; the ability of civilian courts to convict members of the military; the right of civil servants to go on strike; a privacy law; and the structure of the Constitutional Court. The referendum was agreed by a majority of 58%. Domestic Policy Kurdish issue In 2009, Prime Minister Erdoğan's government announced a plan to help end the quarter-century-long Turkey–Kurdistan Workers' Party conflict that had cost more than 40,000 lives. The government's plan, supported by the European Union, intended to allow the Kurdish language to be used in all broadcast media and political campaigns, and restored Kurdish names to cities and towns that had been given Turkish ones. Erdoğan said, "We took a courageous step to resolve chronic issues that constitute an obstacle along Turkey's development, progression and empowerment". Erdoğan passed a partial amnesty to reduce penalties faced by many members of the Kurdish guerrilla movement PKK who had surrendered to the government. On 23 November 2011, during a televised meeting of his party in Ankara, he apologised on behalf of the state for the Dersim massacre, where many Alevis and Zazas were killed. In 2013 the government of Erdoğan began a peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish Government, mediated by parliamentarians of the Peoples' Democratic party (HDP). In 2015 he decided that the peace process was over and supported the lift of the parliamentary immunity of the HDP parliamentarians. During his presidency a law was introduced which banned the use of the word Kurdistan in parliament and in a speech he held for the local election of 2019 he told the HDP politicians that if there is no Kurdistan in Turkey and if they looked for one they should go to Northern Iraq. Armenian genocide Prime Minister Erdoğan expressed multiple times that Turkey would acknowledge the mass killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide only after a thorough investigation by a joint Turkish-Armenian commission consisting of historians, archaeologists, political scientists and other experts. In 2005, Erdoğan and the main opposition party leader Deniz Baykal wrote a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, proposing the creation of a joint Turkish-Armenian commission. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian rejected the offer because he asserted that the proposal itself was "insincere and not serious". He added: "This issue cannot be considered at historical level with Turks, who themselves politicized the problem". In December 2008, Erdoğan criticised the I Apologize campaign by Turkish intellectuals to recognize the Armenian Genocide, saying, "I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologise ... It will not have any benefit other than stirring up trouble, disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have been taken". In November 2009, he said, "it is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide". In 2011, Erdoğan ordered the tearing-down of the Statue of Humanity, a Turkish–Armenian friendship monument in Kars, which was commissioned in 2006 and represented a metaphor of the rapprochement of the two countries after many years of dispute over the events of 1915. Erdoğan justified the removal by stating that the monument was offensively close to the tomb of an 11th-century Islamic scholar, and that its shadow ruined the view of that site, while Kars municipality officials said it was illegally erected in a protected area. However, the former mayor of Kars who approved the original construction of the monument said the municipality was destroying not just a "monument to humanity" but "humanity itself". The demolition was not unopposed; among its detractors were several Turkish artists. Two of them, the painter Bedri Baykam and his associate, Pyramid Art Gallery general coordinator Tugba Kurtulmus, were stabbed after a meeting with other artists at the Istanbul Akatlar cultural center. On 23 April 2014, Erdoğan's office issued a statement in nine languages (including two dialects of Armenian), offering condolences for the mass killings of Armenians and stating that the events of 1915 had inhumane consequences. The statement described the mass killings as the two nations' shared pain and said: "Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences – such as relocation – during the First World War, (it) should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among one another". The Ottoman Parliament of 1915 had previously used the term "relocation" to describe the purpose of the Tehcir Law, which resulted in the deaths of anywhere between 800,000 and over 1,800,000 Armenian civilians in what is commonly referred to as the Armenian Genocide. Pope Francis in April 2015, at a special mass in St. Peter's Basilica marking the centenary of the events, described atrocities against Armenian civilians in 1915–1922 as "the first genocide of the 20th century". In protest, Erdoğan recalled the Turkish ambassador from the Vatican, and summoned the Vatican's ambassador, to express "disappointment" at what he called a discriminatory message. He later stated "we don’t carry a stain or a shadow like genocide". US President Barack Obama called for a "full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts", but again stopped short of labelling it "genocide", despite his campaign promise to do so. Human rights During Erdoğan's time as Prime Minister, the far-reaching powers of the 1991 Anti-Terror Law were reduced and the Democratic initiative process was initiated, with the goal to improve democratic standards in general and the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in particular. However, after Turkey's bid to join the European Union stalled, European officials noted a return to more authoritarian ways, notably on freedom of speech, freedom of the press and Kurdish minority rights. Demands by activists for the recognition of LGBT rights were publicly rejected by government members, and members of the Turkish LGBT community were insulted by cabinet members. Reporters Without Borders observed a continuous decrease in Freedom of the Press during Erdoğan's later terms, with a rank of around 100 on the Press Freedom Index during his first term and a rank of 153 out of a total of 179 countries in 2021. Freedom House saw a slight recovery in later years and awarded Turkey a Press Freedom Score of 55/100 in 2012 after a low point of 48/100 in 2006. In 2011, Erdoğan's government made legal reforms to return properties of Christian and Jewish minorities which were seized by the Turkish government in the 1930s. The total value of the properties returned reached $2 billion (USD). Under Erdoğan, the Turkish government tightened the laws on the sale and consumption of alcohol, banning all advertising and increasing the tax on alcoholic beverages. Economy In 2002, Erdoğan inherited a Turkish economy that was beginning to recover from a recession as a result of reforms implemented by Kemal Derviş. Erdoğan supported Finance Minister Ali Babacan in enforcing macro-economic policies. Erdoğan tried to attract more foreign investors to Turkey and lifted many government regulations. The cash-flow into the Turkish economy between 2002 and 2012 caused a growth of 64% in real GDP and a 43% increase in GDP per capita; considerably higher numbers were commonly advertised but these did not account for the inflation of the US dollar between 2002 and 2012. The average annual growth in GDP per capita was 3.6%. The growth in real GDP between 2002 and 2012 was higher than the values from developed countries, but was close to average when developing countries are also taken into account. The ranking of the Turkish economy in terms of GDP moved slightly from 17 to 16 during this decade. A major consequence of the policies between 2002 and 2012 was the widening of the current account deficit from US$600 million to US$58 billion (2013 est.) Since 1961, Turkey has signed 19 IMF loan accords. Erdoğan's government satisfied the budgetary and market requirements of the two during his administration and received every loan installment, the only time any Turkish government has done so. Erdoğan inherited a debt of $23.5 billion to the IMF, which was reduced to $0.9 billion in 2012. He decided not to sign a new deal. Turkey's debt to the IMF was thus declared to be completely paid and he announced that the IMF could borrow from Turkey. In 2010, five-year credit default swaps for Turkey's sovereign debt were trading at a record low of 1.17%, below those of nine EU member countries and Russia. In 2002, the Turkish Central Bank had $26.5 billion in reserves. This amount reached $92.2 billion in 2011. During Erdoğan's leadership, inflation fell from 32% to 9.0% in 2004. Since then, Turkish inflation has continued to fluctuate around 9% and is still one of the highest inflation rates in the world. The Turkish public debt as a percentage of annual GDP declined from 74% in 2002 to 39% in 2009. In 2012, Turkey had a lower ratio of public debt to GDP than 21 of 27 members of the European Union and a lower budget deficit to GDP ratio than 23 of them. In 2003, Erdoğan's government pushed through the Labor Act, a comprehensive reform of Turkey's labor laws. The law greatly expanded the rights of employees, establishing a 45-hour workweek and limiting overtime work to 270 hours a year, provided legal protection against discrimination due to sex, religion, or political affiliation, prohibited discrimination between permanent and temporary workers, entitled employees terminated without "valid cause" to compensation, and mandated written contracts for employment arrangements lasting a year or more. Education Erdoğan increased the budget of the Ministry of Education from 7.5 billion lira in 2002 to 34 billion lira in 2011, the highest share of the national budget given to one ministry. Before his prime ministership the military received the highest share of the national budget. Compulsory education was increased from eight years to twelve. In 2003, the Turkish government, together with UNICEF, initiated a campaign called "Come on girls, [let's go] to school!" (). The goal of this campaign was to close the gender gap in primary school enrollment through the provision of a quality basic education for all girls, especially in southeast Turkey. In 2005, the parliament granted amnesty to students expelled from universities before 2003. The amnesty applied to students dismissed on academic or disciplinary grounds. In 2004, textbooks became free of charge and since 2008 every province in Turkey has its own university. During Erdoğan's Premiership, the number of universities in Turkey nearly doubled, from 98 in 2002 to 186 in October 2012. The Prime Minister kept his campaign promises by starting the Fatih project in which all state schools, from preschool to high school level, received a total of 620,000 smart boards, while tablet computers were distributed to 17 million students and approximately one million teachers and administrators. In June 2017 a draft proposal by the ministry of education was approved by Erdoğan, in which the curriculum for schools excluded the teaching of the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin by 2019. From then on the teaching will be postponed and start at undergraduate level. Infrastructure Under Erdoğan's government, the number of airports in Turkey increased from 26 to 50 in the period of 10 years. Between the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and 2002, there had been 6,000 km of dual carriageway roads created. Between 2002 and 2011, another 13,500 km of expressway were built. Due to these measures, the number of motor accidents fell by 50 percent. For the first time in Turkish history, high speed railway lines were constructed, and the country's high-speed train service began in 2009. In 8 years, 1,076 km of railway were built and 5,449 km of railway renewed. The construction of Marmaray, an undersea rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait, started in 2004. It was inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the Turkish Republic 29 October 2013. The inauguration of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third bridge over the Bosphorus, was on 26 August 2016. Justice In March 2006, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) held a press conference to publicly protest the obstruction of the appointment of judges to the high courts for over 10 months. The HSYK said Erdoğan wanted to fill the vacant posts with his own appointees. Erdoğan was accused of creating a rift with Turkey's highest court of appeal, the Yargıtay, and high administrative court, the Danıştay. Erdoğan stated that the constitution gave the power to assign these posts to his elected party. In May 2007, the head of Turkey's High Court asked prosecutors to consider whether Erdoğan should be charged over critical comments regarding the election of Abdullah Gül as president. Erdoğan said the ruling was "a disgrace to the justice system", and criticized the Constitutional Court which had invalidated a presidential vote because a boycott by other parties meant there was no quorum. Prosecutors investigated his earlier comments, including saying it had fired a "bullet at democracy". Tülay Tuğcu, head of the Constitutional Court, condemned Erdoğan for "threats, insults and hostility" towards the justice system. Civil–military relations The Turkish military has had a record of intervening in politics, having removed elected governments four times in the past. During the Erdoğan government, civil–military relationship moved towards normalization in which the influence of the military in politics was significantly reduced. The ruling Justice and Development Party has often faced off against the military, gaining political power by challenging a pillar of the country's laicistic establishment. The most significant issue that caused deep fissures between the army and the government was the midnight e-memorandum posted on the military's website objecting to the selection of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül as the ruling party's candidate for the Presidency in 2007. The military argued that the election of Gül, whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf, could undermine the laicistic order of the country. Contrary to expectations, the government responded harshly to former Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt's e-memorandum, stating the military had nothing to do with the selection of the presidential candidate. Health care After assuming power in 2003, Erdoğan's government embarked on a sweeping reform program of the Turkish healthcare system, called the Health Transformation Program (HTP), to greatly increase the quality of healthcare and protect all citizens from financial risks. Its introduction coincided with the period of sustained economic growth, allowing the Turkish government to put greater investments into the healthcare system. As part of the reforms, the "Green Card" program, which provides health benefits to the poor, was expanded in 2004. The reform program aimed at increasing the ratio of private to state-run healthcare, which, along with long queues in state-run hospitals, resulted in the rise of private medical care in Turkey, forcing state-run hospitals to compete by increasing quality. In April 2006, Erdoğan unveiled a social security reform package demanded by the International Monetary Fund under a loan deal. The move, which Erdoğan called one of the most radical reforms ever, was passed with fierce opposition. Turkey's three social security bodies were united under one roof, bringing equal health services and retirement benefits for members of all three bodies. The previous system had been criticized for reserving the best healthcare for civil servants and relegating others to wait in long queues. Under the second bill, everyone under the age of 18 years was entitled to free health services, irrespective of whether they pay premiums to any social security organization. The bill also envisages a gradual increase in the retirement age: starting from 2036, the retirement age will increase to 65 by 2048 for both women and men. In January 2008, the Turkish Parliament adopted a law to prohibit smoking in most public places. Erdoğan is outspokenly anti-smoking. Foreign policy Turkish foreign policy during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister has been associated with the name of Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu was the chief foreign policy advisor of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before he was appointed foreign minister in 2009. The basis of Erdoğan's foreign policy is based on the principle of "don't make enemies, make friends" and the pursuit of "zero problems" with neighboring countries. Erdoğan is co-founder of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (AOC). The initiative seeks to galvanize international action against extremism through the forging of international, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation. European Union When Erdoğan came to power, he continued Turkey's long ambition of joining the European Union. On 3 October 2005 negotiations began for Turkey's accession to the European Union. Erdoğan was named "The European of the Year 2004" by the newspaper European Voice for the reforms in his country in order to accomplish the accession of Turkey to the European Union. He said in a comment that "Turkey's accession shows that Europe is a continent where civilisations reconcile and not clash." On 3 October 2005, the negotiations for Turkey's accession to the EU formally started during Erdoğan's tenure as Prime Minister. The European Commission generally supports Erdoğan's reforms, but remains critical of his policies. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize EU member state Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus dispute Relations between Greece and Turkey were normalized during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister. In May 2004, Erdoğan became the first Turkish Prime Minister to visit Greece since 1988, and the first to visit the Turkish minority of Thrace since 1952. In 2007, Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis inaugurated the Greek-Turkish natural gas pipeline giving Caspian gas its first direct Western outlet. Turkey and Greece signed an agreement to create a Combined Joint Operational Unit within the framework of NATO to participate in Peace Support Operations. Erdoğan and his party strongly supported the EU-backed referendum to reunify Cyprus in 2004. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships as a consequence of the economic isolation of the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the failure of the EU to end the isolation, as it had promised in 2004. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize the Republic of Cyprus. Armenia Armenia is Turkey's only neighbor which Erdoğan has not visited during his premiership. The Turkish-Armenian border has been closed since 1993 because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Turkey's close ally Azerbaijan. Diplomatic efforts resulted in the signing of protocols between Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers in Switzerland to improve relations between the two countries. One of the points of the agreement was the creation of a joint commission on the issue. The Armenian Constitutional Court decided that the commission contradicts the Armenian constitution. Turkey responded saying that Armenian court's ruling on the protocols is not acceptable, resulting in a suspension of the rectification process by the Turkish side. Erdoğan has said that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan should apologize for calling on school children to re-occupy eastern Turkey. When asked by a student at a literature contest ceremony if Armenians will be able to get back their "western territories" along with Mt. Ararat, Sarksyan said, "This is the task of your generation". Russia In December 2004, President Putin visited Turkey, making it the first presidential visit in the history of Turkish-Russian relations besides that of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Nikolai Podgorny in 1972. In November 2005, Putin attended the inauguration of a jointly constructed Blue Stream natural gas pipeline in Turkey. This sequence of top-level visits has brought several important bilateral issues to the forefront. The two countries consider it their strategic goal to achieve "multidimensional co-operation", especially in the fields of energy, transport and the military. Specifically, Russia aims to invest in Turkey's fuel and energy industries, and it also expects to participate in tenders for the modernisation of Turkey's military. The relations during this time are described by President Medvedev as "Turkey is one of our most important partners with respect to regional and international issues. We can confidently say that Russian-Turkish relations have advanced to the level of a multidimensional strategic partnership". In May 2010, Turkey and Russia signed 17 agreements to enhance cooperation in energy and other fields, including pacts to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant and further plans for an oil pipeline from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The leaders of both countries also signed an agreement on visa-free travel, enabling tourists to get into the other country for free and stay there for up to 30 days. United States When Barack Obama became President of United States, he made his first overseas bilateral meeting to Turkey in April 2009. At a joint news conference in Turkey, Obama said: "I'm trying to make a statement about the importance of Turkey, not just to the United States but to the world. I think that where there's the most promise of building stronger U.S.-Turkish relations is in the recognition that Turkey and the United States can build a model partnership in which a predominantly Christian nation, a predominantly Muslim nation – a Western nation and a nation that straddles two continents," he continued, "that we can create a modern international community that is respectful, that is secure, that is prosperous, that there are not tensions – inevitable tensions between cultures – which I think is extraordinarily important." Iraq Turkey under Erdoğan was named by the Bush Administration as a part of the "coalition of the willing" that was central to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On 1 March 2003, a motion allowing Turkish military to participate in the U.S-led coalition's invasion of Iraq, along with the permission for foreign troops to be stationed in Turkey for this purpose, was overruled by the Turkish Parliament. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq and Turkey signed 48 trade agreements on issues including security, energy, and water. The Turkish government attempted to mend relations with Iraqi Kurdistan by opening a Turkish university in Erbil, and a Turkish consulate in Mosul. Erdoğan's government fostered economic and political relations with Irbil, and Turkey began to consider the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq as an ally against Maliki's government. Israel Erdoğan visited Israel on 1 May 2005, a gesture unusual for a leader of a Muslim majority country. During his trip, Erdoğan visited the Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The President of Israel Shimon Peres addressed the Turkish parliament during a visit in 2007, the first time an Israeli leader had addressed the legislature of a predominantly Muslim nation. Their relationship worsened at the 2009 World Economic Forum conference over Israel's actions during the Gaza War. Erdoğan was interrupted by the moderator while he was responding to Peres. Erdoğan stated: "Mister Peres, you are older than I am. Maybe you are feeling guilty and that is why you are raising your voice. When it comes to killing you know it too well. I remember how you killed the children on beaches..." Upon the moderator's reminder that they needed to adjourn for dinner, Erdoğan left the panel, accusing the moderator of giving Peres more time than all the other panelists combined. Tensions increased further following the Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010. Erdoğan strongly condemned the raid, describing it as "state terrorism", and demanded an Israeli apology. In February 2013, Erdoğan called Zionism a "crime against humanity", comparing it to Islamophobia, antisemitism, and fascism. He later retracted the statement, saying he had been misinterpreted. He said "everyone should know" that his comments were directed at "Israeli policies", especially as regards to "Gaza and the settlements." Erdoğan's statements were criticized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, among others. In August 2013, the Hürriyet reported that Erdoğan had claimed to have evidence of Israel's responsibility for the removal of Morsi from office in Egypt. The Israeli and Egyptian governments dismissed the suggestion. In response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. He also stated that "If Israel continues with this attitude, it will definitely be tried at international courts." Syria During Erdoğan's term of office, diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria significantly deteriorated. In 2004, President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Turkey for the first official visit by a Syrian President in 57 years. In late 2004, Erdoğan signed a free trade agreement with Syria. Visa restrictions between the two countries were lifted in 2009, which caused an economic boom in the regions near the Syrian border. However, in 2011 the relationship between the two countries was strained following the outbreak of conflict in Syria. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he was trying to "cultivate a favorable relationship with whatever government would take the place of Assad". However, he began to support the opposition in Syria, after demonstrations turned violent, creating a serious Syrian refugee problem in Turkey. Erdoğan's policy of providing military training for anti-Damascus fighters has also created conflict with Syria's ally and a neighbour of Turkey, Iran. Saudi Arabia In August 2006, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz as-Saud made a visit to Turkey. This was the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Turkey in the last four decades. The monarch made a second visit, on 9 November 2007. Turk-Saudi trade volume has exceeded 3.2 billion in 2006, almost double the figure achieved in 2003. In 2009, this amount reached 5.5 billion and the goal for the year 2010 was 10 billion. Erdoğan condemned the Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain and characterized the Saudi movement as "a new Karbala." He demanded withdrawal of Saudi forces from Bahrain. Egypt Erdoğan had made his first official visit to Egypt on 12 September 2011, accompanied by six ministers and 200 businessmen. This visit was made very soon after Turkey had ejected Israeli ambassadors, cutting off all diplomatic relations with Israel because Israel refused to apologize for the Gaza flotilla raid which killed eight Turkish and one Turco-American. Erdoğan's visit to Egypt was met with much enthusiasm by Egyptians. CNN reported some Egyptians saying "We consider him as the Islamic leader in the Middle East", while others were appreciative of his role in supporting Gaza. Erdoğan was later honored in Tahrir Square by members of the Egyptian Revolution Youth Union, and members of the Turkish embassy were presented with a coat of arms in acknowledgment of the Prime Minister's support of the Egyptian Revolution. Erdoğan stated in a 2011 interview that he supported secularism for Egypt, which generated an angry reaction among Islamic movements, especially the Freedom and Justice Party, which was the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. However, commentators suggest that by forming an alliance with the military junta during Egypt's transition to democracy, Erdoğan may have tipped the balance in favor of an authoritarian government. Erdoğan condemned the sit-in dispersals conducted by Egyptian police on 14 August 2013 at the Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares, where violent clashes between police officers and pro-Morsi Islamist protesters led to hundreds of deaths, mostly protesters. In July 2014, one year after the removal of Mohamed Morsi from office, Erdoğan described Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as an "illegitimate tyrant". Somalia Erdoğan's administration maintains strong ties with the Somali government. During the drought of 2011, Erdoğan's government contributed over $201 million to humanitarian relief efforts in the impacted parts of Somalia. Following a greatly improved security situation in Mogadishu in mid-2011, the Turkish government also re-opened its foreign embassy with the intention of more effectively assisting in the post-conflict development process. It was among the first foreign governments to resume formal diplomatic relations with Somalia after the civil war. In May 2010, the Turkish and Somali governments signed a military training agreement, in keeping with the provisions outlined in the Djibouti Peace Process. Turkish Airlines became the first long-distance international commercial airline in two decades to resume flights to and from Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport. Turkey also launched various development and infrastructure projects in Somalia including building several hospitals and helping renovate the National Assembly building. Protests 2013 Gezi Park protests against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdoğan and his policies, starting from a small sit-in in Istanbul in defense of a city park. After the police's intense reaction with tear gas, the protests grew each day. Faced by the largest mass protest in a decade, Erdoğan made this controversial remark in a televised speech: "The police were there yesterday, they are there today, and they will be there tomorrow". After weeks of clashes in the streets of Istanbul, his government at first apologized to the protestors and called for a plebiscite, but then ordered a crackdown on the protesters. Presidency (2014–present) Erdoğan took the oath of office on 28 August 2014 and became the 12th president of Turkey. He administered the new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's oath on 29 August. When asked about his lower-than-expected 51.79% share of the vote, he allegedly responded, "there were even those who did not like the Prophet. I, however, won 52%". Assuming the role of President, Erdoğan was criticized for openly stating that he would not maintain the tradition of presidential neutrality. Erdoğan has also stated his intention to pursue a more active role as president, such as utilising the President's rarely used cabinet-calling powers. The political opposition has argued that Erdoğan will continue to pursue his own political agenda, controlling the government, while his new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would be docile and submissive. Furthermore, the domination of loyal Erdoğan supporters in Davutoğlu's cabinet fuelled speculation that Erdoğan intended to exercise substantial control over the government. Presidential elections On 1 July 2014, Erdoğan was named the AKP's presidential candidate in the Turkish presidential election. His candidacy was announced by the Deputy President of the AKP, Mehmet Ali Şahin. Erdoğan made a speech after the announcement and used the 'Erdoğan logo' for the first time. The logo was criticised because it was very similar to the logo that U.S. President Barack Obama used in the 2008 presidential election. Erdoğan was elected as the President of Turkey in the first round of the election with 51.79% of the vote, obviating the need for a run-off by winning over 50%. The joint candidate of the CHP, MHP and 13 other opposition parties, former Organisation of Islamic Co-operation general secretary Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu won 38.44% of the vote. The pro-Kurdish HDP candidate Selahattin Demirtaş won 9.76%. The 2018 Turkish presidential election took place as part of the 2018 general election, alongside parliamentary elections on the same day. Following the approval of constitutional changes in a referendum held in 2017, the elected President will be both the head of state and head of government of Turkey, taking over the latter role from the to-be-abolished office of the Prime Minister. Incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared his candidacy for the People's Alliance (Turkish: Cumhur İttifakı) on 27 April 2018. Erdoğan's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, nominated Muharrem İnce, a member of the parliament known for his combative opposition and spirited speeches against Erdoğan. Besides these candidates, Meral Akşener, the founder and leader of İyi Party, Temel Karamollaoğlu, the leader of the Felicity Party and Doğu Perinçek, the leader of the Patriotic Party, have announced their candidacies and collected the 100,000 signatures required for nomination. The alliance which Erdoğan was candidate for won 52.59% of the popular vote. Referendum In April 2017, a constitutional referendum was held, where the voters in Turkey (and Turkish citizens abroad) approved a set of 18 proposed amendments to the Constitution of Turkey. The amendments included the replacement of the existing parliamentary system with a presidential system. The post of Prime Minister would be abolished, and the presidency would become an executive post vested with broad executive powers. The parliament seats would be increased from 550 to 600 and the age of candidacy to the parliament was lowered from 25 to 18. The referendum also called for changes to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors. Local elections In the 2019 local elections, the ruling party AKP lost control of Istanbul and Ankara for the first time in 25 years, as well as 5 of Turkey's 6 largest cities. The loss has been widely attributed to Erdoğan's mismanagement of the Turkish economic crisis, rising authoritarianism as well as the alleged government inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis. Soon after the elections, Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey ordered a re-election in Istanbul, cancelling Ekrem İmamoğlu's mayoral certificate. The decision led to a significant decrease of Erdoğan's and AKP's popularity and his party lost the elections again in June with a greater margin. The result was seen as a huge blow to Erdoğan, who had once said that if his party 'lost Istanbul, we would lose Turkey. The opposition's victory was characterised as 'the beginning of the end' for Erdoğan', with international commentators calling the re-run a huge government miscalculation that led to a potential İmamoğlu candidacy in the next scheduled presidential election. It is suspected that the scale of the government's defeat could provoke a cabinet reshuffle and early general elections, currently scheduled for June 2023. The New Zealand and Australian governments and opposition CHP party have criticized Erdoğan after he repeatedly showed video taken by the Christchurch mosque shooter to his supporters at campaign rallies for 31 March local elections and said Australians and New Zealanders who came to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments "would be sent back in coffins like their grandfathers" at Gallipoli. Domestic policy Presidential palace Erdoğan has also received criticism for the construction of a new palace called Ak Saray (pure white palace), which occupies approximately 50 acres of Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ) in Ankara. Since the AOÇ is protected land, several court orders were issued to halt the construction of the new palace, though building work went on nonetheless. The opposition described the move as a clear disregard for the rule of law. The project was subject to heavy criticism and allegations were made; of corruption during the construction process, wildlife destruction and the complete obliteration of the zoo in the AOÇ in order to make way for the new compound. The fact that the palace is technically illegal has led to it being branded as the 'Kaç-Ak Saray', the word kaçak in Turkish meaning 'illegal'. Ak Saray was originally designed as a new office for the Prime Minister. However, upon assuming the presidency, Erdoğan announced that the palace would become the new Presidential Palace, while the Çankaya Mansion will be used by the Prime Minister instead. The move was seen as a historic change since the Çankaya Mansion had been used as the iconic office of the presidency ever since its inception. The Ak Saray has almost 1,000 rooms and cost $350 million (€270 million), leading to huge criticism at a time when mining accidents and workers' rights had been dominating the agenda. On 29 October 2014, Erdoğan was due to hold a Republic Day reception in the new palace to commemorate the 91st anniversary of the Republic of Turkey and to officially inaugurate the Presidential Palace. However, after most invited participants announced that they would boycott the event and a mining accident occurred in the district of Ermenek in Karaman, the reception was cancelled. The media President Erdoğan and his government continue to press for court action against the remaining free press in Turkey. The latest newspaper that has been seized is Zaman, in March 2016. After the seizure Morton Abramowitz and Eric Edelman, former U.S. ambassadors to Turkey, condemned President Erdoğan's actions in an opinion piece published by The Washington Post: "Clearly, democracy cannot flourish under Erdoğan now". "The overall pace of reforms in Turkey has not only slowed down but in some key areas, such as freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary, there has been a regression, which is particularly worrying", rapporteur Kati Piri said in April 2016 after the European Parliament passed its annual progress report on Turkey. On 22 June 2016, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that he considered himself successful in "destroying" Turkish civil groups "working against the state", a conclusion that had been confirmed some days earlier by Sedat Laçiner, Professor of International Relations and rector of the Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University: "Outlawing unarmed and peaceful opposition, sentencing people to unfair punishment under erroneous terror accusations, will feed genuine terrorism in Erdoğan’s Turkey. Guns and violence will become the sole alternative for legally expressing free thought". After the coup attempt, over 200 journalists were arrested and over 120 media outlets were closed. Cumhuriyet journalists were detained in November 2016 after a long-standing crackdown on the newspaper. Subsequently, Reporters Without Borders called Erdoğan an "enemy of press freedom" and said that he "hides his aggressive dictatorship under a veneer of democracy". In April 2017, Turkey blocked all access to Wikipedia over a content dispute. The Turkish government lifted a two-and-a-half-year ban on Wikipedia on 15 January 2020, restoring access to the online encyclopedia a month after Turkey's top court ruled that blocking Wikipedia was unconstitutional. On 1 July 2020, in a statement made to his party members, Erdoğan announced that the government would introduce new measures and regulations to control or shut down social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Netflix. Through these new measures, each company would be required to appoint an official representative in the country to respond to legal concerns. The decision comes after a number of Twitter users insulted his daughter Esra after she welcomed her fourth child. State of emergency and purges On 20 July 2016, President Erdoğan declared the state of emergency, citing the coup d'état attempt as justification. It was first scheduled to last three months. The Turkish parliament approved this measure. The state of emergency was later extended for another three months, amidst the ongoing 2016 Turkish purges including comprehensive purges of independent media and detention of tens of thousands of Turkish citizens politically opposed to Erdoğan. More than 50,000 people have been arrested and over 160,000 fired from their jobs by March 2018. In August 2016, Erdoğan began rounding up journalists who had been publishing, or who were about to publish articles questioning corruption within the Erdoğan administration, and incarcerating them. The number of Turkish journalists jailed by Turkey is higher than any other country, including all of those journalists currently jailed in North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and China combined. In the wake of the coup attempt of July 2016 the Erdoğan administration began rounding up tens of thousands of individuals, both from within the government, and from the public sector, and incarcerating them on charges of alleged "terrorism". As a result of these arrests, many in the international community complained about the lack of proper judicial process in the incarceration of Erdoğan's opposition. In April 2017 Erdoğan successfully sponsored legislation effectively making it illegal for the Turkish legislative branch to investigate his executive branch of government. Without the checks and balances of freedom of speech, and the freedom of the Turkish legislature to hold him accountable for his actions, many have likened Turkey's current form of government to a dictatorship with only nominal forms of democracy in practice. At the time of Erdoğan's successful passing of the most recent legislation silencing his opposition, United States President Donald Trump called Erdoğan to congratulate him for his "recent referendum victory". On 29 April 2017 Erdoğan's administration began an internal Internet block of all of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia site via Turkey's domestic Internet filtering system. This blocking action took place after the government had first made a request for Wikipedia to remove what it referred to as "offensive content". In response, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales replied via a post on Twitter stating, "Access to information is a fundamental human right. Turkish people, I will always stand with you and fight for this right." In January 2016, more than a thousand academics signed a petition criticizing Turkey's military crackdown on ethnic Kurdish towns and neighborhoods in the east of the country, such as Sur (a district of Diyarbakır), Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre and Silopi, and asking an end to violence. Erdoğan accused those who signed the petition of "terrorist propaganda", calling them "the darkest of people". He called for action by institutions and universities, stating, "Everyone who benefits from this state but is now an enemy of the state must be punished without further delay". Within days, over 30 of the signatories were arrested, many in dawn-time raids on their homes. Although all were quickly released, nearly half were fired from their jobs, eliciting a denunciation from Turkey's Science Academy for such "wrong and disturbing" treatment. Erdoğan vowed that the academics would pay the price for "falling into a pit of treachery". On 8 July 2018, Erdoğan sacked 18,000 officials for alleged ties to US based cleric Fethullah Gülen, shortly before renewing his term as an executive president. Of those removed, 9000 were police officers with 5000 from the armed forces with the addition of hundreds of academics. Foreign policy Europe In February 2016, Erdoğan threatened to send the millions of refugees in Turkey to EU member states, saying: "We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses ... So how will you deal with refugees if you don't get a deal?" In an interview to the news magazine Der Spiegel, German minister of defence Ursula von der Leyen said on 11 March 2016 that the refugee crisis had made good cooperation between EU and Turkey an "existentially important" issue. "Therefore it is right to advance now negotiations on Turkey's EU accession". In its resolution "The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey" from 22 June 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe warned that "recent developments in Turkey pertaining to freedom of the media and of expression, erosion of the rule of law and the human rights violations in relation to anti-terrorism security operations in south-east Turkey have ... raised serious questions about the functioning of its democratic institutions". On 20 August 2016, Erdoğan told his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko that Turkey would not recognize the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea; calling it "Crimea's occupation". In January 2017, Erdoğan said that the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Cyprus is "out of the question" and Turkey will be in Cyprus "forever". There is a long-standing dispute between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea. Erdoğan warned that Greece will pay a "heavy price" if Turkey's gas exploration vessel – in what Turkey said are disputed waters – is attacked. In September 2020, Erdoğan declared his government's support for Azerbaijan following clashes between Armenian and Azeri forces over a disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. He dismissed demands for a ceasefire. Diaspora In March 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated to the Turks in Europe, "Make not three, but five children. Because you are the future of Europe. That will be the best response to the injustices against you." This has been interpreted as an imperialist call for demographic warfare. According to The Economist, Erdoğan is the first Turkish leader to take the Turkish diaspora seriously, which has created friction within these diaspora communities and between the Turkish government and several of its European counterparts. The Balkans In February 2018, President Erdoğan expressed Turkish support of the Republic of Macedonia's position during negotiations over the Macedonia naming dispute saying that Greece's position is wrong. In March 2018, President Erdoğan criticized the Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj for dismissing his Interior Minister and Intelligence Chief for failing to inform him of an unauthorized and illegal secret operation conducted by the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey on Kosovo's territory that led to the arrest of six people allegedly associated with the Gülen movement. On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck the Durrës region of Albania. President Erdoğan expressed his condolences. and citing close Albanian-Turkish relations, he committed Turkey to reconstructing 500 earthquake destroyed homes and other civic structures in Laç, Albania. In Istanbul, Erdoğan organised and attended a donors conference (8 December) to assist Albania that included Turkish businessmen, investors and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. United Kingdom In May 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed Erdoğan to the United Kingdom for a three-day state visit. Erdoğan declared that the United Kingdom is "an ally and a strategic partner, but also a real friend. The cooperation we have is well beyond any mechanism that we have established with other partners." Israel Relations between Turkey and Israel began to normalize after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu officially apologized for the death of the nine Turkish activists during the Gaza flotilla raid. However, in response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of being "more barbaric than Hitler", and conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. In December 2017, President Erdoğan issued a warning to Donald Trump, after the U.S. President acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Erdoğan stated, "Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims", indicating that naming Jerusalem as Israel's capital would alienate Palestinians and other Muslims from the city, undermining hopes at a future capital of a Palestinian State. Erdoğan called Israel a "terrorist state". Naftali Bennett dismissed the threats, claiming "Erdoğan does not miss an opportunity to attack Israel". In April 2019, Erdoğan said the West Bank belongs to Palestinians, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would annex Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if he is re-elected. Erdoğan condemned the Israel–UAE peace agreement, stating that Turkey was considering suspending or cutting off diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates in retaliation. Syrian Civil War Amid allegations of Turkish collaboration with the Islamic State, the 2014 Kobanî protests broke out near the Syrian border city of Kobanî, in protest against the government's perceived facilitation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during the Siege of Kobanî. 42 protestors were killed during a brutal police crackdown. Asserting that aid to the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Syria would assist the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) (then on ceasefire) in Turkey, Erdoğan held bilateral talks with Barack Obama regarding IS during the 5–6 September 2014 NATO summit in Newport, Wales. In early October, United States Vice President Joe Biden criticised the Turkish government for supplying jihadists in Syria and said Erdoğan had expressed regret to him about letting foreign jihadists transit through Turkey en route to Syria. Erdoğan angrily responded, "Biden has to apologize for his statements" adding that if no apology is made, Biden would become "history to me." Biden subsequently apologised. In response to the U.S. request to use İncirlik Air Base to conduct air strikes against IS, Erdoğan demanded that Bashar al-Assad be removed from power first. Turkey lost its bid for a Security Council seat in the United Nations during the 2014 election; the unexpected result is believed to have been a reaction to Erdoğan's hostile treatment of the Kurds fighting ISIS on the Syrian border and a rebuke of his willingness to support IS-aligned insurgents opposed to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In 2015, there were consistent allegations that Erdoğan maintained financial links with the Islamic State, including allegation of his son-in-law Berat Albayrak's involvement with oil production and smuggling in ISIL. Revelations that the state was supplying arms to militant groups in Syria in the 2014 National Intelligence Organisation lorry scandal led to accusations of high treason. In July 2015, Turkey became involved in the international military intervention against ISIL, simultaneously launching airstrikes against PKK bases in Iraqi Kurdistan. As of 2015, Turkey began openly supporting the Army of Conquest, a coalition of Syrian rebel groups that included al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham. In late November 2016, Erdoğan said that the Turkish military launched its operations in Syria to end Assad's rule, but retracted this statement shortly afterwards. In January 2018, the Turkish military and its Syrian National Army and Sham Legion allies began the Turkish military operation in Afrin in the Kurdish-majority Afrin Canton in Northern Syria, against the YPG. On 10 April, Erdoğan rejected a Russian demand to return Afrin to Syrian government control. In October 2019, after Erdoğan spoke to him, U.S. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, despite recently agreeing to a Northern Syria Buffer Zone. U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the border to avoid interference with the Turkish operation. After the U.S. pullout, Turkey proceeded to attack the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Rejecting criticism of the invasion, Erdoğan claimed that NATO and European Union countries "sided with terrorists, and all of them attacked us". China Bilateral trade between Turkey and China increased from $1 billion a year in 2002 to $27 billion annually in 2017. Erdoğan has stated that Turkey might consider joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation instead of the European Union. Qatar blockade In June 2017 during a speech, Erdoğan called the isolation of Qatar as "inhumane and against Islamic values" and that "victimising Qatar through smear campaigns serves no purpose". Myanmar In September 2017, Erdoğan condemned the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar and accused Myanmar of "genocide" against the Muslim minority. United States Over time, Turkey began to look for ways to buy its own missile defense system and also to use that procurement to build up its own capacity to manufacture and sell an air and missile defense system. Turkey got serious about acquiring a missile defense system early in the first Obama administration when it opened a competition between the Raytheon Patriot PAC 2 system and systems from Europe, Russia, and even China. Taking advantage of the new low in U.S.-Turkish relations, Putin saw his chance to use an S-400 sale to Turkey, so in July 2017, he offered the air defense system to Turkey. In the months that followed, the United States warned Turkey that a S-400 purchase jeopardized Turkey's F-35 purchase. Integration of the Russian system into the NATO air defense net was also out of the question. Administration officials, including Mark Esper, warned that Turkey had to choose between the S-400 and the F-35. That they couldn't have both. The S-400 deliveries to Turkey began on 12 July. On 16 July, Trump mentioned to reporters that withholding the F-35 from Turkey was unfair. Said the president, "So what happens is we have a situation where Turkey is very good with us, very good, and we are now telling Turkey that because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we’re not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets". The U.S. Congress has made clear on a bipartisan basis that it expects the president to sanction Turkey for buying Russian equipment. Out of the F-35, Turkey now considers buying Russian fifth-generation jet fighter Su-57. On 1 August 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned two senior Turkish government ministers who were involved in the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Erdoğan said that the U.S. behavior will force Turkey to look for new friends and allies. The U.S.–Turkey tensions appear to be the most serious diplomatic crisis between the NATO allies in years. Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton claimed that President Donald Trump told Erdoğan he would 'take care' of investigation against Turkey's state-owned bank Halkbank accused of bank fraud charges and laundering up to $20 billion on behalf of Iranian entities. Turkey criticized Bolton's book, saying it included misleading accounts of conversations between Trump and Erdoğan. In August 2020, the former vice president and presidential candidate Joe Biden called for a new U.S. approach to the "autocrat" President Erdoğan and support for Turkish opposition parties. In September 2020, Biden demanded that Erdoğan "stay out" of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in which Turkey has supported the Azeris. Venezuela Relations with Venezuela were strengthened with recent developments and high level mutual visits. The first official visit between the two countries at presidential level was in October 2017 when Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro visited Turkey. In December 2018, Erdoğan visited Venezuela for the first time and expressed his will to build strong relations with Venezuela and expressed hope that high-level visits "will increasingly continue." Reuters reported that in 2018 23 tons of mined gold were taken from Venezuela to Istanbul. In the first nine months of 2018, Venezuela's gold exports to Turkey rose from zero in the previous year to US$900 million. During the Venezuelan presidential crisis, Erdoğan voiced solidarity with Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and criticized U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, saying that "political problems cannot be resolved by punishing an entire nation." Following the 2019 Venezuelan uprising attempt, Erdoğan condemned the actions of lawmaker Juan Guaidó, tweeting "Those who are in an effort to appoint a postmodern colonial governor to Venezuela, where the President was appointed by elections and where the people rule, should know that only democratic elections can determine how a country is governed". Events Coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a coup d'état was attempted by the military, with aims to remove Erdoğan from government. By the next day, Erdoğan's government managed to reassert effective control in the country. Reportedly, no government official was arrested or harmed, which, among other factors, raised the suspicion of a false flag event staged by the government itself. Erdoğan, as well as other government officials, has blamed an exiled cleric, and a former ally of Erdoğan, Fethullah Gülen, for staging the coup attempt. Süleyman Soylu, Minister of Labor in Erdoğan's government, accused the US of planning a coup to oust Erdoğan. Erdoğan, as well as other high-ranking Turkish government officials, has issued repeated demands to the US to extradite Gülen. Following the coup attempt, there has been a significant deterioration in Turkey-US relations. European and other world leaders have expressed their concerns over the situation in Turkey, with many of them warning Erdoğan not to use the coup attempt as an excuse to crack down on his opponents. The rise of ISIS and the collapse of the Kurdish peace process had led to a sharp rise in terror incidents in Turkey until 2016. Erdoğan was accused by his critics of having a 'soft corner' for ISIS. However, after the attempted coup, Erdoğan ordered the Turkish military into Syria to combat ISIS and Kurdish militant groups. Erdoğan's critics have decried purges in the education system and judiciary as undermining the rule of law however Erdoğan supporters argue this is a necessary measure as Gulen-linked schools cheated on entrance exams, requiring a purge in the education system and of the Gulen followers who then entered the judiciary. Erdoğan's plan is "to reconstitute Turkey as a presidential system. The plan would create a centralized system that would enable him to better tackle Turkey's internal and external threats. One of the main hurdles allegedly standing in his way is Fethullah Gulen's movement ..." In the aftermath of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, a groundswell of national unity and consensus emerged for cracking down on the coup plotters with a National Unity rally held in Turkey that included Islamists, secularists, liberals and nationalists. Erdoğan has used this consensus to remove Gulen's followers from the bureaucracy, curtail their role in NGOs, Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Turkish military, with 149 Generals discharged. In a foreign policy shift Erdoğan ordered the Turkish Armed Forces into battle in Syria and has liberated towns from IS control. As relations with Europe soured over in the aftermath of the attempted coup, Erdoğan developed alternative relationships with Russia, Saudi Arabia and a "strategic partnership" with Pakistan, with plans to cultivate relations through free trade agreements and deepening military relations for mutual co-operation with Turkey's regional allies. 2018 currency and debt crisis The Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018 was caused by the Turkish economy's excessive current account deficit and foreign-currency debt, in combination with Erdoğan's increasing authoritarianism and his unorthodox ideas about interest rate policy. Economist Paul Krugman described the unfolding crisis as "a classic currency-and-debt crisis, of a kind we’ve seen many times", adding: "At such a time, the quality of leadership suddenly matters a great deal. You need officials who understand what's happening, can devise a response and have enough credibility that markets give them the benefit of the doubt. Some emerging markets have those things, and they are riding out the turmoil fairly well. The Erdoğan regime has none of that". Ideology and public image Early during his premiership, Erdoğan was praised as a role model for emerging Middle Eastern nations due to several reform packages initiated by his government which expanded religious freedoms and minority rights as part of accession negotiations with the European Union. However, his government underwent several crises including the Sledgehammer coup and the Ergenekon trials, corruption scandals, accusations of media intimidation, as well as the pursuit of an increasingly polarizing political agenda; the opposition accused the government of inciting political hatred throughout the country. Critics say that Erdoğan's government legitimizes homophobia, as Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". Neo-Ottomanism As President, Erdoğan has overseen a revival of Ottoman tradition, greeting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas with an Ottoman-style ceremony in the new presidential palace, with guards dressed in costumes representing founders of 16 Great Turkish Empires in history. While serving as the Prime Minister of Turkey, Erdoğan's AKP made references to the Ottoman era during election campaigns, such as calling their supporters 'grandsons of Ottomans' (Osmanlı torunu). This proved controversial, since it was perceived to be an open attack against the republican nature of modern Turkey founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In 2015, Erdoğan made a statement in which he endorsed the old Ottoman term külliye to refer to university campuses rather than the standard Turkish word kampüs. Many critics have thus accused Erdoğan of wanting to become an Ottoman sultan and abandon the secular and democratic credentials of the Republic. One of the most cited scholars alive, Noam Chomsky, said that "Erdogan in Turkey is basically trying to create something like the Ottoman Caliphate, with him as caliph, supreme leader, throwing his weight around all over the place, and destroying the remnants of democracy in Turkey at the same time". When pressed on this issue in January 2015, Erdoğan denied these claims and said that he would aim to be more like Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom rather than like an Ottoman sultan. In July 2020, after the Council of State annulled the Cabinet's 1934 decision to establish the Hagia Sophia as museum and revoking the monument's status, Erdoğan ordered its reclassification as a mosque. The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia's waqf, endowed by Sultan Mehmed II, had designated the site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan. This redesignation is controversial, invoking condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO, the World Council of Churches, the Holy See, and many other international leaders. In August 2020, he also signed the order that transferred the administration of the Chora Church to the Directorate of Religious Affairs to open it for worship as a mosque. Initially converted to a mosque by the Ottomans, the building had then been designated as a museum by the government since 1934. Authoritarianism Erdoğan has served as the de facto leader of Turkey since 2002. In response to criticism, Erdoğan made a speech in May 2014 denouncing allegations of dictatorship, saying that the leader of the opposition, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was there at the speech, would not be able to "roam the streets" freely if he were a dictator. Kılıçdaroğlu responded that political tensions would cease to exist if Erdoğan stopped making his polarising speeches for three days. One observer said it was a measure of the state of Turkish democracy that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu could openly threaten, on 20 December 2015, that, if his party did not win the election, Turkish Kurds would endure a repeat of the era of the "white Toros", the Turkish name for the Renault 12, "a car associated with the gendarmarie’s fearsome intelligence agents, who carried out thousands of extrajudicial executions of Kurdish nationalists during the 1990s". In February 2015, a 13-year-old was charged by a prosecutor after allegedly insulting Erdoğan on Facebook. In 2016, a waiter was arrested for insulting Erdoğan by allegedly saying "If Erdoğan comes here, I will not even serve tea to him.". In April 2014, the President of the Constitutional Court, Haşim Kılıç, accused Erdoğan of damaging the credibility of the judiciary, labelling Erdoğan's attempts to increase political control over the courts as 'desperate'. During the chaotic 2007 presidential election, the military issued an E-memorandum warning the government to keep within the boundaries of secularism when choosing a candidate. Regardless, Erdoğan's close relations with Fethullah Gülen and his Cemaat Movement allowed his government to maintain a degree of influence within the judiciary through Gülen's supporters in high judicial and bureaucratic offices. Shortly after, an alleged coup plot codenamed Sledgehammer became public and resulted in the imprisonment of 300 military officers including İbrahim Fırtına, Çetin Doğan and Engin Alan. Several opposition politicians, journalists and military officers also went on trial for allegedly being part of an ultra-nationalist organisation called Ergenekon. Both cases were marred by irregularities and were condemned as a joint attempt by Erdoğan and Gülen to curb opposition to the AKP. The original Sledgehammer document containing the coup plans, allegedly written in 2003, was found to have been written using Microsoft Word 2007. Despite both domestic and international calls for these irregularities to be addressed in order to guarantee a fair trial, Erdoğan instead praised his government for bringing the coup plots to light. When Gülen publicly withdrew support and openly attacked Erdoğan in late 2013, several imprisoned military officers and journalists were released, with the government admitting that the judicial proceedings were unfair. When Gülen withdrew support from the AKP government in late 2013, a government corruption scandal broke out, leading to the arrest of several family members of cabinet ministers. Erdoğan accused Gülen of co-ordinating a "parallel state" within the judiciary in an attempt to topple him from power. He then removed or reassigned several judicial officials in an attempt to remove Gülen's supporters from office. Erdoğan's 'purge' was widely questioned and criticised by the European Union. In early 2014, a new law was passed by parliament giving the government greater control over the judiciary, which sparked public protest throughout the country. International organisations perceived the law to be a danger to the separation of powers. Several judicial officials removed from their posts said that they had been removed due to their secularist credentials. The political opposition accused Erdoğan of not only attempting to remove Gülen supporters, but supporters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's principles as well, in order to pave the way for increased politicisation of the judiciary. Several family members of Erdoğan's ministers who had been arrested as a result of the 2013 corruption scandal were released, and a judicial order to question Erdoğan's son Bilal Erdoğan was annulled. Controversy erupted when it emerged that many of the newly appointed judicial officials were actually AKP supporters. İslam Çiçek, a judge who ejected the cases of five ministers' relatives accused of corruption, was accused of being an AKP supporter and an official investigation was launched into his political affiliations. On 1 September 2014, the courts dissolved the cases of 96 suspects, which included Bilal Erdoğan. During a televised press conference he was asked if he believed a presidential system was possible in a unitary state. Erdoğan affirmed this and cited Nazi Germany (among other examples) as a case where such a combination existed. However, the Turkish president's office said that Erdoğan was not advocating a Hitler-style government when he called for a state system with a strong executive, and added that the Turkish president had declared the "Holocaust, anti-semitism and Islamophobia" as crimes against humanity and that it was out of the question for him to cite Hitler's Germany as a good example. Suppression of dissent Erdoğan has been criticised for his politicisation of the media, especially after the 2013 protests. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) alleged that over 1,863 journalists lost their jobs due to their anti-government views in 12 years of AKP rule. Opposition politicians have also alleged that intimidation in the media is due to the government's attempt to restructure the ownership of private media corporations. Journalists from the Cihan News Agency and the Gülenist Zaman newspaper were repeatedly barred from attending government press conferences or asking questions. Several opposition journalists such as Soner Yalçın were controversially arrested as part of the Ergenekon trials and Sledgehammer coup investigation. Veli Ağbaba, a CHP politician, has called the AKP the 'biggest media boss in Turkey.' In 2015, 74 US senators sent a letter to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to state their concern over what they saw as deviations from the basic principles of democracy in Turkey and oppressions of Erdoğan over media. Notable cases of media censorship occurred during the 2013 anti-government protests, when the mainstream media did not broadcast any news regarding the demonstrations for three days after they began. The lack of media coverage was symbolised by CNN International covering the protests while CNN Türk broadcast a documentary about penguins at the same time. The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) controversially issued a fine to pro-opposition news channels including Halk TV and Ulusal Kanal for their coverage of the protests, accusing them of broadcasting footage that could be morally, physically and mentally destabilising to children. Erdoğan was criticised for not responding to the accusations of media intimidation, and caused international outrage after telling a female journalist (Amberin Zaman of The Economist) to know her place and calling her a 'shameless militant' during his 2014 presidential election campaign. While the 2014 presidential election was not subject to substantial electoral fraud, Erdoğan was again criticised for receiving disproportionate media attention in comparison to his rivals. The British newspaper The Times commented that between 2 and 4 July, the state-owned media channel TRT gave 204 minutes of coverage to Erdoğan's campaign and less than a total of 3 minutes to both his rivals. Erdoğan also tightened controls over the Internet, signing into law a bill which allows the government to block websites without prior court order on 12 September 2014. His government blocked Twitter and YouTube in late March 2014 following the release of a recording of a conversation between him and his son Bilal, where Erdoğan allegedly warned his family to 'nullify' all cash reserves at their home amid the 2013 corruption scandal. Erdoğan has undertaken a media campaign that attempts to portray the presidential family as frugal and simple-living; their palace electricity-bill is estimated at $500,000 per month. In May 2016, former Miss Turkey model Merve Büyüksaraç was sentenced to more than a year in prison for allegedly insulting the president. In a 2016 news story, Bloomberg reported, "more than 2,000 cases have been opened against journalists, cartoonists, teachers, a former Miss Turkey, and even schoolchildren in the past two years". In November 2016, the Turkish government blocked access to social media in all of Turkey as well as sought to completely block Internet access for the citizens in the southeast of the country. Mehmet Aksoy lawsuit In 2009, Turkish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy created the Statue of Humanity in Kars to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. When visiting the city in 2011, Erdoğan deemed the statue a "freak", and months later it was demolished. Aksoy sued Erdoğan for "moral indemnities", although his lawyer said that his statement was a critique rather than an insult. In March 2015, a judge ordered Erdoğan to pay 10,000 liras. Erdoğanism Erdoğan has produced many aphorisms and catch-phrases known as Erdoğanisms. The term Erdoğanism first emerged shortly after Erdoğan's 2011 general election victory, where it was predominantly described as the AKP's liberal economic and conservative democratic ideals fused with Erdoğan demagoguery and cult of personality. Views on minorities LGBT In 2002, Erdoğan said that "homosexuals must be legally protected within the framework of their rights and freedoms. From time to time, we do not find the treatment they get on some television screens humane", he said. However, in 2017 Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey's top Muslim scholar and President of Religious Affairs, Ali Erbaş, said in a Friday Ramadan announcement that country condemns homosexuality because it "brings illness," insinuating that same sex relations are responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan backed Erbaş, saying that what Erbaş "said was totally right." Jews While Erdoğan has declared several times being against antisemitism, he has been accused of invoking antisemitic stereotypes in public statements. According to Erdoğan, he had been inspired by novelist and Islamist ideologue Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, a publisher (among others) of antisemitic literature. Others During a live interview in 2014, he said: "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian. Excuse me, but they have said even uglier things. They have called me Armenian, but I am Turkish." Honours and accolades Foreign honours Russia: Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan" (1 June 2006) Pakistan: Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award in Pakistan (26 October 2009) Georgia: Order of Golden Fleece, awarded for his contribution to development of bilateral relations (17 May 2010) Kyrgyzstan: Danaker Order in Bishkek (2 February 2011) Azerbaijan: Heydar Aliyev Order (3 September 2014) Belgium: Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold (5 October 2015) Madagascar: Knight Grand Cross in the national Order (25 January 2017) Gagauzia: Order of Gagauz-Yeri in Comrat (18 October 2018) Venezuela: Order of the Liberator, Grand Cordon (3 December 2018) Ukraine: Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (16 October 2020) Other awards 29 January 2004: Profile of Courage Award from the American Jewish Congress, for promoting peace between cultures. Returned at the request of the A.J.C. in July 2014. 13 June 2004: Golden Plate award from the Academy of Achievement during the conference in Chicago. 3 October 2004: German Quadriga prize for improving relationships between different cultures. 2 September 2005: Mediterranean Award for Institutions (). This was awarded by the Fondazione Mediterraneo. 8 August 2006: Caspian Energy Integration Award from the Caspian Integration Business Club. 1 November 2006: Outstanding Service award from the Turkish humanitarian organization Red Crescent. 2 February 2007: Dialogue Between Cultures Award from the President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev. 15 April 2007: Crystal Hermes Award from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the opening of the Hannover Industrial Fair. 11 July 2007: highest award of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Agricola Medal, in recognition of his contribution to agricultural and social development in Turkey. 11 May 2009: Avicenna award from the Avicenna Foundation in Frankfurt, Germany. 9 June 2009: guest of honor at the 20th Crans Montana Forum in Brussels and received the Prix de la Fondation, for democracy and freedom. 25 June 2009: Key to the City of Tirana on the occasion of his state visit to Albania. 29 December 2009: Award for Contribution to World Peace from the Turgut Özal Thought and Move Association. 12 January 2010: King Faisal International Prize for "service to Islam" from the King Faisal Foundation. 23 February 2010: Nodo Culture Award from the mayor of Seville for his efforts to launch the Alliance of Civilizations initiative. 1 March 2010: United Nations–HABITAT award in memorial of Rafik Hariri. A seven-member international jury unanimously found Erdoğan deserving of the award because of his "excellent achievement and commendable conduct in the area of leadership, statesmanship and good governance. Erdoğan also initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors." 27 May 2010: medal of honor from the Brazilian Federation of Industry for the State of São Paulo (FIESP) for his contributions to industry 31 May 2010: World Health Organization 2010 World No Tobacco Award for "his dedicated leadership on tobacco control in Turkey." 29 June 2010: 2010 World Family Award from the World Family Organization which operates under the umbrella of the United Nations. 4 November 2010: Golden Medal of Independence, an award conferred upon Kosovo citizens and foreigners that have contributed to the independence of Kosovo. 25 November 2010: "Leader of the Year" award presented by the Union of Arab Banks in Lebanon. 11 January 2011: "Outstanding Personality in the Islamic World Award" of the Sheikh Fahad al-Ahmad International Award for Charity in Kuwait. 25 October 2011: Palestinian International Award for Excellence and Creativity (PIA) 2011 for his support to the Palestinian people and cause. 21 January 2012: 'Gold Statue 2012 Special Award' by the Polish Business Center Club (BCC). Erdoğan was awarded for his systematic effort to clear barriers on the way to economic growth, striving to build democracy and free market relations. 2020: Ig Nobel Prize "for using the COVID-19 viral pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can." See also List of international presidential trips made by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Leadership approval polling for the 2023 Turkish general election The 500 Most Influential Muslims Notes References Further reading Cagaptay, Soner. The new sultan: Erdogan and the crisis of modern Turkey (2nd ed. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020). online review Cagaptay, Soner. "Making Turkey Great Again." Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 43 (2019): 169–78. online Kirişci, Kemal, and Amanda Sloat. "The rise and fall of liberal democracy in Turkey: Implications for the West" Foreign Policy at Brookings (2019) online Tziarras, Zenonas. "Erdoganist authoritarianism and the 'new' Turkey." Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 18.4 (2018): 593–598. online Yavuz, M. Hakan. "A framework for understanding the Intra-Islamist conflict between the AK party and the Gülen movement." Politics, Religion & Ideology 19.1 (2018): 11–32. online Yesil, Bilge. Media in New Turkey: The Origins of an Authoritarian Neoliberal State (University of Illinois Press, 2016) online review External links Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Instagram. Archived from the original. Welcome to demokrasi: how Erdoğan got more popular than ever by The Guardian 1954 births Living people 21st-century presidents of Turkey 21st-century prime ministers of Turkey Deniers of the Armenian genocide Deputies of Istanbul Deputies of Siirt Recep Tayyip Imam Hatip school alumni Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Leaders of political parties in Turkey Marmara University alumni Mayors of Istanbul Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Naqshbandi order People from Istanbul Politicians arrested in Turkey Presidents of Turkey Prime Ministers of Turkey Recipients of the Heydar Aliyev Order Recipients of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia) Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class Turkish Islamists Turkish Sunni Muslims Chairmen of the Organization of Turkic States Recipients of the Gagauz-Yeri Order Foreign recipients of the Nishan-e-Pakistan	false	[ "Ertuğrul Erdoğan (born October 18, 1968) is a Turkish professional basketball coach. He last served as a head coach for Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball Super League and the Basketball Champions League.\n\nCoaching career \nIn 1996, Erdogan began his professional level coaching career with Galatasaray.\n\nErdoğan later served as an assistant coach for the Fenerbahçe from 2000 to 2013. With Fenerbahçe, Erdoğan worked under legendary coaches Aydın Örs and Bogdan Tanjevic.\n\nDuring the 2009-2010 season, coach Tanjevic was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and left the team at late March, Erdogan took over and led Fenerbahçe to the 2009-10 Turkish Basketball League championship. Despite his success against the title favourites Efes Pilsen, he was not appointed as Fenerbahçe's head coach in the following season. Erdogan continued to serve in an assistant coach capacity with head coaches Neven Spahija and Simone Pianigiani in the following seasons. He left Fenerbahce in 2013, after 13 years.\n\nŽalgiris Kaunas' interest \nShortly after Sarunas Jasikevicius' decision to joining Barcelona in the summer of 2020, Ertugrul Erdogan has emerged the frontrunner for Zalgiris head coach position. Erdogan spoke with Zalgiris president and GM Paulius Motiejunas but there was never traction on reaching a contract agreement as the days wore on. Zalgiris opted to sign with the Salt Lake City Stars head coach, Martin Schiller. \n\nA couple of days after Zalgiris' interest, on July 14, 2020, Galatasaray officially signed head coach Ertugrul Erdogan to a 1+1 contract extension, the team announced.\n\nGalatasaray (2018-2020) \nOn July 26, 2018, Erdogan signed a two-year contract, and agreed to become the new head coach of the Turkish club Galatasaray.\n\nDuring his tenure at Galatasaray, Erdogan scouted and helped to promote many players into the Euroleague level. Rookies like Nigel Hayes, Aaron Harrison and Alex Poythress played under his leadership in their first seasons in Europe and then they signed with the Euroleague clubs Zalgiris, Olympiacos B.C and Zenit St. Petersburg respectively.\n\nZach Auguste, who was the starting center of Erdogan's Galatasaray for both seasons, agreed with Euroleague club Panathinaikos on July 20, 2020. Greg Whittington, another Galatasaray alum, \"will sign with an NBA team, unless a major Euroleague team makes a strong offer\" according to Whittington's agent Jerry Dianis. \n\nGalatasaray announced that the club has entered negotiations with head coach Ertugrul Erdogan for the mutual termination of his contract. On November 10, 2020, coach Erdogan bid his farewell to Galatasaray and their fans. “Without honesty, there is neither trust nor sustainable success. Thank you to everyone, mainly our fans, who supported me and my staff during my two and a half years at Galatasaray. My conscience is clear” he later tweeted.\n\nPersonal life \nErdogan graduated from Middle East Technical University Department of Physical Education and Sports.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Galatasaray.org\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Eurobasket.com\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Euroleague.net\n\n1968 births\nLiving people\nBasketbol Süper Ligi head coaches\nFenerbahçe basketball coaches\nGalatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) coaches\nTurkish basketball coaches\nTürk Telekom basketball coaches", "Altan Erdogan (born 29 June 1967, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch journalist. He is the former editor of the Dutch weekly magazine Nieuwe Revu.\n\nLife and career\nErdogan was born to a Turkish father and a Dutch mother. After his journalism studies at the School of Journalism in Utrecht, he worked as a reporter and editor for the Haarlem Dagblad, Het Parool and De Volkskrant. From 2002 he was managing editor and deputy of Times Magazine. In December 2007 he was the first foreign editor of a national magazine in the Netherlands.\n\nIn the years 2007-2010 Erdogan served as editor-in-chief of Nieuwe Revu. He changed the name to Revu but his successor, Frans Loman, changed it right back. In the Erdogan years the circulation of Nieuwe Revu dropped from 64,360 to 46,619 (by 28%), but this was not different from the previous and subsequent years.\n\nSubsequent to Nieuwe Revu, Erdogan worked for the Dutch broadcasters VARA and PowNed. From 2015 to 2021 he edited Folia, the free student and staff magazine of the University of Amsterdam.\n\nAfter his stint with the student newspaper he was announced as the editor in chief for the Amsterdam television station AT5. He started in October 2021.\n\nReferences \n\n1967 births\nLiving people\nDutch journalists\nDutch people of Turkish descent\nWriters from Amsterdam" ]
[ "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "Personal life and education", "Where did Erdogan go to college?", "He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences,", "Does Erdogan have children?", "I don't know." ]	C_15e775d39cc647c7987d95fdc23b6587_1	Where was Erdogan born?	3	Where was Recep Tayyip Erdoğan born?	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province. His parents are Ahmet Erdogan and Tenzile Erdogan. Erdogan reportedly said in 2003, "I'm a Georgian, my family is a Georgian family which migrated from Batumi to Rize." But in a 2014 televised interview on the NTV news network, he said, "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian... forgive me for saying this... even much uglier things, they have even called me an Armenian, but I am Turkish." In an account based on registry records, his genealogy was tracked to an ethnic Turkish family. Erdogan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father Ahmet Erdogan (1905 - 1988) was a Captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. Erdogan had a brother Mustafa (b. 1958) and sister Vesile (b. 1965). His summer holidays were mostly spent in Guneysu, Rize, where his family originates from. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdogan was 13 years old. As a teenager, he sold lemonade and sesame buns (simit) on the streets of the city's rougher districts to earn extra money. Brought up in an observant Muslim family, Erdogan graduated from Kasimpasa Piyale primary school in 1965, and Imam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. He received his high school diploma from Eyup High School. He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences, now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences--although several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated. In his youth, Erdogan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahce wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasimpasa S.K. is named after him. Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (born 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons; Ahmet Burak and Necmettin Bilal, and two daughters, Esra and Sumeyye. His father, Ahmet Erdogan, died in 1988 and his 88-year-old mother, Tenzile Erdogan, died in 2011. He is a member of the Community of Iskenderpasa, a Turkish sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. CANNOTANSWER	Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul,	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to election victories in 2002, 2007, and 2011 general elections before being required to stand down upon his election as President in 2014. He later returned to the AKP leadership in 2017 following the constitutional referendum that year. Coming from an Islamist political background and self-describing as a conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration. Following the 1994 local elections, Erdoğan was elected mayor of Istanbul as the candidate of the Islamist Welfare Party. He was later stripped of his position, banned from political office, and imprisoned for four months for inciting religious hatred, due to his recitation of a poem by Ziya Gökalp. Erdoğan subsequently abandoned openly Islamist politics, establishing the moderate conservative AKP in 2001, which he went on to lead to a landslide victory in 2002. With Erdoğan still technically prohibited from holding office, the AKP's co-founder, Abdullah Gül, instead became prime minister, and later annulled Erdoğan's political ban. After winning a by-election in Siirt in 2003, Erdoğan replaced Gül as prime minister, with Gül instead becoming the AKP's candidate for the presidency. Erdoğan led the AKP to two more election victories in 2007 and 2011. The early years of Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister saw advances in negotiations for Turkey's membership of the European Union, an economic recovery following a economic crisis in 2001 and investments in infrastructure including roads, airports, and a high-speed train network. He also won two successful constitutional referendums in 2007 and 2010. However, his government remained controversial for its close links with Fethullah Gülen and his Gülen Movement (since designated as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish state) with whom the AKP was accused of orchestrating purges against secular bureaucrats and military officers through the Balyoz and Ergenekon trials. In late 2012, his government began peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to end the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present). The ceasefire broke down in 2015, leading to a renewed escalation in conflict. Erdoğan's foreign policy has been described as Neo-Ottoman and has led to the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, with its focus on preventing the Syrian Democratic Forces from gaining ground on the Syria–Turkey border during the Syrian Civil War. In the more recent years of Erdoğan's rule, Turkey has experienced democratic backsliding and corruption. Starting with the anti-government protests in 2013, his government imposed growing censorship on the press and social media, temporarily restricting access to sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. This stalled negotiations related to Turkey's EU membership. A US$100 billion corruption scandal in 2013 led to the arrests of Erdoğan's close allies, and incriminated Erdoğan. After 11 years as head of government (Prime Minister), Erdoğan decided to run for President in 2014. At the time, the presidency was a somewhat ceremonial function. Following the 2014 elections, Erdoğan became the first popularly elected president of Turkey. The souring in relations with Gülen continued, as the government proceeded to purge his supporters from judicial, bureaucratic and military positions. A failed military coup d'état attempt in July 2016 resulted in further purges and a temporary state of emergency. The government claimed that the coup leaders were linked to Gülen, but he has denied any role in it. Erdoğan's rule has been marked with increasing authoritarianism, expansionism, censorship and banning of parties or dissent. Erdoğan supported the 2017 referendum which changed Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential system, thus setting for the first time in Turkish history a term limit for the head of government (two full five-year terms). This new system of government formally came into place after the 2018 general election, where Erdoğan became an executive president. His party however lost the majority in the parliament and is currently in a coalition (People's Alliance) with the Turkish nationalist MHP. Erdoğan has since been tackling, but also accused of contributing to, the Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018, which has caused a significant decline in his popularity and is widely believed to have contributed to the results of the 2019 local elections, in which his party lost power in big cities like Ankara and Istanbul to opposition parties for the first time in 15 years. Family and personal life Early life Erdoğan was born in Kasımpaşa, a poor neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province in the 1930s. Erdoğan's tribe is originally from Adjara, a region in Georgia. His parents were Ahmet Erdoğan (1905–88) and Tenzile Erdoğan (née Mutlu; 1924–2011). Erdoğan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father was a captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. His summer holidays were mostly spent in Güneysu, Rize, where his family originates. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdoğan was 13 years old. As a teenager, Erdoğan's father provided him with a weekly allowance of 2.5 Turkish lira, less than a dollar. With it, Erdoğan bought postcards and resold them on the street. He sold bottles of water to drivers stuck in traffic. Erdoğan also worked as a street vendor selling simit (sesame bread rings), wearing a white gown and selling the simit from a red three-wheel cart with the rolls stacked behind glass. In his youth, Erdoğan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahçe wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasımpaşa S.K. is named after him. Erdoğan is a member of the Community of İskenderpaşa, a Turkish Sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. Education Erdoğan graduated from Kasımpaşa Piyale primary school in 1965, and İmam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. The same educational path was followed by other co-founders of the AKP party. One quarter of the curriculum of İmam Hatip schools involves study of the Qurʼān, the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the Arabic language. Erdoğan studied the Qurʼān at an İmam Hatip, where his classmates began calling him "hoca" ("Muslim teacher"). Erdoğan attended a meeting of the nationalist student group National Turkish Student Union (Milli Türk Talebe Birliği), who sought to raise a conservative cohort of young people to counter the rising movement of leftists in Turkey. Within the group, Erdoğan was distinguished by his oratorical skills, developing a penchant for public speaking and excelling in front of an audience. He won first place in a poetry-reading competition organized by the Community of Turkish Technical Painters, and began preparing for speeches through reading and research. Erdoğan would later comment on these competitions as "enhancing our courage to speak in front of the masses". Erdoğan wanted to pursue advanced studies at Mekteb-i Mülkiye, but Mülkiye accepted only students with regular high school diplomas, and not İmam Hatip graduates. Mülkiye was known for its political science department, which trained many statesmen and politicians in Turkey. Erdoğan was then admitted to Eyüp High School, a regular state school, and eventually received his high school diploma from Eyüp. According to his official biography, he subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences (), now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated, or even attended at all. Family Erdoğan married Emine Gülbaran (b. 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons, Ahmet Burak (b. 1979) and Necmettin Bilal (b. 1981), and two daughters, Esra (b. 1983) and Sümeyye (b. 1985). His father, Ahmet Erdoğan, died in 1988 and his mother, Tenzile Erdoğan, died in 2011 at the age of 88. Erdoğan has a brother, Mustafa (b. 1958), and a sister, Vesile (b. 1965). From his father's first marriage to Havuli Erdoğan (d. 1980), he had two half-brothers: Mehmet (1926–1988) and Hasan (1929–2006). Early political career In 1976, Erdoğan engaged in politics by joining the National Turkish Student Union, an anti-communist action group. In the same year, he became the head of the Beyoğlu youth branch of the Islamist National Salvation Party (MSP), and was later promoted to chair of the Istanbul youth branch of the party. Holding this position until 1980, he served as consultant and senior executive in the private sector during the era following the 1980 military coup when political parties were closed down. In 1983, Erdoğan followed most of Necmettin Erbakan's followers into the Islamist Welfare Party. He became the party's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984, and in 1985 he became the chair of the Istanbul city branch. He was elected to parliament in 1991, but was barred from taking his seat. Mayor of Istanbul (1994–1998) In the local elections of 27 March 1994, Erdoğan was elected Mayor of Istanbul with 25.19% of the popular vote. Erdoğan was a 40-year-old dark horse candidate who had been mocked by the mainstream media and treated as a country bumpkin by his opponents. He was pragmatic in office, tackling many chronic problems in Istanbul including water shortage, pollution and traffic chaos. The water shortage problem was solved with the laying of hundreds of kilometers of new pipelines. The garbage problem was solved with the establishment of state-of-the-art recycling facilities. While Erdoğan was in office, air pollution was reduced through a plan developed to switch to natural gas. He changed the public buses to environmentally friendly ones. The city's traffic and transportation jams were reduced with more than fifty bridges, viaducts, and highways built. He took precautions to prevent corruption, using measures to ensure that municipal funds were used prudently. He paid back a major portion of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's two-billion-dollar debt and invested four billion dollars in the city. Erdoğan initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors. A seven-member international jury from the United Nations unanimously awarded Erdoğan the UN-Habitat award. Imprisonment In 1998, the fundamentalist Welfare Party was declared unconstitutional on the grounds of threatening the secularism of Turkey and was shut down by the Turkish constitutional court. Erdoğan became a prominent speaker at demonstrations held by his party colleagues. In December 1997 in Siirt, Erdoğan recited a poem from a work written by Ziya Gökalp, a pan-Turkish activist of the early 20th century. His recitation included verses translated as "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...." which are not in the original version of the poem. Erdoğan said the poem had been approved by the education ministry to be published in textbooks. Under article 312/2 of the Turkish penal code his recitation was regarded as an incitement to violence and religious or racial hatred. He was given a ten-month prison sentence of which he served four months, from 24 March 1999 to 27 July 1999. Due to his conviction, Erdoğan was forced to give up his mayoral position. The conviction also stipulated a political ban, which prevented him from participating in parliamentary elections. He had appealed for the sentence to be converted to a monetary fine, but it was reduced to 120 days instead. In 2017, this period of Erdoğan's life was made into a film titled Reis. Justice and Development Party Erdoğan was member of political parties that kept getting banned by the army or judges. Within his Virtue Party, there was a dispute about the appropriate discourse of the party between traditional politicians and pro-reform politicians. The latter envisioned a party that could operate within the limits of the system, and thus not getting banned as its predecessors like National Order Party, National Salvation Party and Welfare Party. They wanted to give the group the character of an ordinary conservative party following the example of the European Christian democratic parties. When the Virtue Party was also banned in 2001, a definitive split took place: the followers of Necmettin Erbakan founded the Felicity Party (SP) and the reformers founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) under the leadership of Abdullah Gül and Erdoğan. The pro-reform politicians realized that a strictly Islamic party would never be accepted as a governing party by the state apparatus and they believed that an Islamic party did not appeal to more than about 20 percent of the Turkish electorate. The AK party emphatically placed itself as a broad democratic conservative party with new politicians from the political center (like Ali Babacan and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu), while respecting Islamic norms and values, but without an explicit religious program. This turned out to be successful as the new party won 34% of the vote in the general elections of 2002. Erdoğan became prime minister in March 2003 after the Gül government ended his political ban. Premiership (2003–2014) General elections The elections of 2002 were the first elections in which Erdoğan participated as a party leader. All parties previously elected to parliament failed to win enough votes to re-enter the parliament. The AKP won 34.3% of the national vote and formed the new government. Turkish stocks rose more than 7% on Monday morning. Politicians of the previous generation, such as Ecevit, Bahceli, Yılmaz and Çiller, resigned. The second largest party, the CHP, received 19.4% of the votes. The AKP won a landslide victory in the parliament, taking nearly two-thirds of the seats. Erdoğan could not become Prime Minister as he was still banned from politics by the judiciary for his speech in Siirt. Gül became the Prime Minister instead. In December 2002, the Supreme Election Board canceled the general election results from Siirt due to voting irregularities and scheduled a new election for 9 February 2003. By this time, party leader Erdoğan was able to run for parliament due to a legal change made possible by the opposition Republican People's Party. The AKP duly listed Erdoğan as a candidate for the rescheduled election, which he won, becoming Prime Minister after Gül handed over the post. On 14 April 2007, an estimated 300,000 people marched in Ankara to protest against the possible candidacy of Erdoğan in the 2007 presidential election, afraid that if elected as president, he would alter the secular nature of the Turkish state. Erdoğan announced on 24 April 2007 that the party had nominated Abdullah Gül as the AKP candidate in the presidential election. The protests continued over the next several weeks, with over one million people reported to have turned out at a 29 April rally in Istanbul, tens of thousands at separate protests on 4 May in Manisa and Çanakkale, and one million in İzmir on 13 May. The stage of the elections of 2007 was set for a fight for legitimacy in the eyes of voters between his government and the CHP. Erdoğan used the event that took place during the ill-fated Presidential elections a few months earlier as a part of the general election campaign of his party. On 22 July 2007, the AKP won an important victory over the opposition, garnering 46.7% of the popular vote. 22 July elections marked only the second time in the Republic of Turkey's history whereby an incumbent governing party won an election by increasing its share of popular support. On 14 March 2008, Turkey's Chief Prosecutor asked the country's Constitutional Court to ban Erdoğan's governing party. The party escaped a ban on 30 July 2008, a year after winning 46.7% of the vote in national elections, although judges did cut the party's public funding by 50%. In the June 2011 elections, Erdoğan's governing party won 327 seats (49.83% of the popular vote) making Erdoğan the only prime minister in Turkey's history to win three consecutive general elections, each time receiving more votes than the previous election. The second party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), received 135 seats (25.94%), the nationalist MHP received 53 seats (13.01%), and the Independents received 35 seats (6.58%). Referendums After the opposition parties deadlocked the 2007 presidential election by boycotting the parliament, the ruling AKP proposed a constitutional reform package. The reform package was first vetoed by president Sezer. Then he applied to the Turkish constitutional court about the reform package, because the president is unable to veto amendments for the second time. The Turkish constitutional court did not find any problems in the packet and 68.95% of the voters supported the constitutional changes. The reforms consisted of electing the president by popular vote instead of by parliament; reducing the presidential term from seven years to five; allowing the president to stand for re-election for a second term; holding general elections every four years instead of five; and reducing from 367 to 184 the quorum of lawmakers needed for parliamentary decisions. Reforming the Constitution was one of the main pledges of the AKP during the 2007 election campaign. The main opposition party CHP was not interested in altering the Constitution on a big scale, making it impossible to form a Constitutional Commission (Anayasa Uzlaşma Komisyonu). The amendments lacked the two-thirds majority needed to become law instantly, but secured 336 votes in the 550-seat parliament – enough to put the proposals to a referendum. The reform package included a number of issues such as the right of individuals to appeal to the highest court, the creation of the ombudsman's office; the possibility to negotiate a nationwide labour contract; gender equality; the ability of civilian courts to convict members of the military; the right of civil servants to go on strike; a privacy law; and the structure of the Constitutional Court. The referendum was agreed by a majority of 58%. Domestic Policy Kurdish issue In 2009, Prime Minister Erdoğan's government announced a plan to help end the quarter-century-long Turkey–Kurdistan Workers' Party conflict that had cost more than 40,000 lives. The government's plan, supported by the European Union, intended to allow the Kurdish language to be used in all broadcast media and political campaigns, and restored Kurdish names to cities and towns that had been given Turkish ones. Erdoğan said, "We took a courageous step to resolve chronic issues that constitute an obstacle along Turkey's development, progression and empowerment". Erdoğan passed a partial amnesty to reduce penalties faced by many members of the Kurdish guerrilla movement PKK who had surrendered to the government. On 23 November 2011, during a televised meeting of his party in Ankara, he apologised on behalf of the state for the Dersim massacre, where many Alevis and Zazas were killed. In 2013 the government of Erdoğan began a peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish Government, mediated by parliamentarians of the Peoples' Democratic party (HDP). In 2015 he decided that the peace process was over and supported the lift of the parliamentary immunity of the HDP parliamentarians. During his presidency a law was introduced which banned the use of the word Kurdistan in parliament and in a speech he held for the local election of 2019 he told the HDP politicians that if there is no Kurdistan in Turkey and if they looked for one they should go to Northern Iraq. Armenian genocide Prime Minister Erdoğan expressed multiple times that Turkey would acknowledge the mass killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide only after a thorough investigation by a joint Turkish-Armenian commission consisting of historians, archaeologists, political scientists and other experts. In 2005, Erdoğan and the main opposition party leader Deniz Baykal wrote a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, proposing the creation of a joint Turkish-Armenian commission. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian rejected the offer because he asserted that the proposal itself was "insincere and not serious". He added: "This issue cannot be considered at historical level with Turks, who themselves politicized the problem". In December 2008, Erdoğan criticised the I Apologize campaign by Turkish intellectuals to recognize the Armenian Genocide, saying, "I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologise ... It will not have any benefit other than stirring up trouble, disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have been taken". In November 2009, he said, "it is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide". In 2011, Erdoğan ordered the tearing-down of the Statue of Humanity, a Turkish–Armenian friendship monument in Kars, which was commissioned in 2006 and represented a metaphor of the rapprochement of the two countries after many years of dispute over the events of 1915. Erdoğan justified the removal by stating that the monument was offensively close to the tomb of an 11th-century Islamic scholar, and that its shadow ruined the view of that site, while Kars municipality officials said it was illegally erected in a protected area. However, the former mayor of Kars who approved the original construction of the monument said the municipality was destroying not just a "monument to humanity" but "humanity itself". The demolition was not unopposed; among its detractors were several Turkish artists. Two of them, the painter Bedri Baykam and his associate, Pyramid Art Gallery general coordinator Tugba Kurtulmus, were stabbed after a meeting with other artists at the Istanbul Akatlar cultural center. On 23 April 2014, Erdoğan's office issued a statement in nine languages (including two dialects of Armenian), offering condolences for the mass killings of Armenians and stating that the events of 1915 had inhumane consequences. The statement described the mass killings as the two nations' shared pain and said: "Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences – such as relocation – during the First World War, (it) should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among one another". The Ottoman Parliament of 1915 had previously used the term "relocation" to describe the purpose of the Tehcir Law, which resulted in the deaths of anywhere between 800,000 and over 1,800,000 Armenian civilians in what is commonly referred to as the Armenian Genocide. Pope Francis in April 2015, at a special mass in St. Peter's Basilica marking the centenary of the events, described atrocities against Armenian civilians in 1915–1922 as "the first genocide of the 20th century". In protest, Erdoğan recalled the Turkish ambassador from the Vatican, and summoned the Vatican's ambassador, to express "disappointment" at what he called a discriminatory message. He later stated "we don’t carry a stain or a shadow like genocide". US President Barack Obama called for a "full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts", but again stopped short of labelling it "genocide", despite his campaign promise to do so. Human rights During Erdoğan's time as Prime Minister, the far-reaching powers of the 1991 Anti-Terror Law were reduced and the Democratic initiative process was initiated, with the goal to improve democratic standards in general and the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in particular. However, after Turkey's bid to join the European Union stalled, European officials noted a return to more authoritarian ways, notably on freedom of speech, freedom of the press and Kurdish minority rights. Demands by activists for the recognition of LGBT rights were publicly rejected by government members, and members of the Turkish LGBT community were insulted by cabinet members. Reporters Without Borders observed a continuous decrease in Freedom of the Press during Erdoğan's later terms, with a rank of around 100 on the Press Freedom Index during his first term and a rank of 153 out of a total of 179 countries in 2021. Freedom House saw a slight recovery in later years and awarded Turkey a Press Freedom Score of 55/100 in 2012 after a low point of 48/100 in 2006. In 2011, Erdoğan's government made legal reforms to return properties of Christian and Jewish minorities which were seized by the Turkish government in the 1930s. The total value of the properties returned reached $2 billion (USD). Under Erdoğan, the Turkish government tightened the laws on the sale and consumption of alcohol, banning all advertising and increasing the tax on alcoholic beverages. Economy In 2002, Erdoğan inherited a Turkish economy that was beginning to recover from a recession as a result of reforms implemented by Kemal Derviş. Erdoğan supported Finance Minister Ali Babacan in enforcing macro-economic policies. Erdoğan tried to attract more foreign investors to Turkey and lifted many government regulations. The cash-flow into the Turkish economy between 2002 and 2012 caused a growth of 64% in real GDP and a 43% increase in GDP per capita; considerably higher numbers were commonly advertised but these did not account for the inflation of the US dollar between 2002 and 2012. The average annual growth in GDP per capita was 3.6%. The growth in real GDP between 2002 and 2012 was higher than the values from developed countries, but was close to average when developing countries are also taken into account. The ranking of the Turkish economy in terms of GDP moved slightly from 17 to 16 during this decade. A major consequence of the policies between 2002 and 2012 was the widening of the current account deficit from US$600 million to US$58 billion (2013 est.) Since 1961, Turkey has signed 19 IMF loan accords. Erdoğan's government satisfied the budgetary and market requirements of the two during his administration and received every loan installment, the only time any Turkish government has done so. Erdoğan inherited a debt of $23.5 billion to the IMF, which was reduced to $0.9 billion in 2012. He decided not to sign a new deal. Turkey's debt to the IMF was thus declared to be completely paid and he announced that the IMF could borrow from Turkey. In 2010, five-year credit default swaps for Turkey's sovereign debt were trading at a record low of 1.17%, below those of nine EU member countries and Russia. In 2002, the Turkish Central Bank had $26.5 billion in reserves. This amount reached $92.2 billion in 2011. During Erdoğan's leadership, inflation fell from 32% to 9.0% in 2004. Since then, Turkish inflation has continued to fluctuate around 9% and is still one of the highest inflation rates in the world. The Turkish public debt as a percentage of annual GDP declined from 74% in 2002 to 39% in 2009. In 2012, Turkey had a lower ratio of public debt to GDP than 21 of 27 members of the European Union and a lower budget deficit to GDP ratio than 23 of them. In 2003, Erdoğan's government pushed through the Labor Act, a comprehensive reform of Turkey's labor laws. The law greatly expanded the rights of employees, establishing a 45-hour workweek and limiting overtime work to 270 hours a year, provided legal protection against discrimination due to sex, religion, or political affiliation, prohibited discrimination between permanent and temporary workers, entitled employees terminated without "valid cause" to compensation, and mandated written contracts for employment arrangements lasting a year or more. Education Erdoğan increased the budget of the Ministry of Education from 7.5 billion lira in 2002 to 34 billion lira in 2011, the highest share of the national budget given to one ministry. Before his prime ministership the military received the highest share of the national budget. Compulsory education was increased from eight years to twelve. In 2003, the Turkish government, together with UNICEF, initiated a campaign called "Come on girls, [let's go] to school!" (). The goal of this campaign was to close the gender gap in primary school enrollment through the provision of a quality basic education for all girls, especially in southeast Turkey. In 2005, the parliament granted amnesty to students expelled from universities before 2003. The amnesty applied to students dismissed on academic or disciplinary grounds. In 2004, textbooks became free of charge and since 2008 every province in Turkey has its own university. During Erdoğan's Premiership, the number of universities in Turkey nearly doubled, from 98 in 2002 to 186 in October 2012. The Prime Minister kept his campaign promises by starting the Fatih project in which all state schools, from preschool to high school level, received a total of 620,000 smart boards, while tablet computers were distributed to 17 million students and approximately one million teachers and administrators. In June 2017 a draft proposal by the ministry of education was approved by Erdoğan, in which the curriculum for schools excluded the teaching of the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin by 2019. From then on the teaching will be postponed and start at undergraduate level. Infrastructure Under Erdoğan's government, the number of airports in Turkey increased from 26 to 50 in the period of 10 years. Between the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and 2002, there had been 6,000 km of dual carriageway roads created. Between 2002 and 2011, another 13,500 km of expressway were built. Due to these measures, the number of motor accidents fell by 50 percent. For the first time in Turkish history, high speed railway lines were constructed, and the country's high-speed train service began in 2009. In 8 years, 1,076 km of railway were built and 5,449 km of railway renewed. The construction of Marmaray, an undersea rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait, started in 2004. It was inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the Turkish Republic 29 October 2013. The inauguration of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third bridge over the Bosphorus, was on 26 August 2016. Justice In March 2006, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) held a press conference to publicly protest the obstruction of the appointment of judges to the high courts for over 10 months. The HSYK said Erdoğan wanted to fill the vacant posts with his own appointees. Erdoğan was accused of creating a rift with Turkey's highest court of appeal, the Yargıtay, and high administrative court, the Danıştay. Erdoğan stated that the constitution gave the power to assign these posts to his elected party. In May 2007, the head of Turkey's High Court asked prosecutors to consider whether Erdoğan should be charged over critical comments regarding the election of Abdullah Gül as president. Erdoğan said the ruling was "a disgrace to the justice system", and criticized the Constitutional Court which had invalidated a presidential vote because a boycott by other parties meant there was no quorum. Prosecutors investigated his earlier comments, including saying it had fired a "bullet at democracy". Tülay Tuğcu, head of the Constitutional Court, condemned Erdoğan for "threats, insults and hostility" towards the justice system. Civil–military relations The Turkish military has had a record of intervening in politics, having removed elected governments four times in the past. During the Erdoğan government, civil–military relationship moved towards normalization in which the influence of the military in politics was significantly reduced. The ruling Justice and Development Party has often faced off against the military, gaining political power by challenging a pillar of the country's laicistic establishment. The most significant issue that caused deep fissures between the army and the government was the midnight e-memorandum posted on the military's website objecting to the selection of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül as the ruling party's candidate for the Presidency in 2007. The military argued that the election of Gül, whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf, could undermine the laicistic order of the country. Contrary to expectations, the government responded harshly to former Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt's e-memorandum, stating the military had nothing to do with the selection of the presidential candidate. Health care After assuming power in 2003, Erdoğan's government embarked on a sweeping reform program of the Turkish healthcare system, called the Health Transformation Program (HTP), to greatly increase the quality of healthcare and protect all citizens from financial risks. Its introduction coincided with the period of sustained economic growth, allowing the Turkish government to put greater investments into the healthcare system. As part of the reforms, the "Green Card" program, which provides health benefits to the poor, was expanded in 2004. The reform program aimed at increasing the ratio of private to state-run healthcare, which, along with long queues in state-run hospitals, resulted in the rise of private medical care in Turkey, forcing state-run hospitals to compete by increasing quality. In April 2006, Erdoğan unveiled a social security reform package demanded by the International Monetary Fund under a loan deal. The move, which Erdoğan called one of the most radical reforms ever, was passed with fierce opposition. Turkey's three social security bodies were united under one roof, bringing equal health services and retirement benefits for members of all three bodies. The previous system had been criticized for reserving the best healthcare for civil servants and relegating others to wait in long queues. Under the second bill, everyone under the age of 18 years was entitled to free health services, irrespective of whether they pay premiums to any social security organization. The bill also envisages a gradual increase in the retirement age: starting from 2036, the retirement age will increase to 65 by 2048 for both women and men. In January 2008, the Turkish Parliament adopted a law to prohibit smoking in most public places. Erdoğan is outspokenly anti-smoking. Foreign policy Turkish foreign policy during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister has been associated with the name of Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu was the chief foreign policy advisor of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before he was appointed foreign minister in 2009. The basis of Erdoğan's foreign policy is based on the principle of "don't make enemies, make friends" and the pursuit of "zero problems" with neighboring countries. Erdoğan is co-founder of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (AOC). The initiative seeks to galvanize international action against extremism through the forging of international, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation. European Union When Erdoğan came to power, he continued Turkey's long ambition of joining the European Union. On 3 October 2005 negotiations began for Turkey's accession to the European Union. Erdoğan was named "The European of the Year 2004" by the newspaper European Voice for the reforms in his country in order to accomplish the accession of Turkey to the European Union. He said in a comment that "Turkey's accession shows that Europe is a continent where civilisations reconcile and not clash." On 3 October 2005, the negotiations for Turkey's accession to the EU formally started during Erdoğan's tenure as Prime Minister. The European Commission generally supports Erdoğan's reforms, but remains critical of his policies. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize EU member state Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus dispute Relations between Greece and Turkey were normalized during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister. In May 2004, Erdoğan became the first Turkish Prime Minister to visit Greece since 1988, and the first to visit the Turkish minority of Thrace since 1952. In 2007, Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis inaugurated the Greek-Turkish natural gas pipeline giving Caspian gas its first direct Western outlet. Turkey and Greece signed an agreement to create a Combined Joint Operational Unit within the framework of NATO to participate in Peace Support Operations. Erdoğan and his party strongly supported the EU-backed referendum to reunify Cyprus in 2004. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships as a consequence of the economic isolation of the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the failure of the EU to end the isolation, as it had promised in 2004. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize the Republic of Cyprus. Armenia Armenia is Turkey's only neighbor which Erdoğan has not visited during his premiership. The Turkish-Armenian border has been closed since 1993 because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Turkey's close ally Azerbaijan. Diplomatic efforts resulted in the signing of protocols between Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers in Switzerland to improve relations between the two countries. One of the points of the agreement was the creation of a joint commission on the issue. The Armenian Constitutional Court decided that the commission contradicts the Armenian constitution. Turkey responded saying that Armenian court's ruling on the protocols is not acceptable, resulting in a suspension of the rectification process by the Turkish side. Erdoğan has said that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan should apologize for calling on school children to re-occupy eastern Turkey. When asked by a student at a literature contest ceremony if Armenians will be able to get back their "western territories" along with Mt. Ararat, Sarksyan said, "This is the task of your generation". Russia In December 2004, President Putin visited Turkey, making it the first presidential visit in the history of Turkish-Russian relations besides that of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Nikolai Podgorny in 1972. In November 2005, Putin attended the inauguration of a jointly constructed Blue Stream natural gas pipeline in Turkey. This sequence of top-level visits has brought several important bilateral issues to the forefront. The two countries consider it their strategic goal to achieve "multidimensional co-operation", especially in the fields of energy, transport and the military. Specifically, Russia aims to invest in Turkey's fuel and energy industries, and it also expects to participate in tenders for the modernisation of Turkey's military. The relations during this time are described by President Medvedev as "Turkey is one of our most important partners with respect to regional and international issues. We can confidently say that Russian-Turkish relations have advanced to the level of a multidimensional strategic partnership". In May 2010, Turkey and Russia signed 17 agreements to enhance cooperation in energy and other fields, including pacts to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant and further plans for an oil pipeline from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The leaders of both countries also signed an agreement on visa-free travel, enabling tourists to get into the other country for free and stay there for up to 30 days. United States When Barack Obama became President of United States, he made his first overseas bilateral meeting to Turkey in April 2009. At a joint news conference in Turkey, Obama said: "I'm trying to make a statement about the importance of Turkey, not just to the United States but to the world. I think that where there's the most promise of building stronger U.S.-Turkish relations is in the recognition that Turkey and the United States can build a model partnership in which a predominantly Christian nation, a predominantly Muslim nation – a Western nation and a nation that straddles two continents," he continued, "that we can create a modern international community that is respectful, that is secure, that is prosperous, that there are not tensions – inevitable tensions between cultures – which I think is extraordinarily important." Iraq Turkey under Erdoğan was named by the Bush Administration as a part of the "coalition of the willing" that was central to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On 1 March 2003, a motion allowing Turkish military to participate in the U.S-led coalition's invasion of Iraq, along with the permission for foreign troops to be stationed in Turkey for this purpose, was overruled by the Turkish Parliament. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq and Turkey signed 48 trade agreements on issues including security, energy, and water. The Turkish government attempted to mend relations with Iraqi Kurdistan by opening a Turkish university in Erbil, and a Turkish consulate in Mosul. Erdoğan's government fostered economic and political relations with Irbil, and Turkey began to consider the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq as an ally against Maliki's government. Israel Erdoğan visited Israel on 1 May 2005, a gesture unusual for a leader of a Muslim majority country. During his trip, Erdoğan visited the Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The President of Israel Shimon Peres addressed the Turkish parliament during a visit in 2007, the first time an Israeli leader had addressed the legislature of a predominantly Muslim nation. Their relationship worsened at the 2009 World Economic Forum conference over Israel's actions during the Gaza War. Erdoğan was interrupted by the moderator while he was responding to Peres. Erdoğan stated: "Mister Peres, you are older than I am. Maybe you are feeling guilty and that is why you are raising your voice. When it comes to killing you know it too well. I remember how you killed the children on beaches..." Upon the moderator's reminder that they needed to adjourn for dinner, Erdoğan left the panel, accusing the moderator of giving Peres more time than all the other panelists combined. Tensions increased further following the Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010. Erdoğan strongly condemned the raid, describing it as "state terrorism", and demanded an Israeli apology. In February 2013, Erdoğan called Zionism a "crime against humanity", comparing it to Islamophobia, antisemitism, and fascism. He later retracted the statement, saying he had been misinterpreted. He said "everyone should know" that his comments were directed at "Israeli policies", especially as regards to "Gaza and the settlements." Erdoğan's statements were criticized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, among others. In August 2013, the Hürriyet reported that Erdoğan had claimed to have evidence of Israel's responsibility for the removal of Morsi from office in Egypt. The Israeli and Egyptian governments dismissed the suggestion. In response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. He also stated that "If Israel continues with this attitude, it will definitely be tried at international courts." Syria During Erdoğan's term of office, diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria significantly deteriorated. In 2004, President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Turkey for the first official visit by a Syrian President in 57 years. In late 2004, Erdoğan signed a free trade agreement with Syria. Visa restrictions between the two countries were lifted in 2009, which caused an economic boom in the regions near the Syrian border. However, in 2011 the relationship between the two countries was strained following the outbreak of conflict in Syria. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he was trying to "cultivate a favorable relationship with whatever government would take the place of Assad". However, he began to support the opposition in Syria, after demonstrations turned violent, creating a serious Syrian refugee problem in Turkey. Erdoğan's policy of providing military training for anti-Damascus fighters has also created conflict with Syria's ally and a neighbour of Turkey, Iran. Saudi Arabia In August 2006, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz as-Saud made a visit to Turkey. This was the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Turkey in the last four decades. The monarch made a second visit, on 9 November 2007. Turk-Saudi trade volume has exceeded 3.2 billion in 2006, almost double the figure achieved in 2003. In 2009, this amount reached 5.5 billion and the goal for the year 2010 was 10 billion. Erdoğan condemned the Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain and characterized the Saudi movement as "a new Karbala." He demanded withdrawal of Saudi forces from Bahrain. Egypt Erdoğan had made his first official visit to Egypt on 12 September 2011, accompanied by six ministers and 200 businessmen. This visit was made very soon after Turkey had ejected Israeli ambassadors, cutting off all diplomatic relations with Israel because Israel refused to apologize for the Gaza flotilla raid which killed eight Turkish and one Turco-American. Erdoğan's visit to Egypt was met with much enthusiasm by Egyptians. CNN reported some Egyptians saying "We consider him as the Islamic leader in the Middle East", while others were appreciative of his role in supporting Gaza. Erdoğan was later honored in Tahrir Square by members of the Egyptian Revolution Youth Union, and members of the Turkish embassy were presented with a coat of arms in acknowledgment of the Prime Minister's support of the Egyptian Revolution. Erdoğan stated in a 2011 interview that he supported secularism for Egypt, which generated an angry reaction among Islamic movements, especially the Freedom and Justice Party, which was the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. However, commentators suggest that by forming an alliance with the military junta during Egypt's transition to democracy, Erdoğan may have tipped the balance in favor of an authoritarian government. Erdoğan condemned the sit-in dispersals conducted by Egyptian police on 14 August 2013 at the Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares, where violent clashes between police officers and pro-Morsi Islamist protesters led to hundreds of deaths, mostly protesters. In July 2014, one year after the removal of Mohamed Morsi from office, Erdoğan described Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as an "illegitimate tyrant". Somalia Erdoğan's administration maintains strong ties with the Somali government. During the drought of 2011, Erdoğan's government contributed over $201 million to humanitarian relief efforts in the impacted parts of Somalia. Following a greatly improved security situation in Mogadishu in mid-2011, the Turkish government also re-opened its foreign embassy with the intention of more effectively assisting in the post-conflict development process. It was among the first foreign governments to resume formal diplomatic relations with Somalia after the civil war. In May 2010, the Turkish and Somali governments signed a military training agreement, in keeping with the provisions outlined in the Djibouti Peace Process. Turkish Airlines became the first long-distance international commercial airline in two decades to resume flights to and from Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport. Turkey also launched various development and infrastructure projects in Somalia including building several hospitals and helping renovate the National Assembly building. Protests 2013 Gezi Park protests against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdoğan and his policies, starting from a small sit-in in Istanbul in defense of a city park. After the police's intense reaction with tear gas, the protests grew each day. Faced by the largest mass protest in a decade, Erdoğan made this controversial remark in a televised speech: "The police were there yesterday, they are there today, and they will be there tomorrow". After weeks of clashes in the streets of Istanbul, his government at first apologized to the protestors and called for a plebiscite, but then ordered a crackdown on the protesters. Presidency (2014–present) Erdoğan took the oath of office on 28 August 2014 and became the 12th president of Turkey. He administered the new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's oath on 29 August. When asked about his lower-than-expected 51.79% share of the vote, he allegedly responded, "there were even those who did not like the Prophet. I, however, won 52%". Assuming the role of President, Erdoğan was criticized for openly stating that he would not maintain the tradition of presidential neutrality. Erdoğan has also stated his intention to pursue a more active role as president, such as utilising the President's rarely used cabinet-calling powers. The political opposition has argued that Erdoğan will continue to pursue his own political agenda, controlling the government, while his new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would be docile and submissive. Furthermore, the domination of loyal Erdoğan supporters in Davutoğlu's cabinet fuelled speculation that Erdoğan intended to exercise substantial control over the government. Presidential elections On 1 July 2014, Erdoğan was named the AKP's presidential candidate in the Turkish presidential election. His candidacy was announced by the Deputy President of the AKP, Mehmet Ali Şahin. Erdoğan made a speech after the announcement and used the 'Erdoğan logo' for the first time. The logo was criticised because it was very similar to the logo that U.S. President Barack Obama used in the 2008 presidential election. Erdoğan was elected as the President of Turkey in the first round of the election with 51.79% of the vote, obviating the need for a run-off by winning over 50%. The joint candidate of the CHP, MHP and 13 other opposition parties, former Organisation of Islamic Co-operation general secretary Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu won 38.44% of the vote. The pro-Kurdish HDP candidate Selahattin Demirtaş won 9.76%. The 2018 Turkish presidential election took place as part of the 2018 general election, alongside parliamentary elections on the same day. Following the approval of constitutional changes in a referendum held in 2017, the elected President will be both the head of state and head of government of Turkey, taking over the latter role from the to-be-abolished office of the Prime Minister. Incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared his candidacy for the People's Alliance (Turkish: Cumhur İttifakı) on 27 April 2018. Erdoğan's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, nominated Muharrem İnce, a member of the parliament known for his combative opposition and spirited speeches against Erdoğan. Besides these candidates, Meral Akşener, the founder and leader of İyi Party, Temel Karamollaoğlu, the leader of the Felicity Party and Doğu Perinçek, the leader of the Patriotic Party, have announced their candidacies and collected the 100,000 signatures required for nomination. The alliance which Erdoğan was candidate for won 52.59% of the popular vote. Referendum In April 2017, a constitutional referendum was held, where the voters in Turkey (and Turkish citizens abroad) approved a set of 18 proposed amendments to the Constitution of Turkey. The amendments included the replacement of the existing parliamentary system with a presidential system. The post of Prime Minister would be abolished, and the presidency would become an executive post vested with broad executive powers. The parliament seats would be increased from 550 to 600 and the age of candidacy to the parliament was lowered from 25 to 18. The referendum also called for changes to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors. Local elections In the 2019 local elections, the ruling party AKP lost control of Istanbul and Ankara for the first time in 25 years, as well as 5 of Turkey's 6 largest cities. The loss has been widely attributed to Erdoğan's mismanagement of the Turkish economic crisis, rising authoritarianism as well as the alleged government inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis. Soon after the elections, Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey ordered a re-election in Istanbul, cancelling Ekrem İmamoğlu's mayoral certificate. The decision led to a significant decrease of Erdoğan's and AKP's popularity and his party lost the elections again in June with a greater margin. The result was seen as a huge blow to Erdoğan, who had once said that if his party 'lost Istanbul, we would lose Turkey. The opposition's victory was characterised as 'the beginning of the end' for Erdoğan', with international commentators calling the re-run a huge government miscalculation that led to a potential İmamoğlu candidacy in the next scheduled presidential election. It is suspected that the scale of the government's defeat could provoke a cabinet reshuffle and early general elections, currently scheduled for June 2023. The New Zealand and Australian governments and opposition CHP party have criticized Erdoğan after he repeatedly showed video taken by the Christchurch mosque shooter to his supporters at campaign rallies for 31 March local elections and said Australians and New Zealanders who came to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments "would be sent back in coffins like their grandfathers" at Gallipoli. Domestic policy Presidential palace Erdoğan has also received criticism for the construction of a new palace called Ak Saray (pure white palace), which occupies approximately 50 acres of Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ) in Ankara. Since the AOÇ is protected land, several court orders were issued to halt the construction of the new palace, though building work went on nonetheless. The opposition described the move as a clear disregard for the rule of law. The project was subject to heavy criticism and allegations were made; of corruption during the construction process, wildlife destruction and the complete obliteration of the zoo in the AOÇ in order to make way for the new compound. The fact that the palace is technically illegal has led to it being branded as the 'Kaç-Ak Saray', the word kaçak in Turkish meaning 'illegal'. Ak Saray was originally designed as a new office for the Prime Minister. However, upon assuming the presidency, Erdoğan announced that the palace would become the new Presidential Palace, while the Çankaya Mansion will be used by the Prime Minister instead. The move was seen as a historic change since the Çankaya Mansion had been used as the iconic office of the presidency ever since its inception. The Ak Saray has almost 1,000 rooms and cost $350 million (€270 million), leading to huge criticism at a time when mining accidents and workers' rights had been dominating the agenda. On 29 October 2014, Erdoğan was due to hold a Republic Day reception in the new palace to commemorate the 91st anniversary of the Republic of Turkey and to officially inaugurate the Presidential Palace. However, after most invited participants announced that they would boycott the event and a mining accident occurred in the district of Ermenek in Karaman, the reception was cancelled. The media President Erdoğan and his government continue to press for court action against the remaining free press in Turkey. The latest newspaper that has been seized is Zaman, in March 2016. After the seizure Morton Abramowitz and Eric Edelman, former U.S. ambassadors to Turkey, condemned President Erdoğan's actions in an opinion piece published by The Washington Post: "Clearly, democracy cannot flourish under Erdoğan now". "The overall pace of reforms in Turkey has not only slowed down but in some key areas, such as freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary, there has been a regression, which is particularly worrying", rapporteur Kati Piri said in April 2016 after the European Parliament passed its annual progress report on Turkey. On 22 June 2016, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that he considered himself successful in "destroying" Turkish civil groups "working against the state", a conclusion that had been confirmed some days earlier by Sedat Laçiner, Professor of International Relations and rector of the Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University: "Outlawing unarmed and peaceful opposition, sentencing people to unfair punishment under erroneous terror accusations, will feed genuine terrorism in Erdoğan’s Turkey. Guns and violence will become the sole alternative for legally expressing free thought". After the coup attempt, over 200 journalists were arrested and over 120 media outlets were closed. Cumhuriyet journalists were detained in November 2016 after a long-standing crackdown on the newspaper. Subsequently, Reporters Without Borders called Erdoğan an "enemy of press freedom" and said that he "hides his aggressive dictatorship under a veneer of democracy". In April 2017, Turkey blocked all access to Wikipedia over a content dispute. The Turkish government lifted a two-and-a-half-year ban on Wikipedia on 15 January 2020, restoring access to the online encyclopedia a month after Turkey's top court ruled that blocking Wikipedia was unconstitutional. On 1 July 2020, in a statement made to his party members, Erdoğan announced that the government would introduce new measures and regulations to control or shut down social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Netflix. Through these new measures, each company would be required to appoint an official representative in the country to respond to legal concerns. The decision comes after a number of Twitter users insulted his daughter Esra after she welcomed her fourth child. State of emergency and purges On 20 July 2016, President Erdoğan declared the state of emergency, citing the coup d'état attempt as justification. It was first scheduled to last three months. The Turkish parliament approved this measure. The state of emergency was later extended for another three months, amidst the ongoing 2016 Turkish purges including comprehensive purges of independent media and detention of tens of thousands of Turkish citizens politically opposed to Erdoğan. More than 50,000 people have been arrested and over 160,000 fired from their jobs by March 2018. In August 2016, Erdoğan began rounding up journalists who had been publishing, or who were about to publish articles questioning corruption within the Erdoğan administration, and incarcerating them. The number of Turkish journalists jailed by Turkey is higher than any other country, including all of those journalists currently jailed in North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and China combined. In the wake of the coup attempt of July 2016 the Erdoğan administration began rounding up tens of thousands of individuals, both from within the government, and from the public sector, and incarcerating them on charges of alleged "terrorism". As a result of these arrests, many in the international community complained about the lack of proper judicial process in the incarceration of Erdoğan's opposition. In April 2017 Erdoğan successfully sponsored legislation effectively making it illegal for the Turkish legislative branch to investigate his executive branch of government. Without the checks and balances of freedom of speech, and the freedom of the Turkish legislature to hold him accountable for his actions, many have likened Turkey's current form of government to a dictatorship with only nominal forms of democracy in practice. At the time of Erdoğan's successful passing of the most recent legislation silencing his opposition, United States President Donald Trump called Erdoğan to congratulate him for his "recent referendum victory". On 29 April 2017 Erdoğan's administration began an internal Internet block of all of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia site via Turkey's domestic Internet filtering system. This blocking action took place after the government had first made a request for Wikipedia to remove what it referred to as "offensive content". In response, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales replied via a post on Twitter stating, "Access to information is a fundamental human right. Turkish people, I will always stand with you and fight for this right." In January 2016, more than a thousand academics signed a petition criticizing Turkey's military crackdown on ethnic Kurdish towns and neighborhoods in the east of the country, such as Sur (a district of Diyarbakır), Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre and Silopi, and asking an end to violence. Erdoğan accused those who signed the petition of "terrorist propaganda", calling them "the darkest of people". He called for action by institutions and universities, stating, "Everyone who benefits from this state but is now an enemy of the state must be punished without further delay". Within days, over 30 of the signatories were arrested, many in dawn-time raids on their homes. Although all were quickly released, nearly half were fired from their jobs, eliciting a denunciation from Turkey's Science Academy for such "wrong and disturbing" treatment. Erdoğan vowed that the academics would pay the price for "falling into a pit of treachery". On 8 July 2018, Erdoğan sacked 18,000 officials for alleged ties to US based cleric Fethullah Gülen, shortly before renewing his term as an executive president. Of those removed, 9000 were police officers with 5000 from the armed forces with the addition of hundreds of academics. Foreign policy Europe In February 2016, Erdoğan threatened to send the millions of refugees in Turkey to EU member states, saying: "We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses ... So how will you deal with refugees if you don't get a deal?" In an interview to the news magazine Der Spiegel, German minister of defence Ursula von der Leyen said on 11 March 2016 that the refugee crisis had made good cooperation between EU and Turkey an "existentially important" issue. "Therefore it is right to advance now negotiations on Turkey's EU accession". In its resolution "The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey" from 22 June 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe warned that "recent developments in Turkey pertaining to freedom of the media and of expression, erosion of the rule of law and the human rights violations in relation to anti-terrorism security operations in south-east Turkey have ... raised serious questions about the functioning of its democratic institutions". On 20 August 2016, Erdoğan told his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko that Turkey would not recognize the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea; calling it "Crimea's occupation". In January 2017, Erdoğan said that the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Cyprus is "out of the question" and Turkey will be in Cyprus "forever". There is a long-standing dispute between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea. Erdoğan warned that Greece will pay a "heavy price" if Turkey's gas exploration vessel – in what Turkey said are disputed waters – is attacked. In September 2020, Erdoğan declared his government's support for Azerbaijan following clashes between Armenian and Azeri forces over a disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. He dismissed demands for a ceasefire. Diaspora In March 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated to the Turks in Europe, "Make not three, but five children. Because you are the future of Europe. That will be the best response to the injustices against you." This has been interpreted as an imperialist call for demographic warfare. According to The Economist, Erdoğan is the first Turkish leader to take the Turkish diaspora seriously, which has created friction within these diaspora communities and between the Turkish government and several of its European counterparts. The Balkans In February 2018, President Erdoğan expressed Turkish support of the Republic of Macedonia's position during negotiations over the Macedonia naming dispute saying that Greece's position is wrong. In March 2018, President Erdoğan criticized the Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj for dismissing his Interior Minister and Intelligence Chief for failing to inform him of an unauthorized and illegal secret operation conducted by the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey on Kosovo's territory that led to the arrest of six people allegedly associated with the Gülen movement. On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck the Durrës region of Albania. President Erdoğan expressed his condolences. and citing close Albanian-Turkish relations, he committed Turkey to reconstructing 500 earthquake destroyed homes and other civic structures in Laç, Albania. In Istanbul, Erdoğan organised and attended a donors conference (8 December) to assist Albania that included Turkish businessmen, investors and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. United Kingdom In May 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed Erdoğan to the United Kingdom for a three-day state visit. Erdoğan declared that the United Kingdom is "an ally and a strategic partner, but also a real friend. The cooperation we have is well beyond any mechanism that we have established with other partners." Israel Relations between Turkey and Israel began to normalize after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu officially apologized for the death of the nine Turkish activists during the Gaza flotilla raid. However, in response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of being "more barbaric than Hitler", and conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. In December 2017, President Erdoğan issued a warning to Donald Trump, after the U.S. President acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Erdoğan stated, "Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims", indicating that naming Jerusalem as Israel's capital would alienate Palestinians and other Muslims from the city, undermining hopes at a future capital of a Palestinian State. Erdoğan called Israel a "terrorist state". Naftali Bennett dismissed the threats, claiming "Erdoğan does not miss an opportunity to attack Israel". In April 2019, Erdoğan said the West Bank belongs to Palestinians, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would annex Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if he is re-elected. Erdoğan condemned the Israel–UAE peace agreement, stating that Turkey was considering suspending or cutting off diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates in retaliation. Syrian Civil War Amid allegations of Turkish collaboration with the Islamic State, the 2014 Kobanî protests broke out near the Syrian border city of Kobanî, in protest against the government's perceived facilitation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during the Siege of Kobanî. 42 protestors were killed during a brutal police crackdown. Asserting that aid to the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Syria would assist the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) (then on ceasefire) in Turkey, Erdoğan held bilateral talks with Barack Obama regarding IS during the 5–6 September 2014 NATO summit in Newport, Wales. In early October, United States Vice President Joe Biden criticised the Turkish government for supplying jihadists in Syria and said Erdoğan had expressed regret to him about letting foreign jihadists transit through Turkey en route to Syria. Erdoğan angrily responded, "Biden has to apologize for his statements" adding that if no apology is made, Biden would become "history to me." Biden subsequently apologised. In response to the U.S. request to use İncirlik Air Base to conduct air strikes against IS, Erdoğan demanded that Bashar al-Assad be removed from power first. Turkey lost its bid for a Security Council seat in the United Nations during the 2014 election; the unexpected result is believed to have been a reaction to Erdoğan's hostile treatment of the Kurds fighting ISIS on the Syrian border and a rebuke of his willingness to support IS-aligned insurgents opposed to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In 2015, there were consistent allegations that Erdoğan maintained financial links with the Islamic State, including allegation of his son-in-law Berat Albayrak's involvement with oil production and smuggling in ISIL. Revelations that the state was supplying arms to militant groups in Syria in the 2014 National Intelligence Organisation lorry scandal led to accusations of high treason. In July 2015, Turkey became involved in the international military intervention against ISIL, simultaneously launching airstrikes against PKK bases in Iraqi Kurdistan. As of 2015, Turkey began openly supporting the Army of Conquest, a coalition of Syrian rebel groups that included al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham. In late November 2016, Erdoğan said that the Turkish military launched its operations in Syria to end Assad's rule, but retracted this statement shortly afterwards. In January 2018, the Turkish military and its Syrian National Army and Sham Legion allies began the Turkish military operation in Afrin in the Kurdish-majority Afrin Canton in Northern Syria, against the YPG. On 10 April, Erdoğan rejected a Russian demand to return Afrin to Syrian government control. In October 2019, after Erdoğan spoke to him, U.S. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, despite recently agreeing to a Northern Syria Buffer Zone. U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the border to avoid interference with the Turkish operation. After the U.S. pullout, Turkey proceeded to attack the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Rejecting criticism of the invasion, Erdoğan claimed that NATO and European Union countries "sided with terrorists, and all of them attacked us". China Bilateral trade between Turkey and China increased from $1 billion a year in 2002 to $27 billion annually in 2017. Erdoğan has stated that Turkey might consider joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation instead of the European Union. Qatar blockade In June 2017 during a speech, Erdoğan called the isolation of Qatar as "inhumane and against Islamic values" and that "victimising Qatar through smear campaigns serves no purpose". Myanmar In September 2017, Erdoğan condemned the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar and accused Myanmar of "genocide" against the Muslim minority. United States Over time, Turkey began to look for ways to buy its own missile defense system and also to use that procurement to build up its own capacity to manufacture and sell an air and missile defense system. Turkey got serious about acquiring a missile defense system early in the first Obama administration when it opened a competition between the Raytheon Patriot PAC 2 system and systems from Europe, Russia, and even China. Taking advantage of the new low in U.S.-Turkish relations, Putin saw his chance to use an S-400 sale to Turkey, so in July 2017, he offered the air defense system to Turkey. In the months that followed, the United States warned Turkey that a S-400 purchase jeopardized Turkey's F-35 purchase. Integration of the Russian system into the NATO air defense net was also out of the question. Administration officials, including Mark Esper, warned that Turkey had to choose between the S-400 and the F-35. That they couldn't have both. The S-400 deliveries to Turkey began on 12 July. On 16 July, Trump mentioned to reporters that withholding the F-35 from Turkey was unfair. Said the president, "So what happens is we have a situation where Turkey is very good with us, very good, and we are now telling Turkey that because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we’re not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets". The U.S. Congress has made clear on a bipartisan basis that it expects the president to sanction Turkey for buying Russian equipment. Out of the F-35, Turkey now considers buying Russian fifth-generation jet fighter Su-57. On 1 August 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned two senior Turkish government ministers who were involved in the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Erdoğan said that the U.S. behavior will force Turkey to look for new friends and allies. The U.S.–Turkey tensions appear to be the most serious diplomatic crisis between the NATO allies in years. Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton claimed that President Donald Trump told Erdoğan he would 'take care' of investigation against Turkey's state-owned bank Halkbank accused of bank fraud charges and laundering up to $20 billion on behalf of Iranian entities. Turkey criticized Bolton's book, saying it included misleading accounts of conversations between Trump and Erdoğan. In August 2020, the former vice president and presidential candidate Joe Biden called for a new U.S. approach to the "autocrat" President Erdoğan and support for Turkish opposition parties. In September 2020, Biden demanded that Erdoğan "stay out" of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in which Turkey has supported the Azeris. Venezuela Relations with Venezuela were strengthened with recent developments and high level mutual visits. The first official visit between the two countries at presidential level was in October 2017 when Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro visited Turkey. In December 2018, Erdoğan visited Venezuela for the first time and expressed his will to build strong relations with Venezuela and expressed hope that high-level visits "will increasingly continue." Reuters reported that in 2018 23 tons of mined gold were taken from Venezuela to Istanbul. In the first nine months of 2018, Venezuela's gold exports to Turkey rose from zero in the previous year to US$900 million. During the Venezuelan presidential crisis, Erdoğan voiced solidarity with Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and criticized U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, saying that "political problems cannot be resolved by punishing an entire nation." Following the 2019 Venezuelan uprising attempt, Erdoğan condemned the actions of lawmaker Juan Guaidó, tweeting "Those who are in an effort to appoint a postmodern colonial governor to Venezuela, where the President was appointed by elections and where the people rule, should know that only democratic elections can determine how a country is governed". Events Coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a coup d'état was attempted by the military, with aims to remove Erdoğan from government. By the next day, Erdoğan's government managed to reassert effective control in the country. Reportedly, no government official was arrested or harmed, which, among other factors, raised the suspicion of a false flag event staged by the government itself. Erdoğan, as well as other government officials, has blamed an exiled cleric, and a former ally of Erdoğan, Fethullah Gülen, for staging the coup attempt. Süleyman Soylu, Minister of Labor in Erdoğan's government, accused the US of planning a coup to oust Erdoğan. Erdoğan, as well as other high-ranking Turkish government officials, has issued repeated demands to the US to extradite Gülen. Following the coup attempt, there has been a significant deterioration in Turkey-US relations. European and other world leaders have expressed their concerns over the situation in Turkey, with many of them warning Erdoğan not to use the coup attempt as an excuse to crack down on his opponents. The rise of ISIS and the collapse of the Kurdish peace process had led to a sharp rise in terror incidents in Turkey until 2016. Erdoğan was accused by his critics of having a 'soft corner' for ISIS. However, after the attempted coup, Erdoğan ordered the Turkish military into Syria to combat ISIS and Kurdish militant groups. Erdoğan's critics have decried purges in the education system and judiciary as undermining the rule of law however Erdoğan supporters argue this is a necessary measure as Gulen-linked schools cheated on entrance exams, requiring a purge in the education system and of the Gulen followers who then entered the judiciary. Erdoğan's plan is "to reconstitute Turkey as a presidential system. The plan would create a centralized system that would enable him to better tackle Turkey's internal and external threats. One of the main hurdles allegedly standing in his way is Fethullah Gulen's movement ..." In the aftermath of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, a groundswell of national unity and consensus emerged for cracking down on the coup plotters with a National Unity rally held in Turkey that included Islamists, secularists, liberals and nationalists. Erdoğan has used this consensus to remove Gulen's followers from the bureaucracy, curtail their role in NGOs, Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Turkish military, with 149 Generals discharged. In a foreign policy shift Erdoğan ordered the Turkish Armed Forces into battle in Syria and has liberated towns from IS control. As relations with Europe soured over in the aftermath of the attempted coup, Erdoğan developed alternative relationships with Russia, Saudi Arabia and a "strategic partnership" with Pakistan, with plans to cultivate relations through free trade agreements and deepening military relations for mutual co-operation with Turkey's regional allies. 2018 currency and debt crisis The Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018 was caused by the Turkish economy's excessive current account deficit and foreign-currency debt, in combination with Erdoğan's increasing authoritarianism and his unorthodox ideas about interest rate policy. Economist Paul Krugman described the unfolding crisis as "a classic currency-and-debt crisis, of a kind we’ve seen many times", adding: "At such a time, the quality of leadership suddenly matters a great deal. You need officials who understand what's happening, can devise a response and have enough credibility that markets give them the benefit of the doubt. Some emerging markets have those things, and they are riding out the turmoil fairly well. The Erdoğan regime has none of that". Ideology and public image Early during his premiership, Erdoğan was praised as a role model for emerging Middle Eastern nations due to several reform packages initiated by his government which expanded religious freedoms and minority rights as part of accession negotiations with the European Union. However, his government underwent several crises including the Sledgehammer coup and the Ergenekon trials, corruption scandals, accusations of media intimidation, as well as the pursuit of an increasingly polarizing political agenda; the opposition accused the government of inciting political hatred throughout the country. Critics say that Erdoğan's government legitimizes homophobia, as Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". Neo-Ottomanism As President, Erdoğan has overseen a revival of Ottoman tradition, greeting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas with an Ottoman-style ceremony in the new presidential palace, with guards dressed in costumes representing founders of 16 Great Turkish Empires in history. While serving as the Prime Minister of Turkey, Erdoğan's AKP made references to the Ottoman era during election campaigns, such as calling their supporters 'grandsons of Ottomans' (Osmanlı torunu). This proved controversial, since it was perceived to be an open attack against the republican nature of modern Turkey founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In 2015, Erdoğan made a statement in which he endorsed the old Ottoman term külliye to refer to university campuses rather than the standard Turkish word kampüs. Many critics have thus accused Erdoğan of wanting to become an Ottoman sultan and abandon the secular and democratic credentials of the Republic. One of the most cited scholars alive, Noam Chomsky, said that "Erdogan in Turkey is basically trying to create something like the Ottoman Caliphate, with him as caliph, supreme leader, throwing his weight around all over the place, and destroying the remnants of democracy in Turkey at the same time". When pressed on this issue in January 2015, Erdoğan denied these claims and said that he would aim to be more like Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom rather than like an Ottoman sultan. In July 2020, after the Council of State annulled the Cabinet's 1934 decision to establish the Hagia Sophia as museum and revoking the monument's status, Erdoğan ordered its reclassification as a mosque. The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia's waqf, endowed by Sultan Mehmed II, had designated the site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan. This redesignation is controversial, invoking condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO, the World Council of Churches, the Holy See, and many other international leaders. In August 2020, he also signed the order that transferred the administration of the Chora Church to the Directorate of Religious Affairs to open it for worship as a mosque. Initially converted to a mosque by the Ottomans, the building had then been designated as a museum by the government since 1934. Authoritarianism Erdoğan has served as the de facto leader of Turkey since 2002. In response to criticism, Erdoğan made a speech in May 2014 denouncing allegations of dictatorship, saying that the leader of the opposition, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was there at the speech, would not be able to "roam the streets" freely if he were a dictator. Kılıçdaroğlu responded that political tensions would cease to exist if Erdoğan stopped making his polarising speeches for three days. One observer said it was a measure of the state of Turkish democracy that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu could openly threaten, on 20 December 2015, that, if his party did not win the election, Turkish Kurds would endure a repeat of the era of the "white Toros", the Turkish name for the Renault 12, "a car associated with the gendarmarie’s fearsome intelligence agents, who carried out thousands of extrajudicial executions of Kurdish nationalists during the 1990s". In February 2015, a 13-year-old was charged by a prosecutor after allegedly insulting Erdoğan on Facebook. In 2016, a waiter was arrested for insulting Erdoğan by allegedly saying "If Erdoğan comes here, I will not even serve tea to him.". In April 2014, the President of the Constitutional Court, Haşim Kılıç, accused Erdoğan of damaging the credibility of the judiciary, labelling Erdoğan's attempts to increase political control over the courts as 'desperate'. During the chaotic 2007 presidential election, the military issued an E-memorandum warning the government to keep within the boundaries of secularism when choosing a candidate. Regardless, Erdoğan's close relations with Fethullah Gülen and his Cemaat Movement allowed his government to maintain a degree of influence within the judiciary through Gülen's supporters in high judicial and bureaucratic offices. Shortly after, an alleged coup plot codenamed Sledgehammer became public and resulted in the imprisonment of 300 military officers including İbrahim Fırtına, Çetin Doğan and Engin Alan. Several opposition politicians, journalists and military officers also went on trial for allegedly being part of an ultra-nationalist organisation called Ergenekon. Both cases were marred by irregularities and were condemned as a joint attempt by Erdoğan and Gülen to curb opposition to the AKP. The original Sledgehammer document containing the coup plans, allegedly written in 2003, was found to have been written using Microsoft Word 2007. Despite both domestic and international calls for these irregularities to be addressed in order to guarantee a fair trial, Erdoğan instead praised his government for bringing the coup plots to light. When Gülen publicly withdrew support and openly attacked Erdoğan in late 2013, several imprisoned military officers and journalists were released, with the government admitting that the judicial proceedings were unfair. When Gülen withdrew support from the AKP government in late 2013, a government corruption scandal broke out, leading to the arrest of several family members of cabinet ministers. Erdoğan accused Gülen of co-ordinating a "parallel state" within the judiciary in an attempt to topple him from power. He then removed or reassigned several judicial officials in an attempt to remove Gülen's supporters from office. Erdoğan's 'purge' was widely questioned and criticised by the European Union. In early 2014, a new law was passed by parliament giving the government greater control over the judiciary, which sparked public protest throughout the country. International organisations perceived the law to be a danger to the separation of powers. Several judicial officials removed from their posts said that they had been removed due to their secularist credentials. The political opposition accused Erdoğan of not only attempting to remove Gülen supporters, but supporters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's principles as well, in order to pave the way for increased politicisation of the judiciary. Several family members of Erdoğan's ministers who had been arrested as a result of the 2013 corruption scandal were released, and a judicial order to question Erdoğan's son Bilal Erdoğan was annulled. Controversy erupted when it emerged that many of the newly appointed judicial officials were actually AKP supporters. İslam Çiçek, a judge who ejected the cases of five ministers' relatives accused of corruption, was accused of being an AKP supporter and an official investigation was launched into his political affiliations. On 1 September 2014, the courts dissolved the cases of 96 suspects, which included Bilal Erdoğan. During a televised press conference he was asked if he believed a presidential system was possible in a unitary state. Erdoğan affirmed this and cited Nazi Germany (among other examples) as a case where such a combination existed. However, the Turkish president's office said that Erdoğan was not advocating a Hitler-style government when he called for a state system with a strong executive, and added that the Turkish president had declared the "Holocaust, anti-semitism and Islamophobia" as crimes against humanity and that it was out of the question for him to cite Hitler's Germany as a good example. Suppression of dissent Erdoğan has been criticised for his politicisation of the media, especially after the 2013 protests. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) alleged that over 1,863 journalists lost their jobs due to their anti-government views in 12 years of AKP rule. Opposition politicians have also alleged that intimidation in the media is due to the government's attempt to restructure the ownership of private media corporations. Journalists from the Cihan News Agency and the Gülenist Zaman newspaper were repeatedly barred from attending government press conferences or asking questions. Several opposition journalists such as Soner Yalçın were controversially arrested as part of the Ergenekon trials and Sledgehammer coup investigation. Veli Ağbaba, a CHP politician, has called the AKP the 'biggest media boss in Turkey.' In 2015, 74 US senators sent a letter to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to state their concern over what they saw as deviations from the basic principles of democracy in Turkey and oppressions of Erdoğan over media. Notable cases of media censorship occurred during the 2013 anti-government protests, when the mainstream media did not broadcast any news regarding the demonstrations for three days after they began. The lack of media coverage was symbolised by CNN International covering the protests while CNN Türk broadcast a documentary about penguins at the same time. The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) controversially issued a fine to pro-opposition news channels including Halk TV and Ulusal Kanal for their coverage of the protests, accusing them of broadcasting footage that could be morally, physically and mentally destabilising to children. Erdoğan was criticised for not responding to the accusations of media intimidation, and caused international outrage after telling a female journalist (Amberin Zaman of The Economist) to know her place and calling her a 'shameless militant' during his 2014 presidential election campaign. While the 2014 presidential election was not subject to substantial electoral fraud, Erdoğan was again criticised for receiving disproportionate media attention in comparison to his rivals. The British newspaper The Times commented that between 2 and 4 July, the state-owned media channel TRT gave 204 minutes of coverage to Erdoğan's campaign and less than a total of 3 minutes to both his rivals. Erdoğan also tightened controls over the Internet, signing into law a bill which allows the government to block websites without prior court order on 12 September 2014. His government blocked Twitter and YouTube in late March 2014 following the release of a recording of a conversation between him and his son Bilal, where Erdoğan allegedly warned his family to 'nullify' all cash reserves at their home amid the 2013 corruption scandal. Erdoğan has undertaken a media campaign that attempts to portray the presidential family as frugal and simple-living; their palace electricity-bill is estimated at $500,000 per month. In May 2016, former Miss Turkey model Merve Büyüksaraç was sentenced to more than a year in prison for allegedly insulting the president. In a 2016 news story, Bloomberg reported, "more than 2,000 cases have been opened against journalists, cartoonists, teachers, a former Miss Turkey, and even schoolchildren in the past two years". In November 2016, the Turkish government blocked access to social media in all of Turkey as well as sought to completely block Internet access for the citizens in the southeast of the country. Mehmet Aksoy lawsuit In 2009, Turkish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy created the Statue of Humanity in Kars to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. When visiting the city in 2011, Erdoğan deemed the statue a "freak", and months later it was demolished. Aksoy sued Erdoğan for "moral indemnities", although his lawyer said that his statement was a critique rather than an insult. In March 2015, a judge ordered Erdoğan to pay 10,000 liras. Erdoğanism Erdoğan has produced many aphorisms and catch-phrases known as Erdoğanisms. The term Erdoğanism first emerged shortly after Erdoğan's 2011 general election victory, where it was predominantly described as the AKP's liberal economic and conservative democratic ideals fused with Erdoğan demagoguery and cult of personality. Views on minorities LGBT In 2002, Erdoğan said that "homosexuals must be legally protected within the framework of their rights and freedoms. From time to time, we do not find the treatment they get on some television screens humane", he said. However, in 2017 Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey's top Muslim scholar and President of Religious Affairs, Ali Erbaş, said in a Friday Ramadan announcement that country condemns homosexuality because it "brings illness," insinuating that same sex relations are responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan backed Erbaş, saying that what Erbaş "said was totally right." Jews While Erdoğan has declared several times being against antisemitism, he has been accused of invoking antisemitic stereotypes in public statements. According to Erdoğan, he had been inspired by novelist and Islamist ideologue Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, a publisher (among others) of antisemitic literature. Others During a live interview in 2014, he said: "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian. Excuse me, but they have said even uglier things. They have called me Armenian, but I am Turkish." Honours and accolades Foreign honours Russia: Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan" (1 June 2006) Pakistan: Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award in Pakistan (26 October 2009) Georgia: Order of Golden Fleece, awarded for his contribution to development of bilateral relations (17 May 2010) Kyrgyzstan: Danaker Order in Bishkek (2 February 2011) Azerbaijan: Heydar Aliyev Order (3 September 2014) Belgium: Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold (5 October 2015) Madagascar: Knight Grand Cross in the national Order (25 January 2017) Gagauzia: Order of Gagauz-Yeri in Comrat (18 October 2018) Venezuela: Order of the Liberator, Grand Cordon (3 December 2018) Ukraine: Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (16 October 2020) Other awards 29 January 2004: Profile of Courage Award from the American Jewish Congress, for promoting peace between cultures. Returned at the request of the A.J.C. in July 2014. 13 June 2004: Golden Plate award from the Academy of Achievement during the conference in Chicago. 3 October 2004: German Quadriga prize for improving relationships between different cultures. 2 September 2005: Mediterranean Award for Institutions (). This was awarded by the Fondazione Mediterraneo. 8 August 2006: Caspian Energy Integration Award from the Caspian Integration Business Club. 1 November 2006: Outstanding Service award from the Turkish humanitarian organization Red Crescent. 2 February 2007: Dialogue Between Cultures Award from the President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev. 15 April 2007: Crystal Hermes Award from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the opening of the Hannover Industrial Fair. 11 July 2007: highest award of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Agricola Medal, in recognition of his contribution to agricultural and social development in Turkey. 11 May 2009: Avicenna award from the Avicenna Foundation in Frankfurt, Germany. 9 June 2009: guest of honor at the 20th Crans Montana Forum in Brussels and received the Prix de la Fondation, for democracy and freedom. 25 June 2009: Key to the City of Tirana on the occasion of his state visit to Albania. 29 December 2009: Award for Contribution to World Peace from the Turgut Özal Thought and Move Association. 12 January 2010: King Faisal International Prize for "service to Islam" from the King Faisal Foundation. 23 February 2010: Nodo Culture Award from the mayor of Seville for his efforts to launch the Alliance of Civilizations initiative. 1 March 2010: United Nations–HABITAT award in memorial of Rafik Hariri. A seven-member international jury unanimously found Erdoğan deserving of the award because of his "excellent achievement and commendable conduct in the area of leadership, statesmanship and good governance. Erdoğan also initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors." 27 May 2010: medal of honor from the Brazilian Federation of Industry for the State of São Paulo (FIESP) for his contributions to industry 31 May 2010: World Health Organization 2010 World No Tobacco Award for "his dedicated leadership on tobacco control in Turkey." 29 June 2010: 2010 World Family Award from the World Family Organization which operates under the umbrella of the United Nations. 4 November 2010: Golden Medal of Independence, an award conferred upon Kosovo citizens and foreigners that have contributed to the independence of Kosovo. 25 November 2010: "Leader of the Year" award presented by the Union of Arab Banks in Lebanon. 11 January 2011: "Outstanding Personality in the Islamic World Award" of the Sheikh Fahad al-Ahmad International Award for Charity in Kuwait. 25 October 2011: Palestinian International Award for Excellence and Creativity (PIA) 2011 for his support to the Palestinian people and cause. 21 January 2012: 'Gold Statue 2012 Special Award' by the Polish Business Center Club (BCC). Erdoğan was awarded for his systematic effort to clear barriers on the way to economic growth, striving to build democracy and free market relations. 2020: Ig Nobel Prize "for using the COVID-19 viral pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can." See also List of international presidential trips made by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Leadership approval polling for the 2023 Turkish general election The 500 Most Influential Muslims Notes References Further reading Cagaptay, Soner. The new sultan: Erdogan and the crisis of modern Turkey (2nd ed. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020). online review Cagaptay, Soner. "Making Turkey Great Again." Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 43 (2019): 169–78. online Kirişci, Kemal, and Amanda Sloat. "The rise and fall of liberal democracy in Turkey: Implications for the West" Foreign Policy at Brookings (2019) online Tziarras, Zenonas. "Erdoganist authoritarianism and the 'new' Turkey." Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 18.4 (2018): 593–598. online Yavuz, M. Hakan. "A framework for understanding the Intra-Islamist conflict between the AK party and the Gülen movement." Politics, Religion & Ideology 19.1 (2018): 11–32. online Yesil, Bilge. Media in New Turkey: The Origins of an Authoritarian Neoliberal State (University of Illinois Press, 2016) online review External links Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Instagram. Archived from the original. Welcome to demokrasi: how Erdoğan got more popular than ever by The Guardian 1954 births Living people 21st-century presidents of Turkey 21st-century prime ministers of Turkey Deniers of the Armenian genocide Deputies of Istanbul Deputies of Siirt Recep Tayyip Imam Hatip school alumni Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Leaders of political parties in Turkey Marmara University alumni Mayors of Istanbul Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Naqshbandi order People from Istanbul Politicians arrested in Turkey Presidents of Turkey Prime Ministers of Turkey Recipients of the Heydar Aliyev Order Recipients of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia) Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class Turkish Islamists Turkish Sunni Muslims Chairmen of the Organization of Turkic States Recipients of the Gagauz-Yeri Order Foreign recipients of the Nishan-e-Pakistan	false	[ "Altan Erdogan (born 29 June 1967, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch journalist. He is the former editor of the Dutch weekly magazine Nieuwe Revu.\n\nLife and career\nErdogan was born to a Turkish father and a Dutch mother. After his journalism studies at the School of Journalism in Utrecht, he worked as a reporter and editor for the Haarlem Dagblad, Het Parool and De Volkskrant. From 2002 he was managing editor and deputy of Times Magazine. In December 2007 he was the first foreign editor of a national magazine in the Netherlands.\n\nIn the years 2007-2010 Erdogan served as editor-in-chief of Nieuwe Revu. He changed the name to Revu but his successor, Frans Loman, changed it right back. In the Erdogan years the circulation of Nieuwe Revu dropped from 64,360 to 46,619 (by 28%), but this was not different from the previous and subsequent years.\n\nSubsequent to Nieuwe Revu, Erdogan worked for the Dutch broadcasters VARA and PowNed. From 2015 to 2021 he edited Folia, the free student and staff magazine of the University of Amsterdam.\n\nAfter his stint with the student newspaper he was announced as the editor in chief for the Amsterdam television station AT5. He started in October 2021.\n\nReferences \n\n1967 births\nLiving people\nDutch journalists\nDutch people of Turkish descent\nWriters from Amsterdam", "Ertuğrul Erdoğan (born October 18, 1968) is a Turkish professional basketball coach. He last served as a head coach for Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball Super League and the Basketball Champions League.\n\nCoaching career \nIn 1996, Erdogan began his professional level coaching career with Galatasaray.\n\nErdoğan later served as an assistant coach for the Fenerbahçe from 2000 to 2013. With Fenerbahçe, Erdoğan worked under legendary coaches Aydın Örs and Bogdan Tanjevic.\n\nDuring the 2009-2010 season, coach Tanjevic was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and left the team at late March, Erdogan took over and led Fenerbahçe to the 2009-10 Turkish Basketball League championship. Despite his success against the title favourites Efes Pilsen, he was not appointed as Fenerbahçe's head coach in the following season. Erdogan continued to serve in an assistant coach capacity with head coaches Neven Spahija and Simone Pianigiani in the following seasons. He left Fenerbahce in 2013, after 13 years.\n\nŽalgiris Kaunas' interest \nShortly after Sarunas Jasikevicius' decision to joining Barcelona in the summer of 2020, Ertugrul Erdogan has emerged the frontrunner for Zalgiris head coach position. Erdogan spoke with Zalgiris president and GM Paulius Motiejunas but there was never traction on reaching a contract agreement as the days wore on. Zalgiris opted to sign with the Salt Lake City Stars head coach, Martin Schiller. \n\nA couple of days after Zalgiris' interest, on July 14, 2020, Galatasaray officially signed head coach Ertugrul Erdogan to a 1+1 contract extension, the team announced.\n\nGalatasaray (2018-2020) \nOn July 26, 2018, Erdogan signed a two-year contract, and agreed to become the new head coach of the Turkish club Galatasaray.\n\nDuring his tenure at Galatasaray, Erdogan scouted and helped to promote many players into the Euroleague level. Rookies like Nigel Hayes, Aaron Harrison and Alex Poythress played under his leadership in their first seasons in Europe and then they signed with the Euroleague clubs Zalgiris, Olympiacos B.C and Zenit St. Petersburg respectively.\n\nZach Auguste, who was the starting center of Erdogan's Galatasaray for both seasons, agreed with Euroleague club Panathinaikos on July 20, 2020. Greg Whittington, another Galatasaray alum, \"will sign with an NBA team, unless a major Euroleague team makes a strong offer\" according to Whittington's agent Jerry Dianis. \n\nGalatasaray announced that the club has entered negotiations with head coach Ertugrul Erdogan for the mutual termination of his contract. On November 10, 2020, coach Erdogan bid his farewell to Galatasaray and their fans. “Without honesty, there is neither trust nor sustainable success. Thank you to everyone, mainly our fans, who supported me and my staff during my two and a half years at Galatasaray. My conscience is clear” he later tweeted.\n\nPersonal life \nErdogan graduated from Middle East Technical University Department of Physical Education and Sports.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Galatasaray.org\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Eurobasket.com\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Euroleague.net\n\n1968 births\nLiving people\nBasketbol Süper Ligi head coaches\nFenerbahçe basketball coaches\nGalatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) coaches\nTurkish basketball coaches\nTürk Telekom basketball coaches" ]
[ "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "Personal life and education", "Where did Erdogan go to college?", "He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences,", "Does Erdogan have children?", "I don't know.", "Where was Erdogan born?", "Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul," ]	C_15e775d39cc647c7987d95fdc23b6587_1	Is Erdogan married?	4	Is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan married?	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province. His parents are Ahmet Erdogan and Tenzile Erdogan. Erdogan reportedly said in 2003, "I'm a Georgian, my family is a Georgian family which migrated from Batumi to Rize." But in a 2014 televised interview on the NTV news network, he said, "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian... forgive me for saying this... even much uglier things, they have even called me an Armenian, but I am Turkish." In an account based on registry records, his genealogy was tracked to an ethnic Turkish family. Erdogan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father Ahmet Erdogan (1905 - 1988) was a Captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. Erdogan had a brother Mustafa (b. 1958) and sister Vesile (b. 1965). His summer holidays were mostly spent in Guneysu, Rize, where his family originates from. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdogan was 13 years old. As a teenager, he sold lemonade and sesame buns (simit) on the streets of the city's rougher districts to earn extra money. Brought up in an observant Muslim family, Erdogan graduated from Kasimpasa Piyale primary school in 1965, and Imam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. He received his high school diploma from Eyup High School. He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences, now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences--although several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated. In his youth, Erdogan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahce wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasimpasa S.K. is named after him. Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (born 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons; Ahmet Burak and Necmettin Bilal, and two daughters, Esra and Sumeyye. His father, Ahmet Erdogan, died in 1988 and his 88-year-old mother, Tenzile Erdogan, died in 2011. He is a member of the Community of Iskenderpasa, a Turkish sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. CANNOTANSWER	Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to election victories in 2002, 2007, and 2011 general elections before being required to stand down upon his election as President in 2014. He later returned to the AKP leadership in 2017 following the constitutional referendum that year. Coming from an Islamist political background and self-describing as a conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration. Following the 1994 local elections, Erdoğan was elected mayor of Istanbul as the candidate of the Islamist Welfare Party. He was later stripped of his position, banned from political office, and imprisoned for four months for inciting religious hatred, due to his recitation of a poem by Ziya Gökalp. Erdoğan subsequently abandoned openly Islamist politics, establishing the moderate conservative AKP in 2001, which he went on to lead to a landslide victory in 2002. With Erdoğan still technically prohibited from holding office, the AKP's co-founder, Abdullah Gül, instead became prime minister, and later annulled Erdoğan's political ban. After winning a by-election in Siirt in 2003, Erdoğan replaced Gül as prime minister, with Gül instead becoming the AKP's candidate for the presidency. Erdoğan led the AKP to two more election victories in 2007 and 2011. The early years of Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister saw advances in negotiations for Turkey's membership of the European Union, an economic recovery following a economic crisis in 2001 and investments in infrastructure including roads, airports, and a high-speed train network. He also won two successful constitutional referendums in 2007 and 2010. However, his government remained controversial for its close links with Fethullah Gülen and his Gülen Movement (since designated as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish state) with whom the AKP was accused of orchestrating purges against secular bureaucrats and military officers through the Balyoz and Ergenekon trials. In late 2012, his government began peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to end the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present). The ceasefire broke down in 2015, leading to a renewed escalation in conflict. Erdoğan's foreign policy has been described as Neo-Ottoman and has led to the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, with its focus on preventing the Syrian Democratic Forces from gaining ground on the Syria–Turkey border during the Syrian Civil War. In the more recent years of Erdoğan's rule, Turkey has experienced democratic backsliding and corruption. Starting with the anti-government protests in 2013, his government imposed growing censorship on the press and social media, temporarily restricting access to sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. This stalled negotiations related to Turkey's EU membership. A US$100 billion corruption scandal in 2013 led to the arrests of Erdoğan's close allies, and incriminated Erdoğan. After 11 years as head of government (Prime Minister), Erdoğan decided to run for President in 2014. At the time, the presidency was a somewhat ceremonial function. Following the 2014 elections, Erdoğan became the first popularly elected president of Turkey. The souring in relations with Gülen continued, as the government proceeded to purge his supporters from judicial, bureaucratic and military positions. A failed military coup d'état attempt in July 2016 resulted in further purges and a temporary state of emergency. The government claimed that the coup leaders were linked to Gülen, but he has denied any role in it. Erdoğan's rule has been marked with increasing authoritarianism, expansionism, censorship and banning of parties or dissent. Erdoğan supported the 2017 referendum which changed Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential system, thus setting for the first time in Turkish history a term limit for the head of government (two full five-year terms). This new system of government formally came into place after the 2018 general election, where Erdoğan became an executive president. His party however lost the majority in the parliament and is currently in a coalition (People's Alliance) with the Turkish nationalist MHP. Erdoğan has since been tackling, but also accused of contributing to, the Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018, which has caused a significant decline in his popularity and is widely believed to have contributed to the results of the 2019 local elections, in which his party lost power in big cities like Ankara and Istanbul to opposition parties for the first time in 15 years. Family and personal life Early life Erdoğan was born in Kasımpaşa, a poor neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province in the 1930s. Erdoğan's tribe is originally from Adjara, a region in Georgia. His parents were Ahmet Erdoğan (1905–88) and Tenzile Erdoğan (née Mutlu; 1924–2011). Erdoğan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father was a captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. His summer holidays were mostly spent in Güneysu, Rize, where his family originates. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdoğan was 13 years old. As a teenager, Erdoğan's father provided him with a weekly allowance of 2.5 Turkish lira, less than a dollar. With it, Erdoğan bought postcards and resold them on the street. He sold bottles of water to drivers stuck in traffic. Erdoğan also worked as a street vendor selling simit (sesame bread rings), wearing a white gown and selling the simit from a red three-wheel cart with the rolls stacked behind glass. In his youth, Erdoğan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahçe wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasımpaşa S.K. is named after him. Erdoğan is a member of the Community of İskenderpaşa, a Turkish Sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. Education Erdoğan graduated from Kasımpaşa Piyale primary school in 1965, and İmam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. The same educational path was followed by other co-founders of the AKP party. One quarter of the curriculum of İmam Hatip schools involves study of the Qurʼān, the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the Arabic language. Erdoğan studied the Qurʼān at an İmam Hatip, where his classmates began calling him "hoca" ("Muslim teacher"). Erdoğan attended a meeting of the nationalist student group National Turkish Student Union (Milli Türk Talebe Birliği), who sought to raise a conservative cohort of young people to counter the rising movement of leftists in Turkey. Within the group, Erdoğan was distinguished by his oratorical skills, developing a penchant for public speaking and excelling in front of an audience. He won first place in a poetry-reading competition organized by the Community of Turkish Technical Painters, and began preparing for speeches through reading and research. Erdoğan would later comment on these competitions as "enhancing our courage to speak in front of the masses". Erdoğan wanted to pursue advanced studies at Mekteb-i Mülkiye, but Mülkiye accepted only students with regular high school diplomas, and not İmam Hatip graduates. Mülkiye was known for its political science department, which trained many statesmen and politicians in Turkey. Erdoğan was then admitted to Eyüp High School, a regular state school, and eventually received his high school diploma from Eyüp. According to his official biography, he subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences (), now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated, or even attended at all. Family Erdoğan married Emine Gülbaran (b. 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons, Ahmet Burak (b. 1979) and Necmettin Bilal (b. 1981), and two daughters, Esra (b. 1983) and Sümeyye (b. 1985). His father, Ahmet Erdoğan, died in 1988 and his mother, Tenzile Erdoğan, died in 2011 at the age of 88. Erdoğan has a brother, Mustafa (b. 1958), and a sister, Vesile (b. 1965). From his father's first marriage to Havuli Erdoğan (d. 1980), he had two half-brothers: Mehmet (1926–1988) and Hasan (1929–2006). Early political career In 1976, Erdoğan engaged in politics by joining the National Turkish Student Union, an anti-communist action group. In the same year, he became the head of the Beyoğlu youth branch of the Islamist National Salvation Party (MSP), and was later promoted to chair of the Istanbul youth branch of the party. Holding this position until 1980, he served as consultant and senior executive in the private sector during the era following the 1980 military coup when political parties were closed down. In 1983, Erdoğan followed most of Necmettin Erbakan's followers into the Islamist Welfare Party. He became the party's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984, and in 1985 he became the chair of the Istanbul city branch. He was elected to parliament in 1991, but was barred from taking his seat. Mayor of Istanbul (1994–1998) In the local elections of 27 March 1994, Erdoğan was elected Mayor of Istanbul with 25.19% of the popular vote. Erdoğan was a 40-year-old dark horse candidate who had been mocked by the mainstream media and treated as a country bumpkin by his opponents. He was pragmatic in office, tackling many chronic problems in Istanbul including water shortage, pollution and traffic chaos. The water shortage problem was solved with the laying of hundreds of kilometers of new pipelines. The garbage problem was solved with the establishment of state-of-the-art recycling facilities. While Erdoğan was in office, air pollution was reduced through a plan developed to switch to natural gas. He changed the public buses to environmentally friendly ones. The city's traffic and transportation jams were reduced with more than fifty bridges, viaducts, and highways built. He took precautions to prevent corruption, using measures to ensure that municipal funds were used prudently. He paid back a major portion of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's two-billion-dollar debt and invested four billion dollars in the city. Erdoğan initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors. A seven-member international jury from the United Nations unanimously awarded Erdoğan the UN-Habitat award. Imprisonment In 1998, the fundamentalist Welfare Party was declared unconstitutional on the grounds of threatening the secularism of Turkey and was shut down by the Turkish constitutional court. Erdoğan became a prominent speaker at demonstrations held by his party colleagues. In December 1997 in Siirt, Erdoğan recited a poem from a work written by Ziya Gökalp, a pan-Turkish activist of the early 20th century. His recitation included verses translated as "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...." which are not in the original version of the poem. Erdoğan said the poem had been approved by the education ministry to be published in textbooks. Under article 312/2 of the Turkish penal code his recitation was regarded as an incitement to violence and religious or racial hatred. He was given a ten-month prison sentence of which he served four months, from 24 March 1999 to 27 July 1999. Due to his conviction, Erdoğan was forced to give up his mayoral position. The conviction also stipulated a political ban, which prevented him from participating in parliamentary elections. He had appealed for the sentence to be converted to a monetary fine, but it was reduced to 120 days instead. In 2017, this period of Erdoğan's life was made into a film titled Reis. Justice and Development Party Erdoğan was member of political parties that kept getting banned by the army or judges. Within his Virtue Party, there was a dispute about the appropriate discourse of the party between traditional politicians and pro-reform politicians. The latter envisioned a party that could operate within the limits of the system, and thus not getting banned as its predecessors like National Order Party, National Salvation Party and Welfare Party. They wanted to give the group the character of an ordinary conservative party following the example of the European Christian democratic parties. When the Virtue Party was also banned in 2001, a definitive split took place: the followers of Necmettin Erbakan founded the Felicity Party (SP) and the reformers founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) under the leadership of Abdullah Gül and Erdoğan. The pro-reform politicians realized that a strictly Islamic party would never be accepted as a governing party by the state apparatus and they believed that an Islamic party did not appeal to more than about 20 percent of the Turkish electorate. The AK party emphatically placed itself as a broad democratic conservative party with new politicians from the political center (like Ali Babacan and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu), while respecting Islamic norms and values, but without an explicit religious program. This turned out to be successful as the new party won 34% of the vote in the general elections of 2002. Erdoğan became prime minister in March 2003 after the Gül government ended his political ban. Premiership (2003–2014) General elections The elections of 2002 were the first elections in which Erdoğan participated as a party leader. All parties previously elected to parliament failed to win enough votes to re-enter the parliament. The AKP won 34.3% of the national vote and formed the new government. Turkish stocks rose more than 7% on Monday morning. Politicians of the previous generation, such as Ecevit, Bahceli, Yılmaz and Çiller, resigned. The second largest party, the CHP, received 19.4% of the votes. The AKP won a landslide victory in the parliament, taking nearly two-thirds of the seats. Erdoğan could not become Prime Minister as he was still banned from politics by the judiciary for his speech in Siirt. Gül became the Prime Minister instead. In December 2002, the Supreme Election Board canceled the general election results from Siirt due to voting irregularities and scheduled a new election for 9 February 2003. By this time, party leader Erdoğan was able to run for parliament due to a legal change made possible by the opposition Republican People's Party. The AKP duly listed Erdoğan as a candidate for the rescheduled election, which he won, becoming Prime Minister after Gül handed over the post. On 14 April 2007, an estimated 300,000 people marched in Ankara to protest against the possible candidacy of Erdoğan in the 2007 presidential election, afraid that if elected as president, he would alter the secular nature of the Turkish state. Erdoğan announced on 24 April 2007 that the party had nominated Abdullah Gül as the AKP candidate in the presidential election. The protests continued over the next several weeks, with over one million people reported to have turned out at a 29 April rally in Istanbul, tens of thousands at separate protests on 4 May in Manisa and Çanakkale, and one million in İzmir on 13 May. The stage of the elections of 2007 was set for a fight for legitimacy in the eyes of voters between his government and the CHP. Erdoğan used the event that took place during the ill-fated Presidential elections a few months earlier as a part of the general election campaign of his party. On 22 July 2007, the AKP won an important victory over the opposition, garnering 46.7% of the popular vote. 22 July elections marked only the second time in the Republic of Turkey's history whereby an incumbent governing party won an election by increasing its share of popular support. On 14 March 2008, Turkey's Chief Prosecutor asked the country's Constitutional Court to ban Erdoğan's governing party. The party escaped a ban on 30 July 2008, a year after winning 46.7% of the vote in national elections, although judges did cut the party's public funding by 50%. In the June 2011 elections, Erdoğan's governing party won 327 seats (49.83% of the popular vote) making Erdoğan the only prime minister in Turkey's history to win three consecutive general elections, each time receiving more votes than the previous election. The second party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), received 135 seats (25.94%), the nationalist MHP received 53 seats (13.01%), and the Independents received 35 seats (6.58%). Referendums After the opposition parties deadlocked the 2007 presidential election by boycotting the parliament, the ruling AKP proposed a constitutional reform package. The reform package was first vetoed by president Sezer. Then he applied to the Turkish constitutional court about the reform package, because the president is unable to veto amendments for the second time. The Turkish constitutional court did not find any problems in the packet and 68.95% of the voters supported the constitutional changes. The reforms consisted of electing the president by popular vote instead of by parliament; reducing the presidential term from seven years to five; allowing the president to stand for re-election for a second term; holding general elections every four years instead of five; and reducing from 367 to 184 the quorum of lawmakers needed for parliamentary decisions. Reforming the Constitution was one of the main pledges of the AKP during the 2007 election campaign. The main opposition party CHP was not interested in altering the Constitution on a big scale, making it impossible to form a Constitutional Commission (Anayasa Uzlaşma Komisyonu). The amendments lacked the two-thirds majority needed to become law instantly, but secured 336 votes in the 550-seat parliament – enough to put the proposals to a referendum. The reform package included a number of issues such as the right of individuals to appeal to the highest court, the creation of the ombudsman's office; the possibility to negotiate a nationwide labour contract; gender equality; the ability of civilian courts to convict members of the military; the right of civil servants to go on strike; a privacy law; and the structure of the Constitutional Court. The referendum was agreed by a majority of 58%. Domestic Policy Kurdish issue In 2009, Prime Minister Erdoğan's government announced a plan to help end the quarter-century-long Turkey–Kurdistan Workers' Party conflict that had cost more than 40,000 lives. The government's plan, supported by the European Union, intended to allow the Kurdish language to be used in all broadcast media and political campaigns, and restored Kurdish names to cities and towns that had been given Turkish ones. Erdoğan said, "We took a courageous step to resolve chronic issues that constitute an obstacle along Turkey's development, progression and empowerment". Erdoğan passed a partial amnesty to reduce penalties faced by many members of the Kurdish guerrilla movement PKK who had surrendered to the government. On 23 November 2011, during a televised meeting of his party in Ankara, he apologised on behalf of the state for the Dersim massacre, where many Alevis and Zazas were killed. In 2013 the government of Erdoğan began a peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish Government, mediated by parliamentarians of the Peoples' Democratic party (HDP). In 2015 he decided that the peace process was over and supported the lift of the parliamentary immunity of the HDP parliamentarians. During his presidency a law was introduced which banned the use of the word Kurdistan in parliament and in a speech he held for the local election of 2019 he told the HDP politicians that if there is no Kurdistan in Turkey and if they looked for one they should go to Northern Iraq. Armenian genocide Prime Minister Erdoğan expressed multiple times that Turkey would acknowledge the mass killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide only after a thorough investigation by a joint Turkish-Armenian commission consisting of historians, archaeologists, political scientists and other experts. In 2005, Erdoğan and the main opposition party leader Deniz Baykal wrote a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, proposing the creation of a joint Turkish-Armenian commission. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian rejected the offer because he asserted that the proposal itself was "insincere and not serious". He added: "This issue cannot be considered at historical level with Turks, who themselves politicized the problem". In December 2008, Erdoğan criticised the I Apologize campaign by Turkish intellectuals to recognize the Armenian Genocide, saying, "I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologise ... It will not have any benefit other than stirring up trouble, disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have been taken". In November 2009, he said, "it is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide". In 2011, Erdoğan ordered the tearing-down of the Statue of Humanity, a Turkish–Armenian friendship monument in Kars, which was commissioned in 2006 and represented a metaphor of the rapprochement of the two countries after many years of dispute over the events of 1915. Erdoğan justified the removal by stating that the monument was offensively close to the tomb of an 11th-century Islamic scholar, and that its shadow ruined the view of that site, while Kars municipality officials said it was illegally erected in a protected area. However, the former mayor of Kars who approved the original construction of the monument said the municipality was destroying not just a "monument to humanity" but "humanity itself". The demolition was not unopposed; among its detractors were several Turkish artists. Two of them, the painter Bedri Baykam and his associate, Pyramid Art Gallery general coordinator Tugba Kurtulmus, were stabbed after a meeting with other artists at the Istanbul Akatlar cultural center. On 23 April 2014, Erdoğan's office issued a statement in nine languages (including two dialects of Armenian), offering condolences for the mass killings of Armenians and stating that the events of 1915 had inhumane consequences. The statement described the mass killings as the two nations' shared pain and said: "Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences – such as relocation – during the First World War, (it) should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among one another". The Ottoman Parliament of 1915 had previously used the term "relocation" to describe the purpose of the Tehcir Law, which resulted in the deaths of anywhere between 800,000 and over 1,800,000 Armenian civilians in what is commonly referred to as the Armenian Genocide. Pope Francis in April 2015, at a special mass in St. Peter's Basilica marking the centenary of the events, described atrocities against Armenian civilians in 1915–1922 as "the first genocide of the 20th century". In protest, Erdoğan recalled the Turkish ambassador from the Vatican, and summoned the Vatican's ambassador, to express "disappointment" at what he called a discriminatory message. He later stated "we don’t carry a stain or a shadow like genocide". US President Barack Obama called for a "full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts", but again stopped short of labelling it "genocide", despite his campaign promise to do so. Human rights During Erdoğan's time as Prime Minister, the far-reaching powers of the 1991 Anti-Terror Law were reduced and the Democratic initiative process was initiated, with the goal to improve democratic standards in general and the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in particular. However, after Turkey's bid to join the European Union stalled, European officials noted a return to more authoritarian ways, notably on freedom of speech, freedom of the press and Kurdish minority rights. Demands by activists for the recognition of LGBT rights were publicly rejected by government members, and members of the Turkish LGBT community were insulted by cabinet members. Reporters Without Borders observed a continuous decrease in Freedom of the Press during Erdoğan's later terms, with a rank of around 100 on the Press Freedom Index during his first term and a rank of 153 out of a total of 179 countries in 2021. Freedom House saw a slight recovery in later years and awarded Turkey a Press Freedom Score of 55/100 in 2012 after a low point of 48/100 in 2006. In 2011, Erdoğan's government made legal reforms to return properties of Christian and Jewish minorities which were seized by the Turkish government in the 1930s. The total value of the properties returned reached $2 billion (USD). Under Erdoğan, the Turkish government tightened the laws on the sale and consumption of alcohol, banning all advertising and increasing the tax on alcoholic beverages. Economy In 2002, Erdoğan inherited a Turkish economy that was beginning to recover from a recession as a result of reforms implemented by Kemal Derviş. Erdoğan supported Finance Minister Ali Babacan in enforcing macro-economic policies. Erdoğan tried to attract more foreign investors to Turkey and lifted many government regulations. The cash-flow into the Turkish economy between 2002 and 2012 caused a growth of 64% in real GDP and a 43% increase in GDP per capita; considerably higher numbers were commonly advertised but these did not account for the inflation of the US dollar between 2002 and 2012. The average annual growth in GDP per capita was 3.6%. The growth in real GDP between 2002 and 2012 was higher than the values from developed countries, but was close to average when developing countries are also taken into account. The ranking of the Turkish economy in terms of GDP moved slightly from 17 to 16 during this decade. A major consequence of the policies between 2002 and 2012 was the widening of the current account deficit from US$600 million to US$58 billion (2013 est.) Since 1961, Turkey has signed 19 IMF loan accords. Erdoğan's government satisfied the budgetary and market requirements of the two during his administration and received every loan installment, the only time any Turkish government has done so. Erdoğan inherited a debt of $23.5 billion to the IMF, which was reduced to $0.9 billion in 2012. He decided not to sign a new deal. Turkey's debt to the IMF was thus declared to be completely paid and he announced that the IMF could borrow from Turkey. In 2010, five-year credit default swaps for Turkey's sovereign debt were trading at a record low of 1.17%, below those of nine EU member countries and Russia. In 2002, the Turkish Central Bank had $26.5 billion in reserves. This amount reached $92.2 billion in 2011. During Erdoğan's leadership, inflation fell from 32% to 9.0% in 2004. Since then, Turkish inflation has continued to fluctuate around 9% and is still one of the highest inflation rates in the world. The Turkish public debt as a percentage of annual GDP declined from 74% in 2002 to 39% in 2009. In 2012, Turkey had a lower ratio of public debt to GDP than 21 of 27 members of the European Union and a lower budget deficit to GDP ratio than 23 of them. In 2003, Erdoğan's government pushed through the Labor Act, a comprehensive reform of Turkey's labor laws. The law greatly expanded the rights of employees, establishing a 45-hour workweek and limiting overtime work to 270 hours a year, provided legal protection against discrimination due to sex, religion, or political affiliation, prohibited discrimination between permanent and temporary workers, entitled employees terminated without "valid cause" to compensation, and mandated written contracts for employment arrangements lasting a year or more. Education Erdoğan increased the budget of the Ministry of Education from 7.5 billion lira in 2002 to 34 billion lira in 2011, the highest share of the national budget given to one ministry. Before his prime ministership the military received the highest share of the national budget. Compulsory education was increased from eight years to twelve. In 2003, the Turkish government, together with UNICEF, initiated a campaign called "Come on girls, [let's go] to school!" (). The goal of this campaign was to close the gender gap in primary school enrollment through the provision of a quality basic education for all girls, especially in southeast Turkey. In 2005, the parliament granted amnesty to students expelled from universities before 2003. The amnesty applied to students dismissed on academic or disciplinary grounds. In 2004, textbooks became free of charge and since 2008 every province in Turkey has its own university. During Erdoğan's Premiership, the number of universities in Turkey nearly doubled, from 98 in 2002 to 186 in October 2012. The Prime Minister kept his campaign promises by starting the Fatih project in which all state schools, from preschool to high school level, received a total of 620,000 smart boards, while tablet computers were distributed to 17 million students and approximately one million teachers and administrators. In June 2017 a draft proposal by the ministry of education was approved by Erdoğan, in which the curriculum for schools excluded the teaching of the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin by 2019. From then on the teaching will be postponed and start at undergraduate level. Infrastructure Under Erdoğan's government, the number of airports in Turkey increased from 26 to 50 in the period of 10 years. Between the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and 2002, there had been 6,000 km of dual carriageway roads created. Between 2002 and 2011, another 13,500 km of expressway were built. Due to these measures, the number of motor accidents fell by 50 percent. For the first time in Turkish history, high speed railway lines were constructed, and the country's high-speed train service began in 2009. In 8 years, 1,076 km of railway were built and 5,449 km of railway renewed. The construction of Marmaray, an undersea rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait, started in 2004. It was inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the Turkish Republic 29 October 2013. The inauguration of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third bridge over the Bosphorus, was on 26 August 2016. Justice In March 2006, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) held a press conference to publicly protest the obstruction of the appointment of judges to the high courts for over 10 months. The HSYK said Erdoğan wanted to fill the vacant posts with his own appointees. Erdoğan was accused of creating a rift with Turkey's highest court of appeal, the Yargıtay, and high administrative court, the Danıştay. Erdoğan stated that the constitution gave the power to assign these posts to his elected party. In May 2007, the head of Turkey's High Court asked prosecutors to consider whether Erdoğan should be charged over critical comments regarding the election of Abdullah Gül as president. Erdoğan said the ruling was "a disgrace to the justice system", and criticized the Constitutional Court which had invalidated a presidential vote because a boycott by other parties meant there was no quorum. Prosecutors investigated his earlier comments, including saying it had fired a "bullet at democracy". Tülay Tuğcu, head of the Constitutional Court, condemned Erdoğan for "threats, insults and hostility" towards the justice system. Civil–military relations The Turkish military has had a record of intervening in politics, having removed elected governments four times in the past. During the Erdoğan government, civil–military relationship moved towards normalization in which the influence of the military in politics was significantly reduced. The ruling Justice and Development Party has often faced off against the military, gaining political power by challenging a pillar of the country's laicistic establishment. The most significant issue that caused deep fissures between the army and the government was the midnight e-memorandum posted on the military's website objecting to the selection of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül as the ruling party's candidate for the Presidency in 2007. The military argued that the election of Gül, whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf, could undermine the laicistic order of the country. Contrary to expectations, the government responded harshly to former Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt's e-memorandum, stating the military had nothing to do with the selection of the presidential candidate. Health care After assuming power in 2003, Erdoğan's government embarked on a sweeping reform program of the Turkish healthcare system, called the Health Transformation Program (HTP), to greatly increase the quality of healthcare and protect all citizens from financial risks. Its introduction coincided with the period of sustained economic growth, allowing the Turkish government to put greater investments into the healthcare system. As part of the reforms, the "Green Card" program, which provides health benefits to the poor, was expanded in 2004. The reform program aimed at increasing the ratio of private to state-run healthcare, which, along with long queues in state-run hospitals, resulted in the rise of private medical care in Turkey, forcing state-run hospitals to compete by increasing quality. In April 2006, Erdoğan unveiled a social security reform package demanded by the International Monetary Fund under a loan deal. The move, which Erdoğan called one of the most radical reforms ever, was passed with fierce opposition. Turkey's three social security bodies were united under one roof, bringing equal health services and retirement benefits for members of all three bodies. The previous system had been criticized for reserving the best healthcare for civil servants and relegating others to wait in long queues. Under the second bill, everyone under the age of 18 years was entitled to free health services, irrespective of whether they pay premiums to any social security organization. The bill also envisages a gradual increase in the retirement age: starting from 2036, the retirement age will increase to 65 by 2048 for both women and men. In January 2008, the Turkish Parliament adopted a law to prohibit smoking in most public places. Erdoğan is outspokenly anti-smoking. Foreign policy Turkish foreign policy during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister has been associated with the name of Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu was the chief foreign policy advisor of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before he was appointed foreign minister in 2009. The basis of Erdoğan's foreign policy is based on the principle of "don't make enemies, make friends" and the pursuit of "zero problems" with neighboring countries. Erdoğan is co-founder of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (AOC). The initiative seeks to galvanize international action against extremism through the forging of international, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation. European Union When Erdoğan came to power, he continued Turkey's long ambition of joining the European Union. On 3 October 2005 negotiations began for Turkey's accession to the European Union. Erdoğan was named "The European of the Year 2004" by the newspaper European Voice for the reforms in his country in order to accomplish the accession of Turkey to the European Union. He said in a comment that "Turkey's accession shows that Europe is a continent where civilisations reconcile and not clash." On 3 October 2005, the negotiations for Turkey's accession to the EU formally started during Erdoğan's tenure as Prime Minister. The European Commission generally supports Erdoğan's reforms, but remains critical of his policies. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize EU member state Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus dispute Relations between Greece and Turkey were normalized during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister. In May 2004, Erdoğan became the first Turkish Prime Minister to visit Greece since 1988, and the first to visit the Turkish minority of Thrace since 1952. In 2007, Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis inaugurated the Greek-Turkish natural gas pipeline giving Caspian gas its first direct Western outlet. Turkey and Greece signed an agreement to create a Combined Joint Operational Unit within the framework of NATO to participate in Peace Support Operations. Erdoğan and his party strongly supported the EU-backed referendum to reunify Cyprus in 2004. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships as a consequence of the economic isolation of the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the failure of the EU to end the isolation, as it had promised in 2004. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize the Republic of Cyprus. Armenia Armenia is Turkey's only neighbor which Erdoğan has not visited during his premiership. The Turkish-Armenian border has been closed since 1993 because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Turkey's close ally Azerbaijan. Diplomatic efforts resulted in the signing of protocols between Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers in Switzerland to improve relations between the two countries. One of the points of the agreement was the creation of a joint commission on the issue. The Armenian Constitutional Court decided that the commission contradicts the Armenian constitution. Turkey responded saying that Armenian court's ruling on the protocols is not acceptable, resulting in a suspension of the rectification process by the Turkish side. Erdoğan has said that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan should apologize for calling on school children to re-occupy eastern Turkey. When asked by a student at a literature contest ceremony if Armenians will be able to get back their "western territories" along with Mt. Ararat, Sarksyan said, "This is the task of your generation". Russia In December 2004, President Putin visited Turkey, making it the first presidential visit in the history of Turkish-Russian relations besides that of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Nikolai Podgorny in 1972. In November 2005, Putin attended the inauguration of a jointly constructed Blue Stream natural gas pipeline in Turkey. This sequence of top-level visits has brought several important bilateral issues to the forefront. The two countries consider it their strategic goal to achieve "multidimensional co-operation", especially in the fields of energy, transport and the military. Specifically, Russia aims to invest in Turkey's fuel and energy industries, and it also expects to participate in tenders for the modernisation of Turkey's military. The relations during this time are described by President Medvedev as "Turkey is one of our most important partners with respect to regional and international issues. We can confidently say that Russian-Turkish relations have advanced to the level of a multidimensional strategic partnership". In May 2010, Turkey and Russia signed 17 agreements to enhance cooperation in energy and other fields, including pacts to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant and further plans for an oil pipeline from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The leaders of both countries also signed an agreement on visa-free travel, enabling tourists to get into the other country for free and stay there for up to 30 days. United States When Barack Obama became President of United States, he made his first overseas bilateral meeting to Turkey in April 2009. At a joint news conference in Turkey, Obama said: "I'm trying to make a statement about the importance of Turkey, not just to the United States but to the world. I think that where there's the most promise of building stronger U.S.-Turkish relations is in the recognition that Turkey and the United States can build a model partnership in which a predominantly Christian nation, a predominantly Muslim nation – a Western nation and a nation that straddles two continents," he continued, "that we can create a modern international community that is respectful, that is secure, that is prosperous, that there are not tensions – inevitable tensions between cultures – which I think is extraordinarily important." Iraq Turkey under Erdoğan was named by the Bush Administration as a part of the "coalition of the willing" that was central to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On 1 March 2003, a motion allowing Turkish military to participate in the U.S-led coalition's invasion of Iraq, along with the permission for foreign troops to be stationed in Turkey for this purpose, was overruled by the Turkish Parliament. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq and Turkey signed 48 trade agreements on issues including security, energy, and water. The Turkish government attempted to mend relations with Iraqi Kurdistan by opening a Turkish university in Erbil, and a Turkish consulate in Mosul. Erdoğan's government fostered economic and political relations with Irbil, and Turkey began to consider the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq as an ally against Maliki's government. Israel Erdoğan visited Israel on 1 May 2005, a gesture unusual for a leader of a Muslim majority country. During his trip, Erdoğan visited the Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The President of Israel Shimon Peres addressed the Turkish parliament during a visit in 2007, the first time an Israeli leader had addressed the legislature of a predominantly Muslim nation. Their relationship worsened at the 2009 World Economic Forum conference over Israel's actions during the Gaza War. Erdoğan was interrupted by the moderator while he was responding to Peres. Erdoğan stated: "Mister Peres, you are older than I am. Maybe you are feeling guilty and that is why you are raising your voice. When it comes to killing you know it too well. I remember how you killed the children on beaches..." Upon the moderator's reminder that they needed to adjourn for dinner, Erdoğan left the panel, accusing the moderator of giving Peres more time than all the other panelists combined. Tensions increased further following the Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010. Erdoğan strongly condemned the raid, describing it as "state terrorism", and demanded an Israeli apology. In February 2013, Erdoğan called Zionism a "crime against humanity", comparing it to Islamophobia, antisemitism, and fascism. He later retracted the statement, saying he had been misinterpreted. He said "everyone should know" that his comments were directed at "Israeli policies", especially as regards to "Gaza and the settlements." Erdoğan's statements were criticized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, among others. In August 2013, the Hürriyet reported that Erdoğan had claimed to have evidence of Israel's responsibility for the removal of Morsi from office in Egypt. The Israeli and Egyptian governments dismissed the suggestion. In response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. He also stated that "If Israel continues with this attitude, it will definitely be tried at international courts." Syria During Erdoğan's term of office, diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria significantly deteriorated. In 2004, President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Turkey for the first official visit by a Syrian President in 57 years. In late 2004, Erdoğan signed a free trade agreement with Syria. Visa restrictions between the two countries were lifted in 2009, which caused an economic boom in the regions near the Syrian border. However, in 2011 the relationship between the two countries was strained following the outbreak of conflict in Syria. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he was trying to "cultivate a favorable relationship with whatever government would take the place of Assad". However, he began to support the opposition in Syria, after demonstrations turned violent, creating a serious Syrian refugee problem in Turkey. Erdoğan's policy of providing military training for anti-Damascus fighters has also created conflict with Syria's ally and a neighbour of Turkey, Iran. Saudi Arabia In August 2006, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz as-Saud made a visit to Turkey. This was the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Turkey in the last four decades. The monarch made a second visit, on 9 November 2007. Turk-Saudi trade volume has exceeded 3.2 billion in 2006, almost double the figure achieved in 2003. In 2009, this amount reached 5.5 billion and the goal for the year 2010 was 10 billion. Erdoğan condemned the Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain and characterized the Saudi movement as "a new Karbala." He demanded withdrawal of Saudi forces from Bahrain. Egypt Erdoğan had made his first official visit to Egypt on 12 September 2011, accompanied by six ministers and 200 businessmen. This visit was made very soon after Turkey had ejected Israeli ambassadors, cutting off all diplomatic relations with Israel because Israel refused to apologize for the Gaza flotilla raid which killed eight Turkish and one Turco-American. Erdoğan's visit to Egypt was met with much enthusiasm by Egyptians. CNN reported some Egyptians saying "We consider him as the Islamic leader in the Middle East", while others were appreciative of his role in supporting Gaza. Erdoğan was later honored in Tahrir Square by members of the Egyptian Revolution Youth Union, and members of the Turkish embassy were presented with a coat of arms in acknowledgment of the Prime Minister's support of the Egyptian Revolution. Erdoğan stated in a 2011 interview that he supported secularism for Egypt, which generated an angry reaction among Islamic movements, especially the Freedom and Justice Party, which was the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. However, commentators suggest that by forming an alliance with the military junta during Egypt's transition to democracy, Erdoğan may have tipped the balance in favor of an authoritarian government. Erdoğan condemned the sit-in dispersals conducted by Egyptian police on 14 August 2013 at the Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares, where violent clashes between police officers and pro-Morsi Islamist protesters led to hundreds of deaths, mostly protesters. In July 2014, one year after the removal of Mohamed Morsi from office, Erdoğan described Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as an "illegitimate tyrant". Somalia Erdoğan's administration maintains strong ties with the Somali government. During the drought of 2011, Erdoğan's government contributed over $201 million to humanitarian relief efforts in the impacted parts of Somalia. Following a greatly improved security situation in Mogadishu in mid-2011, the Turkish government also re-opened its foreign embassy with the intention of more effectively assisting in the post-conflict development process. It was among the first foreign governments to resume formal diplomatic relations with Somalia after the civil war. In May 2010, the Turkish and Somali governments signed a military training agreement, in keeping with the provisions outlined in the Djibouti Peace Process. Turkish Airlines became the first long-distance international commercial airline in two decades to resume flights to and from Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport. Turkey also launched various development and infrastructure projects in Somalia including building several hospitals and helping renovate the National Assembly building. Protests 2013 Gezi Park protests against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdoğan and his policies, starting from a small sit-in in Istanbul in defense of a city park. After the police's intense reaction with tear gas, the protests grew each day. Faced by the largest mass protest in a decade, Erdoğan made this controversial remark in a televised speech: "The police were there yesterday, they are there today, and they will be there tomorrow". After weeks of clashes in the streets of Istanbul, his government at first apologized to the protestors and called for a plebiscite, but then ordered a crackdown on the protesters. Presidency (2014–present) Erdoğan took the oath of office on 28 August 2014 and became the 12th president of Turkey. He administered the new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's oath on 29 August. When asked about his lower-than-expected 51.79% share of the vote, he allegedly responded, "there were even those who did not like the Prophet. I, however, won 52%". Assuming the role of President, Erdoğan was criticized for openly stating that he would not maintain the tradition of presidential neutrality. Erdoğan has also stated his intention to pursue a more active role as president, such as utilising the President's rarely used cabinet-calling powers. The political opposition has argued that Erdoğan will continue to pursue his own political agenda, controlling the government, while his new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would be docile and submissive. Furthermore, the domination of loyal Erdoğan supporters in Davutoğlu's cabinet fuelled speculation that Erdoğan intended to exercise substantial control over the government. Presidential elections On 1 July 2014, Erdoğan was named the AKP's presidential candidate in the Turkish presidential election. His candidacy was announced by the Deputy President of the AKP, Mehmet Ali Şahin. Erdoğan made a speech after the announcement and used the 'Erdoğan logo' for the first time. The logo was criticised because it was very similar to the logo that U.S. President Barack Obama used in the 2008 presidential election. Erdoğan was elected as the President of Turkey in the first round of the election with 51.79% of the vote, obviating the need for a run-off by winning over 50%. The joint candidate of the CHP, MHP and 13 other opposition parties, former Organisation of Islamic Co-operation general secretary Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu won 38.44% of the vote. The pro-Kurdish HDP candidate Selahattin Demirtaş won 9.76%. The 2018 Turkish presidential election took place as part of the 2018 general election, alongside parliamentary elections on the same day. Following the approval of constitutional changes in a referendum held in 2017, the elected President will be both the head of state and head of government of Turkey, taking over the latter role from the to-be-abolished office of the Prime Minister. Incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared his candidacy for the People's Alliance (Turkish: Cumhur İttifakı) on 27 April 2018. Erdoğan's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, nominated Muharrem İnce, a member of the parliament known for his combative opposition and spirited speeches against Erdoğan. Besides these candidates, Meral Akşener, the founder and leader of İyi Party, Temel Karamollaoğlu, the leader of the Felicity Party and Doğu Perinçek, the leader of the Patriotic Party, have announced their candidacies and collected the 100,000 signatures required for nomination. The alliance which Erdoğan was candidate for won 52.59% of the popular vote. Referendum In April 2017, a constitutional referendum was held, where the voters in Turkey (and Turkish citizens abroad) approved a set of 18 proposed amendments to the Constitution of Turkey. The amendments included the replacement of the existing parliamentary system with a presidential system. The post of Prime Minister would be abolished, and the presidency would become an executive post vested with broad executive powers. The parliament seats would be increased from 550 to 600 and the age of candidacy to the parliament was lowered from 25 to 18. The referendum also called for changes to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors. Local elections In the 2019 local elections, the ruling party AKP lost control of Istanbul and Ankara for the first time in 25 years, as well as 5 of Turkey's 6 largest cities. The loss has been widely attributed to Erdoğan's mismanagement of the Turkish economic crisis, rising authoritarianism as well as the alleged government inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis. Soon after the elections, Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey ordered a re-election in Istanbul, cancelling Ekrem İmamoğlu's mayoral certificate. The decision led to a significant decrease of Erdoğan's and AKP's popularity and his party lost the elections again in June with a greater margin. The result was seen as a huge blow to Erdoğan, who had once said that if his party 'lost Istanbul, we would lose Turkey. The opposition's victory was characterised as 'the beginning of the end' for Erdoğan', with international commentators calling the re-run a huge government miscalculation that led to a potential İmamoğlu candidacy in the next scheduled presidential election. It is suspected that the scale of the government's defeat could provoke a cabinet reshuffle and early general elections, currently scheduled for June 2023. The New Zealand and Australian governments and opposition CHP party have criticized Erdoğan after he repeatedly showed video taken by the Christchurch mosque shooter to his supporters at campaign rallies for 31 March local elections and said Australians and New Zealanders who came to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments "would be sent back in coffins like their grandfathers" at Gallipoli. Domestic policy Presidential palace Erdoğan has also received criticism for the construction of a new palace called Ak Saray (pure white palace), which occupies approximately 50 acres of Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ) in Ankara. Since the AOÇ is protected land, several court orders were issued to halt the construction of the new palace, though building work went on nonetheless. The opposition described the move as a clear disregard for the rule of law. The project was subject to heavy criticism and allegations were made; of corruption during the construction process, wildlife destruction and the complete obliteration of the zoo in the AOÇ in order to make way for the new compound. The fact that the palace is technically illegal has led to it being branded as the 'Kaç-Ak Saray', the word kaçak in Turkish meaning 'illegal'. Ak Saray was originally designed as a new office for the Prime Minister. However, upon assuming the presidency, Erdoğan announced that the palace would become the new Presidential Palace, while the Çankaya Mansion will be used by the Prime Minister instead. The move was seen as a historic change since the Çankaya Mansion had been used as the iconic office of the presidency ever since its inception. The Ak Saray has almost 1,000 rooms and cost $350 million (€270 million), leading to huge criticism at a time when mining accidents and workers' rights had been dominating the agenda. On 29 October 2014, Erdoğan was due to hold a Republic Day reception in the new palace to commemorate the 91st anniversary of the Republic of Turkey and to officially inaugurate the Presidential Palace. However, after most invited participants announced that they would boycott the event and a mining accident occurred in the district of Ermenek in Karaman, the reception was cancelled. The media President Erdoğan and his government continue to press for court action against the remaining free press in Turkey. The latest newspaper that has been seized is Zaman, in March 2016. After the seizure Morton Abramowitz and Eric Edelman, former U.S. ambassadors to Turkey, condemned President Erdoğan's actions in an opinion piece published by The Washington Post: "Clearly, democracy cannot flourish under Erdoğan now". "The overall pace of reforms in Turkey has not only slowed down but in some key areas, such as freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary, there has been a regression, which is particularly worrying", rapporteur Kati Piri said in April 2016 after the European Parliament passed its annual progress report on Turkey. On 22 June 2016, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that he considered himself successful in "destroying" Turkish civil groups "working against the state", a conclusion that had been confirmed some days earlier by Sedat Laçiner, Professor of International Relations and rector of the Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University: "Outlawing unarmed and peaceful opposition, sentencing people to unfair punishment under erroneous terror accusations, will feed genuine terrorism in Erdoğan’s Turkey. Guns and violence will become the sole alternative for legally expressing free thought". After the coup attempt, over 200 journalists were arrested and over 120 media outlets were closed. Cumhuriyet journalists were detained in November 2016 after a long-standing crackdown on the newspaper. Subsequently, Reporters Without Borders called Erdoğan an "enemy of press freedom" and said that he "hides his aggressive dictatorship under a veneer of democracy". In April 2017, Turkey blocked all access to Wikipedia over a content dispute. The Turkish government lifted a two-and-a-half-year ban on Wikipedia on 15 January 2020, restoring access to the online encyclopedia a month after Turkey's top court ruled that blocking Wikipedia was unconstitutional. On 1 July 2020, in a statement made to his party members, Erdoğan announced that the government would introduce new measures and regulations to control or shut down social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Netflix. Through these new measures, each company would be required to appoint an official representative in the country to respond to legal concerns. The decision comes after a number of Twitter users insulted his daughter Esra after she welcomed her fourth child. State of emergency and purges On 20 July 2016, President Erdoğan declared the state of emergency, citing the coup d'état attempt as justification. It was first scheduled to last three months. The Turkish parliament approved this measure. The state of emergency was later extended for another three months, amidst the ongoing 2016 Turkish purges including comprehensive purges of independent media and detention of tens of thousands of Turkish citizens politically opposed to Erdoğan. More than 50,000 people have been arrested and over 160,000 fired from their jobs by March 2018. In August 2016, Erdoğan began rounding up journalists who had been publishing, or who were about to publish articles questioning corruption within the Erdoğan administration, and incarcerating them. The number of Turkish journalists jailed by Turkey is higher than any other country, including all of those journalists currently jailed in North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and China combined. In the wake of the coup attempt of July 2016 the Erdoğan administration began rounding up tens of thousands of individuals, both from within the government, and from the public sector, and incarcerating them on charges of alleged "terrorism". As a result of these arrests, many in the international community complained about the lack of proper judicial process in the incarceration of Erdoğan's opposition. In April 2017 Erdoğan successfully sponsored legislation effectively making it illegal for the Turkish legislative branch to investigate his executive branch of government. Without the checks and balances of freedom of speech, and the freedom of the Turkish legislature to hold him accountable for his actions, many have likened Turkey's current form of government to a dictatorship with only nominal forms of democracy in practice. At the time of Erdoğan's successful passing of the most recent legislation silencing his opposition, United States President Donald Trump called Erdoğan to congratulate him for his "recent referendum victory". On 29 April 2017 Erdoğan's administration began an internal Internet block of all of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia site via Turkey's domestic Internet filtering system. This blocking action took place after the government had first made a request for Wikipedia to remove what it referred to as "offensive content". In response, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales replied via a post on Twitter stating, "Access to information is a fundamental human right. Turkish people, I will always stand with you and fight for this right." In January 2016, more than a thousand academics signed a petition criticizing Turkey's military crackdown on ethnic Kurdish towns and neighborhoods in the east of the country, such as Sur (a district of Diyarbakır), Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre and Silopi, and asking an end to violence. Erdoğan accused those who signed the petition of "terrorist propaganda", calling them "the darkest of people". He called for action by institutions and universities, stating, "Everyone who benefits from this state but is now an enemy of the state must be punished without further delay". Within days, over 30 of the signatories were arrested, many in dawn-time raids on their homes. Although all were quickly released, nearly half were fired from their jobs, eliciting a denunciation from Turkey's Science Academy for such "wrong and disturbing" treatment. Erdoğan vowed that the academics would pay the price for "falling into a pit of treachery". On 8 July 2018, Erdoğan sacked 18,000 officials for alleged ties to US based cleric Fethullah Gülen, shortly before renewing his term as an executive president. Of those removed, 9000 were police officers with 5000 from the armed forces with the addition of hundreds of academics. Foreign policy Europe In February 2016, Erdoğan threatened to send the millions of refugees in Turkey to EU member states, saying: "We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses ... So how will you deal with refugees if you don't get a deal?" In an interview to the news magazine Der Spiegel, German minister of defence Ursula von der Leyen said on 11 March 2016 that the refugee crisis had made good cooperation between EU and Turkey an "existentially important" issue. "Therefore it is right to advance now negotiations on Turkey's EU accession". In its resolution "The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey" from 22 June 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe warned that "recent developments in Turkey pertaining to freedom of the media and of expression, erosion of the rule of law and the human rights violations in relation to anti-terrorism security operations in south-east Turkey have ... raised serious questions about the functioning of its democratic institutions". On 20 August 2016, Erdoğan told his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko that Turkey would not recognize the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea; calling it "Crimea's occupation". In January 2017, Erdoğan said that the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Cyprus is "out of the question" and Turkey will be in Cyprus "forever". There is a long-standing dispute between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea. Erdoğan warned that Greece will pay a "heavy price" if Turkey's gas exploration vessel – in what Turkey said are disputed waters – is attacked. In September 2020, Erdoğan declared his government's support for Azerbaijan following clashes between Armenian and Azeri forces over a disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. He dismissed demands for a ceasefire. Diaspora In March 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated to the Turks in Europe, "Make not three, but five children. Because you are the future of Europe. That will be the best response to the injustices against you." This has been interpreted as an imperialist call for demographic warfare. According to The Economist, Erdoğan is the first Turkish leader to take the Turkish diaspora seriously, which has created friction within these diaspora communities and between the Turkish government and several of its European counterparts. The Balkans In February 2018, President Erdoğan expressed Turkish support of the Republic of Macedonia's position during negotiations over the Macedonia naming dispute saying that Greece's position is wrong. In March 2018, President Erdoğan criticized the Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj for dismissing his Interior Minister and Intelligence Chief for failing to inform him of an unauthorized and illegal secret operation conducted by the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey on Kosovo's territory that led to the arrest of six people allegedly associated with the Gülen movement. On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck the Durrës region of Albania. President Erdoğan expressed his condolences. and citing close Albanian-Turkish relations, he committed Turkey to reconstructing 500 earthquake destroyed homes and other civic structures in Laç, Albania. In Istanbul, Erdoğan organised and attended a donors conference (8 December) to assist Albania that included Turkish businessmen, investors and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. United Kingdom In May 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed Erdoğan to the United Kingdom for a three-day state visit. Erdoğan declared that the United Kingdom is "an ally and a strategic partner, but also a real friend. The cooperation we have is well beyond any mechanism that we have established with other partners." Israel Relations between Turkey and Israel began to normalize after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu officially apologized for the death of the nine Turkish activists during the Gaza flotilla raid. However, in response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of being "more barbaric than Hitler", and conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. In December 2017, President Erdoğan issued a warning to Donald Trump, after the U.S. President acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Erdoğan stated, "Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims", indicating that naming Jerusalem as Israel's capital would alienate Palestinians and other Muslims from the city, undermining hopes at a future capital of a Palestinian State. Erdoğan called Israel a "terrorist state". Naftali Bennett dismissed the threats, claiming "Erdoğan does not miss an opportunity to attack Israel". In April 2019, Erdoğan said the West Bank belongs to Palestinians, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would annex Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if he is re-elected. Erdoğan condemned the Israel–UAE peace agreement, stating that Turkey was considering suspending or cutting off diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates in retaliation. Syrian Civil War Amid allegations of Turkish collaboration with the Islamic State, the 2014 Kobanî protests broke out near the Syrian border city of Kobanî, in protest against the government's perceived facilitation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during the Siege of Kobanî. 42 protestors were killed during a brutal police crackdown. Asserting that aid to the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Syria would assist the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) (then on ceasefire) in Turkey, Erdoğan held bilateral talks with Barack Obama regarding IS during the 5–6 September 2014 NATO summit in Newport, Wales. In early October, United States Vice President Joe Biden criticised the Turkish government for supplying jihadists in Syria and said Erdoğan had expressed regret to him about letting foreign jihadists transit through Turkey en route to Syria. Erdoğan angrily responded, "Biden has to apologize for his statements" adding that if no apology is made, Biden would become "history to me." Biden subsequently apologised. In response to the U.S. request to use İncirlik Air Base to conduct air strikes against IS, Erdoğan demanded that Bashar al-Assad be removed from power first. Turkey lost its bid for a Security Council seat in the United Nations during the 2014 election; the unexpected result is believed to have been a reaction to Erdoğan's hostile treatment of the Kurds fighting ISIS on the Syrian border and a rebuke of his willingness to support IS-aligned insurgents opposed to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In 2015, there were consistent allegations that Erdoğan maintained financial links with the Islamic State, including allegation of his son-in-law Berat Albayrak's involvement with oil production and smuggling in ISIL. Revelations that the state was supplying arms to militant groups in Syria in the 2014 National Intelligence Organisation lorry scandal led to accusations of high treason. In July 2015, Turkey became involved in the international military intervention against ISIL, simultaneously launching airstrikes against PKK bases in Iraqi Kurdistan. As of 2015, Turkey began openly supporting the Army of Conquest, a coalition of Syrian rebel groups that included al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham. In late November 2016, Erdoğan said that the Turkish military launched its operations in Syria to end Assad's rule, but retracted this statement shortly afterwards. In January 2018, the Turkish military and its Syrian National Army and Sham Legion allies began the Turkish military operation in Afrin in the Kurdish-majority Afrin Canton in Northern Syria, against the YPG. On 10 April, Erdoğan rejected a Russian demand to return Afrin to Syrian government control. In October 2019, after Erdoğan spoke to him, U.S. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, despite recently agreeing to a Northern Syria Buffer Zone. U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the border to avoid interference with the Turkish operation. After the U.S. pullout, Turkey proceeded to attack the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Rejecting criticism of the invasion, Erdoğan claimed that NATO and European Union countries "sided with terrorists, and all of them attacked us". China Bilateral trade between Turkey and China increased from $1 billion a year in 2002 to $27 billion annually in 2017. Erdoğan has stated that Turkey might consider joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation instead of the European Union. Qatar blockade In June 2017 during a speech, Erdoğan called the isolation of Qatar as "inhumane and against Islamic values" and that "victimising Qatar through smear campaigns serves no purpose". Myanmar In September 2017, Erdoğan condemned the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar and accused Myanmar of "genocide" against the Muslim minority. United States Over time, Turkey began to look for ways to buy its own missile defense system and also to use that procurement to build up its own capacity to manufacture and sell an air and missile defense system. Turkey got serious about acquiring a missile defense system early in the first Obama administration when it opened a competition between the Raytheon Patriot PAC 2 system and systems from Europe, Russia, and even China. Taking advantage of the new low in U.S.-Turkish relations, Putin saw his chance to use an S-400 sale to Turkey, so in July 2017, he offered the air defense system to Turkey. In the months that followed, the United States warned Turkey that a S-400 purchase jeopardized Turkey's F-35 purchase. Integration of the Russian system into the NATO air defense net was also out of the question. Administration officials, including Mark Esper, warned that Turkey had to choose between the S-400 and the F-35. That they couldn't have both. The S-400 deliveries to Turkey began on 12 July. On 16 July, Trump mentioned to reporters that withholding the F-35 from Turkey was unfair. Said the president, "So what happens is we have a situation where Turkey is very good with us, very good, and we are now telling Turkey that because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we’re not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets". The U.S. Congress has made clear on a bipartisan basis that it expects the president to sanction Turkey for buying Russian equipment. Out of the F-35, Turkey now considers buying Russian fifth-generation jet fighter Su-57. On 1 August 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned two senior Turkish government ministers who were involved in the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Erdoğan said that the U.S. behavior will force Turkey to look for new friends and allies. The U.S.–Turkey tensions appear to be the most serious diplomatic crisis between the NATO allies in years. Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton claimed that President Donald Trump told Erdoğan he would 'take care' of investigation against Turkey's state-owned bank Halkbank accused of bank fraud charges and laundering up to $20 billion on behalf of Iranian entities. Turkey criticized Bolton's book, saying it included misleading accounts of conversations between Trump and Erdoğan. In August 2020, the former vice president and presidential candidate Joe Biden called for a new U.S. approach to the "autocrat" President Erdoğan and support for Turkish opposition parties. In September 2020, Biden demanded that Erdoğan "stay out" of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in which Turkey has supported the Azeris. Venezuela Relations with Venezuela were strengthened with recent developments and high level mutual visits. The first official visit between the two countries at presidential level was in October 2017 when Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro visited Turkey. In December 2018, Erdoğan visited Venezuela for the first time and expressed his will to build strong relations with Venezuela and expressed hope that high-level visits "will increasingly continue." Reuters reported that in 2018 23 tons of mined gold were taken from Venezuela to Istanbul. In the first nine months of 2018, Venezuela's gold exports to Turkey rose from zero in the previous year to US$900 million. During the Venezuelan presidential crisis, Erdoğan voiced solidarity with Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and criticized U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, saying that "political problems cannot be resolved by punishing an entire nation." Following the 2019 Venezuelan uprising attempt, Erdoğan condemned the actions of lawmaker Juan Guaidó, tweeting "Those who are in an effort to appoint a postmodern colonial governor to Venezuela, where the President was appointed by elections and where the people rule, should know that only democratic elections can determine how a country is governed". Events Coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a coup d'état was attempted by the military, with aims to remove Erdoğan from government. By the next day, Erdoğan's government managed to reassert effective control in the country. Reportedly, no government official was arrested or harmed, which, among other factors, raised the suspicion of a false flag event staged by the government itself. Erdoğan, as well as other government officials, has blamed an exiled cleric, and a former ally of Erdoğan, Fethullah Gülen, for staging the coup attempt. Süleyman Soylu, Minister of Labor in Erdoğan's government, accused the US of planning a coup to oust Erdoğan. Erdoğan, as well as other high-ranking Turkish government officials, has issued repeated demands to the US to extradite Gülen. Following the coup attempt, there has been a significant deterioration in Turkey-US relations. European and other world leaders have expressed their concerns over the situation in Turkey, with many of them warning Erdoğan not to use the coup attempt as an excuse to crack down on his opponents. The rise of ISIS and the collapse of the Kurdish peace process had led to a sharp rise in terror incidents in Turkey until 2016. Erdoğan was accused by his critics of having a 'soft corner' for ISIS. However, after the attempted coup, Erdoğan ordered the Turkish military into Syria to combat ISIS and Kurdish militant groups. Erdoğan's critics have decried purges in the education system and judiciary as undermining the rule of law however Erdoğan supporters argue this is a necessary measure as Gulen-linked schools cheated on entrance exams, requiring a purge in the education system and of the Gulen followers who then entered the judiciary. Erdoğan's plan is "to reconstitute Turkey as a presidential system. The plan would create a centralized system that would enable him to better tackle Turkey's internal and external threats. One of the main hurdles allegedly standing in his way is Fethullah Gulen's movement ..." In the aftermath of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, a groundswell of national unity and consensus emerged for cracking down on the coup plotters with a National Unity rally held in Turkey that included Islamists, secularists, liberals and nationalists. Erdoğan has used this consensus to remove Gulen's followers from the bureaucracy, curtail their role in NGOs, Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Turkish military, with 149 Generals discharged. In a foreign policy shift Erdoğan ordered the Turkish Armed Forces into battle in Syria and has liberated towns from IS control. As relations with Europe soured over in the aftermath of the attempted coup, Erdoğan developed alternative relationships with Russia, Saudi Arabia and a "strategic partnership" with Pakistan, with plans to cultivate relations through free trade agreements and deepening military relations for mutual co-operation with Turkey's regional allies. 2018 currency and debt crisis The Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018 was caused by the Turkish economy's excessive current account deficit and foreign-currency debt, in combination with Erdoğan's increasing authoritarianism and his unorthodox ideas about interest rate policy. Economist Paul Krugman described the unfolding crisis as "a classic currency-and-debt crisis, of a kind we’ve seen many times", adding: "At such a time, the quality of leadership suddenly matters a great deal. You need officials who understand what's happening, can devise a response and have enough credibility that markets give them the benefit of the doubt. Some emerging markets have those things, and they are riding out the turmoil fairly well. The Erdoğan regime has none of that". Ideology and public image Early during his premiership, Erdoğan was praised as a role model for emerging Middle Eastern nations due to several reform packages initiated by his government which expanded religious freedoms and minority rights as part of accession negotiations with the European Union. However, his government underwent several crises including the Sledgehammer coup and the Ergenekon trials, corruption scandals, accusations of media intimidation, as well as the pursuit of an increasingly polarizing political agenda; the opposition accused the government of inciting political hatred throughout the country. Critics say that Erdoğan's government legitimizes homophobia, as Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". Neo-Ottomanism As President, Erdoğan has overseen a revival of Ottoman tradition, greeting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas with an Ottoman-style ceremony in the new presidential palace, with guards dressed in costumes representing founders of 16 Great Turkish Empires in history. While serving as the Prime Minister of Turkey, Erdoğan's AKP made references to the Ottoman era during election campaigns, such as calling their supporters 'grandsons of Ottomans' (Osmanlı torunu). This proved controversial, since it was perceived to be an open attack against the republican nature of modern Turkey founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In 2015, Erdoğan made a statement in which he endorsed the old Ottoman term külliye to refer to university campuses rather than the standard Turkish word kampüs. Many critics have thus accused Erdoğan of wanting to become an Ottoman sultan and abandon the secular and democratic credentials of the Republic. One of the most cited scholars alive, Noam Chomsky, said that "Erdogan in Turkey is basically trying to create something like the Ottoman Caliphate, with him as caliph, supreme leader, throwing his weight around all over the place, and destroying the remnants of democracy in Turkey at the same time". When pressed on this issue in January 2015, Erdoğan denied these claims and said that he would aim to be more like Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom rather than like an Ottoman sultan. In July 2020, after the Council of State annulled the Cabinet's 1934 decision to establish the Hagia Sophia as museum and revoking the monument's status, Erdoğan ordered its reclassification as a mosque. The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia's waqf, endowed by Sultan Mehmed II, had designated the site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan. This redesignation is controversial, invoking condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO, the World Council of Churches, the Holy See, and many other international leaders. In August 2020, he also signed the order that transferred the administration of the Chora Church to the Directorate of Religious Affairs to open it for worship as a mosque. Initially converted to a mosque by the Ottomans, the building had then been designated as a museum by the government since 1934. Authoritarianism Erdoğan has served as the de facto leader of Turkey since 2002. In response to criticism, Erdoğan made a speech in May 2014 denouncing allegations of dictatorship, saying that the leader of the opposition, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was there at the speech, would not be able to "roam the streets" freely if he were a dictator. Kılıçdaroğlu responded that political tensions would cease to exist if Erdoğan stopped making his polarising speeches for three days. One observer said it was a measure of the state of Turkish democracy that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu could openly threaten, on 20 December 2015, that, if his party did not win the election, Turkish Kurds would endure a repeat of the era of the "white Toros", the Turkish name for the Renault 12, "a car associated with the gendarmarie’s fearsome intelligence agents, who carried out thousands of extrajudicial executions of Kurdish nationalists during the 1990s". In February 2015, a 13-year-old was charged by a prosecutor after allegedly insulting Erdoğan on Facebook. In 2016, a waiter was arrested for insulting Erdoğan by allegedly saying "If Erdoğan comes here, I will not even serve tea to him.". In April 2014, the President of the Constitutional Court, Haşim Kılıç, accused Erdoğan of damaging the credibility of the judiciary, labelling Erdoğan's attempts to increase political control over the courts as 'desperate'. During the chaotic 2007 presidential election, the military issued an E-memorandum warning the government to keep within the boundaries of secularism when choosing a candidate. Regardless, Erdoğan's close relations with Fethullah Gülen and his Cemaat Movement allowed his government to maintain a degree of influence within the judiciary through Gülen's supporters in high judicial and bureaucratic offices. Shortly after, an alleged coup plot codenamed Sledgehammer became public and resulted in the imprisonment of 300 military officers including İbrahim Fırtına, Çetin Doğan and Engin Alan. Several opposition politicians, journalists and military officers also went on trial for allegedly being part of an ultra-nationalist organisation called Ergenekon. Both cases were marred by irregularities and were condemned as a joint attempt by Erdoğan and Gülen to curb opposition to the AKP. The original Sledgehammer document containing the coup plans, allegedly written in 2003, was found to have been written using Microsoft Word 2007. Despite both domestic and international calls for these irregularities to be addressed in order to guarantee a fair trial, Erdoğan instead praised his government for bringing the coup plots to light. When Gülen publicly withdrew support and openly attacked Erdoğan in late 2013, several imprisoned military officers and journalists were released, with the government admitting that the judicial proceedings were unfair. When Gülen withdrew support from the AKP government in late 2013, a government corruption scandal broke out, leading to the arrest of several family members of cabinet ministers. Erdoğan accused Gülen of co-ordinating a "parallel state" within the judiciary in an attempt to topple him from power. He then removed or reassigned several judicial officials in an attempt to remove Gülen's supporters from office. Erdoğan's 'purge' was widely questioned and criticised by the European Union. In early 2014, a new law was passed by parliament giving the government greater control over the judiciary, which sparked public protest throughout the country. International organisations perceived the law to be a danger to the separation of powers. Several judicial officials removed from their posts said that they had been removed due to their secularist credentials. The political opposition accused Erdoğan of not only attempting to remove Gülen supporters, but supporters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's principles as well, in order to pave the way for increased politicisation of the judiciary. Several family members of Erdoğan's ministers who had been arrested as a result of the 2013 corruption scandal were released, and a judicial order to question Erdoğan's son Bilal Erdoğan was annulled. Controversy erupted when it emerged that many of the newly appointed judicial officials were actually AKP supporters. İslam Çiçek, a judge who ejected the cases of five ministers' relatives accused of corruption, was accused of being an AKP supporter and an official investigation was launched into his political affiliations. On 1 September 2014, the courts dissolved the cases of 96 suspects, which included Bilal Erdoğan. During a televised press conference he was asked if he believed a presidential system was possible in a unitary state. Erdoğan affirmed this and cited Nazi Germany (among other examples) as a case where such a combination existed. However, the Turkish president's office said that Erdoğan was not advocating a Hitler-style government when he called for a state system with a strong executive, and added that the Turkish president had declared the "Holocaust, anti-semitism and Islamophobia" as crimes against humanity and that it was out of the question for him to cite Hitler's Germany as a good example. Suppression of dissent Erdoğan has been criticised for his politicisation of the media, especially after the 2013 protests. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) alleged that over 1,863 journalists lost their jobs due to their anti-government views in 12 years of AKP rule. Opposition politicians have also alleged that intimidation in the media is due to the government's attempt to restructure the ownership of private media corporations. Journalists from the Cihan News Agency and the Gülenist Zaman newspaper were repeatedly barred from attending government press conferences or asking questions. Several opposition journalists such as Soner Yalçın were controversially arrested as part of the Ergenekon trials and Sledgehammer coup investigation. Veli Ağbaba, a CHP politician, has called the AKP the 'biggest media boss in Turkey.' In 2015, 74 US senators sent a letter to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to state their concern over what they saw as deviations from the basic principles of democracy in Turkey and oppressions of Erdoğan over media. Notable cases of media censorship occurred during the 2013 anti-government protests, when the mainstream media did not broadcast any news regarding the demonstrations for three days after they began. The lack of media coverage was symbolised by CNN International covering the protests while CNN Türk broadcast a documentary about penguins at the same time. The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) controversially issued a fine to pro-opposition news channels including Halk TV and Ulusal Kanal for their coverage of the protests, accusing them of broadcasting footage that could be morally, physically and mentally destabilising to children. Erdoğan was criticised for not responding to the accusations of media intimidation, and caused international outrage after telling a female journalist (Amberin Zaman of The Economist) to know her place and calling her a 'shameless militant' during his 2014 presidential election campaign. While the 2014 presidential election was not subject to substantial electoral fraud, Erdoğan was again criticised for receiving disproportionate media attention in comparison to his rivals. The British newspaper The Times commented that between 2 and 4 July, the state-owned media channel TRT gave 204 minutes of coverage to Erdoğan's campaign and less than a total of 3 minutes to both his rivals. Erdoğan also tightened controls over the Internet, signing into law a bill which allows the government to block websites without prior court order on 12 September 2014. His government blocked Twitter and YouTube in late March 2014 following the release of a recording of a conversation between him and his son Bilal, where Erdoğan allegedly warned his family to 'nullify' all cash reserves at their home amid the 2013 corruption scandal. Erdoğan has undertaken a media campaign that attempts to portray the presidential family as frugal and simple-living; their palace electricity-bill is estimated at $500,000 per month. In May 2016, former Miss Turkey model Merve Büyüksaraç was sentenced to more than a year in prison for allegedly insulting the president. In a 2016 news story, Bloomberg reported, "more than 2,000 cases have been opened against journalists, cartoonists, teachers, a former Miss Turkey, and even schoolchildren in the past two years". In November 2016, the Turkish government blocked access to social media in all of Turkey as well as sought to completely block Internet access for the citizens in the southeast of the country. Mehmet Aksoy lawsuit In 2009, Turkish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy created the Statue of Humanity in Kars to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. When visiting the city in 2011, Erdoğan deemed the statue a "freak", and months later it was demolished. Aksoy sued Erdoğan for "moral indemnities", although his lawyer said that his statement was a critique rather than an insult. In March 2015, a judge ordered Erdoğan to pay 10,000 liras. Erdoğanism Erdoğan has produced many aphorisms and catch-phrases known as Erdoğanisms. The term Erdoğanism first emerged shortly after Erdoğan's 2011 general election victory, where it was predominantly described as the AKP's liberal economic and conservative democratic ideals fused with Erdoğan demagoguery and cult of personality. Views on minorities LGBT In 2002, Erdoğan said that "homosexuals must be legally protected within the framework of their rights and freedoms. From time to time, we do not find the treatment they get on some television screens humane", he said. However, in 2017 Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey's top Muslim scholar and President of Religious Affairs, Ali Erbaş, said in a Friday Ramadan announcement that country condemns homosexuality because it "brings illness," insinuating that same sex relations are responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan backed Erbaş, saying that what Erbaş "said was totally right." Jews While Erdoğan has declared several times being against antisemitism, he has been accused of invoking antisemitic stereotypes in public statements. According to Erdoğan, he had been inspired by novelist and Islamist ideologue Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, a publisher (among others) of antisemitic literature. Others During a live interview in 2014, he said: "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian. Excuse me, but they have said even uglier things. They have called me Armenian, but I am Turkish." Honours and accolades Foreign honours Russia: Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan" (1 June 2006) Pakistan: Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award in Pakistan (26 October 2009) Georgia: Order of Golden Fleece, awarded for his contribution to development of bilateral relations (17 May 2010) Kyrgyzstan: Danaker Order in Bishkek (2 February 2011) Azerbaijan: Heydar Aliyev Order (3 September 2014) Belgium: Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold (5 October 2015) Madagascar: Knight Grand Cross in the national Order (25 January 2017) Gagauzia: Order of Gagauz-Yeri in Comrat (18 October 2018) Venezuela: Order of the Liberator, Grand Cordon (3 December 2018) Ukraine: Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (16 October 2020) Other awards 29 January 2004: Profile of Courage Award from the American Jewish Congress, for promoting peace between cultures. Returned at the request of the A.J.C. in July 2014. 13 June 2004: Golden Plate award from the Academy of Achievement during the conference in Chicago. 3 October 2004: German Quadriga prize for improving relationships between different cultures. 2 September 2005: Mediterranean Award for Institutions (). This was awarded by the Fondazione Mediterraneo. 8 August 2006: Caspian Energy Integration Award from the Caspian Integration Business Club. 1 November 2006: Outstanding Service award from the Turkish humanitarian organization Red Crescent. 2 February 2007: Dialogue Between Cultures Award from the President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev. 15 April 2007: Crystal Hermes Award from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the opening of the Hannover Industrial Fair. 11 July 2007: highest award of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Agricola Medal, in recognition of his contribution to agricultural and social development in Turkey. 11 May 2009: Avicenna award from the Avicenna Foundation in Frankfurt, Germany. 9 June 2009: guest of honor at the 20th Crans Montana Forum in Brussels and received the Prix de la Fondation, for democracy and freedom. 25 June 2009: Key to the City of Tirana on the occasion of his state visit to Albania. 29 December 2009: Award for Contribution to World Peace from the Turgut Özal Thought and Move Association. 12 January 2010: King Faisal International Prize for "service to Islam" from the King Faisal Foundation. 23 February 2010: Nodo Culture Award from the mayor of Seville for his efforts to launch the Alliance of Civilizations initiative. 1 March 2010: United Nations–HABITAT award in memorial of Rafik Hariri. A seven-member international jury unanimously found Erdoğan deserving of the award because of his "excellent achievement and commendable conduct in the area of leadership, statesmanship and good governance. Erdoğan also initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors." 27 May 2010: medal of honor from the Brazilian Federation of Industry for the State of São Paulo (FIESP) for his contributions to industry 31 May 2010: World Health Organization 2010 World No Tobacco Award for "his dedicated leadership on tobacco control in Turkey." 29 June 2010: 2010 World Family Award from the World Family Organization which operates under the umbrella of the United Nations. 4 November 2010: Golden Medal of Independence, an award conferred upon Kosovo citizens and foreigners that have contributed to the independence of Kosovo. 25 November 2010: "Leader of the Year" award presented by the Union of Arab Banks in Lebanon. 11 January 2011: "Outstanding Personality in the Islamic World Award" of the Sheikh Fahad al-Ahmad International Award for Charity in Kuwait. 25 October 2011: Palestinian International Award for Excellence and Creativity (PIA) 2011 for his support to the Palestinian people and cause. 21 January 2012: 'Gold Statue 2012 Special Award' by the Polish Business Center Club (BCC). Erdoğan was awarded for his systematic effort to clear barriers on the way to economic growth, striving to build democracy and free market relations. 2020: Ig Nobel Prize "for using the COVID-19 viral pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can." See also List of international presidential trips made by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Leadership approval polling for the 2023 Turkish general election The 500 Most Influential Muslims Notes References Further reading Cagaptay, Soner. The new sultan: Erdogan and the crisis of modern Turkey (2nd ed. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020). online review Cagaptay, Soner. "Making Turkey Great Again." Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 43 (2019): 169–78. online Kirişci, Kemal, and Amanda Sloat. "The rise and fall of liberal democracy in Turkey: Implications for the West" Foreign Policy at Brookings (2019) online Tziarras, Zenonas. "Erdoganist authoritarianism and the 'new' Turkey." Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 18.4 (2018): 593–598. online Yavuz, M. Hakan. "A framework for understanding the Intra-Islamist conflict between the AK party and the Gülen movement." Politics, Religion & Ideology 19.1 (2018): 11–32. online Yesil, Bilge. Media in New Turkey: The Origins of an Authoritarian Neoliberal State (University of Illinois Press, 2016) online review External links Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Instagram. Archived from the original. Welcome to demokrasi: how Erdoğan got more popular than ever by The Guardian 1954 births Living people 21st-century presidents of Turkey 21st-century prime ministers of Turkey Deniers of the Armenian genocide Deputies of Istanbul Deputies of Siirt Recep Tayyip Imam Hatip school alumni Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Leaders of political parties in Turkey Marmara University alumni Mayors of Istanbul Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Naqshbandi order People from Istanbul Politicians arrested in Turkey Presidents of Turkey Prime Ministers of Turkey Recipients of the Heydar Aliyev Order Recipients of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia) Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class Turkish Islamists Turkish Sunni Muslims Chairmen of the Organization of Turkic States Recipients of the Gagauz-Yeri Order Foreign recipients of the Nishan-e-Pakistan	false	[ "Ertuğrul Erdoğan (born October 18, 1968) is a Turkish professional basketball coach. He last served as a head coach for Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball Super League and the Basketball Champions League.\n\nCoaching career \nIn 1996, Erdogan began his professional level coaching career with Galatasaray.\n\nErdoğan later served as an assistant coach for the Fenerbahçe from 2000 to 2013. With Fenerbahçe, Erdoğan worked under legendary coaches Aydın Örs and Bogdan Tanjevic.\n\nDuring the 2009-2010 season, coach Tanjevic was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and left the team at late March, Erdogan took over and led Fenerbahçe to the 2009-10 Turkish Basketball League championship. Despite his success against the title favourites Efes Pilsen, he was not appointed as Fenerbahçe's head coach in the following season. Erdogan continued to serve in an assistant coach capacity with head coaches Neven Spahija and Simone Pianigiani in the following seasons. He left Fenerbahce in 2013, after 13 years.\n\nŽalgiris Kaunas' interest \nShortly after Sarunas Jasikevicius' decision to joining Barcelona in the summer of 2020, Ertugrul Erdogan has emerged the frontrunner for Zalgiris head coach position. Erdogan spoke with Zalgiris president and GM Paulius Motiejunas but there was never traction on reaching a contract agreement as the days wore on. Zalgiris opted to sign with the Salt Lake City Stars head coach, Martin Schiller. \n\nA couple of days after Zalgiris' interest, on July 14, 2020, Galatasaray officially signed head coach Ertugrul Erdogan to a 1+1 contract extension, the team announced.\n\nGalatasaray (2018-2020) \nOn July 26, 2018, Erdogan signed a two-year contract, and agreed to become the new head coach of the Turkish club Galatasaray.\n\nDuring his tenure at Galatasaray, Erdogan scouted and helped to promote many players into the Euroleague level. Rookies like Nigel Hayes, Aaron Harrison and Alex Poythress played under his leadership in their first seasons in Europe and then they signed with the Euroleague clubs Zalgiris, Olympiacos B.C and Zenit St. Petersburg respectively.\n\nZach Auguste, who was the starting center of Erdogan's Galatasaray for both seasons, agreed with Euroleague club Panathinaikos on July 20, 2020. Greg Whittington, another Galatasaray alum, \"will sign with an NBA team, unless a major Euroleague team makes a strong offer\" according to Whittington's agent Jerry Dianis. \n\nGalatasaray announced that the club has entered negotiations with head coach Ertugrul Erdogan for the mutual termination of his contract. On November 10, 2020, coach Erdogan bid his farewell to Galatasaray and their fans. “Without honesty, there is neither trust nor sustainable success. Thank you to everyone, mainly our fans, who supported me and my staff during my two and a half years at Galatasaray. My conscience is clear” he later tweeted.\n\nPersonal life \nErdogan graduated from Middle East Technical University Department of Physical Education and Sports.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Galatasaray.org\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Eurobasket.com\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Euroleague.net\n\n1968 births\nLiving people\nBasketbol Süper Ligi head coaches\nFenerbahçe basketball coaches\nGalatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) coaches\nTurkish basketball coaches\nTürk Telekom basketball coaches", "Enver Erdogan is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council since August 2019, representing Southern Metropolitan Region, when he was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by Philip Dalidakis's resignation. He currently serves as Chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Standing Committee.\n\nA Turkish speaker of Kurdish descent, Erdogan is the first MP of Kurdish descent in any Australian parliament.\n\nErdogan holds degrees in Economics and Law from La Trobe University and worked as a lawyer at Maurice Blackburn prior to becoming a member of the Legislative Council.\n\nReferences\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nAustralian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria\nMembers of the Victorian Legislative Council\n21st-century Australian politicians\nAustralian people of Kurdish descent" ]
[ "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "Personal life and education", "Where did Erdogan go to college?", "He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences,", "Does Erdogan have children?", "I don't know.", "Where was Erdogan born?", "Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul,", "Is Erdogan married?", "Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (" ]	C_15e775d39cc647c7987d95fdc23b6587_1	Did Erdogan open a mosque?	5	Did Recep Tayyip Erdoğan open a mosque?	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province. His parents are Ahmet Erdogan and Tenzile Erdogan. Erdogan reportedly said in 2003, "I'm a Georgian, my family is a Georgian family which migrated from Batumi to Rize." But in a 2014 televised interview on the NTV news network, he said, "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian... forgive me for saying this... even much uglier things, they have even called me an Armenian, but I am Turkish." In an account based on registry records, his genealogy was tracked to an ethnic Turkish family. Erdogan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father Ahmet Erdogan (1905 - 1988) was a Captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. Erdogan had a brother Mustafa (b. 1958) and sister Vesile (b. 1965). His summer holidays were mostly spent in Guneysu, Rize, where his family originates from. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdogan was 13 years old. As a teenager, he sold lemonade and sesame buns (simit) on the streets of the city's rougher districts to earn extra money. Brought up in an observant Muslim family, Erdogan graduated from Kasimpasa Piyale primary school in 1965, and Imam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. He received his high school diploma from Eyup High School. He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences, now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences--although several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated. In his youth, Erdogan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahce wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasimpasa S.K. is named after him. Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (born 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons; Ahmet Burak and Necmettin Bilal, and two daughters, Esra and Sumeyye. His father, Ahmet Erdogan, died in 1988 and his 88-year-old mother, Tenzile Erdogan, died in 2011. He is a member of the Community of Iskenderpasa, a Turkish sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. CANNOTANSWER	Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village.	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to election victories in 2002, 2007, and 2011 general elections before being required to stand down upon his election as President in 2014. He later returned to the AKP leadership in 2017 following the constitutional referendum that year. Coming from an Islamist political background and self-describing as a conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration. Following the 1994 local elections, Erdoğan was elected mayor of Istanbul as the candidate of the Islamist Welfare Party. He was later stripped of his position, banned from political office, and imprisoned for four months for inciting religious hatred, due to his recitation of a poem by Ziya Gökalp. Erdoğan subsequently abandoned openly Islamist politics, establishing the moderate conservative AKP in 2001, which he went on to lead to a landslide victory in 2002. With Erdoğan still technically prohibited from holding office, the AKP's co-founder, Abdullah Gül, instead became prime minister, and later annulled Erdoğan's political ban. After winning a by-election in Siirt in 2003, Erdoğan replaced Gül as prime minister, with Gül instead becoming the AKP's candidate for the presidency. Erdoğan led the AKP to two more election victories in 2007 and 2011. The early years of Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister saw advances in negotiations for Turkey's membership of the European Union, an economic recovery following a economic crisis in 2001 and investments in infrastructure including roads, airports, and a high-speed train network. He also won two successful constitutional referendums in 2007 and 2010. However, his government remained controversial for its close links with Fethullah Gülen and his Gülen Movement (since designated as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish state) with whom the AKP was accused of orchestrating purges against secular bureaucrats and military officers through the Balyoz and Ergenekon trials. In late 2012, his government began peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to end the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present). The ceasefire broke down in 2015, leading to a renewed escalation in conflict. Erdoğan's foreign policy has been described as Neo-Ottoman and has led to the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, with its focus on preventing the Syrian Democratic Forces from gaining ground on the Syria–Turkey border during the Syrian Civil War. In the more recent years of Erdoğan's rule, Turkey has experienced democratic backsliding and corruption. Starting with the anti-government protests in 2013, his government imposed growing censorship on the press and social media, temporarily restricting access to sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. This stalled negotiations related to Turkey's EU membership. A US$100 billion corruption scandal in 2013 led to the arrests of Erdoğan's close allies, and incriminated Erdoğan. After 11 years as head of government (Prime Minister), Erdoğan decided to run for President in 2014. At the time, the presidency was a somewhat ceremonial function. Following the 2014 elections, Erdoğan became the first popularly elected president of Turkey. The souring in relations with Gülen continued, as the government proceeded to purge his supporters from judicial, bureaucratic and military positions. A failed military coup d'état attempt in July 2016 resulted in further purges and a temporary state of emergency. The government claimed that the coup leaders were linked to Gülen, but he has denied any role in it. Erdoğan's rule has been marked with increasing authoritarianism, expansionism, censorship and banning of parties or dissent. Erdoğan supported the 2017 referendum which changed Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential system, thus setting for the first time in Turkish history a term limit for the head of government (two full five-year terms). This new system of government formally came into place after the 2018 general election, where Erdoğan became an executive president. His party however lost the majority in the parliament and is currently in a coalition (People's Alliance) with the Turkish nationalist MHP. Erdoğan has since been tackling, but also accused of contributing to, the Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018, which has caused a significant decline in his popularity and is widely believed to have contributed to the results of the 2019 local elections, in which his party lost power in big cities like Ankara and Istanbul to opposition parties for the first time in 15 years. Family and personal life Early life Erdoğan was born in Kasımpaşa, a poor neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province in the 1930s. Erdoğan's tribe is originally from Adjara, a region in Georgia. His parents were Ahmet Erdoğan (1905–88) and Tenzile Erdoğan (née Mutlu; 1924–2011). Erdoğan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father was a captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. His summer holidays were mostly spent in Güneysu, Rize, where his family originates. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdoğan was 13 years old. As a teenager, Erdoğan's father provided him with a weekly allowance of 2.5 Turkish lira, less than a dollar. With it, Erdoğan bought postcards and resold them on the street. He sold bottles of water to drivers stuck in traffic. Erdoğan also worked as a street vendor selling simit (sesame bread rings), wearing a white gown and selling the simit from a red three-wheel cart with the rolls stacked behind glass. In his youth, Erdoğan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahçe wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasımpaşa S.K. is named after him. Erdoğan is a member of the Community of İskenderpaşa, a Turkish Sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. Education Erdoğan graduated from Kasımpaşa Piyale primary school in 1965, and İmam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. The same educational path was followed by other co-founders of the AKP party. One quarter of the curriculum of İmam Hatip schools involves study of the Qurʼān, the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the Arabic language. Erdoğan studied the Qurʼān at an İmam Hatip, where his classmates began calling him "hoca" ("Muslim teacher"). Erdoğan attended a meeting of the nationalist student group National Turkish Student Union (Milli Türk Talebe Birliği), who sought to raise a conservative cohort of young people to counter the rising movement of leftists in Turkey. Within the group, Erdoğan was distinguished by his oratorical skills, developing a penchant for public speaking and excelling in front of an audience. He won first place in a poetry-reading competition organized by the Community of Turkish Technical Painters, and began preparing for speeches through reading and research. Erdoğan would later comment on these competitions as "enhancing our courage to speak in front of the masses". Erdoğan wanted to pursue advanced studies at Mekteb-i Mülkiye, but Mülkiye accepted only students with regular high school diplomas, and not İmam Hatip graduates. Mülkiye was known for its political science department, which trained many statesmen and politicians in Turkey. Erdoğan was then admitted to Eyüp High School, a regular state school, and eventually received his high school diploma from Eyüp. According to his official biography, he subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences (), now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated, or even attended at all. Family Erdoğan married Emine Gülbaran (b. 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons, Ahmet Burak (b. 1979) and Necmettin Bilal (b. 1981), and two daughters, Esra (b. 1983) and Sümeyye (b. 1985). His father, Ahmet Erdoğan, died in 1988 and his mother, Tenzile Erdoğan, died in 2011 at the age of 88. Erdoğan has a brother, Mustafa (b. 1958), and a sister, Vesile (b. 1965). From his father's first marriage to Havuli Erdoğan (d. 1980), he had two half-brothers: Mehmet (1926–1988) and Hasan (1929–2006). Early political career In 1976, Erdoğan engaged in politics by joining the National Turkish Student Union, an anti-communist action group. In the same year, he became the head of the Beyoğlu youth branch of the Islamist National Salvation Party (MSP), and was later promoted to chair of the Istanbul youth branch of the party. Holding this position until 1980, he served as consultant and senior executive in the private sector during the era following the 1980 military coup when political parties were closed down. In 1983, Erdoğan followed most of Necmettin Erbakan's followers into the Islamist Welfare Party. He became the party's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984, and in 1985 he became the chair of the Istanbul city branch. He was elected to parliament in 1991, but was barred from taking his seat. Mayor of Istanbul (1994–1998) In the local elections of 27 March 1994, Erdoğan was elected Mayor of Istanbul with 25.19% of the popular vote. Erdoğan was a 40-year-old dark horse candidate who had been mocked by the mainstream media and treated as a country bumpkin by his opponents. He was pragmatic in office, tackling many chronic problems in Istanbul including water shortage, pollution and traffic chaos. The water shortage problem was solved with the laying of hundreds of kilometers of new pipelines. The garbage problem was solved with the establishment of state-of-the-art recycling facilities. While Erdoğan was in office, air pollution was reduced through a plan developed to switch to natural gas. He changed the public buses to environmentally friendly ones. The city's traffic and transportation jams were reduced with more than fifty bridges, viaducts, and highways built. He took precautions to prevent corruption, using measures to ensure that municipal funds were used prudently. He paid back a major portion of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's two-billion-dollar debt and invested four billion dollars in the city. Erdoğan initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors. A seven-member international jury from the United Nations unanimously awarded Erdoğan the UN-Habitat award. Imprisonment In 1998, the fundamentalist Welfare Party was declared unconstitutional on the grounds of threatening the secularism of Turkey and was shut down by the Turkish constitutional court. Erdoğan became a prominent speaker at demonstrations held by his party colleagues. In December 1997 in Siirt, Erdoğan recited a poem from a work written by Ziya Gökalp, a pan-Turkish activist of the early 20th century. His recitation included verses translated as "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...." which are not in the original version of the poem. Erdoğan said the poem had been approved by the education ministry to be published in textbooks. Under article 312/2 of the Turkish penal code his recitation was regarded as an incitement to violence and religious or racial hatred. He was given a ten-month prison sentence of which he served four months, from 24 March 1999 to 27 July 1999. Due to his conviction, Erdoğan was forced to give up his mayoral position. The conviction also stipulated a political ban, which prevented him from participating in parliamentary elections. He had appealed for the sentence to be converted to a monetary fine, but it was reduced to 120 days instead. In 2017, this period of Erdoğan's life was made into a film titled Reis. Justice and Development Party Erdoğan was member of political parties that kept getting banned by the army or judges. Within his Virtue Party, there was a dispute about the appropriate discourse of the party between traditional politicians and pro-reform politicians. The latter envisioned a party that could operate within the limits of the system, and thus not getting banned as its predecessors like National Order Party, National Salvation Party and Welfare Party. They wanted to give the group the character of an ordinary conservative party following the example of the European Christian democratic parties. When the Virtue Party was also banned in 2001, a definitive split took place: the followers of Necmettin Erbakan founded the Felicity Party (SP) and the reformers founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) under the leadership of Abdullah Gül and Erdoğan. The pro-reform politicians realized that a strictly Islamic party would never be accepted as a governing party by the state apparatus and they believed that an Islamic party did not appeal to more than about 20 percent of the Turkish electorate. The AK party emphatically placed itself as a broad democratic conservative party with new politicians from the political center (like Ali Babacan and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu), while respecting Islamic norms and values, but without an explicit religious program. This turned out to be successful as the new party won 34% of the vote in the general elections of 2002. Erdoğan became prime minister in March 2003 after the Gül government ended his political ban. Premiership (2003–2014) General elections The elections of 2002 were the first elections in which Erdoğan participated as a party leader. All parties previously elected to parliament failed to win enough votes to re-enter the parliament. The AKP won 34.3% of the national vote and formed the new government. Turkish stocks rose more than 7% on Monday morning. Politicians of the previous generation, such as Ecevit, Bahceli, Yılmaz and Çiller, resigned. The second largest party, the CHP, received 19.4% of the votes. The AKP won a landslide victory in the parliament, taking nearly two-thirds of the seats. Erdoğan could not become Prime Minister as he was still banned from politics by the judiciary for his speech in Siirt. Gül became the Prime Minister instead. In December 2002, the Supreme Election Board canceled the general election results from Siirt due to voting irregularities and scheduled a new election for 9 February 2003. By this time, party leader Erdoğan was able to run for parliament due to a legal change made possible by the opposition Republican People's Party. The AKP duly listed Erdoğan as a candidate for the rescheduled election, which he won, becoming Prime Minister after Gül handed over the post. On 14 April 2007, an estimated 300,000 people marched in Ankara to protest against the possible candidacy of Erdoğan in the 2007 presidential election, afraid that if elected as president, he would alter the secular nature of the Turkish state. Erdoğan announced on 24 April 2007 that the party had nominated Abdullah Gül as the AKP candidate in the presidential election. The protests continued over the next several weeks, with over one million people reported to have turned out at a 29 April rally in Istanbul, tens of thousands at separate protests on 4 May in Manisa and Çanakkale, and one million in İzmir on 13 May. The stage of the elections of 2007 was set for a fight for legitimacy in the eyes of voters between his government and the CHP. Erdoğan used the event that took place during the ill-fated Presidential elections a few months earlier as a part of the general election campaign of his party. On 22 July 2007, the AKP won an important victory over the opposition, garnering 46.7% of the popular vote. 22 July elections marked only the second time in the Republic of Turkey's history whereby an incumbent governing party won an election by increasing its share of popular support. On 14 March 2008, Turkey's Chief Prosecutor asked the country's Constitutional Court to ban Erdoğan's governing party. The party escaped a ban on 30 July 2008, a year after winning 46.7% of the vote in national elections, although judges did cut the party's public funding by 50%. In the June 2011 elections, Erdoğan's governing party won 327 seats (49.83% of the popular vote) making Erdoğan the only prime minister in Turkey's history to win three consecutive general elections, each time receiving more votes than the previous election. The second party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), received 135 seats (25.94%), the nationalist MHP received 53 seats (13.01%), and the Independents received 35 seats (6.58%). Referendums After the opposition parties deadlocked the 2007 presidential election by boycotting the parliament, the ruling AKP proposed a constitutional reform package. The reform package was first vetoed by president Sezer. Then he applied to the Turkish constitutional court about the reform package, because the president is unable to veto amendments for the second time. The Turkish constitutional court did not find any problems in the packet and 68.95% of the voters supported the constitutional changes. The reforms consisted of electing the president by popular vote instead of by parliament; reducing the presidential term from seven years to five; allowing the president to stand for re-election for a second term; holding general elections every four years instead of five; and reducing from 367 to 184 the quorum of lawmakers needed for parliamentary decisions. Reforming the Constitution was one of the main pledges of the AKP during the 2007 election campaign. The main opposition party CHP was not interested in altering the Constitution on a big scale, making it impossible to form a Constitutional Commission (Anayasa Uzlaşma Komisyonu). The amendments lacked the two-thirds majority needed to become law instantly, but secured 336 votes in the 550-seat parliament – enough to put the proposals to a referendum. The reform package included a number of issues such as the right of individuals to appeal to the highest court, the creation of the ombudsman's office; the possibility to negotiate a nationwide labour contract; gender equality; the ability of civilian courts to convict members of the military; the right of civil servants to go on strike; a privacy law; and the structure of the Constitutional Court. The referendum was agreed by a majority of 58%. Domestic Policy Kurdish issue In 2009, Prime Minister Erdoğan's government announced a plan to help end the quarter-century-long Turkey–Kurdistan Workers' Party conflict that had cost more than 40,000 lives. The government's plan, supported by the European Union, intended to allow the Kurdish language to be used in all broadcast media and political campaigns, and restored Kurdish names to cities and towns that had been given Turkish ones. Erdoğan said, "We took a courageous step to resolve chronic issues that constitute an obstacle along Turkey's development, progression and empowerment". Erdoğan passed a partial amnesty to reduce penalties faced by many members of the Kurdish guerrilla movement PKK who had surrendered to the government. On 23 November 2011, during a televised meeting of his party in Ankara, he apologised on behalf of the state for the Dersim massacre, where many Alevis and Zazas were killed. In 2013 the government of Erdoğan began a peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish Government, mediated by parliamentarians of the Peoples' Democratic party (HDP). In 2015 he decided that the peace process was over and supported the lift of the parliamentary immunity of the HDP parliamentarians. During his presidency a law was introduced which banned the use of the word Kurdistan in parliament and in a speech he held for the local election of 2019 he told the HDP politicians that if there is no Kurdistan in Turkey and if they looked for one they should go to Northern Iraq. Armenian genocide Prime Minister Erdoğan expressed multiple times that Turkey would acknowledge the mass killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide only after a thorough investigation by a joint Turkish-Armenian commission consisting of historians, archaeologists, political scientists and other experts. In 2005, Erdoğan and the main opposition party leader Deniz Baykal wrote a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, proposing the creation of a joint Turkish-Armenian commission. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian rejected the offer because he asserted that the proposal itself was "insincere and not serious". He added: "This issue cannot be considered at historical level with Turks, who themselves politicized the problem". In December 2008, Erdoğan criticised the I Apologize campaign by Turkish intellectuals to recognize the Armenian Genocide, saying, "I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologise ... It will not have any benefit other than stirring up trouble, disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have been taken". In November 2009, he said, "it is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide". In 2011, Erdoğan ordered the tearing-down of the Statue of Humanity, a Turkish–Armenian friendship monument in Kars, which was commissioned in 2006 and represented a metaphor of the rapprochement of the two countries after many years of dispute over the events of 1915. Erdoğan justified the removal by stating that the monument was offensively close to the tomb of an 11th-century Islamic scholar, and that its shadow ruined the view of that site, while Kars municipality officials said it was illegally erected in a protected area. However, the former mayor of Kars who approved the original construction of the monument said the municipality was destroying not just a "monument to humanity" but "humanity itself". The demolition was not unopposed; among its detractors were several Turkish artists. Two of them, the painter Bedri Baykam and his associate, Pyramid Art Gallery general coordinator Tugba Kurtulmus, were stabbed after a meeting with other artists at the Istanbul Akatlar cultural center. On 23 April 2014, Erdoğan's office issued a statement in nine languages (including two dialects of Armenian), offering condolences for the mass killings of Armenians and stating that the events of 1915 had inhumane consequences. The statement described the mass killings as the two nations' shared pain and said: "Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences – such as relocation – during the First World War, (it) should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among one another". The Ottoman Parliament of 1915 had previously used the term "relocation" to describe the purpose of the Tehcir Law, which resulted in the deaths of anywhere between 800,000 and over 1,800,000 Armenian civilians in what is commonly referred to as the Armenian Genocide. Pope Francis in April 2015, at a special mass in St. Peter's Basilica marking the centenary of the events, described atrocities against Armenian civilians in 1915–1922 as "the first genocide of the 20th century". In protest, Erdoğan recalled the Turkish ambassador from the Vatican, and summoned the Vatican's ambassador, to express "disappointment" at what he called a discriminatory message. He later stated "we don’t carry a stain or a shadow like genocide". US President Barack Obama called for a "full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts", but again stopped short of labelling it "genocide", despite his campaign promise to do so. Human rights During Erdoğan's time as Prime Minister, the far-reaching powers of the 1991 Anti-Terror Law were reduced and the Democratic initiative process was initiated, with the goal to improve democratic standards in general and the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in particular. However, after Turkey's bid to join the European Union stalled, European officials noted a return to more authoritarian ways, notably on freedom of speech, freedom of the press and Kurdish minority rights. Demands by activists for the recognition of LGBT rights were publicly rejected by government members, and members of the Turkish LGBT community were insulted by cabinet members. Reporters Without Borders observed a continuous decrease in Freedom of the Press during Erdoğan's later terms, with a rank of around 100 on the Press Freedom Index during his first term and a rank of 153 out of a total of 179 countries in 2021. Freedom House saw a slight recovery in later years and awarded Turkey a Press Freedom Score of 55/100 in 2012 after a low point of 48/100 in 2006. In 2011, Erdoğan's government made legal reforms to return properties of Christian and Jewish minorities which were seized by the Turkish government in the 1930s. The total value of the properties returned reached $2 billion (USD). Under Erdoğan, the Turkish government tightened the laws on the sale and consumption of alcohol, banning all advertising and increasing the tax on alcoholic beverages. Economy In 2002, Erdoğan inherited a Turkish economy that was beginning to recover from a recession as a result of reforms implemented by Kemal Derviş. Erdoğan supported Finance Minister Ali Babacan in enforcing macro-economic policies. Erdoğan tried to attract more foreign investors to Turkey and lifted many government regulations. The cash-flow into the Turkish economy between 2002 and 2012 caused a growth of 64% in real GDP and a 43% increase in GDP per capita; considerably higher numbers were commonly advertised but these did not account for the inflation of the US dollar between 2002 and 2012. The average annual growth in GDP per capita was 3.6%. The growth in real GDP between 2002 and 2012 was higher than the values from developed countries, but was close to average when developing countries are also taken into account. The ranking of the Turkish economy in terms of GDP moved slightly from 17 to 16 during this decade. A major consequence of the policies between 2002 and 2012 was the widening of the current account deficit from US$600 million to US$58 billion (2013 est.) Since 1961, Turkey has signed 19 IMF loan accords. Erdoğan's government satisfied the budgetary and market requirements of the two during his administration and received every loan installment, the only time any Turkish government has done so. Erdoğan inherited a debt of $23.5 billion to the IMF, which was reduced to $0.9 billion in 2012. He decided not to sign a new deal. Turkey's debt to the IMF was thus declared to be completely paid and he announced that the IMF could borrow from Turkey. In 2010, five-year credit default swaps for Turkey's sovereign debt were trading at a record low of 1.17%, below those of nine EU member countries and Russia. In 2002, the Turkish Central Bank had $26.5 billion in reserves. This amount reached $92.2 billion in 2011. During Erdoğan's leadership, inflation fell from 32% to 9.0% in 2004. Since then, Turkish inflation has continued to fluctuate around 9% and is still one of the highest inflation rates in the world. The Turkish public debt as a percentage of annual GDP declined from 74% in 2002 to 39% in 2009. In 2012, Turkey had a lower ratio of public debt to GDP than 21 of 27 members of the European Union and a lower budget deficit to GDP ratio than 23 of them. In 2003, Erdoğan's government pushed through the Labor Act, a comprehensive reform of Turkey's labor laws. The law greatly expanded the rights of employees, establishing a 45-hour workweek and limiting overtime work to 270 hours a year, provided legal protection against discrimination due to sex, religion, or political affiliation, prohibited discrimination between permanent and temporary workers, entitled employees terminated without "valid cause" to compensation, and mandated written contracts for employment arrangements lasting a year or more. Education Erdoğan increased the budget of the Ministry of Education from 7.5 billion lira in 2002 to 34 billion lira in 2011, the highest share of the national budget given to one ministry. Before his prime ministership the military received the highest share of the national budget. Compulsory education was increased from eight years to twelve. In 2003, the Turkish government, together with UNICEF, initiated a campaign called "Come on girls, [let's go] to school!" (). The goal of this campaign was to close the gender gap in primary school enrollment through the provision of a quality basic education for all girls, especially in southeast Turkey. In 2005, the parliament granted amnesty to students expelled from universities before 2003. The amnesty applied to students dismissed on academic or disciplinary grounds. In 2004, textbooks became free of charge and since 2008 every province in Turkey has its own university. During Erdoğan's Premiership, the number of universities in Turkey nearly doubled, from 98 in 2002 to 186 in October 2012. The Prime Minister kept his campaign promises by starting the Fatih project in which all state schools, from preschool to high school level, received a total of 620,000 smart boards, while tablet computers were distributed to 17 million students and approximately one million teachers and administrators. In June 2017 a draft proposal by the ministry of education was approved by Erdoğan, in which the curriculum for schools excluded the teaching of the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin by 2019. From then on the teaching will be postponed and start at undergraduate level. Infrastructure Under Erdoğan's government, the number of airports in Turkey increased from 26 to 50 in the period of 10 years. Between the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and 2002, there had been 6,000 km of dual carriageway roads created. Between 2002 and 2011, another 13,500 km of expressway were built. Due to these measures, the number of motor accidents fell by 50 percent. For the first time in Turkish history, high speed railway lines were constructed, and the country's high-speed train service began in 2009. In 8 years, 1,076 km of railway were built and 5,449 km of railway renewed. The construction of Marmaray, an undersea rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait, started in 2004. It was inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the Turkish Republic 29 October 2013. The inauguration of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third bridge over the Bosphorus, was on 26 August 2016. Justice In March 2006, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) held a press conference to publicly protest the obstruction of the appointment of judges to the high courts for over 10 months. The HSYK said Erdoğan wanted to fill the vacant posts with his own appointees. Erdoğan was accused of creating a rift with Turkey's highest court of appeal, the Yargıtay, and high administrative court, the Danıştay. Erdoğan stated that the constitution gave the power to assign these posts to his elected party. In May 2007, the head of Turkey's High Court asked prosecutors to consider whether Erdoğan should be charged over critical comments regarding the election of Abdullah Gül as president. Erdoğan said the ruling was "a disgrace to the justice system", and criticized the Constitutional Court which had invalidated a presidential vote because a boycott by other parties meant there was no quorum. Prosecutors investigated his earlier comments, including saying it had fired a "bullet at democracy". Tülay Tuğcu, head of the Constitutional Court, condemned Erdoğan for "threats, insults and hostility" towards the justice system. Civil–military relations The Turkish military has had a record of intervening in politics, having removed elected governments four times in the past. During the Erdoğan government, civil–military relationship moved towards normalization in which the influence of the military in politics was significantly reduced. The ruling Justice and Development Party has often faced off against the military, gaining political power by challenging a pillar of the country's laicistic establishment. The most significant issue that caused deep fissures between the army and the government was the midnight e-memorandum posted on the military's website objecting to the selection of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül as the ruling party's candidate for the Presidency in 2007. The military argued that the election of Gül, whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf, could undermine the laicistic order of the country. Contrary to expectations, the government responded harshly to former Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt's e-memorandum, stating the military had nothing to do with the selection of the presidential candidate. Health care After assuming power in 2003, Erdoğan's government embarked on a sweeping reform program of the Turkish healthcare system, called the Health Transformation Program (HTP), to greatly increase the quality of healthcare and protect all citizens from financial risks. Its introduction coincided with the period of sustained economic growth, allowing the Turkish government to put greater investments into the healthcare system. As part of the reforms, the "Green Card" program, which provides health benefits to the poor, was expanded in 2004. The reform program aimed at increasing the ratio of private to state-run healthcare, which, along with long queues in state-run hospitals, resulted in the rise of private medical care in Turkey, forcing state-run hospitals to compete by increasing quality. In April 2006, Erdoğan unveiled a social security reform package demanded by the International Monetary Fund under a loan deal. The move, which Erdoğan called one of the most radical reforms ever, was passed with fierce opposition. Turkey's three social security bodies were united under one roof, bringing equal health services and retirement benefits for members of all three bodies. The previous system had been criticized for reserving the best healthcare for civil servants and relegating others to wait in long queues. Under the second bill, everyone under the age of 18 years was entitled to free health services, irrespective of whether they pay premiums to any social security organization. The bill also envisages a gradual increase in the retirement age: starting from 2036, the retirement age will increase to 65 by 2048 for both women and men. In January 2008, the Turkish Parliament adopted a law to prohibit smoking in most public places. Erdoğan is outspokenly anti-smoking. Foreign policy Turkish foreign policy during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister has been associated with the name of Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu was the chief foreign policy advisor of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before he was appointed foreign minister in 2009. The basis of Erdoğan's foreign policy is based on the principle of "don't make enemies, make friends" and the pursuit of "zero problems" with neighboring countries. Erdoğan is co-founder of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (AOC). The initiative seeks to galvanize international action against extremism through the forging of international, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation. European Union When Erdoğan came to power, he continued Turkey's long ambition of joining the European Union. On 3 October 2005 negotiations began for Turkey's accession to the European Union. Erdoğan was named "The European of the Year 2004" by the newspaper European Voice for the reforms in his country in order to accomplish the accession of Turkey to the European Union. He said in a comment that "Turkey's accession shows that Europe is a continent where civilisations reconcile and not clash." On 3 October 2005, the negotiations for Turkey's accession to the EU formally started during Erdoğan's tenure as Prime Minister. The European Commission generally supports Erdoğan's reforms, but remains critical of his policies. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize EU member state Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus dispute Relations between Greece and Turkey were normalized during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister. In May 2004, Erdoğan became the first Turkish Prime Minister to visit Greece since 1988, and the first to visit the Turkish minority of Thrace since 1952. In 2007, Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis inaugurated the Greek-Turkish natural gas pipeline giving Caspian gas its first direct Western outlet. Turkey and Greece signed an agreement to create a Combined Joint Operational Unit within the framework of NATO to participate in Peace Support Operations. Erdoğan and his party strongly supported the EU-backed referendum to reunify Cyprus in 2004. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships as a consequence of the economic isolation of the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the failure of the EU to end the isolation, as it had promised in 2004. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize the Republic of Cyprus. Armenia Armenia is Turkey's only neighbor which Erdoğan has not visited during his premiership. The Turkish-Armenian border has been closed since 1993 because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Turkey's close ally Azerbaijan. Diplomatic efforts resulted in the signing of protocols between Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers in Switzerland to improve relations between the two countries. One of the points of the agreement was the creation of a joint commission on the issue. The Armenian Constitutional Court decided that the commission contradicts the Armenian constitution. Turkey responded saying that Armenian court's ruling on the protocols is not acceptable, resulting in a suspension of the rectification process by the Turkish side. Erdoğan has said that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan should apologize for calling on school children to re-occupy eastern Turkey. When asked by a student at a literature contest ceremony if Armenians will be able to get back their "western territories" along with Mt. Ararat, Sarksyan said, "This is the task of your generation". Russia In December 2004, President Putin visited Turkey, making it the first presidential visit in the history of Turkish-Russian relations besides that of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Nikolai Podgorny in 1972. In November 2005, Putin attended the inauguration of a jointly constructed Blue Stream natural gas pipeline in Turkey. This sequence of top-level visits has brought several important bilateral issues to the forefront. The two countries consider it their strategic goal to achieve "multidimensional co-operation", especially in the fields of energy, transport and the military. Specifically, Russia aims to invest in Turkey's fuel and energy industries, and it also expects to participate in tenders for the modernisation of Turkey's military. The relations during this time are described by President Medvedev as "Turkey is one of our most important partners with respect to regional and international issues. We can confidently say that Russian-Turkish relations have advanced to the level of a multidimensional strategic partnership". In May 2010, Turkey and Russia signed 17 agreements to enhance cooperation in energy and other fields, including pacts to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant and further plans for an oil pipeline from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The leaders of both countries also signed an agreement on visa-free travel, enabling tourists to get into the other country for free and stay there for up to 30 days. United States When Barack Obama became President of United States, he made his first overseas bilateral meeting to Turkey in April 2009. At a joint news conference in Turkey, Obama said: "I'm trying to make a statement about the importance of Turkey, not just to the United States but to the world. I think that where there's the most promise of building stronger U.S.-Turkish relations is in the recognition that Turkey and the United States can build a model partnership in which a predominantly Christian nation, a predominantly Muslim nation – a Western nation and a nation that straddles two continents," he continued, "that we can create a modern international community that is respectful, that is secure, that is prosperous, that there are not tensions – inevitable tensions between cultures – which I think is extraordinarily important." Iraq Turkey under Erdoğan was named by the Bush Administration as a part of the "coalition of the willing" that was central to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On 1 March 2003, a motion allowing Turkish military to participate in the U.S-led coalition's invasion of Iraq, along with the permission for foreign troops to be stationed in Turkey for this purpose, was overruled by the Turkish Parliament. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq and Turkey signed 48 trade agreements on issues including security, energy, and water. The Turkish government attempted to mend relations with Iraqi Kurdistan by opening a Turkish university in Erbil, and a Turkish consulate in Mosul. Erdoğan's government fostered economic and political relations with Irbil, and Turkey began to consider the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq as an ally against Maliki's government. Israel Erdoğan visited Israel on 1 May 2005, a gesture unusual for a leader of a Muslim majority country. During his trip, Erdoğan visited the Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The President of Israel Shimon Peres addressed the Turkish parliament during a visit in 2007, the first time an Israeli leader had addressed the legislature of a predominantly Muslim nation. Their relationship worsened at the 2009 World Economic Forum conference over Israel's actions during the Gaza War. Erdoğan was interrupted by the moderator while he was responding to Peres. Erdoğan stated: "Mister Peres, you are older than I am. Maybe you are feeling guilty and that is why you are raising your voice. When it comes to killing you know it too well. I remember how you killed the children on beaches..." Upon the moderator's reminder that they needed to adjourn for dinner, Erdoğan left the panel, accusing the moderator of giving Peres more time than all the other panelists combined. Tensions increased further following the Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010. Erdoğan strongly condemned the raid, describing it as "state terrorism", and demanded an Israeli apology. In February 2013, Erdoğan called Zionism a "crime against humanity", comparing it to Islamophobia, antisemitism, and fascism. He later retracted the statement, saying he had been misinterpreted. He said "everyone should know" that his comments were directed at "Israeli policies", especially as regards to "Gaza and the settlements." Erdoğan's statements were criticized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, among others. In August 2013, the Hürriyet reported that Erdoğan had claimed to have evidence of Israel's responsibility for the removal of Morsi from office in Egypt. The Israeli and Egyptian governments dismissed the suggestion. In response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. He also stated that "If Israel continues with this attitude, it will definitely be tried at international courts." Syria During Erdoğan's term of office, diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria significantly deteriorated. In 2004, President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Turkey for the first official visit by a Syrian President in 57 years. In late 2004, Erdoğan signed a free trade agreement with Syria. Visa restrictions between the two countries were lifted in 2009, which caused an economic boom in the regions near the Syrian border. However, in 2011 the relationship between the two countries was strained following the outbreak of conflict in Syria. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he was trying to "cultivate a favorable relationship with whatever government would take the place of Assad". However, he began to support the opposition in Syria, after demonstrations turned violent, creating a serious Syrian refugee problem in Turkey. Erdoğan's policy of providing military training for anti-Damascus fighters has also created conflict with Syria's ally and a neighbour of Turkey, Iran. Saudi Arabia In August 2006, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz as-Saud made a visit to Turkey. This was the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Turkey in the last four decades. The monarch made a second visit, on 9 November 2007. Turk-Saudi trade volume has exceeded 3.2 billion in 2006, almost double the figure achieved in 2003. In 2009, this amount reached 5.5 billion and the goal for the year 2010 was 10 billion. Erdoğan condemned the Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain and characterized the Saudi movement as "a new Karbala." He demanded withdrawal of Saudi forces from Bahrain. Egypt Erdoğan had made his first official visit to Egypt on 12 September 2011, accompanied by six ministers and 200 businessmen. This visit was made very soon after Turkey had ejected Israeli ambassadors, cutting off all diplomatic relations with Israel because Israel refused to apologize for the Gaza flotilla raid which killed eight Turkish and one Turco-American. Erdoğan's visit to Egypt was met with much enthusiasm by Egyptians. CNN reported some Egyptians saying "We consider him as the Islamic leader in the Middle East", while others were appreciative of his role in supporting Gaza. Erdoğan was later honored in Tahrir Square by members of the Egyptian Revolution Youth Union, and members of the Turkish embassy were presented with a coat of arms in acknowledgment of the Prime Minister's support of the Egyptian Revolution. Erdoğan stated in a 2011 interview that he supported secularism for Egypt, which generated an angry reaction among Islamic movements, especially the Freedom and Justice Party, which was the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. However, commentators suggest that by forming an alliance with the military junta during Egypt's transition to democracy, Erdoğan may have tipped the balance in favor of an authoritarian government. Erdoğan condemned the sit-in dispersals conducted by Egyptian police on 14 August 2013 at the Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares, where violent clashes between police officers and pro-Morsi Islamist protesters led to hundreds of deaths, mostly protesters. In July 2014, one year after the removal of Mohamed Morsi from office, Erdoğan described Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as an "illegitimate tyrant". Somalia Erdoğan's administration maintains strong ties with the Somali government. During the drought of 2011, Erdoğan's government contributed over $201 million to humanitarian relief efforts in the impacted parts of Somalia. Following a greatly improved security situation in Mogadishu in mid-2011, the Turkish government also re-opened its foreign embassy with the intention of more effectively assisting in the post-conflict development process. It was among the first foreign governments to resume formal diplomatic relations with Somalia after the civil war. In May 2010, the Turkish and Somali governments signed a military training agreement, in keeping with the provisions outlined in the Djibouti Peace Process. Turkish Airlines became the first long-distance international commercial airline in two decades to resume flights to and from Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport. Turkey also launched various development and infrastructure projects in Somalia including building several hospitals and helping renovate the National Assembly building. Protests 2013 Gezi Park protests against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdoğan and his policies, starting from a small sit-in in Istanbul in defense of a city park. After the police's intense reaction with tear gas, the protests grew each day. Faced by the largest mass protest in a decade, Erdoğan made this controversial remark in a televised speech: "The police were there yesterday, they are there today, and they will be there tomorrow". After weeks of clashes in the streets of Istanbul, his government at first apologized to the protestors and called for a plebiscite, but then ordered a crackdown on the protesters. Presidency (2014–present) Erdoğan took the oath of office on 28 August 2014 and became the 12th president of Turkey. He administered the new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's oath on 29 August. When asked about his lower-than-expected 51.79% share of the vote, he allegedly responded, "there were even those who did not like the Prophet. I, however, won 52%". Assuming the role of President, Erdoğan was criticized for openly stating that he would not maintain the tradition of presidential neutrality. Erdoğan has also stated his intention to pursue a more active role as president, such as utilising the President's rarely used cabinet-calling powers. The political opposition has argued that Erdoğan will continue to pursue his own political agenda, controlling the government, while his new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would be docile and submissive. Furthermore, the domination of loyal Erdoğan supporters in Davutoğlu's cabinet fuelled speculation that Erdoğan intended to exercise substantial control over the government. Presidential elections On 1 July 2014, Erdoğan was named the AKP's presidential candidate in the Turkish presidential election. His candidacy was announced by the Deputy President of the AKP, Mehmet Ali Şahin. Erdoğan made a speech after the announcement and used the 'Erdoğan logo' for the first time. The logo was criticised because it was very similar to the logo that U.S. President Barack Obama used in the 2008 presidential election. Erdoğan was elected as the President of Turkey in the first round of the election with 51.79% of the vote, obviating the need for a run-off by winning over 50%. The joint candidate of the CHP, MHP and 13 other opposition parties, former Organisation of Islamic Co-operation general secretary Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu won 38.44% of the vote. The pro-Kurdish HDP candidate Selahattin Demirtaş won 9.76%. The 2018 Turkish presidential election took place as part of the 2018 general election, alongside parliamentary elections on the same day. Following the approval of constitutional changes in a referendum held in 2017, the elected President will be both the head of state and head of government of Turkey, taking over the latter role from the to-be-abolished office of the Prime Minister. Incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared his candidacy for the People's Alliance (Turkish: Cumhur İttifakı) on 27 April 2018. Erdoğan's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, nominated Muharrem İnce, a member of the parliament known for his combative opposition and spirited speeches against Erdoğan. Besides these candidates, Meral Akşener, the founder and leader of İyi Party, Temel Karamollaoğlu, the leader of the Felicity Party and Doğu Perinçek, the leader of the Patriotic Party, have announced their candidacies and collected the 100,000 signatures required for nomination. The alliance which Erdoğan was candidate for won 52.59% of the popular vote. Referendum In April 2017, a constitutional referendum was held, where the voters in Turkey (and Turkish citizens abroad) approved a set of 18 proposed amendments to the Constitution of Turkey. The amendments included the replacement of the existing parliamentary system with a presidential system. The post of Prime Minister would be abolished, and the presidency would become an executive post vested with broad executive powers. The parliament seats would be increased from 550 to 600 and the age of candidacy to the parliament was lowered from 25 to 18. The referendum also called for changes to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors. Local elections In the 2019 local elections, the ruling party AKP lost control of Istanbul and Ankara for the first time in 25 years, as well as 5 of Turkey's 6 largest cities. The loss has been widely attributed to Erdoğan's mismanagement of the Turkish economic crisis, rising authoritarianism as well as the alleged government inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis. Soon after the elections, Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey ordered a re-election in Istanbul, cancelling Ekrem İmamoğlu's mayoral certificate. The decision led to a significant decrease of Erdoğan's and AKP's popularity and his party lost the elections again in June with a greater margin. The result was seen as a huge blow to Erdoğan, who had once said that if his party 'lost Istanbul, we would lose Turkey. The opposition's victory was characterised as 'the beginning of the end' for Erdoğan', with international commentators calling the re-run a huge government miscalculation that led to a potential İmamoğlu candidacy in the next scheduled presidential election. It is suspected that the scale of the government's defeat could provoke a cabinet reshuffle and early general elections, currently scheduled for June 2023. The New Zealand and Australian governments and opposition CHP party have criticized Erdoğan after he repeatedly showed video taken by the Christchurch mosque shooter to his supporters at campaign rallies for 31 March local elections and said Australians and New Zealanders who came to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments "would be sent back in coffins like their grandfathers" at Gallipoli. Domestic policy Presidential palace Erdoğan has also received criticism for the construction of a new palace called Ak Saray (pure white palace), which occupies approximately 50 acres of Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ) in Ankara. Since the AOÇ is protected land, several court orders were issued to halt the construction of the new palace, though building work went on nonetheless. The opposition described the move as a clear disregard for the rule of law. The project was subject to heavy criticism and allegations were made; of corruption during the construction process, wildlife destruction and the complete obliteration of the zoo in the AOÇ in order to make way for the new compound. The fact that the palace is technically illegal has led to it being branded as the 'Kaç-Ak Saray', the word kaçak in Turkish meaning 'illegal'. Ak Saray was originally designed as a new office for the Prime Minister. However, upon assuming the presidency, Erdoğan announced that the palace would become the new Presidential Palace, while the Çankaya Mansion will be used by the Prime Minister instead. The move was seen as a historic change since the Çankaya Mansion had been used as the iconic office of the presidency ever since its inception. The Ak Saray has almost 1,000 rooms and cost $350 million (€270 million), leading to huge criticism at a time when mining accidents and workers' rights had been dominating the agenda. On 29 October 2014, Erdoğan was due to hold a Republic Day reception in the new palace to commemorate the 91st anniversary of the Republic of Turkey and to officially inaugurate the Presidential Palace. However, after most invited participants announced that they would boycott the event and a mining accident occurred in the district of Ermenek in Karaman, the reception was cancelled. The media President Erdoğan and his government continue to press for court action against the remaining free press in Turkey. The latest newspaper that has been seized is Zaman, in March 2016. After the seizure Morton Abramowitz and Eric Edelman, former U.S. ambassadors to Turkey, condemned President Erdoğan's actions in an opinion piece published by The Washington Post: "Clearly, democracy cannot flourish under Erdoğan now". "The overall pace of reforms in Turkey has not only slowed down but in some key areas, such as freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary, there has been a regression, which is particularly worrying", rapporteur Kati Piri said in April 2016 after the European Parliament passed its annual progress report on Turkey. On 22 June 2016, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that he considered himself successful in "destroying" Turkish civil groups "working against the state", a conclusion that had been confirmed some days earlier by Sedat Laçiner, Professor of International Relations and rector of the Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University: "Outlawing unarmed and peaceful opposition, sentencing people to unfair punishment under erroneous terror accusations, will feed genuine terrorism in Erdoğan’s Turkey. Guns and violence will become the sole alternative for legally expressing free thought". After the coup attempt, over 200 journalists were arrested and over 120 media outlets were closed. Cumhuriyet journalists were detained in November 2016 after a long-standing crackdown on the newspaper. Subsequently, Reporters Without Borders called Erdoğan an "enemy of press freedom" and said that he "hides his aggressive dictatorship under a veneer of democracy". In April 2017, Turkey blocked all access to Wikipedia over a content dispute. The Turkish government lifted a two-and-a-half-year ban on Wikipedia on 15 January 2020, restoring access to the online encyclopedia a month after Turkey's top court ruled that blocking Wikipedia was unconstitutional. On 1 July 2020, in a statement made to his party members, Erdoğan announced that the government would introduce new measures and regulations to control or shut down social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Netflix. Through these new measures, each company would be required to appoint an official representative in the country to respond to legal concerns. The decision comes after a number of Twitter users insulted his daughter Esra after she welcomed her fourth child. State of emergency and purges On 20 July 2016, President Erdoğan declared the state of emergency, citing the coup d'état attempt as justification. It was first scheduled to last three months. The Turkish parliament approved this measure. The state of emergency was later extended for another three months, amidst the ongoing 2016 Turkish purges including comprehensive purges of independent media and detention of tens of thousands of Turkish citizens politically opposed to Erdoğan. More than 50,000 people have been arrested and over 160,000 fired from their jobs by March 2018. In August 2016, Erdoğan began rounding up journalists who had been publishing, or who were about to publish articles questioning corruption within the Erdoğan administration, and incarcerating them. The number of Turkish journalists jailed by Turkey is higher than any other country, including all of those journalists currently jailed in North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and China combined. In the wake of the coup attempt of July 2016 the Erdoğan administration began rounding up tens of thousands of individuals, both from within the government, and from the public sector, and incarcerating them on charges of alleged "terrorism". As a result of these arrests, many in the international community complained about the lack of proper judicial process in the incarceration of Erdoğan's opposition. In April 2017 Erdoğan successfully sponsored legislation effectively making it illegal for the Turkish legislative branch to investigate his executive branch of government. Without the checks and balances of freedom of speech, and the freedom of the Turkish legislature to hold him accountable for his actions, many have likened Turkey's current form of government to a dictatorship with only nominal forms of democracy in practice. At the time of Erdoğan's successful passing of the most recent legislation silencing his opposition, United States President Donald Trump called Erdoğan to congratulate him for his "recent referendum victory". On 29 April 2017 Erdoğan's administration began an internal Internet block of all of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia site via Turkey's domestic Internet filtering system. This blocking action took place after the government had first made a request for Wikipedia to remove what it referred to as "offensive content". In response, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales replied via a post on Twitter stating, "Access to information is a fundamental human right. Turkish people, I will always stand with you and fight for this right." In January 2016, more than a thousand academics signed a petition criticizing Turkey's military crackdown on ethnic Kurdish towns and neighborhoods in the east of the country, such as Sur (a district of Diyarbakır), Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre and Silopi, and asking an end to violence. Erdoğan accused those who signed the petition of "terrorist propaganda", calling them "the darkest of people". He called for action by institutions and universities, stating, "Everyone who benefits from this state but is now an enemy of the state must be punished without further delay". Within days, over 30 of the signatories were arrested, many in dawn-time raids on their homes. Although all were quickly released, nearly half were fired from their jobs, eliciting a denunciation from Turkey's Science Academy for such "wrong and disturbing" treatment. Erdoğan vowed that the academics would pay the price for "falling into a pit of treachery". On 8 July 2018, Erdoğan sacked 18,000 officials for alleged ties to US based cleric Fethullah Gülen, shortly before renewing his term as an executive president. Of those removed, 9000 were police officers with 5000 from the armed forces with the addition of hundreds of academics. Foreign policy Europe In February 2016, Erdoğan threatened to send the millions of refugees in Turkey to EU member states, saying: "We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses ... So how will you deal with refugees if you don't get a deal?" In an interview to the news magazine Der Spiegel, German minister of defence Ursula von der Leyen said on 11 March 2016 that the refugee crisis had made good cooperation between EU and Turkey an "existentially important" issue. "Therefore it is right to advance now negotiations on Turkey's EU accession". In its resolution "The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey" from 22 June 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe warned that "recent developments in Turkey pertaining to freedom of the media and of expression, erosion of the rule of law and the human rights violations in relation to anti-terrorism security operations in south-east Turkey have ... raised serious questions about the functioning of its democratic institutions". On 20 August 2016, Erdoğan told his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko that Turkey would not recognize the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea; calling it "Crimea's occupation". In January 2017, Erdoğan said that the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Cyprus is "out of the question" and Turkey will be in Cyprus "forever". There is a long-standing dispute between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea. Erdoğan warned that Greece will pay a "heavy price" if Turkey's gas exploration vessel – in what Turkey said are disputed waters – is attacked. In September 2020, Erdoğan declared his government's support for Azerbaijan following clashes between Armenian and Azeri forces over a disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. He dismissed demands for a ceasefire. Diaspora In March 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated to the Turks in Europe, "Make not three, but five children. Because you are the future of Europe. That will be the best response to the injustices against you." This has been interpreted as an imperialist call for demographic warfare. According to The Economist, Erdoğan is the first Turkish leader to take the Turkish diaspora seriously, which has created friction within these diaspora communities and between the Turkish government and several of its European counterparts. The Balkans In February 2018, President Erdoğan expressed Turkish support of the Republic of Macedonia's position during negotiations over the Macedonia naming dispute saying that Greece's position is wrong. In March 2018, President Erdoğan criticized the Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj for dismissing his Interior Minister and Intelligence Chief for failing to inform him of an unauthorized and illegal secret operation conducted by the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey on Kosovo's territory that led to the arrest of six people allegedly associated with the Gülen movement. On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck the Durrës region of Albania. President Erdoğan expressed his condolences. and citing close Albanian-Turkish relations, he committed Turkey to reconstructing 500 earthquake destroyed homes and other civic structures in Laç, Albania. In Istanbul, Erdoğan organised and attended a donors conference (8 December) to assist Albania that included Turkish businessmen, investors and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. United Kingdom In May 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed Erdoğan to the United Kingdom for a three-day state visit. Erdoğan declared that the United Kingdom is "an ally and a strategic partner, but also a real friend. The cooperation we have is well beyond any mechanism that we have established with other partners." Israel Relations between Turkey and Israel began to normalize after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu officially apologized for the death of the nine Turkish activists during the Gaza flotilla raid. However, in response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of being "more barbaric than Hitler", and conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. In December 2017, President Erdoğan issued a warning to Donald Trump, after the U.S. President acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Erdoğan stated, "Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims", indicating that naming Jerusalem as Israel's capital would alienate Palestinians and other Muslims from the city, undermining hopes at a future capital of a Palestinian State. Erdoğan called Israel a "terrorist state". Naftali Bennett dismissed the threats, claiming "Erdoğan does not miss an opportunity to attack Israel". In April 2019, Erdoğan said the West Bank belongs to Palestinians, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would annex Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if he is re-elected. Erdoğan condemned the Israel–UAE peace agreement, stating that Turkey was considering suspending or cutting off diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates in retaliation. Syrian Civil War Amid allegations of Turkish collaboration with the Islamic State, the 2014 Kobanî protests broke out near the Syrian border city of Kobanî, in protest against the government's perceived facilitation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during the Siege of Kobanî. 42 protestors were killed during a brutal police crackdown. Asserting that aid to the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Syria would assist the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) (then on ceasefire) in Turkey, Erdoğan held bilateral talks with Barack Obama regarding IS during the 5–6 September 2014 NATO summit in Newport, Wales. In early October, United States Vice President Joe Biden criticised the Turkish government for supplying jihadists in Syria and said Erdoğan had expressed regret to him about letting foreign jihadists transit through Turkey en route to Syria. Erdoğan angrily responded, "Biden has to apologize for his statements" adding that if no apology is made, Biden would become "history to me." Biden subsequently apologised. In response to the U.S. request to use İncirlik Air Base to conduct air strikes against IS, Erdoğan demanded that Bashar al-Assad be removed from power first. Turkey lost its bid for a Security Council seat in the United Nations during the 2014 election; the unexpected result is believed to have been a reaction to Erdoğan's hostile treatment of the Kurds fighting ISIS on the Syrian border and a rebuke of his willingness to support IS-aligned insurgents opposed to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In 2015, there were consistent allegations that Erdoğan maintained financial links with the Islamic State, including allegation of his son-in-law Berat Albayrak's involvement with oil production and smuggling in ISIL. Revelations that the state was supplying arms to militant groups in Syria in the 2014 National Intelligence Organisation lorry scandal led to accusations of high treason. In July 2015, Turkey became involved in the international military intervention against ISIL, simultaneously launching airstrikes against PKK bases in Iraqi Kurdistan. As of 2015, Turkey began openly supporting the Army of Conquest, a coalition of Syrian rebel groups that included al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham. In late November 2016, Erdoğan said that the Turkish military launched its operations in Syria to end Assad's rule, but retracted this statement shortly afterwards. In January 2018, the Turkish military and its Syrian National Army and Sham Legion allies began the Turkish military operation in Afrin in the Kurdish-majority Afrin Canton in Northern Syria, against the YPG. On 10 April, Erdoğan rejected a Russian demand to return Afrin to Syrian government control. In October 2019, after Erdoğan spoke to him, U.S. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, despite recently agreeing to a Northern Syria Buffer Zone. U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the border to avoid interference with the Turkish operation. After the U.S. pullout, Turkey proceeded to attack the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Rejecting criticism of the invasion, Erdoğan claimed that NATO and European Union countries "sided with terrorists, and all of them attacked us". China Bilateral trade between Turkey and China increased from $1 billion a year in 2002 to $27 billion annually in 2017. Erdoğan has stated that Turkey might consider joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation instead of the European Union. Qatar blockade In June 2017 during a speech, Erdoğan called the isolation of Qatar as "inhumane and against Islamic values" and that "victimising Qatar through smear campaigns serves no purpose". Myanmar In September 2017, Erdoğan condemned the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar and accused Myanmar of "genocide" against the Muslim minority. United States Over time, Turkey began to look for ways to buy its own missile defense system and also to use that procurement to build up its own capacity to manufacture and sell an air and missile defense system. Turkey got serious about acquiring a missile defense system early in the first Obama administration when it opened a competition between the Raytheon Patriot PAC 2 system and systems from Europe, Russia, and even China. Taking advantage of the new low in U.S.-Turkish relations, Putin saw his chance to use an S-400 sale to Turkey, so in July 2017, he offered the air defense system to Turkey. In the months that followed, the United States warned Turkey that a S-400 purchase jeopardized Turkey's F-35 purchase. Integration of the Russian system into the NATO air defense net was also out of the question. Administration officials, including Mark Esper, warned that Turkey had to choose between the S-400 and the F-35. That they couldn't have both. The S-400 deliveries to Turkey began on 12 July. On 16 July, Trump mentioned to reporters that withholding the F-35 from Turkey was unfair. Said the president, "So what happens is we have a situation where Turkey is very good with us, very good, and we are now telling Turkey that because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we’re not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets". The U.S. Congress has made clear on a bipartisan basis that it expects the president to sanction Turkey for buying Russian equipment. Out of the F-35, Turkey now considers buying Russian fifth-generation jet fighter Su-57. On 1 August 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned two senior Turkish government ministers who were involved in the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Erdoğan said that the U.S. behavior will force Turkey to look for new friends and allies. The U.S.–Turkey tensions appear to be the most serious diplomatic crisis between the NATO allies in years. Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton claimed that President Donald Trump told Erdoğan he would 'take care' of investigation against Turkey's state-owned bank Halkbank accused of bank fraud charges and laundering up to $20 billion on behalf of Iranian entities. Turkey criticized Bolton's book, saying it included misleading accounts of conversations between Trump and Erdoğan. In August 2020, the former vice president and presidential candidate Joe Biden called for a new U.S. approach to the "autocrat" President Erdoğan and support for Turkish opposition parties. In September 2020, Biden demanded that Erdoğan "stay out" of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in which Turkey has supported the Azeris. Venezuela Relations with Venezuela were strengthened with recent developments and high level mutual visits. The first official visit between the two countries at presidential level was in October 2017 when Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro visited Turkey. In December 2018, Erdoğan visited Venezuela for the first time and expressed his will to build strong relations with Venezuela and expressed hope that high-level visits "will increasingly continue." Reuters reported that in 2018 23 tons of mined gold were taken from Venezuela to Istanbul. In the first nine months of 2018, Venezuela's gold exports to Turkey rose from zero in the previous year to US$900 million. During the Venezuelan presidential crisis, Erdoğan voiced solidarity with Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and criticized U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, saying that "political problems cannot be resolved by punishing an entire nation." Following the 2019 Venezuelan uprising attempt, Erdoğan condemned the actions of lawmaker Juan Guaidó, tweeting "Those who are in an effort to appoint a postmodern colonial governor to Venezuela, where the President was appointed by elections and where the people rule, should know that only democratic elections can determine how a country is governed". Events Coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a coup d'état was attempted by the military, with aims to remove Erdoğan from government. By the next day, Erdoğan's government managed to reassert effective control in the country. Reportedly, no government official was arrested or harmed, which, among other factors, raised the suspicion of a false flag event staged by the government itself. Erdoğan, as well as other government officials, has blamed an exiled cleric, and a former ally of Erdoğan, Fethullah Gülen, for staging the coup attempt. Süleyman Soylu, Minister of Labor in Erdoğan's government, accused the US of planning a coup to oust Erdoğan. Erdoğan, as well as other high-ranking Turkish government officials, has issued repeated demands to the US to extradite Gülen. Following the coup attempt, there has been a significant deterioration in Turkey-US relations. European and other world leaders have expressed their concerns over the situation in Turkey, with many of them warning Erdoğan not to use the coup attempt as an excuse to crack down on his opponents. The rise of ISIS and the collapse of the Kurdish peace process had led to a sharp rise in terror incidents in Turkey until 2016. Erdoğan was accused by his critics of having a 'soft corner' for ISIS. However, after the attempted coup, Erdoğan ordered the Turkish military into Syria to combat ISIS and Kurdish militant groups. Erdoğan's critics have decried purges in the education system and judiciary as undermining the rule of law however Erdoğan supporters argue this is a necessary measure as Gulen-linked schools cheated on entrance exams, requiring a purge in the education system and of the Gulen followers who then entered the judiciary. Erdoğan's plan is "to reconstitute Turkey as a presidential system. The plan would create a centralized system that would enable him to better tackle Turkey's internal and external threats. One of the main hurdles allegedly standing in his way is Fethullah Gulen's movement ..." In the aftermath of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, a groundswell of national unity and consensus emerged for cracking down on the coup plotters with a National Unity rally held in Turkey that included Islamists, secularists, liberals and nationalists. Erdoğan has used this consensus to remove Gulen's followers from the bureaucracy, curtail their role in NGOs, Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Turkish military, with 149 Generals discharged. In a foreign policy shift Erdoğan ordered the Turkish Armed Forces into battle in Syria and has liberated towns from IS control. As relations with Europe soured over in the aftermath of the attempted coup, Erdoğan developed alternative relationships with Russia, Saudi Arabia and a "strategic partnership" with Pakistan, with plans to cultivate relations through free trade agreements and deepening military relations for mutual co-operation with Turkey's regional allies. 2018 currency and debt crisis The Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018 was caused by the Turkish economy's excessive current account deficit and foreign-currency debt, in combination with Erdoğan's increasing authoritarianism and his unorthodox ideas about interest rate policy. Economist Paul Krugman described the unfolding crisis as "a classic currency-and-debt crisis, of a kind we’ve seen many times", adding: "At such a time, the quality of leadership suddenly matters a great deal. You need officials who understand what's happening, can devise a response and have enough credibility that markets give them the benefit of the doubt. Some emerging markets have those things, and they are riding out the turmoil fairly well. The Erdoğan regime has none of that". Ideology and public image Early during his premiership, Erdoğan was praised as a role model for emerging Middle Eastern nations due to several reform packages initiated by his government which expanded religious freedoms and minority rights as part of accession negotiations with the European Union. However, his government underwent several crises including the Sledgehammer coup and the Ergenekon trials, corruption scandals, accusations of media intimidation, as well as the pursuit of an increasingly polarizing political agenda; the opposition accused the government of inciting political hatred throughout the country. Critics say that Erdoğan's government legitimizes homophobia, as Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". Neo-Ottomanism As President, Erdoğan has overseen a revival of Ottoman tradition, greeting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas with an Ottoman-style ceremony in the new presidential palace, with guards dressed in costumes representing founders of 16 Great Turkish Empires in history. While serving as the Prime Minister of Turkey, Erdoğan's AKP made references to the Ottoman era during election campaigns, such as calling their supporters 'grandsons of Ottomans' (Osmanlı torunu). This proved controversial, since it was perceived to be an open attack against the republican nature of modern Turkey founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In 2015, Erdoğan made a statement in which he endorsed the old Ottoman term külliye to refer to university campuses rather than the standard Turkish word kampüs. Many critics have thus accused Erdoğan of wanting to become an Ottoman sultan and abandon the secular and democratic credentials of the Republic. One of the most cited scholars alive, Noam Chomsky, said that "Erdogan in Turkey is basically trying to create something like the Ottoman Caliphate, with him as caliph, supreme leader, throwing his weight around all over the place, and destroying the remnants of democracy in Turkey at the same time". When pressed on this issue in January 2015, Erdoğan denied these claims and said that he would aim to be more like Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom rather than like an Ottoman sultan. In July 2020, after the Council of State annulled the Cabinet's 1934 decision to establish the Hagia Sophia as museum and revoking the monument's status, Erdoğan ordered its reclassification as a mosque. The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia's waqf, endowed by Sultan Mehmed II, had designated the site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan. This redesignation is controversial, invoking condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO, the World Council of Churches, the Holy See, and many other international leaders. In August 2020, he also signed the order that transferred the administration of the Chora Church to the Directorate of Religious Affairs to open it for worship as a mosque. Initially converted to a mosque by the Ottomans, the building had then been designated as a museum by the government since 1934. Authoritarianism Erdoğan has served as the de facto leader of Turkey since 2002. In response to criticism, Erdoğan made a speech in May 2014 denouncing allegations of dictatorship, saying that the leader of the opposition, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was there at the speech, would not be able to "roam the streets" freely if he were a dictator. Kılıçdaroğlu responded that political tensions would cease to exist if Erdoğan stopped making his polarising speeches for three days. One observer said it was a measure of the state of Turkish democracy that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu could openly threaten, on 20 December 2015, that, if his party did not win the election, Turkish Kurds would endure a repeat of the era of the "white Toros", the Turkish name for the Renault 12, "a car associated with the gendarmarie’s fearsome intelligence agents, who carried out thousands of extrajudicial executions of Kurdish nationalists during the 1990s". In February 2015, a 13-year-old was charged by a prosecutor after allegedly insulting Erdoğan on Facebook. In 2016, a waiter was arrested for insulting Erdoğan by allegedly saying "If Erdoğan comes here, I will not even serve tea to him.". In April 2014, the President of the Constitutional Court, Haşim Kılıç, accused Erdoğan of damaging the credibility of the judiciary, labelling Erdoğan's attempts to increase political control over the courts as 'desperate'. During the chaotic 2007 presidential election, the military issued an E-memorandum warning the government to keep within the boundaries of secularism when choosing a candidate. Regardless, Erdoğan's close relations with Fethullah Gülen and his Cemaat Movement allowed his government to maintain a degree of influence within the judiciary through Gülen's supporters in high judicial and bureaucratic offices. Shortly after, an alleged coup plot codenamed Sledgehammer became public and resulted in the imprisonment of 300 military officers including İbrahim Fırtına, Çetin Doğan and Engin Alan. Several opposition politicians, journalists and military officers also went on trial for allegedly being part of an ultra-nationalist organisation called Ergenekon. Both cases were marred by irregularities and were condemned as a joint attempt by Erdoğan and Gülen to curb opposition to the AKP. The original Sledgehammer document containing the coup plans, allegedly written in 2003, was found to have been written using Microsoft Word 2007. Despite both domestic and international calls for these irregularities to be addressed in order to guarantee a fair trial, Erdoğan instead praised his government for bringing the coup plots to light. When Gülen publicly withdrew support and openly attacked Erdoğan in late 2013, several imprisoned military officers and journalists were released, with the government admitting that the judicial proceedings were unfair. When Gülen withdrew support from the AKP government in late 2013, a government corruption scandal broke out, leading to the arrest of several family members of cabinet ministers. Erdoğan accused Gülen of co-ordinating a "parallel state" within the judiciary in an attempt to topple him from power. He then removed or reassigned several judicial officials in an attempt to remove Gülen's supporters from office. Erdoğan's 'purge' was widely questioned and criticised by the European Union. In early 2014, a new law was passed by parliament giving the government greater control over the judiciary, which sparked public protest throughout the country. International organisations perceived the law to be a danger to the separation of powers. Several judicial officials removed from their posts said that they had been removed due to their secularist credentials. The political opposition accused Erdoğan of not only attempting to remove Gülen supporters, but supporters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's principles as well, in order to pave the way for increased politicisation of the judiciary. Several family members of Erdoğan's ministers who had been arrested as a result of the 2013 corruption scandal were released, and a judicial order to question Erdoğan's son Bilal Erdoğan was annulled. Controversy erupted when it emerged that many of the newly appointed judicial officials were actually AKP supporters. İslam Çiçek, a judge who ejected the cases of five ministers' relatives accused of corruption, was accused of being an AKP supporter and an official investigation was launched into his political affiliations. On 1 September 2014, the courts dissolved the cases of 96 suspects, which included Bilal Erdoğan. During a televised press conference he was asked if he believed a presidential system was possible in a unitary state. Erdoğan affirmed this and cited Nazi Germany (among other examples) as a case where such a combination existed. However, the Turkish president's office said that Erdoğan was not advocating a Hitler-style government when he called for a state system with a strong executive, and added that the Turkish president had declared the "Holocaust, anti-semitism and Islamophobia" as crimes against humanity and that it was out of the question for him to cite Hitler's Germany as a good example. Suppression of dissent Erdoğan has been criticised for his politicisation of the media, especially after the 2013 protests. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) alleged that over 1,863 journalists lost their jobs due to their anti-government views in 12 years of AKP rule. Opposition politicians have also alleged that intimidation in the media is due to the government's attempt to restructure the ownership of private media corporations. Journalists from the Cihan News Agency and the Gülenist Zaman newspaper were repeatedly barred from attending government press conferences or asking questions. Several opposition journalists such as Soner Yalçın were controversially arrested as part of the Ergenekon trials and Sledgehammer coup investigation. Veli Ağbaba, a CHP politician, has called the AKP the 'biggest media boss in Turkey.' In 2015, 74 US senators sent a letter to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to state their concern over what they saw as deviations from the basic principles of democracy in Turkey and oppressions of Erdoğan over media. Notable cases of media censorship occurred during the 2013 anti-government protests, when the mainstream media did not broadcast any news regarding the demonstrations for three days after they began. The lack of media coverage was symbolised by CNN International covering the protests while CNN Türk broadcast a documentary about penguins at the same time. The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) controversially issued a fine to pro-opposition news channels including Halk TV and Ulusal Kanal for their coverage of the protests, accusing them of broadcasting footage that could be morally, physically and mentally destabilising to children. Erdoğan was criticised for not responding to the accusations of media intimidation, and caused international outrage after telling a female journalist (Amberin Zaman of The Economist) to know her place and calling her a 'shameless militant' during his 2014 presidential election campaign. While the 2014 presidential election was not subject to substantial electoral fraud, Erdoğan was again criticised for receiving disproportionate media attention in comparison to his rivals. The British newspaper The Times commented that between 2 and 4 July, the state-owned media channel TRT gave 204 minutes of coverage to Erdoğan's campaign and less than a total of 3 minutes to both his rivals. Erdoğan also tightened controls over the Internet, signing into law a bill which allows the government to block websites without prior court order on 12 September 2014. His government blocked Twitter and YouTube in late March 2014 following the release of a recording of a conversation between him and his son Bilal, where Erdoğan allegedly warned his family to 'nullify' all cash reserves at their home amid the 2013 corruption scandal. Erdoğan has undertaken a media campaign that attempts to portray the presidential family as frugal and simple-living; their palace electricity-bill is estimated at $500,000 per month. In May 2016, former Miss Turkey model Merve Büyüksaraç was sentenced to more than a year in prison for allegedly insulting the president. In a 2016 news story, Bloomberg reported, "more than 2,000 cases have been opened against journalists, cartoonists, teachers, a former Miss Turkey, and even schoolchildren in the past two years". In November 2016, the Turkish government blocked access to social media in all of Turkey as well as sought to completely block Internet access for the citizens in the southeast of the country. Mehmet Aksoy lawsuit In 2009, Turkish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy created the Statue of Humanity in Kars to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. When visiting the city in 2011, Erdoğan deemed the statue a "freak", and months later it was demolished. Aksoy sued Erdoğan for "moral indemnities", although his lawyer said that his statement was a critique rather than an insult. In March 2015, a judge ordered Erdoğan to pay 10,000 liras. Erdoğanism Erdoğan has produced many aphorisms and catch-phrases known as Erdoğanisms. The term Erdoğanism first emerged shortly after Erdoğan's 2011 general election victory, where it was predominantly described as the AKP's liberal economic and conservative democratic ideals fused with Erdoğan demagoguery and cult of personality. Views on minorities LGBT In 2002, Erdoğan said that "homosexuals must be legally protected within the framework of their rights and freedoms. From time to time, we do not find the treatment they get on some television screens humane", he said. However, in 2017 Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey's top Muslim scholar and President of Religious Affairs, Ali Erbaş, said in a Friday Ramadan announcement that country condemns homosexuality because it "brings illness," insinuating that same sex relations are responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan backed Erbaş, saying that what Erbaş "said was totally right." Jews While Erdoğan has declared several times being against antisemitism, he has been accused of invoking antisemitic stereotypes in public statements. According to Erdoğan, he had been inspired by novelist and Islamist ideologue Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, a publisher (among others) of antisemitic literature. Others During a live interview in 2014, he said: "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian. Excuse me, but they have said even uglier things. They have called me Armenian, but I am Turkish." Honours and accolades Foreign honours Russia: Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan" (1 June 2006) Pakistan: Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award in Pakistan (26 October 2009) Georgia: Order of Golden Fleece, awarded for his contribution to development of bilateral relations (17 May 2010) Kyrgyzstan: Danaker Order in Bishkek (2 February 2011) Azerbaijan: Heydar Aliyev Order (3 September 2014) Belgium: Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold (5 October 2015) Madagascar: Knight Grand Cross in the national Order (25 January 2017) Gagauzia: Order of Gagauz-Yeri in Comrat (18 October 2018) Venezuela: Order of the Liberator, Grand Cordon (3 December 2018) Ukraine: Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (16 October 2020) Other awards 29 January 2004: Profile of Courage Award from the American Jewish Congress, for promoting peace between cultures. Returned at the request of the A.J.C. in July 2014. 13 June 2004: Golden Plate award from the Academy of Achievement during the conference in Chicago. 3 October 2004: German Quadriga prize for improving relationships between different cultures. 2 September 2005: Mediterranean Award for Institutions (). This was awarded by the Fondazione Mediterraneo. 8 August 2006: Caspian Energy Integration Award from the Caspian Integration Business Club. 1 November 2006: Outstanding Service award from the Turkish humanitarian organization Red Crescent. 2 February 2007: Dialogue Between Cultures Award from the President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev. 15 April 2007: Crystal Hermes Award from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the opening of the Hannover Industrial Fair. 11 July 2007: highest award of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Agricola Medal, in recognition of his contribution to agricultural and social development in Turkey. 11 May 2009: Avicenna award from the Avicenna Foundation in Frankfurt, Germany. 9 June 2009: guest of honor at the 20th Crans Montana Forum in Brussels and received the Prix de la Fondation, for democracy and freedom. 25 June 2009: Key to the City of Tirana on the occasion of his state visit to Albania. 29 December 2009: Award for Contribution to World Peace from the Turgut Özal Thought and Move Association. 12 January 2010: King Faisal International Prize for "service to Islam" from the King Faisal Foundation. 23 February 2010: Nodo Culture Award from the mayor of Seville for his efforts to launch the Alliance of Civilizations initiative. 1 March 2010: United Nations–HABITAT award in memorial of Rafik Hariri. A seven-member international jury unanimously found Erdoğan deserving of the award because of his "excellent achievement and commendable conduct in the area of leadership, statesmanship and good governance. Erdoğan also initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors." 27 May 2010: medal of honor from the Brazilian Federation of Industry for the State of São Paulo (FIESP) for his contributions to industry 31 May 2010: World Health Organization 2010 World No Tobacco Award for "his dedicated leadership on tobacco control in Turkey." 29 June 2010: 2010 World Family Award from the World Family Organization which operates under the umbrella of the United Nations. 4 November 2010: Golden Medal of Independence, an award conferred upon Kosovo citizens and foreigners that have contributed to the independence of Kosovo. 25 November 2010: "Leader of the Year" award presented by the Union of Arab Banks in Lebanon. 11 January 2011: "Outstanding Personality in the Islamic World Award" of the Sheikh Fahad al-Ahmad International Award for Charity in Kuwait. 25 October 2011: Palestinian International Award for Excellence and Creativity (PIA) 2011 for his support to the Palestinian people and cause. 21 January 2012: 'Gold Statue 2012 Special Award' by the Polish Business Center Club (BCC). Erdoğan was awarded for his systematic effort to clear barriers on the way to economic growth, striving to build democracy and free market relations. 2020: Ig Nobel Prize "for using the COVID-19 viral pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can." See also List of international presidential trips made by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Leadership approval polling for the 2023 Turkish general election The 500 Most Influential Muslims Notes References Further reading Cagaptay, Soner. The new sultan: Erdogan and the crisis of modern Turkey (2nd ed. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020). online review Cagaptay, Soner. "Making Turkey Great Again." Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 43 (2019): 169–78. online Kirişci, Kemal, and Amanda Sloat. "The rise and fall of liberal democracy in Turkey: Implications for the West" Foreign Policy at Brookings (2019) online Tziarras, Zenonas. "Erdoganist authoritarianism and the 'new' Turkey." Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 18.4 (2018): 593–598. online Yavuz, M. Hakan. "A framework for understanding the Intra-Islamist conflict between the AK party and the Gülen movement." Politics, Religion & Ideology 19.1 (2018): 11–32. online Yesil, Bilge. Media in New Turkey: The Origins of an Authoritarian Neoliberal State (University of Illinois Press, 2016) online review External links Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Instagram. Archived from the original. Welcome to demokrasi: how Erdoğan got more popular than ever by The Guardian 1954 births Living people 21st-century presidents of Turkey 21st-century prime ministers of Turkey Deniers of the Armenian genocide Deputies of Istanbul Deputies of Siirt Recep Tayyip Imam Hatip school alumni Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Leaders of political parties in Turkey Marmara University alumni Mayors of Istanbul Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Naqshbandi order People from Istanbul Politicians arrested in Turkey Presidents of Turkey Prime Ministers of Turkey Recipients of the Heydar Aliyev Order Recipients of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia) Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class Turkish Islamists Turkish Sunni Muslims Chairmen of the Organization of Turkic States Recipients of the Gagauz-Yeri Order Foreign recipients of the Nishan-e-Pakistan	true	[ "The Auburn Gallipoli Mosque is an Ottoman-style mosque in Auburn, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. More than 500 worshippers attend every day and around 2,000 worshippers attend the weekly special Friday prayer at the Auburn Gallipoli Mosque, which is primarily used by Turkish Australians.\n\nSignificance and history\nThe mosque's name invokes the legacy of the Gallipoli Campaign during World War I, which played a pivotal role in the history of both Australia and the Republic of Turkey. According to mosque officials, the name is meant to signify \"the shared legacy of the Australian society and the main community behind the construction of the mosque, the Australian Turkish Muslim Community.\" The Auburn Gallipoli Mosque is based on the design of the Marmara University Faculty of Theology mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.\n\nThe first mosque on the present mosque site was opened for worship on 3 November 1979. It was a house with internal walls removed to generate open space. The construction of the present mosque structure began in 1986. Its construction and external finishes were completed and officially opened on 28 November 1999, twenty years after the first opening.\n\nOn the 10th of December 2005, during an official visit to Australia, Turkish President Erdogan, who was prime Minister at the time, attended the Friday sermon and prayerd among worshippers.\n\nSee also\n\nIslam in Australia\nList of mosques in Oceania\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nOfficial Website\n\nMosques in Sydney\nMosques completed in 1999\n1979 establishments in Australia", "Abdülhamid II Mosque is a mosque in Djibouti City, Djibouti. It is the largest mosque in Djibouti.\n\nHistory \nThe idea for the mosque was discussed in 2015, in a meeting of President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh and Turkish President Erdogan. Completed in 2019, it was funded by the Turkish Diyanet foundation. It was named after Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II. The building, constructed in the Ottoman style, has a capacity of 6,000.\n\nArchitecture \nThe mosque was constructed on reclaimed land. The mosque was inaugurated in 2019. The inauguration was attended by Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed. The mosque is built in an Ottoman revival style. It has two minarets with each has a height of 46 meters and a central dome with a height of 27 meters.\n\nReferences \n\n2019 establishments in Djibouti\nMosques in Djibouti\nMosques completed in 2019" ]
[ "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "Personal life and education", "Where did Erdogan go to college?", "He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences,", "Does Erdogan have children?", "I don't know.", "Where was Erdogan born?", "Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul,", "Is Erdogan married?", "Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (", "Did Erdogan open a mosque?", "Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village." ]	C_15e775d39cc647c7987d95fdc23b6587_1	What sport did Erdogan play?	6	What sport did Recep Tayyip Erdoğan play?	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province. His parents are Ahmet Erdogan and Tenzile Erdogan. Erdogan reportedly said in 2003, "I'm a Georgian, my family is a Georgian family which migrated from Batumi to Rize." But in a 2014 televised interview on the NTV news network, he said, "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian... forgive me for saying this... even much uglier things, they have even called me an Armenian, but I am Turkish." In an account based on registry records, his genealogy was tracked to an ethnic Turkish family. Erdogan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father Ahmet Erdogan (1905 - 1988) was a Captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. Erdogan had a brother Mustafa (b. 1958) and sister Vesile (b. 1965). His summer holidays were mostly spent in Guneysu, Rize, where his family originates from. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdogan was 13 years old. As a teenager, he sold lemonade and sesame buns (simit) on the streets of the city's rougher districts to earn extra money. Brought up in an observant Muslim family, Erdogan graduated from Kasimpasa Piyale primary school in 1965, and Imam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. He received his high school diploma from Eyup High School. He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences, now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences--although several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated. In his youth, Erdogan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahce wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasimpasa S.K. is named after him. Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (born 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons; Ahmet Burak and Necmettin Bilal, and two daughters, Esra and Sumeyye. His father, Ahmet Erdogan, died in 1988 and his 88-year-old mother, Tenzile Erdogan, died in 2011. He is a member of the Community of Iskenderpasa, a Turkish sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. CANNOTANSWER	Erdogan played semi-professional football at a local club.	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to election victories in 2002, 2007, and 2011 general elections before being required to stand down upon his election as President in 2014. He later returned to the AKP leadership in 2017 following the constitutional referendum that year. Coming from an Islamist political background and self-describing as a conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration. Following the 1994 local elections, Erdoğan was elected mayor of Istanbul as the candidate of the Islamist Welfare Party. He was later stripped of his position, banned from political office, and imprisoned for four months for inciting religious hatred, due to his recitation of a poem by Ziya Gökalp. Erdoğan subsequently abandoned openly Islamist politics, establishing the moderate conservative AKP in 2001, which he went on to lead to a landslide victory in 2002. With Erdoğan still technically prohibited from holding office, the AKP's co-founder, Abdullah Gül, instead became prime minister, and later annulled Erdoğan's political ban. After winning a by-election in Siirt in 2003, Erdoğan replaced Gül as prime minister, with Gül instead becoming the AKP's candidate for the presidency. Erdoğan led the AKP to two more election victories in 2007 and 2011. The early years of Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister saw advances in negotiations for Turkey's membership of the European Union, an economic recovery following a economic crisis in 2001 and investments in infrastructure including roads, airports, and a high-speed train network. He also won two successful constitutional referendums in 2007 and 2010. However, his government remained controversial for its close links with Fethullah Gülen and his Gülen Movement (since designated as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish state) with whom the AKP was accused of orchestrating purges against secular bureaucrats and military officers through the Balyoz and Ergenekon trials. In late 2012, his government began peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to end the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present). The ceasefire broke down in 2015, leading to a renewed escalation in conflict. Erdoğan's foreign policy has been described as Neo-Ottoman and has led to the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, with its focus on preventing the Syrian Democratic Forces from gaining ground on the Syria–Turkey border during the Syrian Civil War. In the more recent years of Erdoğan's rule, Turkey has experienced democratic backsliding and corruption. Starting with the anti-government protests in 2013, his government imposed growing censorship on the press and social media, temporarily restricting access to sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. This stalled negotiations related to Turkey's EU membership. A US$100 billion corruption scandal in 2013 led to the arrests of Erdoğan's close allies, and incriminated Erdoğan. After 11 years as head of government (Prime Minister), Erdoğan decided to run for President in 2014. At the time, the presidency was a somewhat ceremonial function. Following the 2014 elections, Erdoğan became the first popularly elected president of Turkey. The souring in relations with Gülen continued, as the government proceeded to purge his supporters from judicial, bureaucratic and military positions. A failed military coup d'état attempt in July 2016 resulted in further purges and a temporary state of emergency. The government claimed that the coup leaders were linked to Gülen, but he has denied any role in it. Erdoğan's rule has been marked with increasing authoritarianism, expansionism, censorship and banning of parties or dissent. Erdoğan supported the 2017 referendum which changed Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential system, thus setting for the first time in Turkish history a term limit for the head of government (two full five-year terms). This new system of government formally came into place after the 2018 general election, where Erdoğan became an executive president. His party however lost the majority in the parliament and is currently in a coalition (People's Alliance) with the Turkish nationalist MHP. Erdoğan has since been tackling, but also accused of contributing to, the Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018, which has caused a significant decline in his popularity and is widely believed to have contributed to the results of the 2019 local elections, in which his party lost power in big cities like Ankara and Istanbul to opposition parties for the first time in 15 years. Family and personal life Early life Erdoğan was born in Kasımpaşa, a poor neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province in the 1930s. Erdoğan's tribe is originally from Adjara, a region in Georgia. His parents were Ahmet Erdoğan (1905–88) and Tenzile Erdoğan (née Mutlu; 1924–2011). Erdoğan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father was a captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. His summer holidays were mostly spent in Güneysu, Rize, where his family originates. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdoğan was 13 years old. As a teenager, Erdoğan's father provided him with a weekly allowance of 2.5 Turkish lira, less than a dollar. With it, Erdoğan bought postcards and resold them on the street. He sold bottles of water to drivers stuck in traffic. Erdoğan also worked as a street vendor selling simit (sesame bread rings), wearing a white gown and selling the simit from a red three-wheel cart with the rolls stacked behind glass. In his youth, Erdoğan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahçe wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasımpaşa S.K. is named after him. Erdoğan is a member of the Community of İskenderpaşa, a Turkish Sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. Education Erdoğan graduated from Kasımpaşa Piyale primary school in 1965, and İmam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. The same educational path was followed by other co-founders of the AKP party. One quarter of the curriculum of İmam Hatip schools involves study of the Qurʼān, the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the Arabic language. Erdoğan studied the Qurʼān at an İmam Hatip, where his classmates began calling him "hoca" ("Muslim teacher"). Erdoğan attended a meeting of the nationalist student group National Turkish Student Union (Milli Türk Talebe Birliği), who sought to raise a conservative cohort of young people to counter the rising movement of leftists in Turkey. Within the group, Erdoğan was distinguished by his oratorical skills, developing a penchant for public speaking and excelling in front of an audience. He won first place in a poetry-reading competition organized by the Community of Turkish Technical Painters, and began preparing for speeches through reading and research. Erdoğan would later comment on these competitions as "enhancing our courage to speak in front of the masses". Erdoğan wanted to pursue advanced studies at Mekteb-i Mülkiye, but Mülkiye accepted only students with regular high school diplomas, and not İmam Hatip graduates. Mülkiye was known for its political science department, which trained many statesmen and politicians in Turkey. Erdoğan was then admitted to Eyüp High School, a regular state school, and eventually received his high school diploma from Eyüp. According to his official biography, he subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences (), now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated, or even attended at all. Family Erdoğan married Emine Gülbaran (b. 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons, Ahmet Burak (b. 1979) and Necmettin Bilal (b. 1981), and two daughters, Esra (b. 1983) and Sümeyye (b. 1985). His father, Ahmet Erdoğan, died in 1988 and his mother, Tenzile Erdoğan, died in 2011 at the age of 88. Erdoğan has a brother, Mustafa (b. 1958), and a sister, Vesile (b. 1965). From his father's first marriage to Havuli Erdoğan (d. 1980), he had two half-brothers: Mehmet (1926–1988) and Hasan (1929–2006). Early political career In 1976, Erdoğan engaged in politics by joining the National Turkish Student Union, an anti-communist action group. In the same year, he became the head of the Beyoğlu youth branch of the Islamist National Salvation Party (MSP), and was later promoted to chair of the Istanbul youth branch of the party. Holding this position until 1980, he served as consultant and senior executive in the private sector during the era following the 1980 military coup when political parties were closed down. In 1983, Erdoğan followed most of Necmettin Erbakan's followers into the Islamist Welfare Party. He became the party's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984, and in 1985 he became the chair of the Istanbul city branch. He was elected to parliament in 1991, but was barred from taking his seat. Mayor of Istanbul (1994–1998) In the local elections of 27 March 1994, Erdoğan was elected Mayor of Istanbul with 25.19% of the popular vote. Erdoğan was a 40-year-old dark horse candidate who had been mocked by the mainstream media and treated as a country bumpkin by his opponents. He was pragmatic in office, tackling many chronic problems in Istanbul including water shortage, pollution and traffic chaos. The water shortage problem was solved with the laying of hundreds of kilometers of new pipelines. The garbage problem was solved with the establishment of state-of-the-art recycling facilities. While Erdoğan was in office, air pollution was reduced through a plan developed to switch to natural gas. He changed the public buses to environmentally friendly ones. The city's traffic and transportation jams were reduced with more than fifty bridges, viaducts, and highways built. He took precautions to prevent corruption, using measures to ensure that municipal funds were used prudently. He paid back a major portion of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's two-billion-dollar debt and invested four billion dollars in the city. Erdoğan initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors. A seven-member international jury from the United Nations unanimously awarded Erdoğan the UN-Habitat award. Imprisonment In 1998, the fundamentalist Welfare Party was declared unconstitutional on the grounds of threatening the secularism of Turkey and was shut down by the Turkish constitutional court. Erdoğan became a prominent speaker at demonstrations held by his party colleagues. In December 1997 in Siirt, Erdoğan recited a poem from a work written by Ziya Gökalp, a pan-Turkish activist of the early 20th century. His recitation included verses translated as "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...." which are not in the original version of the poem. Erdoğan said the poem had been approved by the education ministry to be published in textbooks. Under article 312/2 of the Turkish penal code his recitation was regarded as an incitement to violence and religious or racial hatred. He was given a ten-month prison sentence of which he served four months, from 24 March 1999 to 27 July 1999. Due to his conviction, Erdoğan was forced to give up his mayoral position. The conviction also stipulated a political ban, which prevented him from participating in parliamentary elections. He had appealed for the sentence to be converted to a monetary fine, but it was reduced to 120 days instead. In 2017, this period of Erdoğan's life was made into a film titled Reis. Justice and Development Party Erdoğan was member of political parties that kept getting banned by the army or judges. Within his Virtue Party, there was a dispute about the appropriate discourse of the party between traditional politicians and pro-reform politicians. The latter envisioned a party that could operate within the limits of the system, and thus not getting banned as its predecessors like National Order Party, National Salvation Party and Welfare Party. They wanted to give the group the character of an ordinary conservative party following the example of the European Christian democratic parties. When the Virtue Party was also banned in 2001, a definitive split took place: the followers of Necmettin Erbakan founded the Felicity Party (SP) and the reformers founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) under the leadership of Abdullah Gül and Erdoğan. The pro-reform politicians realized that a strictly Islamic party would never be accepted as a governing party by the state apparatus and they believed that an Islamic party did not appeal to more than about 20 percent of the Turkish electorate. The AK party emphatically placed itself as a broad democratic conservative party with new politicians from the political center (like Ali Babacan and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu), while respecting Islamic norms and values, but without an explicit religious program. This turned out to be successful as the new party won 34% of the vote in the general elections of 2002. Erdoğan became prime minister in March 2003 after the Gül government ended his political ban. Premiership (2003–2014) General elections The elections of 2002 were the first elections in which Erdoğan participated as a party leader. All parties previously elected to parliament failed to win enough votes to re-enter the parliament. The AKP won 34.3% of the national vote and formed the new government. Turkish stocks rose more than 7% on Monday morning. Politicians of the previous generation, such as Ecevit, Bahceli, Yılmaz and Çiller, resigned. The second largest party, the CHP, received 19.4% of the votes. The AKP won a landslide victory in the parliament, taking nearly two-thirds of the seats. Erdoğan could not become Prime Minister as he was still banned from politics by the judiciary for his speech in Siirt. Gül became the Prime Minister instead. In December 2002, the Supreme Election Board canceled the general election results from Siirt due to voting irregularities and scheduled a new election for 9 February 2003. By this time, party leader Erdoğan was able to run for parliament due to a legal change made possible by the opposition Republican People's Party. The AKP duly listed Erdoğan as a candidate for the rescheduled election, which he won, becoming Prime Minister after Gül handed over the post. On 14 April 2007, an estimated 300,000 people marched in Ankara to protest against the possible candidacy of Erdoğan in the 2007 presidential election, afraid that if elected as president, he would alter the secular nature of the Turkish state. Erdoğan announced on 24 April 2007 that the party had nominated Abdullah Gül as the AKP candidate in the presidential election. The protests continued over the next several weeks, with over one million people reported to have turned out at a 29 April rally in Istanbul, tens of thousands at separate protests on 4 May in Manisa and Çanakkale, and one million in İzmir on 13 May. The stage of the elections of 2007 was set for a fight for legitimacy in the eyes of voters between his government and the CHP. Erdoğan used the event that took place during the ill-fated Presidential elections a few months earlier as a part of the general election campaign of his party. On 22 July 2007, the AKP won an important victory over the opposition, garnering 46.7% of the popular vote. 22 July elections marked only the second time in the Republic of Turkey's history whereby an incumbent governing party won an election by increasing its share of popular support. On 14 March 2008, Turkey's Chief Prosecutor asked the country's Constitutional Court to ban Erdoğan's governing party. The party escaped a ban on 30 July 2008, a year after winning 46.7% of the vote in national elections, although judges did cut the party's public funding by 50%. In the June 2011 elections, Erdoğan's governing party won 327 seats (49.83% of the popular vote) making Erdoğan the only prime minister in Turkey's history to win three consecutive general elections, each time receiving more votes than the previous election. The second party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), received 135 seats (25.94%), the nationalist MHP received 53 seats (13.01%), and the Independents received 35 seats (6.58%). Referendums After the opposition parties deadlocked the 2007 presidential election by boycotting the parliament, the ruling AKP proposed a constitutional reform package. The reform package was first vetoed by president Sezer. Then he applied to the Turkish constitutional court about the reform package, because the president is unable to veto amendments for the second time. The Turkish constitutional court did not find any problems in the packet and 68.95% of the voters supported the constitutional changes. The reforms consisted of electing the president by popular vote instead of by parliament; reducing the presidential term from seven years to five; allowing the president to stand for re-election for a second term; holding general elections every four years instead of five; and reducing from 367 to 184 the quorum of lawmakers needed for parliamentary decisions. Reforming the Constitution was one of the main pledges of the AKP during the 2007 election campaign. The main opposition party CHP was not interested in altering the Constitution on a big scale, making it impossible to form a Constitutional Commission (Anayasa Uzlaşma Komisyonu). The amendments lacked the two-thirds majority needed to become law instantly, but secured 336 votes in the 550-seat parliament – enough to put the proposals to a referendum. The reform package included a number of issues such as the right of individuals to appeal to the highest court, the creation of the ombudsman's office; the possibility to negotiate a nationwide labour contract; gender equality; the ability of civilian courts to convict members of the military; the right of civil servants to go on strike; a privacy law; and the structure of the Constitutional Court. The referendum was agreed by a majority of 58%. Domestic Policy Kurdish issue In 2009, Prime Minister Erdoğan's government announced a plan to help end the quarter-century-long Turkey–Kurdistan Workers' Party conflict that had cost more than 40,000 lives. The government's plan, supported by the European Union, intended to allow the Kurdish language to be used in all broadcast media and political campaigns, and restored Kurdish names to cities and towns that had been given Turkish ones. Erdoğan said, "We took a courageous step to resolve chronic issues that constitute an obstacle along Turkey's development, progression and empowerment". Erdoğan passed a partial amnesty to reduce penalties faced by many members of the Kurdish guerrilla movement PKK who had surrendered to the government. On 23 November 2011, during a televised meeting of his party in Ankara, he apologised on behalf of the state for the Dersim massacre, where many Alevis and Zazas were killed. In 2013 the government of Erdoğan began a peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish Government, mediated by parliamentarians of the Peoples' Democratic party (HDP). In 2015 he decided that the peace process was over and supported the lift of the parliamentary immunity of the HDP parliamentarians. During his presidency a law was introduced which banned the use of the word Kurdistan in parliament and in a speech he held for the local election of 2019 he told the HDP politicians that if there is no Kurdistan in Turkey and if they looked for one they should go to Northern Iraq. Armenian genocide Prime Minister Erdoğan expressed multiple times that Turkey would acknowledge the mass killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide only after a thorough investigation by a joint Turkish-Armenian commission consisting of historians, archaeologists, political scientists and other experts. In 2005, Erdoğan and the main opposition party leader Deniz Baykal wrote a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, proposing the creation of a joint Turkish-Armenian commission. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian rejected the offer because he asserted that the proposal itself was "insincere and not serious". He added: "This issue cannot be considered at historical level with Turks, who themselves politicized the problem". In December 2008, Erdoğan criticised the I Apologize campaign by Turkish intellectuals to recognize the Armenian Genocide, saying, "I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologise ... It will not have any benefit other than stirring up trouble, disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have been taken". In November 2009, he said, "it is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide". In 2011, Erdoğan ordered the tearing-down of the Statue of Humanity, a Turkish–Armenian friendship monument in Kars, which was commissioned in 2006 and represented a metaphor of the rapprochement of the two countries after many years of dispute over the events of 1915. Erdoğan justified the removal by stating that the monument was offensively close to the tomb of an 11th-century Islamic scholar, and that its shadow ruined the view of that site, while Kars municipality officials said it was illegally erected in a protected area. However, the former mayor of Kars who approved the original construction of the monument said the municipality was destroying not just a "monument to humanity" but "humanity itself". The demolition was not unopposed; among its detractors were several Turkish artists. Two of them, the painter Bedri Baykam and his associate, Pyramid Art Gallery general coordinator Tugba Kurtulmus, were stabbed after a meeting with other artists at the Istanbul Akatlar cultural center. On 23 April 2014, Erdoğan's office issued a statement in nine languages (including two dialects of Armenian), offering condolences for the mass killings of Armenians and stating that the events of 1915 had inhumane consequences. The statement described the mass killings as the two nations' shared pain and said: "Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences – such as relocation – during the First World War, (it) should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among one another". The Ottoman Parliament of 1915 had previously used the term "relocation" to describe the purpose of the Tehcir Law, which resulted in the deaths of anywhere between 800,000 and over 1,800,000 Armenian civilians in what is commonly referred to as the Armenian Genocide. Pope Francis in April 2015, at a special mass in St. Peter's Basilica marking the centenary of the events, described atrocities against Armenian civilians in 1915–1922 as "the first genocide of the 20th century". In protest, Erdoğan recalled the Turkish ambassador from the Vatican, and summoned the Vatican's ambassador, to express "disappointment" at what he called a discriminatory message. He later stated "we don’t carry a stain or a shadow like genocide". US President Barack Obama called for a "full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts", but again stopped short of labelling it "genocide", despite his campaign promise to do so. Human rights During Erdoğan's time as Prime Minister, the far-reaching powers of the 1991 Anti-Terror Law were reduced and the Democratic initiative process was initiated, with the goal to improve democratic standards in general and the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in particular. However, after Turkey's bid to join the European Union stalled, European officials noted a return to more authoritarian ways, notably on freedom of speech, freedom of the press and Kurdish minority rights. Demands by activists for the recognition of LGBT rights were publicly rejected by government members, and members of the Turkish LGBT community were insulted by cabinet members. Reporters Without Borders observed a continuous decrease in Freedom of the Press during Erdoğan's later terms, with a rank of around 100 on the Press Freedom Index during his first term and a rank of 153 out of a total of 179 countries in 2021. Freedom House saw a slight recovery in later years and awarded Turkey a Press Freedom Score of 55/100 in 2012 after a low point of 48/100 in 2006. In 2011, Erdoğan's government made legal reforms to return properties of Christian and Jewish minorities which were seized by the Turkish government in the 1930s. The total value of the properties returned reached $2 billion (USD). Under Erdoğan, the Turkish government tightened the laws on the sale and consumption of alcohol, banning all advertising and increasing the tax on alcoholic beverages. Economy In 2002, Erdoğan inherited a Turkish economy that was beginning to recover from a recession as a result of reforms implemented by Kemal Derviş. Erdoğan supported Finance Minister Ali Babacan in enforcing macro-economic policies. Erdoğan tried to attract more foreign investors to Turkey and lifted many government regulations. The cash-flow into the Turkish economy between 2002 and 2012 caused a growth of 64% in real GDP and a 43% increase in GDP per capita; considerably higher numbers were commonly advertised but these did not account for the inflation of the US dollar between 2002 and 2012. The average annual growth in GDP per capita was 3.6%. The growth in real GDP between 2002 and 2012 was higher than the values from developed countries, but was close to average when developing countries are also taken into account. The ranking of the Turkish economy in terms of GDP moved slightly from 17 to 16 during this decade. A major consequence of the policies between 2002 and 2012 was the widening of the current account deficit from US$600 million to US$58 billion (2013 est.) Since 1961, Turkey has signed 19 IMF loan accords. Erdoğan's government satisfied the budgetary and market requirements of the two during his administration and received every loan installment, the only time any Turkish government has done so. Erdoğan inherited a debt of $23.5 billion to the IMF, which was reduced to $0.9 billion in 2012. He decided not to sign a new deal. Turkey's debt to the IMF was thus declared to be completely paid and he announced that the IMF could borrow from Turkey. In 2010, five-year credit default swaps for Turkey's sovereign debt were trading at a record low of 1.17%, below those of nine EU member countries and Russia. In 2002, the Turkish Central Bank had $26.5 billion in reserves. This amount reached $92.2 billion in 2011. During Erdoğan's leadership, inflation fell from 32% to 9.0% in 2004. Since then, Turkish inflation has continued to fluctuate around 9% and is still one of the highest inflation rates in the world. The Turkish public debt as a percentage of annual GDP declined from 74% in 2002 to 39% in 2009. In 2012, Turkey had a lower ratio of public debt to GDP than 21 of 27 members of the European Union and a lower budget deficit to GDP ratio than 23 of them. In 2003, Erdoğan's government pushed through the Labor Act, a comprehensive reform of Turkey's labor laws. The law greatly expanded the rights of employees, establishing a 45-hour workweek and limiting overtime work to 270 hours a year, provided legal protection against discrimination due to sex, religion, or political affiliation, prohibited discrimination between permanent and temporary workers, entitled employees terminated without "valid cause" to compensation, and mandated written contracts for employment arrangements lasting a year or more. Education Erdoğan increased the budget of the Ministry of Education from 7.5 billion lira in 2002 to 34 billion lira in 2011, the highest share of the national budget given to one ministry. Before his prime ministership the military received the highest share of the national budget. Compulsory education was increased from eight years to twelve. In 2003, the Turkish government, together with UNICEF, initiated a campaign called "Come on girls, [let's go] to school!" (). The goal of this campaign was to close the gender gap in primary school enrollment through the provision of a quality basic education for all girls, especially in southeast Turkey. In 2005, the parliament granted amnesty to students expelled from universities before 2003. The amnesty applied to students dismissed on academic or disciplinary grounds. In 2004, textbooks became free of charge and since 2008 every province in Turkey has its own university. During Erdoğan's Premiership, the number of universities in Turkey nearly doubled, from 98 in 2002 to 186 in October 2012. The Prime Minister kept his campaign promises by starting the Fatih project in which all state schools, from preschool to high school level, received a total of 620,000 smart boards, while tablet computers were distributed to 17 million students and approximately one million teachers and administrators. In June 2017 a draft proposal by the ministry of education was approved by Erdoğan, in which the curriculum for schools excluded the teaching of the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin by 2019. From then on the teaching will be postponed and start at undergraduate level. Infrastructure Under Erdoğan's government, the number of airports in Turkey increased from 26 to 50 in the period of 10 years. Between the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and 2002, there had been 6,000 km of dual carriageway roads created. Between 2002 and 2011, another 13,500 km of expressway were built. Due to these measures, the number of motor accidents fell by 50 percent. For the first time in Turkish history, high speed railway lines were constructed, and the country's high-speed train service began in 2009. In 8 years, 1,076 km of railway were built and 5,449 km of railway renewed. The construction of Marmaray, an undersea rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait, started in 2004. It was inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the Turkish Republic 29 October 2013. The inauguration of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third bridge over the Bosphorus, was on 26 August 2016. Justice In March 2006, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) held a press conference to publicly protest the obstruction of the appointment of judges to the high courts for over 10 months. The HSYK said Erdoğan wanted to fill the vacant posts with his own appointees. Erdoğan was accused of creating a rift with Turkey's highest court of appeal, the Yargıtay, and high administrative court, the Danıştay. Erdoğan stated that the constitution gave the power to assign these posts to his elected party. In May 2007, the head of Turkey's High Court asked prosecutors to consider whether Erdoğan should be charged over critical comments regarding the election of Abdullah Gül as president. Erdoğan said the ruling was "a disgrace to the justice system", and criticized the Constitutional Court which had invalidated a presidential vote because a boycott by other parties meant there was no quorum. Prosecutors investigated his earlier comments, including saying it had fired a "bullet at democracy". Tülay Tuğcu, head of the Constitutional Court, condemned Erdoğan for "threats, insults and hostility" towards the justice system. Civil–military relations The Turkish military has had a record of intervening in politics, having removed elected governments four times in the past. During the Erdoğan government, civil–military relationship moved towards normalization in which the influence of the military in politics was significantly reduced. The ruling Justice and Development Party has often faced off against the military, gaining political power by challenging a pillar of the country's laicistic establishment. The most significant issue that caused deep fissures between the army and the government was the midnight e-memorandum posted on the military's website objecting to the selection of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül as the ruling party's candidate for the Presidency in 2007. The military argued that the election of Gül, whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf, could undermine the laicistic order of the country. Contrary to expectations, the government responded harshly to former Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt's e-memorandum, stating the military had nothing to do with the selection of the presidential candidate. Health care After assuming power in 2003, Erdoğan's government embarked on a sweeping reform program of the Turkish healthcare system, called the Health Transformation Program (HTP), to greatly increase the quality of healthcare and protect all citizens from financial risks. Its introduction coincided with the period of sustained economic growth, allowing the Turkish government to put greater investments into the healthcare system. As part of the reforms, the "Green Card" program, which provides health benefits to the poor, was expanded in 2004. The reform program aimed at increasing the ratio of private to state-run healthcare, which, along with long queues in state-run hospitals, resulted in the rise of private medical care in Turkey, forcing state-run hospitals to compete by increasing quality. In April 2006, Erdoğan unveiled a social security reform package demanded by the International Monetary Fund under a loan deal. The move, which Erdoğan called one of the most radical reforms ever, was passed with fierce opposition. Turkey's three social security bodies were united under one roof, bringing equal health services and retirement benefits for members of all three bodies. The previous system had been criticized for reserving the best healthcare for civil servants and relegating others to wait in long queues. Under the second bill, everyone under the age of 18 years was entitled to free health services, irrespective of whether they pay premiums to any social security organization. The bill also envisages a gradual increase in the retirement age: starting from 2036, the retirement age will increase to 65 by 2048 for both women and men. In January 2008, the Turkish Parliament adopted a law to prohibit smoking in most public places. Erdoğan is outspokenly anti-smoking. Foreign policy Turkish foreign policy during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister has been associated with the name of Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu was the chief foreign policy advisor of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before he was appointed foreign minister in 2009. The basis of Erdoğan's foreign policy is based on the principle of "don't make enemies, make friends" and the pursuit of "zero problems" with neighboring countries. Erdoğan is co-founder of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (AOC). The initiative seeks to galvanize international action against extremism through the forging of international, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation. European Union When Erdoğan came to power, he continued Turkey's long ambition of joining the European Union. On 3 October 2005 negotiations began for Turkey's accession to the European Union. Erdoğan was named "The European of the Year 2004" by the newspaper European Voice for the reforms in his country in order to accomplish the accession of Turkey to the European Union. He said in a comment that "Turkey's accession shows that Europe is a continent where civilisations reconcile and not clash." On 3 October 2005, the negotiations for Turkey's accession to the EU formally started during Erdoğan's tenure as Prime Minister. The European Commission generally supports Erdoğan's reforms, but remains critical of his policies. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize EU member state Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus dispute Relations between Greece and Turkey were normalized during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister. In May 2004, Erdoğan became the first Turkish Prime Minister to visit Greece since 1988, and the first to visit the Turkish minority of Thrace since 1952. In 2007, Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis inaugurated the Greek-Turkish natural gas pipeline giving Caspian gas its first direct Western outlet. Turkey and Greece signed an agreement to create a Combined Joint Operational Unit within the framework of NATO to participate in Peace Support Operations. Erdoğan and his party strongly supported the EU-backed referendum to reunify Cyprus in 2004. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships as a consequence of the economic isolation of the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the failure of the EU to end the isolation, as it had promised in 2004. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize the Republic of Cyprus. Armenia Armenia is Turkey's only neighbor which Erdoğan has not visited during his premiership. The Turkish-Armenian border has been closed since 1993 because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Turkey's close ally Azerbaijan. Diplomatic efforts resulted in the signing of protocols between Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers in Switzerland to improve relations between the two countries. One of the points of the agreement was the creation of a joint commission on the issue. The Armenian Constitutional Court decided that the commission contradicts the Armenian constitution. Turkey responded saying that Armenian court's ruling on the protocols is not acceptable, resulting in a suspension of the rectification process by the Turkish side. Erdoğan has said that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan should apologize for calling on school children to re-occupy eastern Turkey. When asked by a student at a literature contest ceremony if Armenians will be able to get back their "western territories" along with Mt. Ararat, Sarksyan said, "This is the task of your generation". Russia In December 2004, President Putin visited Turkey, making it the first presidential visit in the history of Turkish-Russian relations besides that of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Nikolai Podgorny in 1972. In November 2005, Putin attended the inauguration of a jointly constructed Blue Stream natural gas pipeline in Turkey. This sequence of top-level visits has brought several important bilateral issues to the forefront. The two countries consider it their strategic goal to achieve "multidimensional co-operation", especially in the fields of energy, transport and the military. Specifically, Russia aims to invest in Turkey's fuel and energy industries, and it also expects to participate in tenders for the modernisation of Turkey's military. The relations during this time are described by President Medvedev as "Turkey is one of our most important partners with respect to regional and international issues. We can confidently say that Russian-Turkish relations have advanced to the level of a multidimensional strategic partnership". In May 2010, Turkey and Russia signed 17 agreements to enhance cooperation in energy and other fields, including pacts to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant and further plans for an oil pipeline from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The leaders of both countries also signed an agreement on visa-free travel, enabling tourists to get into the other country for free and stay there for up to 30 days. United States When Barack Obama became President of United States, he made his first overseas bilateral meeting to Turkey in April 2009. At a joint news conference in Turkey, Obama said: "I'm trying to make a statement about the importance of Turkey, not just to the United States but to the world. I think that where there's the most promise of building stronger U.S.-Turkish relations is in the recognition that Turkey and the United States can build a model partnership in which a predominantly Christian nation, a predominantly Muslim nation – a Western nation and a nation that straddles two continents," he continued, "that we can create a modern international community that is respectful, that is secure, that is prosperous, that there are not tensions – inevitable tensions between cultures – which I think is extraordinarily important." Iraq Turkey under Erdoğan was named by the Bush Administration as a part of the "coalition of the willing" that was central to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On 1 March 2003, a motion allowing Turkish military to participate in the U.S-led coalition's invasion of Iraq, along with the permission for foreign troops to be stationed in Turkey for this purpose, was overruled by the Turkish Parliament. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq and Turkey signed 48 trade agreements on issues including security, energy, and water. The Turkish government attempted to mend relations with Iraqi Kurdistan by opening a Turkish university in Erbil, and a Turkish consulate in Mosul. Erdoğan's government fostered economic and political relations with Irbil, and Turkey began to consider the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq as an ally against Maliki's government. Israel Erdoğan visited Israel on 1 May 2005, a gesture unusual for a leader of a Muslim majority country. During his trip, Erdoğan visited the Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The President of Israel Shimon Peres addressed the Turkish parliament during a visit in 2007, the first time an Israeli leader had addressed the legislature of a predominantly Muslim nation. Their relationship worsened at the 2009 World Economic Forum conference over Israel's actions during the Gaza War. Erdoğan was interrupted by the moderator while he was responding to Peres. Erdoğan stated: "Mister Peres, you are older than I am. Maybe you are feeling guilty and that is why you are raising your voice. When it comes to killing you know it too well. I remember how you killed the children on beaches..." Upon the moderator's reminder that they needed to adjourn for dinner, Erdoğan left the panel, accusing the moderator of giving Peres more time than all the other panelists combined. Tensions increased further following the Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010. Erdoğan strongly condemned the raid, describing it as "state terrorism", and demanded an Israeli apology. In February 2013, Erdoğan called Zionism a "crime against humanity", comparing it to Islamophobia, antisemitism, and fascism. He later retracted the statement, saying he had been misinterpreted. He said "everyone should know" that his comments were directed at "Israeli policies", especially as regards to "Gaza and the settlements." Erdoğan's statements were criticized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, among others. In August 2013, the Hürriyet reported that Erdoğan had claimed to have evidence of Israel's responsibility for the removal of Morsi from office in Egypt. The Israeli and Egyptian governments dismissed the suggestion. In response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. He also stated that "If Israel continues with this attitude, it will definitely be tried at international courts." Syria During Erdoğan's term of office, diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria significantly deteriorated. In 2004, President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Turkey for the first official visit by a Syrian President in 57 years. In late 2004, Erdoğan signed a free trade agreement with Syria. Visa restrictions between the two countries were lifted in 2009, which caused an economic boom in the regions near the Syrian border. However, in 2011 the relationship between the two countries was strained following the outbreak of conflict in Syria. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he was trying to "cultivate a favorable relationship with whatever government would take the place of Assad". However, he began to support the opposition in Syria, after demonstrations turned violent, creating a serious Syrian refugee problem in Turkey. Erdoğan's policy of providing military training for anti-Damascus fighters has also created conflict with Syria's ally and a neighbour of Turkey, Iran. Saudi Arabia In August 2006, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz as-Saud made a visit to Turkey. This was the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Turkey in the last four decades. The monarch made a second visit, on 9 November 2007. Turk-Saudi trade volume has exceeded 3.2 billion in 2006, almost double the figure achieved in 2003. In 2009, this amount reached 5.5 billion and the goal for the year 2010 was 10 billion. Erdoğan condemned the Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain and characterized the Saudi movement as "a new Karbala." He demanded withdrawal of Saudi forces from Bahrain. Egypt Erdoğan had made his first official visit to Egypt on 12 September 2011, accompanied by six ministers and 200 businessmen. This visit was made very soon after Turkey had ejected Israeli ambassadors, cutting off all diplomatic relations with Israel because Israel refused to apologize for the Gaza flotilla raid which killed eight Turkish and one Turco-American. Erdoğan's visit to Egypt was met with much enthusiasm by Egyptians. CNN reported some Egyptians saying "We consider him as the Islamic leader in the Middle East", while others were appreciative of his role in supporting Gaza. Erdoğan was later honored in Tahrir Square by members of the Egyptian Revolution Youth Union, and members of the Turkish embassy were presented with a coat of arms in acknowledgment of the Prime Minister's support of the Egyptian Revolution. Erdoğan stated in a 2011 interview that he supported secularism for Egypt, which generated an angry reaction among Islamic movements, especially the Freedom and Justice Party, which was the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. However, commentators suggest that by forming an alliance with the military junta during Egypt's transition to democracy, Erdoğan may have tipped the balance in favor of an authoritarian government. Erdoğan condemned the sit-in dispersals conducted by Egyptian police on 14 August 2013 at the Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares, where violent clashes between police officers and pro-Morsi Islamist protesters led to hundreds of deaths, mostly protesters. In July 2014, one year after the removal of Mohamed Morsi from office, Erdoğan described Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as an "illegitimate tyrant". Somalia Erdoğan's administration maintains strong ties with the Somali government. During the drought of 2011, Erdoğan's government contributed over $201 million to humanitarian relief efforts in the impacted parts of Somalia. Following a greatly improved security situation in Mogadishu in mid-2011, the Turkish government also re-opened its foreign embassy with the intention of more effectively assisting in the post-conflict development process. It was among the first foreign governments to resume formal diplomatic relations with Somalia after the civil war. In May 2010, the Turkish and Somali governments signed a military training agreement, in keeping with the provisions outlined in the Djibouti Peace Process. Turkish Airlines became the first long-distance international commercial airline in two decades to resume flights to and from Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport. Turkey also launched various development and infrastructure projects in Somalia including building several hospitals and helping renovate the National Assembly building. Protests 2013 Gezi Park protests against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdoğan and his policies, starting from a small sit-in in Istanbul in defense of a city park. After the police's intense reaction with tear gas, the protests grew each day. Faced by the largest mass protest in a decade, Erdoğan made this controversial remark in a televised speech: "The police were there yesterday, they are there today, and they will be there tomorrow". After weeks of clashes in the streets of Istanbul, his government at first apologized to the protestors and called for a plebiscite, but then ordered a crackdown on the protesters. Presidency (2014–present) Erdoğan took the oath of office on 28 August 2014 and became the 12th president of Turkey. He administered the new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's oath on 29 August. When asked about his lower-than-expected 51.79% share of the vote, he allegedly responded, "there were even those who did not like the Prophet. I, however, won 52%". Assuming the role of President, Erdoğan was criticized for openly stating that he would not maintain the tradition of presidential neutrality. Erdoğan has also stated his intention to pursue a more active role as president, such as utilising the President's rarely used cabinet-calling powers. The political opposition has argued that Erdoğan will continue to pursue his own political agenda, controlling the government, while his new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would be docile and submissive. Furthermore, the domination of loyal Erdoğan supporters in Davutoğlu's cabinet fuelled speculation that Erdoğan intended to exercise substantial control over the government. Presidential elections On 1 July 2014, Erdoğan was named the AKP's presidential candidate in the Turkish presidential election. His candidacy was announced by the Deputy President of the AKP, Mehmet Ali Şahin. Erdoğan made a speech after the announcement and used the 'Erdoğan logo' for the first time. The logo was criticised because it was very similar to the logo that U.S. President Barack Obama used in the 2008 presidential election. Erdoğan was elected as the President of Turkey in the first round of the election with 51.79% of the vote, obviating the need for a run-off by winning over 50%. The joint candidate of the CHP, MHP and 13 other opposition parties, former Organisation of Islamic Co-operation general secretary Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu won 38.44% of the vote. The pro-Kurdish HDP candidate Selahattin Demirtaş won 9.76%. The 2018 Turkish presidential election took place as part of the 2018 general election, alongside parliamentary elections on the same day. Following the approval of constitutional changes in a referendum held in 2017, the elected President will be both the head of state and head of government of Turkey, taking over the latter role from the to-be-abolished office of the Prime Minister. Incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared his candidacy for the People's Alliance (Turkish: Cumhur İttifakı) on 27 April 2018. Erdoğan's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, nominated Muharrem İnce, a member of the parliament known for his combative opposition and spirited speeches against Erdoğan. Besides these candidates, Meral Akşener, the founder and leader of İyi Party, Temel Karamollaoğlu, the leader of the Felicity Party and Doğu Perinçek, the leader of the Patriotic Party, have announced their candidacies and collected the 100,000 signatures required for nomination. The alliance which Erdoğan was candidate for won 52.59% of the popular vote. Referendum In April 2017, a constitutional referendum was held, where the voters in Turkey (and Turkish citizens abroad) approved a set of 18 proposed amendments to the Constitution of Turkey. The amendments included the replacement of the existing parliamentary system with a presidential system. The post of Prime Minister would be abolished, and the presidency would become an executive post vested with broad executive powers. The parliament seats would be increased from 550 to 600 and the age of candidacy to the parliament was lowered from 25 to 18. The referendum also called for changes to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors. Local elections In the 2019 local elections, the ruling party AKP lost control of Istanbul and Ankara for the first time in 25 years, as well as 5 of Turkey's 6 largest cities. The loss has been widely attributed to Erdoğan's mismanagement of the Turkish economic crisis, rising authoritarianism as well as the alleged government inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis. Soon after the elections, Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey ordered a re-election in Istanbul, cancelling Ekrem İmamoğlu's mayoral certificate. The decision led to a significant decrease of Erdoğan's and AKP's popularity and his party lost the elections again in June with a greater margin. The result was seen as a huge blow to Erdoğan, who had once said that if his party 'lost Istanbul, we would lose Turkey. The opposition's victory was characterised as 'the beginning of the end' for Erdoğan', with international commentators calling the re-run a huge government miscalculation that led to a potential İmamoğlu candidacy in the next scheduled presidential election. It is suspected that the scale of the government's defeat could provoke a cabinet reshuffle and early general elections, currently scheduled for June 2023. The New Zealand and Australian governments and opposition CHP party have criticized Erdoğan after he repeatedly showed video taken by the Christchurch mosque shooter to his supporters at campaign rallies for 31 March local elections and said Australians and New Zealanders who came to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments "would be sent back in coffins like their grandfathers" at Gallipoli. Domestic policy Presidential palace Erdoğan has also received criticism for the construction of a new palace called Ak Saray (pure white palace), which occupies approximately 50 acres of Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ) in Ankara. Since the AOÇ is protected land, several court orders were issued to halt the construction of the new palace, though building work went on nonetheless. The opposition described the move as a clear disregard for the rule of law. The project was subject to heavy criticism and allegations were made; of corruption during the construction process, wildlife destruction and the complete obliteration of the zoo in the AOÇ in order to make way for the new compound. The fact that the palace is technically illegal has led to it being branded as the 'Kaç-Ak Saray', the word kaçak in Turkish meaning 'illegal'. Ak Saray was originally designed as a new office for the Prime Minister. However, upon assuming the presidency, Erdoğan announced that the palace would become the new Presidential Palace, while the Çankaya Mansion will be used by the Prime Minister instead. The move was seen as a historic change since the Çankaya Mansion had been used as the iconic office of the presidency ever since its inception. The Ak Saray has almost 1,000 rooms and cost $350 million (€270 million), leading to huge criticism at a time when mining accidents and workers' rights had been dominating the agenda. On 29 October 2014, Erdoğan was due to hold a Republic Day reception in the new palace to commemorate the 91st anniversary of the Republic of Turkey and to officially inaugurate the Presidential Palace. However, after most invited participants announced that they would boycott the event and a mining accident occurred in the district of Ermenek in Karaman, the reception was cancelled. The media President Erdoğan and his government continue to press for court action against the remaining free press in Turkey. The latest newspaper that has been seized is Zaman, in March 2016. After the seizure Morton Abramowitz and Eric Edelman, former U.S. ambassadors to Turkey, condemned President Erdoğan's actions in an opinion piece published by The Washington Post: "Clearly, democracy cannot flourish under Erdoğan now". "The overall pace of reforms in Turkey has not only slowed down but in some key areas, such as freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary, there has been a regression, which is particularly worrying", rapporteur Kati Piri said in April 2016 after the European Parliament passed its annual progress report on Turkey. On 22 June 2016, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that he considered himself successful in "destroying" Turkish civil groups "working against the state", a conclusion that had been confirmed some days earlier by Sedat Laçiner, Professor of International Relations and rector of the Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University: "Outlawing unarmed and peaceful opposition, sentencing people to unfair punishment under erroneous terror accusations, will feed genuine terrorism in Erdoğan’s Turkey. Guns and violence will become the sole alternative for legally expressing free thought". After the coup attempt, over 200 journalists were arrested and over 120 media outlets were closed. Cumhuriyet journalists were detained in November 2016 after a long-standing crackdown on the newspaper. Subsequently, Reporters Without Borders called Erdoğan an "enemy of press freedom" and said that he "hides his aggressive dictatorship under a veneer of democracy". In April 2017, Turkey blocked all access to Wikipedia over a content dispute. The Turkish government lifted a two-and-a-half-year ban on Wikipedia on 15 January 2020, restoring access to the online encyclopedia a month after Turkey's top court ruled that blocking Wikipedia was unconstitutional. On 1 July 2020, in a statement made to his party members, Erdoğan announced that the government would introduce new measures and regulations to control or shut down social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Netflix. Through these new measures, each company would be required to appoint an official representative in the country to respond to legal concerns. The decision comes after a number of Twitter users insulted his daughter Esra after she welcomed her fourth child. State of emergency and purges On 20 July 2016, President Erdoğan declared the state of emergency, citing the coup d'état attempt as justification. It was first scheduled to last three months. The Turkish parliament approved this measure. The state of emergency was later extended for another three months, amidst the ongoing 2016 Turkish purges including comprehensive purges of independent media and detention of tens of thousands of Turkish citizens politically opposed to Erdoğan. More than 50,000 people have been arrested and over 160,000 fired from their jobs by March 2018. In August 2016, Erdoğan began rounding up journalists who had been publishing, or who were about to publish articles questioning corruption within the Erdoğan administration, and incarcerating them. The number of Turkish journalists jailed by Turkey is higher than any other country, including all of those journalists currently jailed in North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and China combined. In the wake of the coup attempt of July 2016 the Erdoğan administration began rounding up tens of thousands of individuals, both from within the government, and from the public sector, and incarcerating them on charges of alleged "terrorism". As a result of these arrests, many in the international community complained about the lack of proper judicial process in the incarceration of Erdoğan's opposition. In April 2017 Erdoğan successfully sponsored legislation effectively making it illegal for the Turkish legislative branch to investigate his executive branch of government. Without the checks and balances of freedom of speech, and the freedom of the Turkish legislature to hold him accountable for his actions, many have likened Turkey's current form of government to a dictatorship with only nominal forms of democracy in practice. At the time of Erdoğan's successful passing of the most recent legislation silencing his opposition, United States President Donald Trump called Erdoğan to congratulate him for his "recent referendum victory". On 29 April 2017 Erdoğan's administration began an internal Internet block of all of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia site via Turkey's domestic Internet filtering system. This blocking action took place after the government had first made a request for Wikipedia to remove what it referred to as "offensive content". In response, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales replied via a post on Twitter stating, "Access to information is a fundamental human right. Turkish people, I will always stand with you and fight for this right." In January 2016, more than a thousand academics signed a petition criticizing Turkey's military crackdown on ethnic Kurdish towns and neighborhoods in the east of the country, such as Sur (a district of Diyarbakır), Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre and Silopi, and asking an end to violence. Erdoğan accused those who signed the petition of "terrorist propaganda", calling them "the darkest of people". He called for action by institutions and universities, stating, "Everyone who benefits from this state but is now an enemy of the state must be punished without further delay". Within days, over 30 of the signatories were arrested, many in dawn-time raids on their homes. Although all were quickly released, nearly half were fired from their jobs, eliciting a denunciation from Turkey's Science Academy for such "wrong and disturbing" treatment. Erdoğan vowed that the academics would pay the price for "falling into a pit of treachery". On 8 July 2018, Erdoğan sacked 18,000 officials for alleged ties to US based cleric Fethullah Gülen, shortly before renewing his term as an executive president. Of those removed, 9000 were police officers with 5000 from the armed forces with the addition of hundreds of academics. Foreign policy Europe In February 2016, Erdoğan threatened to send the millions of refugees in Turkey to EU member states, saying: "We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses ... So how will you deal with refugees if you don't get a deal?" In an interview to the news magazine Der Spiegel, German minister of defence Ursula von der Leyen said on 11 March 2016 that the refugee crisis had made good cooperation between EU and Turkey an "existentially important" issue. "Therefore it is right to advance now negotiations on Turkey's EU accession". In its resolution "The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey" from 22 June 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe warned that "recent developments in Turkey pertaining to freedom of the media and of expression, erosion of the rule of law and the human rights violations in relation to anti-terrorism security operations in south-east Turkey have ... raised serious questions about the functioning of its democratic institutions". On 20 August 2016, Erdoğan told his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko that Turkey would not recognize the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea; calling it "Crimea's occupation". In January 2017, Erdoğan said that the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Cyprus is "out of the question" and Turkey will be in Cyprus "forever". There is a long-standing dispute between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea. Erdoğan warned that Greece will pay a "heavy price" if Turkey's gas exploration vessel – in what Turkey said are disputed waters – is attacked. In September 2020, Erdoğan declared his government's support for Azerbaijan following clashes between Armenian and Azeri forces over a disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. He dismissed demands for a ceasefire. Diaspora In March 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated to the Turks in Europe, "Make not three, but five children. Because you are the future of Europe. That will be the best response to the injustices against you." This has been interpreted as an imperialist call for demographic warfare. According to The Economist, Erdoğan is the first Turkish leader to take the Turkish diaspora seriously, which has created friction within these diaspora communities and between the Turkish government and several of its European counterparts. The Balkans In February 2018, President Erdoğan expressed Turkish support of the Republic of Macedonia's position during negotiations over the Macedonia naming dispute saying that Greece's position is wrong. In March 2018, President Erdoğan criticized the Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj for dismissing his Interior Minister and Intelligence Chief for failing to inform him of an unauthorized and illegal secret operation conducted by the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey on Kosovo's territory that led to the arrest of six people allegedly associated with the Gülen movement. On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck the Durrës region of Albania. President Erdoğan expressed his condolences. and citing close Albanian-Turkish relations, he committed Turkey to reconstructing 500 earthquake destroyed homes and other civic structures in Laç, Albania. In Istanbul, Erdoğan organised and attended a donors conference (8 December) to assist Albania that included Turkish businessmen, investors and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. United Kingdom In May 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed Erdoğan to the United Kingdom for a three-day state visit. Erdoğan declared that the United Kingdom is "an ally and a strategic partner, but also a real friend. The cooperation we have is well beyond any mechanism that we have established with other partners." Israel Relations between Turkey and Israel began to normalize after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu officially apologized for the death of the nine Turkish activists during the Gaza flotilla raid. However, in response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of being "more barbaric than Hitler", and conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. In December 2017, President Erdoğan issued a warning to Donald Trump, after the U.S. President acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Erdoğan stated, "Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims", indicating that naming Jerusalem as Israel's capital would alienate Palestinians and other Muslims from the city, undermining hopes at a future capital of a Palestinian State. Erdoğan called Israel a "terrorist state". Naftali Bennett dismissed the threats, claiming "Erdoğan does not miss an opportunity to attack Israel". In April 2019, Erdoğan said the West Bank belongs to Palestinians, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would annex Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if he is re-elected. Erdoğan condemned the Israel–UAE peace agreement, stating that Turkey was considering suspending or cutting off diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates in retaliation. Syrian Civil War Amid allegations of Turkish collaboration with the Islamic State, the 2014 Kobanî protests broke out near the Syrian border city of Kobanî, in protest against the government's perceived facilitation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during the Siege of Kobanî. 42 protestors were killed during a brutal police crackdown. Asserting that aid to the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Syria would assist the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) (then on ceasefire) in Turkey, Erdoğan held bilateral talks with Barack Obama regarding IS during the 5–6 September 2014 NATO summit in Newport, Wales. In early October, United States Vice President Joe Biden criticised the Turkish government for supplying jihadists in Syria and said Erdoğan had expressed regret to him about letting foreign jihadists transit through Turkey en route to Syria. Erdoğan angrily responded, "Biden has to apologize for his statements" adding that if no apology is made, Biden would become "history to me." Biden subsequently apologised. In response to the U.S. request to use İncirlik Air Base to conduct air strikes against IS, Erdoğan demanded that Bashar al-Assad be removed from power first. Turkey lost its bid for a Security Council seat in the United Nations during the 2014 election; the unexpected result is believed to have been a reaction to Erdoğan's hostile treatment of the Kurds fighting ISIS on the Syrian border and a rebuke of his willingness to support IS-aligned insurgents opposed to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In 2015, there were consistent allegations that Erdoğan maintained financial links with the Islamic State, including allegation of his son-in-law Berat Albayrak's involvement with oil production and smuggling in ISIL. Revelations that the state was supplying arms to militant groups in Syria in the 2014 National Intelligence Organisation lorry scandal led to accusations of high treason. In July 2015, Turkey became involved in the international military intervention against ISIL, simultaneously launching airstrikes against PKK bases in Iraqi Kurdistan. As of 2015, Turkey began openly supporting the Army of Conquest, a coalition of Syrian rebel groups that included al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham. In late November 2016, Erdoğan said that the Turkish military launched its operations in Syria to end Assad's rule, but retracted this statement shortly afterwards. In January 2018, the Turkish military and its Syrian National Army and Sham Legion allies began the Turkish military operation in Afrin in the Kurdish-majority Afrin Canton in Northern Syria, against the YPG. On 10 April, Erdoğan rejected a Russian demand to return Afrin to Syrian government control. In October 2019, after Erdoğan spoke to him, U.S. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, despite recently agreeing to a Northern Syria Buffer Zone. U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the border to avoid interference with the Turkish operation. After the U.S. pullout, Turkey proceeded to attack the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Rejecting criticism of the invasion, Erdoğan claimed that NATO and European Union countries "sided with terrorists, and all of them attacked us". China Bilateral trade between Turkey and China increased from $1 billion a year in 2002 to $27 billion annually in 2017. Erdoğan has stated that Turkey might consider joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation instead of the European Union. Qatar blockade In June 2017 during a speech, Erdoğan called the isolation of Qatar as "inhumane and against Islamic values" and that "victimising Qatar through smear campaigns serves no purpose". Myanmar In September 2017, Erdoğan condemned the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar and accused Myanmar of "genocide" against the Muslim minority. United States Over time, Turkey began to look for ways to buy its own missile defense system and also to use that procurement to build up its own capacity to manufacture and sell an air and missile defense system. Turkey got serious about acquiring a missile defense system early in the first Obama administration when it opened a competition between the Raytheon Patriot PAC 2 system and systems from Europe, Russia, and even China. Taking advantage of the new low in U.S.-Turkish relations, Putin saw his chance to use an S-400 sale to Turkey, so in July 2017, he offered the air defense system to Turkey. In the months that followed, the United States warned Turkey that a S-400 purchase jeopardized Turkey's F-35 purchase. Integration of the Russian system into the NATO air defense net was also out of the question. Administration officials, including Mark Esper, warned that Turkey had to choose between the S-400 and the F-35. That they couldn't have both. The S-400 deliveries to Turkey began on 12 July. On 16 July, Trump mentioned to reporters that withholding the F-35 from Turkey was unfair. Said the president, "So what happens is we have a situation where Turkey is very good with us, very good, and we are now telling Turkey that because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we’re not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets". The U.S. Congress has made clear on a bipartisan basis that it expects the president to sanction Turkey for buying Russian equipment. Out of the F-35, Turkey now considers buying Russian fifth-generation jet fighter Su-57. On 1 August 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned two senior Turkish government ministers who were involved in the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Erdoğan said that the U.S. behavior will force Turkey to look for new friends and allies. The U.S.–Turkey tensions appear to be the most serious diplomatic crisis between the NATO allies in years. Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton claimed that President Donald Trump told Erdoğan he would 'take care' of investigation against Turkey's state-owned bank Halkbank accused of bank fraud charges and laundering up to $20 billion on behalf of Iranian entities. Turkey criticized Bolton's book, saying it included misleading accounts of conversations between Trump and Erdoğan. In August 2020, the former vice president and presidential candidate Joe Biden called for a new U.S. approach to the "autocrat" President Erdoğan and support for Turkish opposition parties. In September 2020, Biden demanded that Erdoğan "stay out" of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in which Turkey has supported the Azeris. Venezuela Relations with Venezuela were strengthened with recent developments and high level mutual visits. The first official visit between the two countries at presidential level was in October 2017 when Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro visited Turkey. In December 2018, Erdoğan visited Venezuela for the first time and expressed his will to build strong relations with Venezuela and expressed hope that high-level visits "will increasingly continue." Reuters reported that in 2018 23 tons of mined gold were taken from Venezuela to Istanbul. In the first nine months of 2018, Venezuela's gold exports to Turkey rose from zero in the previous year to US$900 million. During the Venezuelan presidential crisis, Erdoğan voiced solidarity with Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and criticized U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, saying that "political problems cannot be resolved by punishing an entire nation." Following the 2019 Venezuelan uprising attempt, Erdoğan condemned the actions of lawmaker Juan Guaidó, tweeting "Those who are in an effort to appoint a postmodern colonial governor to Venezuela, where the President was appointed by elections and where the people rule, should know that only democratic elections can determine how a country is governed". Events Coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a coup d'état was attempted by the military, with aims to remove Erdoğan from government. By the next day, Erdoğan's government managed to reassert effective control in the country. Reportedly, no government official was arrested or harmed, which, among other factors, raised the suspicion of a false flag event staged by the government itself. Erdoğan, as well as other government officials, has blamed an exiled cleric, and a former ally of Erdoğan, Fethullah Gülen, for staging the coup attempt. Süleyman Soylu, Minister of Labor in Erdoğan's government, accused the US of planning a coup to oust Erdoğan. Erdoğan, as well as other high-ranking Turkish government officials, has issued repeated demands to the US to extradite Gülen. Following the coup attempt, there has been a significant deterioration in Turkey-US relations. European and other world leaders have expressed their concerns over the situation in Turkey, with many of them warning Erdoğan not to use the coup attempt as an excuse to crack down on his opponents. The rise of ISIS and the collapse of the Kurdish peace process had led to a sharp rise in terror incidents in Turkey until 2016. Erdoğan was accused by his critics of having a 'soft corner' for ISIS. However, after the attempted coup, Erdoğan ordered the Turkish military into Syria to combat ISIS and Kurdish militant groups. Erdoğan's critics have decried purges in the education system and judiciary as undermining the rule of law however Erdoğan supporters argue this is a necessary measure as Gulen-linked schools cheated on entrance exams, requiring a purge in the education system and of the Gulen followers who then entered the judiciary. Erdoğan's plan is "to reconstitute Turkey as a presidential system. The plan would create a centralized system that would enable him to better tackle Turkey's internal and external threats. One of the main hurdles allegedly standing in his way is Fethullah Gulen's movement ..." In the aftermath of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, a groundswell of national unity and consensus emerged for cracking down on the coup plotters with a National Unity rally held in Turkey that included Islamists, secularists, liberals and nationalists. Erdoğan has used this consensus to remove Gulen's followers from the bureaucracy, curtail their role in NGOs, Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Turkish military, with 149 Generals discharged. In a foreign policy shift Erdoğan ordered the Turkish Armed Forces into battle in Syria and has liberated towns from IS control. As relations with Europe soured over in the aftermath of the attempted coup, Erdoğan developed alternative relationships with Russia, Saudi Arabia and a "strategic partnership" with Pakistan, with plans to cultivate relations through free trade agreements and deepening military relations for mutual co-operation with Turkey's regional allies. 2018 currency and debt crisis The Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018 was caused by the Turkish economy's excessive current account deficit and foreign-currency debt, in combination with Erdoğan's increasing authoritarianism and his unorthodox ideas about interest rate policy. Economist Paul Krugman described the unfolding crisis as "a classic currency-and-debt crisis, of a kind we’ve seen many times", adding: "At such a time, the quality of leadership suddenly matters a great deal. You need officials who understand what's happening, can devise a response and have enough credibility that markets give them the benefit of the doubt. Some emerging markets have those things, and they are riding out the turmoil fairly well. The Erdoğan regime has none of that". Ideology and public image Early during his premiership, Erdoğan was praised as a role model for emerging Middle Eastern nations due to several reform packages initiated by his government which expanded religious freedoms and minority rights as part of accession negotiations with the European Union. However, his government underwent several crises including the Sledgehammer coup and the Ergenekon trials, corruption scandals, accusations of media intimidation, as well as the pursuit of an increasingly polarizing political agenda; the opposition accused the government of inciting political hatred throughout the country. Critics say that Erdoğan's government legitimizes homophobia, as Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". Neo-Ottomanism As President, Erdoğan has overseen a revival of Ottoman tradition, greeting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas with an Ottoman-style ceremony in the new presidential palace, with guards dressed in costumes representing founders of 16 Great Turkish Empires in history. While serving as the Prime Minister of Turkey, Erdoğan's AKP made references to the Ottoman era during election campaigns, such as calling their supporters 'grandsons of Ottomans' (Osmanlı torunu). This proved controversial, since it was perceived to be an open attack against the republican nature of modern Turkey founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In 2015, Erdoğan made a statement in which he endorsed the old Ottoman term külliye to refer to university campuses rather than the standard Turkish word kampüs. Many critics have thus accused Erdoğan of wanting to become an Ottoman sultan and abandon the secular and democratic credentials of the Republic. One of the most cited scholars alive, Noam Chomsky, said that "Erdogan in Turkey is basically trying to create something like the Ottoman Caliphate, with him as caliph, supreme leader, throwing his weight around all over the place, and destroying the remnants of democracy in Turkey at the same time". When pressed on this issue in January 2015, Erdoğan denied these claims and said that he would aim to be more like Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom rather than like an Ottoman sultan. In July 2020, after the Council of State annulled the Cabinet's 1934 decision to establish the Hagia Sophia as museum and revoking the monument's status, Erdoğan ordered its reclassification as a mosque. The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia's waqf, endowed by Sultan Mehmed II, had designated the site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan. This redesignation is controversial, invoking condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO, the World Council of Churches, the Holy See, and many other international leaders. In August 2020, he also signed the order that transferred the administration of the Chora Church to the Directorate of Religious Affairs to open it for worship as a mosque. Initially converted to a mosque by the Ottomans, the building had then been designated as a museum by the government since 1934. Authoritarianism Erdoğan has served as the de facto leader of Turkey since 2002. In response to criticism, Erdoğan made a speech in May 2014 denouncing allegations of dictatorship, saying that the leader of the opposition, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was there at the speech, would not be able to "roam the streets" freely if he were a dictator. Kılıçdaroğlu responded that political tensions would cease to exist if Erdoğan stopped making his polarising speeches for three days. One observer said it was a measure of the state of Turkish democracy that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu could openly threaten, on 20 December 2015, that, if his party did not win the election, Turkish Kurds would endure a repeat of the era of the "white Toros", the Turkish name for the Renault 12, "a car associated with the gendarmarie’s fearsome intelligence agents, who carried out thousands of extrajudicial executions of Kurdish nationalists during the 1990s". In February 2015, a 13-year-old was charged by a prosecutor after allegedly insulting Erdoğan on Facebook. In 2016, a waiter was arrested for insulting Erdoğan by allegedly saying "If Erdoğan comes here, I will not even serve tea to him.". In April 2014, the President of the Constitutional Court, Haşim Kılıç, accused Erdoğan of damaging the credibility of the judiciary, labelling Erdoğan's attempts to increase political control over the courts as 'desperate'. During the chaotic 2007 presidential election, the military issued an E-memorandum warning the government to keep within the boundaries of secularism when choosing a candidate. Regardless, Erdoğan's close relations with Fethullah Gülen and his Cemaat Movement allowed his government to maintain a degree of influence within the judiciary through Gülen's supporters in high judicial and bureaucratic offices. Shortly after, an alleged coup plot codenamed Sledgehammer became public and resulted in the imprisonment of 300 military officers including İbrahim Fırtına, Çetin Doğan and Engin Alan. Several opposition politicians, journalists and military officers also went on trial for allegedly being part of an ultra-nationalist organisation called Ergenekon. Both cases were marred by irregularities and were condemned as a joint attempt by Erdoğan and Gülen to curb opposition to the AKP. The original Sledgehammer document containing the coup plans, allegedly written in 2003, was found to have been written using Microsoft Word 2007. Despite both domestic and international calls for these irregularities to be addressed in order to guarantee a fair trial, Erdoğan instead praised his government for bringing the coup plots to light. When Gülen publicly withdrew support and openly attacked Erdoğan in late 2013, several imprisoned military officers and journalists were released, with the government admitting that the judicial proceedings were unfair. When Gülen withdrew support from the AKP government in late 2013, a government corruption scandal broke out, leading to the arrest of several family members of cabinet ministers. Erdoğan accused Gülen of co-ordinating a "parallel state" within the judiciary in an attempt to topple him from power. He then removed or reassigned several judicial officials in an attempt to remove Gülen's supporters from office. Erdoğan's 'purge' was widely questioned and criticised by the European Union. In early 2014, a new law was passed by parliament giving the government greater control over the judiciary, which sparked public protest throughout the country. International organisations perceived the law to be a danger to the separation of powers. Several judicial officials removed from their posts said that they had been removed due to their secularist credentials. The political opposition accused Erdoğan of not only attempting to remove Gülen supporters, but supporters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's principles as well, in order to pave the way for increased politicisation of the judiciary. Several family members of Erdoğan's ministers who had been arrested as a result of the 2013 corruption scandal were released, and a judicial order to question Erdoğan's son Bilal Erdoğan was annulled. Controversy erupted when it emerged that many of the newly appointed judicial officials were actually AKP supporters. İslam Çiçek, a judge who ejected the cases of five ministers' relatives accused of corruption, was accused of being an AKP supporter and an official investigation was launched into his political affiliations. On 1 September 2014, the courts dissolved the cases of 96 suspects, which included Bilal Erdoğan. During a televised press conference he was asked if he believed a presidential system was possible in a unitary state. Erdoğan affirmed this and cited Nazi Germany (among other examples) as a case where such a combination existed. However, the Turkish president's office said that Erdoğan was not advocating a Hitler-style government when he called for a state system with a strong executive, and added that the Turkish president had declared the "Holocaust, anti-semitism and Islamophobia" as crimes against humanity and that it was out of the question for him to cite Hitler's Germany as a good example. Suppression of dissent Erdoğan has been criticised for his politicisation of the media, especially after the 2013 protests. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) alleged that over 1,863 journalists lost their jobs due to their anti-government views in 12 years of AKP rule. Opposition politicians have also alleged that intimidation in the media is due to the government's attempt to restructure the ownership of private media corporations. Journalists from the Cihan News Agency and the Gülenist Zaman newspaper were repeatedly barred from attending government press conferences or asking questions. Several opposition journalists such as Soner Yalçın were controversially arrested as part of the Ergenekon trials and Sledgehammer coup investigation. Veli Ağbaba, a CHP politician, has called the AKP the 'biggest media boss in Turkey.' In 2015, 74 US senators sent a letter to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to state their concern over what they saw as deviations from the basic principles of democracy in Turkey and oppressions of Erdoğan over media. Notable cases of media censorship occurred during the 2013 anti-government protests, when the mainstream media did not broadcast any news regarding the demonstrations for three days after they began. The lack of media coverage was symbolised by CNN International covering the protests while CNN Türk broadcast a documentary about penguins at the same time. The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) controversially issued a fine to pro-opposition news channels including Halk TV and Ulusal Kanal for their coverage of the protests, accusing them of broadcasting footage that could be morally, physically and mentally destabilising to children. Erdoğan was criticised for not responding to the accusations of media intimidation, and caused international outrage after telling a female journalist (Amberin Zaman of The Economist) to know her place and calling her a 'shameless militant' during his 2014 presidential election campaign. While the 2014 presidential election was not subject to substantial electoral fraud, Erdoğan was again criticised for receiving disproportionate media attention in comparison to his rivals. The British newspaper The Times commented that between 2 and 4 July, the state-owned media channel TRT gave 204 minutes of coverage to Erdoğan's campaign and less than a total of 3 minutes to both his rivals. Erdoğan also tightened controls over the Internet, signing into law a bill which allows the government to block websites without prior court order on 12 September 2014. His government blocked Twitter and YouTube in late March 2014 following the release of a recording of a conversation between him and his son Bilal, where Erdoğan allegedly warned his family to 'nullify' all cash reserves at their home amid the 2013 corruption scandal. Erdoğan has undertaken a media campaign that attempts to portray the presidential family as frugal and simple-living; their palace electricity-bill is estimated at $500,000 per month. In May 2016, former Miss Turkey model Merve Büyüksaraç was sentenced to more than a year in prison for allegedly insulting the president. In a 2016 news story, Bloomberg reported, "more than 2,000 cases have been opened against journalists, cartoonists, teachers, a former Miss Turkey, and even schoolchildren in the past two years". In November 2016, the Turkish government blocked access to social media in all of Turkey as well as sought to completely block Internet access for the citizens in the southeast of the country. Mehmet Aksoy lawsuit In 2009, Turkish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy created the Statue of Humanity in Kars to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. When visiting the city in 2011, Erdoğan deemed the statue a "freak", and months later it was demolished. Aksoy sued Erdoğan for "moral indemnities", although his lawyer said that his statement was a critique rather than an insult. In March 2015, a judge ordered Erdoğan to pay 10,000 liras. Erdoğanism Erdoğan has produced many aphorisms and catch-phrases known as Erdoğanisms. The term Erdoğanism first emerged shortly after Erdoğan's 2011 general election victory, where it was predominantly described as the AKP's liberal economic and conservative democratic ideals fused with Erdoğan demagoguery and cult of personality. Views on minorities LGBT In 2002, Erdoğan said that "homosexuals must be legally protected within the framework of their rights and freedoms. From time to time, we do not find the treatment they get on some television screens humane", he said. However, in 2017 Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey's top Muslim scholar and President of Religious Affairs, Ali Erbaş, said in a Friday Ramadan announcement that country condemns homosexuality because it "brings illness," insinuating that same sex relations are responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan backed Erbaş, saying that what Erbaş "said was totally right." Jews While Erdoğan has declared several times being against antisemitism, he has been accused of invoking antisemitic stereotypes in public statements. According to Erdoğan, he had been inspired by novelist and Islamist ideologue Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, a publisher (among others) of antisemitic literature. Others During a live interview in 2014, he said: "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian. Excuse me, but they have said even uglier things. They have called me Armenian, but I am Turkish." Honours and accolades Foreign honours Russia: Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan" (1 June 2006) Pakistan: Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award in Pakistan (26 October 2009) Georgia: Order of Golden Fleece, awarded for his contribution to development of bilateral relations (17 May 2010) Kyrgyzstan: Danaker Order in Bishkek (2 February 2011) Azerbaijan: Heydar Aliyev Order (3 September 2014) Belgium: Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold (5 October 2015) Madagascar: Knight Grand Cross in the national Order (25 January 2017) Gagauzia: Order of Gagauz-Yeri in Comrat (18 October 2018) Venezuela: Order of the Liberator, Grand Cordon (3 December 2018) Ukraine: Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (16 October 2020) Other awards 29 January 2004: Profile of Courage Award from the American Jewish Congress, for promoting peace between cultures. Returned at the request of the A.J.C. in July 2014. 13 June 2004: Golden Plate award from the Academy of Achievement during the conference in Chicago. 3 October 2004: German Quadriga prize for improving relationships between different cultures. 2 September 2005: Mediterranean Award for Institutions (). This was awarded by the Fondazione Mediterraneo. 8 August 2006: Caspian Energy Integration Award from the Caspian Integration Business Club. 1 November 2006: Outstanding Service award from the Turkish humanitarian organization Red Crescent. 2 February 2007: Dialogue Between Cultures Award from the President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev. 15 April 2007: Crystal Hermes Award from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the opening of the Hannover Industrial Fair. 11 July 2007: highest award of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Agricola Medal, in recognition of his contribution to agricultural and social development in Turkey. 11 May 2009: Avicenna award from the Avicenna Foundation in Frankfurt, Germany. 9 June 2009: guest of honor at the 20th Crans Montana Forum in Brussels and received the Prix de la Fondation, for democracy and freedom. 25 June 2009: Key to the City of Tirana on the occasion of his state visit to Albania. 29 December 2009: Award for Contribution to World Peace from the Turgut Özal Thought and Move Association. 12 January 2010: King Faisal International Prize for "service to Islam" from the King Faisal Foundation. 23 February 2010: Nodo Culture Award from the mayor of Seville for his efforts to launch the Alliance of Civilizations initiative. 1 March 2010: United Nations–HABITAT award in memorial of Rafik Hariri. A seven-member international jury unanimously found Erdoğan deserving of the award because of his "excellent achievement and commendable conduct in the area of leadership, statesmanship and good governance. Erdoğan also initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors." 27 May 2010: medal of honor from the Brazilian Federation of Industry for the State of São Paulo (FIESP) for his contributions to industry 31 May 2010: World Health Organization 2010 World No Tobacco Award for "his dedicated leadership on tobacco control in Turkey." 29 June 2010: 2010 World Family Award from the World Family Organization which operates under the umbrella of the United Nations. 4 November 2010: Golden Medal of Independence, an award conferred upon Kosovo citizens and foreigners that have contributed to the independence of Kosovo. 25 November 2010: "Leader of the Year" award presented by the Union of Arab Banks in Lebanon. 11 January 2011: "Outstanding Personality in the Islamic World Award" of the Sheikh Fahad al-Ahmad International Award for Charity in Kuwait. 25 October 2011: Palestinian International Award for Excellence and Creativity (PIA) 2011 for his support to the Palestinian people and cause. 21 January 2012: 'Gold Statue 2012 Special Award' by the Polish Business Center Club (BCC). Erdoğan was awarded for his systematic effort to clear barriers on the way to economic growth, striving to build democracy and free market relations. 2020: Ig Nobel Prize "for using the COVID-19 viral pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can." See also List of international presidential trips made by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Leadership approval polling for the 2023 Turkish general election The 500 Most Influential Muslims Notes References Further reading Cagaptay, Soner. The new sultan: Erdogan and the crisis of modern Turkey (2nd ed. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020). online review Cagaptay, Soner. "Making Turkey Great Again." Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 43 (2019): 169–78. online Kirişci, Kemal, and Amanda Sloat. "The rise and fall of liberal democracy in Turkey: Implications for the West" Foreign Policy at Brookings (2019) online Tziarras, Zenonas. "Erdoganist authoritarianism and the 'new' Turkey." Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 18.4 (2018): 593–598. online Yavuz, M. Hakan. "A framework for understanding the Intra-Islamist conflict between the AK party and the Gülen movement." Politics, Religion & Ideology 19.1 (2018): 11–32. online Yesil, Bilge. Media in New Turkey: The Origins of an Authoritarian Neoliberal State (University of Illinois Press, 2016) online review External links Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Instagram. Archived from the original. Welcome to demokrasi: how Erdoğan got more popular than ever by The Guardian 1954 births Living people 21st-century presidents of Turkey 21st-century prime ministers of Turkey Deniers of the Armenian genocide Deputies of Istanbul Deputies of Siirt Recep Tayyip Imam Hatip school alumni Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Leaders of political parties in Turkey Marmara University alumni Mayors of Istanbul Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Naqshbandi order People from Istanbul Politicians arrested in Turkey Presidents of Turkey Prime Ministers of Turkey Recipients of the Heydar Aliyev Order Recipients of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia) Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class Turkish Islamists Turkish Sunni Muslims Chairmen of the Organization of Turkic States Recipients of the Gagauz-Yeri Order Foreign recipients of the Nishan-e-Pakistan	false	[ "İsyan Erdogan (born 25 September 1982 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian soccer player who last played for Geelong SC in the Victorian State League Division 1.\n\nClub career\nErdogan has been plying his trade with various Victorian Premier League clubs after playing for former NSL clubs Carlton SC and the Melbourne Knights before signing with Australian A-League club Adelaide United for the 2007–08 season in which he went on to make 13 appearances.\n\nAfter making just 13 senior appearances in two seasons with the Reds', the injury plagued Erdogan was released following the conclusion of the 2008/09 season. On 23 February 2009 he was signed up by Hume City FC to play in the 2009 Victorian Premier League.\n\nErgogan was to spend the next six seasons with the Broadmeadows-based club, going on to become the club captain and fan favourite. Upon the conclusion of the 2015 NPL Victoria season, in which Hume City had a strong FFA Cup run, going down in the semi-finals to A-League side Melbourne Victory, Erdogan dropped three divisions down the Victorian football league ladder to sign with Geelong SC.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Adelaide United Profile\n OzFootball Profile\n \n\n1982 births\nLiving people\nAustralian people of Turkish descent\nAssociation football defenders\nAustralian soccer players\nA-League Men players\nNational Soccer League (Australia) players\nAdelaide United FC players\nCarlton S.C. players\nMelbourne Knights FC players\nWhittlesea Zebras players\nHume City FC players\nNational Premier Leagues players", "Ertuğrul Erdoğan (born October 18, 1968) is a Turkish professional basketball coach. He last served as a head coach for Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball Super League and the Basketball Champions League.\n\nCoaching career \nIn 1996, Erdogan began his professional level coaching career with Galatasaray.\n\nErdoğan later served as an assistant coach for the Fenerbahçe from 2000 to 2013. With Fenerbahçe, Erdoğan worked under legendary coaches Aydın Örs and Bogdan Tanjevic.\n\nDuring the 2009-2010 season, coach Tanjevic was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and left the team at late March, Erdogan took over and led Fenerbahçe to the 2009-10 Turkish Basketball League championship. Despite his success against the title favourites Efes Pilsen, he was not appointed as Fenerbahçe's head coach in the following season. Erdogan continued to serve in an assistant coach capacity with head coaches Neven Spahija and Simone Pianigiani in the following seasons. He left Fenerbahce in 2013, after 13 years.\n\nŽalgiris Kaunas' interest \nShortly after Sarunas Jasikevicius' decision to joining Barcelona in the summer of 2020, Ertugrul Erdogan has emerged the frontrunner for Zalgiris head coach position. Erdogan spoke with Zalgiris president and GM Paulius Motiejunas but there was never traction on reaching a contract agreement as the days wore on. Zalgiris opted to sign with the Salt Lake City Stars head coach, Martin Schiller. \n\nA couple of days after Zalgiris' interest, on July 14, 2020, Galatasaray officially signed head coach Ertugrul Erdogan to a 1+1 contract extension, the team announced.\n\nGalatasaray (2018-2020) \nOn July 26, 2018, Erdogan signed a two-year contract, and agreed to become the new head coach of the Turkish club Galatasaray.\n\nDuring his tenure at Galatasaray, Erdogan scouted and helped to promote many players into the Euroleague level. Rookies like Nigel Hayes, Aaron Harrison and Alex Poythress played under his leadership in their first seasons in Europe and then they signed with the Euroleague clubs Zalgiris, Olympiacos B.C and Zenit St. Petersburg respectively.\n\nZach Auguste, who was the starting center of Erdogan's Galatasaray for both seasons, agreed with Euroleague club Panathinaikos on July 20, 2020. Greg Whittington, another Galatasaray alum, \"will sign with an NBA team, unless a major Euroleague team makes a strong offer\" according to Whittington's agent Jerry Dianis. \n\nGalatasaray announced that the club has entered negotiations with head coach Ertugrul Erdogan for the mutual termination of his contract. On November 10, 2020, coach Erdogan bid his farewell to Galatasaray and their fans. “Without honesty, there is neither trust nor sustainable success. Thank you to everyone, mainly our fans, who supported me and my staff during my two and a half years at Galatasaray. My conscience is clear” he later tweeted.\n\nPersonal life \nErdogan graduated from Middle East Technical University Department of Physical Education and Sports.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Galatasaray.org\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Eurobasket.com\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Euroleague.net\n\n1968 births\nLiving people\nBasketbol Süper Ligi head coaches\nFenerbahçe basketball coaches\nGalatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) coaches\nTurkish basketball coaches\nTürk Telekom basketball coaches" ]
[ "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "Personal life and education", "Where did Erdogan go to college?", "He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences,", "Does Erdogan have children?", "I don't know.", "Where was Erdogan born?", "Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul,", "Is Erdogan married?", "Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (", "Did Erdogan open a mosque?", "Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village.", "What sport did Erdogan play?", "Erdogan played semi-professional football at a local club." ]	C_15e775d39cc647c7987d95fdc23b6587_1	What did Erdogan's father do for a living?	7	What did Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's father do for a living?	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province. His parents are Ahmet Erdogan and Tenzile Erdogan. Erdogan reportedly said in 2003, "I'm a Georgian, my family is a Georgian family which migrated from Batumi to Rize." But in a 2014 televised interview on the NTV news network, he said, "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian... forgive me for saying this... even much uglier things, they have even called me an Armenian, but I am Turkish." In an account based on registry records, his genealogy was tracked to an ethnic Turkish family. Erdogan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father Ahmet Erdogan (1905 - 1988) was a Captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. Erdogan had a brother Mustafa (b. 1958) and sister Vesile (b. 1965). His summer holidays were mostly spent in Guneysu, Rize, where his family originates from. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdogan was 13 years old. As a teenager, he sold lemonade and sesame buns (simit) on the streets of the city's rougher districts to earn extra money. Brought up in an observant Muslim family, Erdogan graduated from Kasimpasa Piyale primary school in 1965, and Imam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. He received his high school diploma from Eyup High School. He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences, now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences--although several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated. In his youth, Erdogan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahce wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasimpasa S.K. is named after him. Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (born 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons; Ahmet Burak and Necmettin Bilal, and two daughters, Esra and Sumeyye. His father, Ahmet Erdogan, died in 1988 and his 88-year-old mother, Tenzile Erdogan, died in 2011. He is a member of the Community of Iskenderpasa, a Turkish sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. CANNOTANSWER	his father Ahmet Erdogan (1905 - 1988) was a Captain in the Turkish Coast Guard.	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to election victories in 2002, 2007, and 2011 general elections before being required to stand down upon his election as President in 2014. He later returned to the AKP leadership in 2017 following the constitutional referendum that year. Coming from an Islamist political background and self-describing as a conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration. Following the 1994 local elections, Erdoğan was elected mayor of Istanbul as the candidate of the Islamist Welfare Party. He was later stripped of his position, banned from political office, and imprisoned for four months for inciting religious hatred, due to his recitation of a poem by Ziya Gökalp. Erdoğan subsequently abandoned openly Islamist politics, establishing the moderate conservative AKP in 2001, which he went on to lead to a landslide victory in 2002. With Erdoğan still technically prohibited from holding office, the AKP's co-founder, Abdullah Gül, instead became prime minister, and later annulled Erdoğan's political ban. After winning a by-election in Siirt in 2003, Erdoğan replaced Gül as prime minister, with Gül instead becoming the AKP's candidate for the presidency. Erdoğan led the AKP to two more election victories in 2007 and 2011. The early years of Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister saw advances in negotiations for Turkey's membership of the European Union, an economic recovery following a economic crisis in 2001 and investments in infrastructure including roads, airports, and a high-speed train network. He also won two successful constitutional referendums in 2007 and 2010. However, his government remained controversial for its close links with Fethullah Gülen and his Gülen Movement (since designated as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish state) with whom the AKP was accused of orchestrating purges against secular bureaucrats and military officers through the Balyoz and Ergenekon trials. In late 2012, his government began peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to end the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present). The ceasefire broke down in 2015, leading to a renewed escalation in conflict. Erdoğan's foreign policy has been described as Neo-Ottoman and has led to the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, with its focus on preventing the Syrian Democratic Forces from gaining ground on the Syria–Turkey border during the Syrian Civil War. In the more recent years of Erdoğan's rule, Turkey has experienced democratic backsliding and corruption. Starting with the anti-government protests in 2013, his government imposed growing censorship on the press and social media, temporarily restricting access to sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. This stalled negotiations related to Turkey's EU membership. A US$100 billion corruption scandal in 2013 led to the arrests of Erdoğan's close allies, and incriminated Erdoğan. After 11 years as head of government (Prime Minister), Erdoğan decided to run for President in 2014. At the time, the presidency was a somewhat ceremonial function. Following the 2014 elections, Erdoğan became the first popularly elected president of Turkey. The souring in relations with Gülen continued, as the government proceeded to purge his supporters from judicial, bureaucratic and military positions. A failed military coup d'état attempt in July 2016 resulted in further purges and a temporary state of emergency. The government claimed that the coup leaders were linked to Gülen, but he has denied any role in it. Erdoğan's rule has been marked with increasing authoritarianism, expansionism, censorship and banning of parties or dissent. Erdoğan supported the 2017 referendum which changed Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential system, thus setting for the first time in Turkish history a term limit for the head of government (two full five-year terms). This new system of government formally came into place after the 2018 general election, where Erdoğan became an executive president. His party however lost the majority in the parliament and is currently in a coalition (People's Alliance) with the Turkish nationalist MHP. Erdoğan has since been tackling, but also accused of contributing to, the Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018, which has caused a significant decline in his popularity and is widely believed to have contributed to the results of the 2019 local elections, in which his party lost power in big cities like Ankara and Istanbul to opposition parties for the first time in 15 years. Family and personal life Early life Erdoğan was born in Kasımpaşa, a poor neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province in the 1930s. Erdoğan's tribe is originally from Adjara, a region in Georgia. His parents were Ahmet Erdoğan (1905–88) and Tenzile Erdoğan (née Mutlu; 1924–2011). Erdoğan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father was a captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. His summer holidays were mostly spent in Güneysu, Rize, where his family originates. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdoğan was 13 years old. As a teenager, Erdoğan's father provided him with a weekly allowance of 2.5 Turkish lira, less than a dollar. With it, Erdoğan bought postcards and resold them on the street. He sold bottles of water to drivers stuck in traffic. Erdoğan also worked as a street vendor selling simit (sesame bread rings), wearing a white gown and selling the simit from a red three-wheel cart with the rolls stacked behind glass. In his youth, Erdoğan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahçe wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasımpaşa S.K. is named after him. Erdoğan is a member of the Community of İskenderpaşa, a Turkish Sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. Education Erdoğan graduated from Kasımpaşa Piyale primary school in 1965, and İmam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. The same educational path was followed by other co-founders of the AKP party. One quarter of the curriculum of İmam Hatip schools involves study of the Qurʼān, the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the Arabic language. Erdoğan studied the Qurʼān at an İmam Hatip, where his classmates began calling him "hoca" ("Muslim teacher"). Erdoğan attended a meeting of the nationalist student group National Turkish Student Union (Milli Türk Talebe Birliği), who sought to raise a conservative cohort of young people to counter the rising movement of leftists in Turkey. Within the group, Erdoğan was distinguished by his oratorical skills, developing a penchant for public speaking and excelling in front of an audience. He won first place in a poetry-reading competition organized by the Community of Turkish Technical Painters, and began preparing for speeches through reading and research. Erdoğan would later comment on these competitions as "enhancing our courage to speak in front of the masses". Erdoğan wanted to pursue advanced studies at Mekteb-i Mülkiye, but Mülkiye accepted only students with regular high school diplomas, and not İmam Hatip graduates. Mülkiye was known for its political science department, which trained many statesmen and politicians in Turkey. Erdoğan was then admitted to Eyüp High School, a regular state school, and eventually received his high school diploma from Eyüp. According to his official biography, he subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences (), now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated, or even attended at all. Family Erdoğan married Emine Gülbaran (b. 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons, Ahmet Burak (b. 1979) and Necmettin Bilal (b. 1981), and two daughters, Esra (b. 1983) and Sümeyye (b. 1985). His father, Ahmet Erdoğan, died in 1988 and his mother, Tenzile Erdoğan, died in 2011 at the age of 88. Erdoğan has a brother, Mustafa (b. 1958), and a sister, Vesile (b. 1965). From his father's first marriage to Havuli Erdoğan (d. 1980), he had two half-brothers: Mehmet (1926–1988) and Hasan (1929–2006). Early political career In 1976, Erdoğan engaged in politics by joining the National Turkish Student Union, an anti-communist action group. In the same year, he became the head of the Beyoğlu youth branch of the Islamist National Salvation Party (MSP), and was later promoted to chair of the Istanbul youth branch of the party. Holding this position until 1980, he served as consultant and senior executive in the private sector during the era following the 1980 military coup when political parties were closed down. In 1983, Erdoğan followed most of Necmettin Erbakan's followers into the Islamist Welfare Party. He became the party's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984, and in 1985 he became the chair of the Istanbul city branch. He was elected to parliament in 1991, but was barred from taking his seat. Mayor of Istanbul (1994–1998) In the local elections of 27 March 1994, Erdoğan was elected Mayor of Istanbul with 25.19% of the popular vote. Erdoğan was a 40-year-old dark horse candidate who had been mocked by the mainstream media and treated as a country bumpkin by his opponents. He was pragmatic in office, tackling many chronic problems in Istanbul including water shortage, pollution and traffic chaos. The water shortage problem was solved with the laying of hundreds of kilometers of new pipelines. The garbage problem was solved with the establishment of state-of-the-art recycling facilities. While Erdoğan was in office, air pollution was reduced through a plan developed to switch to natural gas. He changed the public buses to environmentally friendly ones. The city's traffic and transportation jams were reduced with more than fifty bridges, viaducts, and highways built. He took precautions to prevent corruption, using measures to ensure that municipal funds were used prudently. He paid back a major portion of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's two-billion-dollar debt and invested four billion dollars in the city. Erdoğan initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors. A seven-member international jury from the United Nations unanimously awarded Erdoğan the UN-Habitat award. Imprisonment In 1998, the fundamentalist Welfare Party was declared unconstitutional on the grounds of threatening the secularism of Turkey and was shut down by the Turkish constitutional court. Erdoğan became a prominent speaker at demonstrations held by his party colleagues. In December 1997 in Siirt, Erdoğan recited a poem from a work written by Ziya Gökalp, a pan-Turkish activist of the early 20th century. His recitation included verses translated as "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...." which are not in the original version of the poem. Erdoğan said the poem had been approved by the education ministry to be published in textbooks. Under article 312/2 of the Turkish penal code his recitation was regarded as an incitement to violence and religious or racial hatred. He was given a ten-month prison sentence of which he served four months, from 24 March 1999 to 27 July 1999. Due to his conviction, Erdoğan was forced to give up his mayoral position. The conviction also stipulated a political ban, which prevented him from participating in parliamentary elections. He had appealed for the sentence to be converted to a monetary fine, but it was reduced to 120 days instead. In 2017, this period of Erdoğan's life was made into a film titled Reis. Justice and Development Party Erdoğan was member of political parties that kept getting banned by the army or judges. Within his Virtue Party, there was a dispute about the appropriate discourse of the party between traditional politicians and pro-reform politicians. The latter envisioned a party that could operate within the limits of the system, and thus not getting banned as its predecessors like National Order Party, National Salvation Party and Welfare Party. They wanted to give the group the character of an ordinary conservative party following the example of the European Christian democratic parties. When the Virtue Party was also banned in 2001, a definitive split took place: the followers of Necmettin Erbakan founded the Felicity Party (SP) and the reformers founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) under the leadership of Abdullah Gül and Erdoğan. The pro-reform politicians realized that a strictly Islamic party would never be accepted as a governing party by the state apparatus and they believed that an Islamic party did not appeal to more than about 20 percent of the Turkish electorate. The AK party emphatically placed itself as a broad democratic conservative party with new politicians from the political center (like Ali Babacan and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu), while respecting Islamic norms and values, but without an explicit religious program. This turned out to be successful as the new party won 34% of the vote in the general elections of 2002. Erdoğan became prime minister in March 2003 after the Gül government ended his political ban. Premiership (2003–2014) General elections The elections of 2002 were the first elections in which Erdoğan participated as a party leader. All parties previously elected to parliament failed to win enough votes to re-enter the parliament. The AKP won 34.3% of the national vote and formed the new government. Turkish stocks rose more than 7% on Monday morning. Politicians of the previous generation, such as Ecevit, Bahceli, Yılmaz and Çiller, resigned. The second largest party, the CHP, received 19.4% of the votes. The AKP won a landslide victory in the parliament, taking nearly two-thirds of the seats. Erdoğan could not become Prime Minister as he was still banned from politics by the judiciary for his speech in Siirt. Gül became the Prime Minister instead. In December 2002, the Supreme Election Board canceled the general election results from Siirt due to voting irregularities and scheduled a new election for 9 February 2003. By this time, party leader Erdoğan was able to run for parliament due to a legal change made possible by the opposition Republican People's Party. The AKP duly listed Erdoğan as a candidate for the rescheduled election, which he won, becoming Prime Minister after Gül handed over the post. On 14 April 2007, an estimated 300,000 people marched in Ankara to protest against the possible candidacy of Erdoğan in the 2007 presidential election, afraid that if elected as president, he would alter the secular nature of the Turkish state. Erdoğan announced on 24 April 2007 that the party had nominated Abdullah Gül as the AKP candidate in the presidential election. The protests continued over the next several weeks, with over one million people reported to have turned out at a 29 April rally in Istanbul, tens of thousands at separate protests on 4 May in Manisa and Çanakkale, and one million in İzmir on 13 May. The stage of the elections of 2007 was set for a fight for legitimacy in the eyes of voters between his government and the CHP. Erdoğan used the event that took place during the ill-fated Presidential elections a few months earlier as a part of the general election campaign of his party. On 22 July 2007, the AKP won an important victory over the opposition, garnering 46.7% of the popular vote. 22 July elections marked only the second time in the Republic of Turkey's history whereby an incumbent governing party won an election by increasing its share of popular support. On 14 March 2008, Turkey's Chief Prosecutor asked the country's Constitutional Court to ban Erdoğan's governing party. The party escaped a ban on 30 July 2008, a year after winning 46.7% of the vote in national elections, although judges did cut the party's public funding by 50%. In the June 2011 elections, Erdoğan's governing party won 327 seats (49.83% of the popular vote) making Erdoğan the only prime minister in Turkey's history to win three consecutive general elections, each time receiving more votes than the previous election. The second party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), received 135 seats (25.94%), the nationalist MHP received 53 seats (13.01%), and the Independents received 35 seats (6.58%). Referendums After the opposition parties deadlocked the 2007 presidential election by boycotting the parliament, the ruling AKP proposed a constitutional reform package. The reform package was first vetoed by president Sezer. Then he applied to the Turkish constitutional court about the reform package, because the president is unable to veto amendments for the second time. The Turkish constitutional court did not find any problems in the packet and 68.95% of the voters supported the constitutional changes. The reforms consisted of electing the president by popular vote instead of by parliament; reducing the presidential term from seven years to five; allowing the president to stand for re-election for a second term; holding general elections every four years instead of five; and reducing from 367 to 184 the quorum of lawmakers needed for parliamentary decisions. Reforming the Constitution was one of the main pledges of the AKP during the 2007 election campaign. The main opposition party CHP was not interested in altering the Constitution on a big scale, making it impossible to form a Constitutional Commission (Anayasa Uzlaşma Komisyonu). The amendments lacked the two-thirds majority needed to become law instantly, but secured 336 votes in the 550-seat parliament – enough to put the proposals to a referendum. The reform package included a number of issues such as the right of individuals to appeal to the highest court, the creation of the ombudsman's office; the possibility to negotiate a nationwide labour contract; gender equality; the ability of civilian courts to convict members of the military; the right of civil servants to go on strike; a privacy law; and the structure of the Constitutional Court. The referendum was agreed by a majority of 58%. Domestic Policy Kurdish issue In 2009, Prime Minister Erdoğan's government announced a plan to help end the quarter-century-long Turkey–Kurdistan Workers' Party conflict that had cost more than 40,000 lives. The government's plan, supported by the European Union, intended to allow the Kurdish language to be used in all broadcast media and political campaigns, and restored Kurdish names to cities and towns that had been given Turkish ones. Erdoğan said, "We took a courageous step to resolve chronic issues that constitute an obstacle along Turkey's development, progression and empowerment". Erdoğan passed a partial amnesty to reduce penalties faced by many members of the Kurdish guerrilla movement PKK who had surrendered to the government. On 23 November 2011, during a televised meeting of his party in Ankara, he apologised on behalf of the state for the Dersim massacre, where many Alevis and Zazas were killed. In 2013 the government of Erdoğan began a peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish Government, mediated by parliamentarians of the Peoples' Democratic party (HDP). In 2015 he decided that the peace process was over and supported the lift of the parliamentary immunity of the HDP parliamentarians. During his presidency a law was introduced which banned the use of the word Kurdistan in parliament and in a speech he held for the local election of 2019 he told the HDP politicians that if there is no Kurdistan in Turkey and if they looked for one they should go to Northern Iraq. Armenian genocide Prime Minister Erdoğan expressed multiple times that Turkey would acknowledge the mass killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide only after a thorough investigation by a joint Turkish-Armenian commission consisting of historians, archaeologists, political scientists and other experts. In 2005, Erdoğan and the main opposition party leader Deniz Baykal wrote a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, proposing the creation of a joint Turkish-Armenian commission. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian rejected the offer because he asserted that the proposal itself was "insincere and not serious". He added: "This issue cannot be considered at historical level with Turks, who themselves politicized the problem". In December 2008, Erdoğan criticised the I Apologize campaign by Turkish intellectuals to recognize the Armenian Genocide, saying, "I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologise ... It will not have any benefit other than stirring up trouble, disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have been taken". In November 2009, he said, "it is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide". In 2011, Erdoğan ordered the tearing-down of the Statue of Humanity, a Turkish–Armenian friendship monument in Kars, which was commissioned in 2006 and represented a metaphor of the rapprochement of the two countries after many years of dispute over the events of 1915. Erdoğan justified the removal by stating that the monument was offensively close to the tomb of an 11th-century Islamic scholar, and that its shadow ruined the view of that site, while Kars municipality officials said it was illegally erected in a protected area. However, the former mayor of Kars who approved the original construction of the monument said the municipality was destroying not just a "monument to humanity" but "humanity itself". The demolition was not unopposed; among its detractors were several Turkish artists. Two of them, the painter Bedri Baykam and his associate, Pyramid Art Gallery general coordinator Tugba Kurtulmus, were stabbed after a meeting with other artists at the Istanbul Akatlar cultural center. On 23 April 2014, Erdoğan's office issued a statement in nine languages (including two dialects of Armenian), offering condolences for the mass killings of Armenians and stating that the events of 1915 had inhumane consequences. The statement described the mass killings as the two nations' shared pain and said: "Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences – such as relocation – during the First World War, (it) should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among one another". The Ottoman Parliament of 1915 had previously used the term "relocation" to describe the purpose of the Tehcir Law, which resulted in the deaths of anywhere between 800,000 and over 1,800,000 Armenian civilians in what is commonly referred to as the Armenian Genocide. Pope Francis in April 2015, at a special mass in St. Peter's Basilica marking the centenary of the events, described atrocities against Armenian civilians in 1915–1922 as "the first genocide of the 20th century". In protest, Erdoğan recalled the Turkish ambassador from the Vatican, and summoned the Vatican's ambassador, to express "disappointment" at what he called a discriminatory message. He later stated "we don’t carry a stain or a shadow like genocide". US President Barack Obama called for a "full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts", but again stopped short of labelling it "genocide", despite his campaign promise to do so. Human rights During Erdoğan's time as Prime Minister, the far-reaching powers of the 1991 Anti-Terror Law were reduced and the Democratic initiative process was initiated, with the goal to improve democratic standards in general and the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in particular. However, after Turkey's bid to join the European Union stalled, European officials noted a return to more authoritarian ways, notably on freedom of speech, freedom of the press and Kurdish minority rights. Demands by activists for the recognition of LGBT rights were publicly rejected by government members, and members of the Turkish LGBT community were insulted by cabinet members. Reporters Without Borders observed a continuous decrease in Freedom of the Press during Erdoğan's later terms, with a rank of around 100 on the Press Freedom Index during his first term and a rank of 153 out of a total of 179 countries in 2021. Freedom House saw a slight recovery in later years and awarded Turkey a Press Freedom Score of 55/100 in 2012 after a low point of 48/100 in 2006. In 2011, Erdoğan's government made legal reforms to return properties of Christian and Jewish minorities which were seized by the Turkish government in the 1930s. The total value of the properties returned reached $2 billion (USD). Under Erdoğan, the Turkish government tightened the laws on the sale and consumption of alcohol, banning all advertising and increasing the tax on alcoholic beverages. Economy In 2002, Erdoğan inherited a Turkish economy that was beginning to recover from a recession as a result of reforms implemented by Kemal Derviş. Erdoğan supported Finance Minister Ali Babacan in enforcing macro-economic policies. Erdoğan tried to attract more foreign investors to Turkey and lifted many government regulations. The cash-flow into the Turkish economy between 2002 and 2012 caused a growth of 64% in real GDP and a 43% increase in GDP per capita; considerably higher numbers were commonly advertised but these did not account for the inflation of the US dollar between 2002 and 2012. The average annual growth in GDP per capita was 3.6%. The growth in real GDP between 2002 and 2012 was higher than the values from developed countries, but was close to average when developing countries are also taken into account. The ranking of the Turkish economy in terms of GDP moved slightly from 17 to 16 during this decade. A major consequence of the policies between 2002 and 2012 was the widening of the current account deficit from US$600 million to US$58 billion (2013 est.) Since 1961, Turkey has signed 19 IMF loan accords. Erdoğan's government satisfied the budgetary and market requirements of the two during his administration and received every loan installment, the only time any Turkish government has done so. Erdoğan inherited a debt of $23.5 billion to the IMF, which was reduced to $0.9 billion in 2012. He decided not to sign a new deal. Turkey's debt to the IMF was thus declared to be completely paid and he announced that the IMF could borrow from Turkey. In 2010, five-year credit default swaps for Turkey's sovereign debt were trading at a record low of 1.17%, below those of nine EU member countries and Russia. In 2002, the Turkish Central Bank had $26.5 billion in reserves. This amount reached $92.2 billion in 2011. During Erdoğan's leadership, inflation fell from 32% to 9.0% in 2004. Since then, Turkish inflation has continued to fluctuate around 9% and is still one of the highest inflation rates in the world. The Turkish public debt as a percentage of annual GDP declined from 74% in 2002 to 39% in 2009. In 2012, Turkey had a lower ratio of public debt to GDP than 21 of 27 members of the European Union and a lower budget deficit to GDP ratio than 23 of them. In 2003, Erdoğan's government pushed through the Labor Act, a comprehensive reform of Turkey's labor laws. The law greatly expanded the rights of employees, establishing a 45-hour workweek and limiting overtime work to 270 hours a year, provided legal protection against discrimination due to sex, religion, or political affiliation, prohibited discrimination between permanent and temporary workers, entitled employees terminated without "valid cause" to compensation, and mandated written contracts for employment arrangements lasting a year or more. Education Erdoğan increased the budget of the Ministry of Education from 7.5 billion lira in 2002 to 34 billion lira in 2011, the highest share of the national budget given to one ministry. Before his prime ministership the military received the highest share of the national budget. Compulsory education was increased from eight years to twelve. In 2003, the Turkish government, together with UNICEF, initiated a campaign called "Come on girls, [let's go] to school!" (). The goal of this campaign was to close the gender gap in primary school enrollment through the provision of a quality basic education for all girls, especially in southeast Turkey. In 2005, the parliament granted amnesty to students expelled from universities before 2003. The amnesty applied to students dismissed on academic or disciplinary grounds. In 2004, textbooks became free of charge and since 2008 every province in Turkey has its own university. During Erdoğan's Premiership, the number of universities in Turkey nearly doubled, from 98 in 2002 to 186 in October 2012. The Prime Minister kept his campaign promises by starting the Fatih project in which all state schools, from preschool to high school level, received a total of 620,000 smart boards, while tablet computers were distributed to 17 million students and approximately one million teachers and administrators. In June 2017 a draft proposal by the ministry of education was approved by Erdoğan, in which the curriculum for schools excluded the teaching of the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin by 2019. From then on the teaching will be postponed and start at undergraduate level. Infrastructure Under Erdoğan's government, the number of airports in Turkey increased from 26 to 50 in the period of 10 years. Between the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and 2002, there had been 6,000 km of dual carriageway roads created. Between 2002 and 2011, another 13,500 km of expressway were built. Due to these measures, the number of motor accidents fell by 50 percent. For the first time in Turkish history, high speed railway lines were constructed, and the country's high-speed train service began in 2009. In 8 years, 1,076 km of railway were built and 5,449 km of railway renewed. The construction of Marmaray, an undersea rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait, started in 2004. It was inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the Turkish Republic 29 October 2013. The inauguration of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third bridge over the Bosphorus, was on 26 August 2016. Justice In March 2006, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) held a press conference to publicly protest the obstruction of the appointment of judges to the high courts for over 10 months. The HSYK said Erdoğan wanted to fill the vacant posts with his own appointees. Erdoğan was accused of creating a rift with Turkey's highest court of appeal, the Yargıtay, and high administrative court, the Danıştay. Erdoğan stated that the constitution gave the power to assign these posts to his elected party. In May 2007, the head of Turkey's High Court asked prosecutors to consider whether Erdoğan should be charged over critical comments regarding the election of Abdullah Gül as president. Erdoğan said the ruling was "a disgrace to the justice system", and criticized the Constitutional Court which had invalidated a presidential vote because a boycott by other parties meant there was no quorum. Prosecutors investigated his earlier comments, including saying it had fired a "bullet at democracy". Tülay Tuğcu, head of the Constitutional Court, condemned Erdoğan for "threats, insults and hostility" towards the justice system. Civil–military relations The Turkish military has had a record of intervening in politics, having removed elected governments four times in the past. During the Erdoğan government, civil–military relationship moved towards normalization in which the influence of the military in politics was significantly reduced. The ruling Justice and Development Party has often faced off against the military, gaining political power by challenging a pillar of the country's laicistic establishment. The most significant issue that caused deep fissures between the army and the government was the midnight e-memorandum posted on the military's website objecting to the selection of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül as the ruling party's candidate for the Presidency in 2007. The military argued that the election of Gül, whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf, could undermine the laicistic order of the country. Contrary to expectations, the government responded harshly to former Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt's e-memorandum, stating the military had nothing to do with the selection of the presidential candidate. Health care After assuming power in 2003, Erdoğan's government embarked on a sweeping reform program of the Turkish healthcare system, called the Health Transformation Program (HTP), to greatly increase the quality of healthcare and protect all citizens from financial risks. Its introduction coincided with the period of sustained economic growth, allowing the Turkish government to put greater investments into the healthcare system. As part of the reforms, the "Green Card" program, which provides health benefits to the poor, was expanded in 2004. The reform program aimed at increasing the ratio of private to state-run healthcare, which, along with long queues in state-run hospitals, resulted in the rise of private medical care in Turkey, forcing state-run hospitals to compete by increasing quality. In April 2006, Erdoğan unveiled a social security reform package demanded by the International Monetary Fund under a loan deal. The move, which Erdoğan called one of the most radical reforms ever, was passed with fierce opposition. Turkey's three social security bodies were united under one roof, bringing equal health services and retirement benefits for members of all three bodies. The previous system had been criticized for reserving the best healthcare for civil servants and relegating others to wait in long queues. Under the second bill, everyone under the age of 18 years was entitled to free health services, irrespective of whether they pay premiums to any social security organization. The bill also envisages a gradual increase in the retirement age: starting from 2036, the retirement age will increase to 65 by 2048 for both women and men. In January 2008, the Turkish Parliament adopted a law to prohibit smoking in most public places. Erdoğan is outspokenly anti-smoking. Foreign policy Turkish foreign policy during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister has been associated with the name of Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu was the chief foreign policy advisor of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before he was appointed foreign minister in 2009. The basis of Erdoğan's foreign policy is based on the principle of "don't make enemies, make friends" and the pursuit of "zero problems" with neighboring countries. Erdoğan is co-founder of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (AOC). The initiative seeks to galvanize international action against extremism through the forging of international, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation. European Union When Erdoğan came to power, he continued Turkey's long ambition of joining the European Union. On 3 October 2005 negotiations began for Turkey's accession to the European Union. Erdoğan was named "The European of the Year 2004" by the newspaper European Voice for the reforms in his country in order to accomplish the accession of Turkey to the European Union. He said in a comment that "Turkey's accession shows that Europe is a continent where civilisations reconcile and not clash." On 3 October 2005, the negotiations for Turkey's accession to the EU formally started during Erdoğan's tenure as Prime Minister. The European Commission generally supports Erdoğan's reforms, but remains critical of his policies. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize EU member state Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus dispute Relations between Greece and Turkey were normalized during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister. In May 2004, Erdoğan became the first Turkish Prime Minister to visit Greece since 1988, and the first to visit the Turkish minority of Thrace since 1952. In 2007, Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis inaugurated the Greek-Turkish natural gas pipeline giving Caspian gas its first direct Western outlet. Turkey and Greece signed an agreement to create a Combined Joint Operational Unit within the framework of NATO to participate in Peace Support Operations. Erdoğan and his party strongly supported the EU-backed referendum to reunify Cyprus in 2004. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships as a consequence of the economic isolation of the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the failure of the EU to end the isolation, as it had promised in 2004. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize the Republic of Cyprus. Armenia Armenia is Turkey's only neighbor which Erdoğan has not visited during his premiership. The Turkish-Armenian border has been closed since 1993 because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Turkey's close ally Azerbaijan. Diplomatic efforts resulted in the signing of protocols between Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers in Switzerland to improve relations between the two countries. One of the points of the agreement was the creation of a joint commission on the issue. The Armenian Constitutional Court decided that the commission contradicts the Armenian constitution. Turkey responded saying that Armenian court's ruling on the protocols is not acceptable, resulting in a suspension of the rectification process by the Turkish side. Erdoğan has said that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan should apologize for calling on school children to re-occupy eastern Turkey. When asked by a student at a literature contest ceremony if Armenians will be able to get back their "western territories" along with Mt. Ararat, Sarksyan said, "This is the task of your generation". Russia In December 2004, President Putin visited Turkey, making it the first presidential visit in the history of Turkish-Russian relations besides that of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Nikolai Podgorny in 1972. In November 2005, Putin attended the inauguration of a jointly constructed Blue Stream natural gas pipeline in Turkey. This sequence of top-level visits has brought several important bilateral issues to the forefront. The two countries consider it their strategic goal to achieve "multidimensional co-operation", especially in the fields of energy, transport and the military. Specifically, Russia aims to invest in Turkey's fuel and energy industries, and it also expects to participate in tenders for the modernisation of Turkey's military. The relations during this time are described by President Medvedev as "Turkey is one of our most important partners with respect to regional and international issues. We can confidently say that Russian-Turkish relations have advanced to the level of a multidimensional strategic partnership". In May 2010, Turkey and Russia signed 17 agreements to enhance cooperation in energy and other fields, including pacts to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant and further plans for an oil pipeline from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The leaders of both countries also signed an agreement on visa-free travel, enabling tourists to get into the other country for free and stay there for up to 30 days. United States When Barack Obama became President of United States, he made his first overseas bilateral meeting to Turkey in April 2009. At a joint news conference in Turkey, Obama said: "I'm trying to make a statement about the importance of Turkey, not just to the United States but to the world. I think that where there's the most promise of building stronger U.S.-Turkish relations is in the recognition that Turkey and the United States can build a model partnership in which a predominantly Christian nation, a predominantly Muslim nation – a Western nation and a nation that straddles two continents," he continued, "that we can create a modern international community that is respectful, that is secure, that is prosperous, that there are not tensions – inevitable tensions between cultures – which I think is extraordinarily important." Iraq Turkey under Erdoğan was named by the Bush Administration as a part of the "coalition of the willing" that was central to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On 1 March 2003, a motion allowing Turkish military to participate in the U.S-led coalition's invasion of Iraq, along with the permission for foreign troops to be stationed in Turkey for this purpose, was overruled by the Turkish Parliament. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq and Turkey signed 48 trade agreements on issues including security, energy, and water. The Turkish government attempted to mend relations with Iraqi Kurdistan by opening a Turkish university in Erbil, and a Turkish consulate in Mosul. Erdoğan's government fostered economic and political relations with Irbil, and Turkey began to consider the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq as an ally against Maliki's government. Israel Erdoğan visited Israel on 1 May 2005, a gesture unusual for a leader of a Muslim majority country. During his trip, Erdoğan visited the Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The President of Israel Shimon Peres addressed the Turkish parliament during a visit in 2007, the first time an Israeli leader had addressed the legislature of a predominantly Muslim nation. Their relationship worsened at the 2009 World Economic Forum conference over Israel's actions during the Gaza War. Erdoğan was interrupted by the moderator while he was responding to Peres. Erdoğan stated: "Mister Peres, you are older than I am. Maybe you are feeling guilty and that is why you are raising your voice. When it comes to killing you know it too well. I remember how you killed the children on beaches..." Upon the moderator's reminder that they needed to adjourn for dinner, Erdoğan left the panel, accusing the moderator of giving Peres more time than all the other panelists combined. Tensions increased further following the Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010. Erdoğan strongly condemned the raid, describing it as "state terrorism", and demanded an Israeli apology. In February 2013, Erdoğan called Zionism a "crime against humanity", comparing it to Islamophobia, antisemitism, and fascism. He later retracted the statement, saying he had been misinterpreted. He said "everyone should know" that his comments were directed at "Israeli policies", especially as regards to "Gaza and the settlements." Erdoğan's statements were criticized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, among others. In August 2013, the Hürriyet reported that Erdoğan had claimed to have evidence of Israel's responsibility for the removal of Morsi from office in Egypt. The Israeli and Egyptian governments dismissed the suggestion. In response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. He also stated that "If Israel continues with this attitude, it will definitely be tried at international courts." Syria During Erdoğan's term of office, diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria significantly deteriorated. In 2004, President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Turkey for the first official visit by a Syrian President in 57 years. In late 2004, Erdoğan signed a free trade agreement with Syria. Visa restrictions between the two countries were lifted in 2009, which caused an economic boom in the regions near the Syrian border. However, in 2011 the relationship between the two countries was strained following the outbreak of conflict in Syria. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he was trying to "cultivate a favorable relationship with whatever government would take the place of Assad". However, he began to support the opposition in Syria, after demonstrations turned violent, creating a serious Syrian refugee problem in Turkey. Erdoğan's policy of providing military training for anti-Damascus fighters has also created conflict with Syria's ally and a neighbour of Turkey, Iran. Saudi Arabia In August 2006, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz as-Saud made a visit to Turkey. This was the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Turkey in the last four decades. The monarch made a second visit, on 9 November 2007. Turk-Saudi trade volume has exceeded 3.2 billion in 2006, almost double the figure achieved in 2003. In 2009, this amount reached 5.5 billion and the goal for the year 2010 was 10 billion. Erdoğan condemned the Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain and characterized the Saudi movement as "a new Karbala." He demanded withdrawal of Saudi forces from Bahrain. Egypt Erdoğan had made his first official visit to Egypt on 12 September 2011, accompanied by six ministers and 200 businessmen. This visit was made very soon after Turkey had ejected Israeli ambassadors, cutting off all diplomatic relations with Israel because Israel refused to apologize for the Gaza flotilla raid which killed eight Turkish and one Turco-American. Erdoğan's visit to Egypt was met with much enthusiasm by Egyptians. CNN reported some Egyptians saying "We consider him as the Islamic leader in the Middle East", while others were appreciative of his role in supporting Gaza. Erdoğan was later honored in Tahrir Square by members of the Egyptian Revolution Youth Union, and members of the Turkish embassy were presented with a coat of arms in acknowledgment of the Prime Minister's support of the Egyptian Revolution. Erdoğan stated in a 2011 interview that he supported secularism for Egypt, which generated an angry reaction among Islamic movements, especially the Freedom and Justice Party, which was the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. However, commentators suggest that by forming an alliance with the military junta during Egypt's transition to democracy, Erdoğan may have tipped the balance in favor of an authoritarian government. Erdoğan condemned the sit-in dispersals conducted by Egyptian police on 14 August 2013 at the Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares, where violent clashes between police officers and pro-Morsi Islamist protesters led to hundreds of deaths, mostly protesters. In July 2014, one year after the removal of Mohamed Morsi from office, Erdoğan described Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as an "illegitimate tyrant". Somalia Erdoğan's administration maintains strong ties with the Somali government. During the drought of 2011, Erdoğan's government contributed over $201 million to humanitarian relief efforts in the impacted parts of Somalia. Following a greatly improved security situation in Mogadishu in mid-2011, the Turkish government also re-opened its foreign embassy with the intention of more effectively assisting in the post-conflict development process. It was among the first foreign governments to resume formal diplomatic relations with Somalia after the civil war. In May 2010, the Turkish and Somali governments signed a military training agreement, in keeping with the provisions outlined in the Djibouti Peace Process. Turkish Airlines became the first long-distance international commercial airline in two decades to resume flights to and from Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport. Turkey also launched various development and infrastructure projects in Somalia including building several hospitals and helping renovate the National Assembly building. Protests 2013 Gezi Park protests against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdoğan and his policies, starting from a small sit-in in Istanbul in defense of a city park. After the police's intense reaction with tear gas, the protests grew each day. Faced by the largest mass protest in a decade, Erdoğan made this controversial remark in a televised speech: "The police were there yesterday, they are there today, and they will be there tomorrow". After weeks of clashes in the streets of Istanbul, his government at first apologized to the protestors and called for a plebiscite, but then ordered a crackdown on the protesters. Presidency (2014–present) Erdoğan took the oath of office on 28 August 2014 and became the 12th president of Turkey. He administered the new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's oath on 29 August. When asked about his lower-than-expected 51.79% share of the vote, he allegedly responded, "there were even those who did not like the Prophet. I, however, won 52%". Assuming the role of President, Erdoğan was criticized for openly stating that he would not maintain the tradition of presidential neutrality. Erdoğan has also stated his intention to pursue a more active role as president, such as utilising the President's rarely used cabinet-calling powers. The political opposition has argued that Erdoğan will continue to pursue his own political agenda, controlling the government, while his new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would be docile and submissive. Furthermore, the domination of loyal Erdoğan supporters in Davutoğlu's cabinet fuelled speculation that Erdoğan intended to exercise substantial control over the government. Presidential elections On 1 July 2014, Erdoğan was named the AKP's presidential candidate in the Turkish presidential election. His candidacy was announced by the Deputy President of the AKP, Mehmet Ali Şahin. Erdoğan made a speech after the announcement and used the 'Erdoğan logo' for the first time. The logo was criticised because it was very similar to the logo that U.S. President Barack Obama used in the 2008 presidential election. Erdoğan was elected as the President of Turkey in the first round of the election with 51.79% of the vote, obviating the need for a run-off by winning over 50%. The joint candidate of the CHP, MHP and 13 other opposition parties, former Organisation of Islamic Co-operation general secretary Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu won 38.44% of the vote. The pro-Kurdish HDP candidate Selahattin Demirtaş won 9.76%. The 2018 Turkish presidential election took place as part of the 2018 general election, alongside parliamentary elections on the same day. Following the approval of constitutional changes in a referendum held in 2017, the elected President will be both the head of state and head of government of Turkey, taking over the latter role from the to-be-abolished office of the Prime Minister. Incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared his candidacy for the People's Alliance (Turkish: Cumhur İttifakı) on 27 April 2018. Erdoğan's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, nominated Muharrem İnce, a member of the parliament known for his combative opposition and spirited speeches against Erdoğan. Besides these candidates, Meral Akşener, the founder and leader of İyi Party, Temel Karamollaoğlu, the leader of the Felicity Party and Doğu Perinçek, the leader of the Patriotic Party, have announced their candidacies and collected the 100,000 signatures required for nomination. The alliance which Erdoğan was candidate for won 52.59% of the popular vote. Referendum In April 2017, a constitutional referendum was held, where the voters in Turkey (and Turkish citizens abroad) approved a set of 18 proposed amendments to the Constitution of Turkey. The amendments included the replacement of the existing parliamentary system with a presidential system. The post of Prime Minister would be abolished, and the presidency would become an executive post vested with broad executive powers. The parliament seats would be increased from 550 to 600 and the age of candidacy to the parliament was lowered from 25 to 18. The referendum also called for changes to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors. Local elections In the 2019 local elections, the ruling party AKP lost control of Istanbul and Ankara for the first time in 25 years, as well as 5 of Turkey's 6 largest cities. The loss has been widely attributed to Erdoğan's mismanagement of the Turkish economic crisis, rising authoritarianism as well as the alleged government inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis. Soon after the elections, Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey ordered a re-election in Istanbul, cancelling Ekrem İmamoğlu's mayoral certificate. The decision led to a significant decrease of Erdoğan's and AKP's popularity and his party lost the elections again in June with a greater margin. The result was seen as a huge blow to Erdoğan, who had once said that if his party 'lost Istanbul, we would lose Turkey. The opposition's victory was characterised as 'the beginning of the end' for Erdoğan', with international commentators calling the re-run a huge government miscalculation that led to a potential İmamoğlu candidacy in the next scheduled presidential election. It is suspected that the scale of the government's defeat could provoke a cabinet reshuffle and early general elections, currently scheduled for June 2023. The New Zealand and Australian governments and opposition CHP party have criticized Erdoğan after he repeatedly showed video taken by the Christchurch mosque shooter to his supporters at campaign rallies for 31 March local elections and said Australians and New Zealanders who came to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments "would be sent back in coffins like their grandfathers" at Gallipoli. Domestic policy Presidential palace Erdoğan has also received criticism for the construction of a new palace called Ak Saray (pure white palace), which occupies approximately 50 acres of Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ) in Ankara. Since the AOÇ is protected land, several court orders were issued to halt the construction of the new palace, though building work went on nonetheless. The opposition described the move as a clear disregard for the rule of law. The project was subject to heavy criticism and allegations were made; of corruption during the construction process, wildlife destruction and the complete obliteration of the zoo in the AOÇ in order to make way for the new compound. The fact that the palace is technically illegal has led to it being branded as the 'Kaç-Ak Saray', the word kaçak in Turkish meaning 'illegal'. Ak Saray was originally designed as a new office for the Prime Minister. However, upon assuming the presidency, Erdoğan announced that the palace would become the new Presidential Palace, while the Çankaya Mansion will be used by the Prime Minister instead. The move was seen as a historic change since the Çankaya Mansion had been used as the iconic office of the presidency ever since its inception. The Ak Saray has almost 1,000 rooms and cost $350 million (€270 million), leading to huge criticism at a time when mining accidents and workers' rights had been dominating the agenda. On 29 October 2014, Erdoğan was due to hold a Republic Day reception in the new palace to commemorate the 91st anniversary of the Republic of Turkey and to officially inaugurate the Presidential Palace. However, after most invited participants announced that they would boycott the event and a mining accident occurred in the district of Ermenek in Karaman, the reception was cancelled. The media President Erdoğan and his government continue to press for court action against the remaining free press in Turkey. The latest newspaper that has been seized is Zaman, in March 2016. After the seizure Morton Abramowitz and Eric Edelman, former U.S. ambassadors to Turkey, condemned President Erdoğan's actions in an opinion piece published by The Washington Post: "Clearly, democracy cannot flourish under Erdoğan now". "The overall pace of reforms in Turkey has not only slowed down but in some key areas, such as freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary, there has been a regression, which is particularly worrying", rapporteur Kati Piri said in April 2016 after the European Parliament passed its annual progress report on Turkey. On 22 June 2016, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that he considered himself successful in "destroying" Turkish civil groups "working against the state", a conclusion that had been confirmed some days earlier by Sedat Laçiner, Professor of International Relations and rector of the Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University: "Outlawing unarmed and peaceful opposition, sentencing people to unfair punishment under erroneous terror accusations, will feed genuine terrorism in Erdoğan’s Turkey. Guns and violence will become the sole alternative for legally expressing free thought". After the coup attempt, over 200 journalists were arrested and over 120 media outlets were closed. Cumhuriyet journalists were detained in November 2016 after a long-standing crackdown on the newspaper. Subsequently, Reporters Without Borders called Erdoğan an "enemy of press freedom" and said that he "hides his aggressive dictatorship under a veneer of democracy". In April 2017, Turkey blocked all access to Wikipedia over a content dispute. The Turkish government lifted a two-and-a-half-year ban on Wikipedia on 15 January 2020, restoring access to the online encyclopedia a month after Turkey's top court ruled that blocking Wikipedia was unconstitutional. On 1 July 2020, in a statement made to his party members, Erdoğan announced that the government would introduce new measures and regulations to control or shut down social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Netflix. Through these new measures, each company would be required to appoint an official representative in the country to respond to legal concerns. The decision comes after a number of Twitter users insulted his daughter Esra after she welcomed her fourth child. State of emergency and purges On 20 July 2016, President Erdoğan declared the state of emergency, citing the coup d'état attempt as justification. It was first scheduled to last three months. The Turkish parliament approved this measure. The state of emergency was later extended for another three months, amidst the ongoing 2016 Turkish purges including comprehensive purges of independent media and detention of tens of thousands of Turkish citizens politically opposed to Erdoğan. More than 50,000 people have been arrested and over 160,000 fired from their jobs by March 2018. In August 2016, Erdoğan began rounding up journalists who had been publishing, or who were about to publish articles questioning corruption within the Erdoğan administration, and incarcerating them. The number of Turkish journalists jailed by Turkey is higher than any other country, including all of those journalists currently jailed in North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and China combined. In the wake of the coup attempt of July 2016 the Erdoğan administration began rounding up tens of thousands of individuals, both from within the government, and from the public sector, and incarcerating them on charges of alleged "terrorism". As a result of these arrests, many in the international community complained about the lack of proper judicial process in the incarceration of Erdoğan's opposition. In April 2017 Erdoğan successfully sponsored legislation effectively making it illegal for the Turkish legislative branch to investigate his executive branch of government. Without the checks and balances of freedom of speech, and the freedom of the Turkish legislature to hold him accountable for his actions, many have likened Turkey's current form of government to a dictatorship with only nominal forms of democracy in practice. At the time of Erdoğan's successful passing of the most recent legislation silencing his opposition, United States President Donald Trump called Erdoğan to congratulate him for his "recent referendum victory". On 29 April 2017 Erdoğan's administration began an internal Internet block of all of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia site via Turkey's domestic Internet filtering system. This blocking action took place after the government had first made a request for Wikipedia to remove what it referred to as "offensive content". In response, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales replied via a post on Twitter stating, "Access to information is a fundamental human right. Turkish people, I will always stand with you and fight for this right." In January 2016, more than a thousand academics signed a petition criticizing Turkey's military crackdown on ethnic Kurdish towns and neighborhoods in the east of the country, such as Sur (a district of Diyarbakır), Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre and Silopi, and asking an end to violence. Erdoğan accused those who signed the petition of "terrorist propaganda", calling them "the darkest of people". He called for action by institutions and universities, stating, "Everyone who benefits from this state but is now an enemy of the state must be punished without further delay". Within days, over 30 of the signatories were arrested, many in dawn-time raids on their homes. Although all were quickly released, nearly half were fired from their jobs, eliciting a denunciation from Turkey's Science Academy for such "wrong and disturbing" treatment. Erdoğan vowed that the academics would pay the price for "falling into a pit of treachery". On 8 July 2018, Erdoğan sacked 18,000 officials for alleged ties to US based cleric Fethullah Gülen, shortly before renewing his term as an executive president. Of those removed, 9000 were police officers with 5000 from the armed forces with the addition of hundreds of academics. Foreign policy Europe In February 2016, Erdoğan threatened to send the millions of refugees in Turkey to EU member states, saying: "We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses ... So how will you deal with refugees if you don't get a deal?" In an interview to the news magazine Der Spiegel, German minister of defence Ursula von der Leyen said on 11 March 2016 that the refugee crisis had made good cooperation between EU and Turkey an "existentially important" issue. "Therefore it is right to advance now negotiations on Turkey's EU accession". In its resolution "The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey" from 22 June 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe warned that "recent developments in Turkey pertaining to freedom of the media and of expression, erosion of the rule of law and the human rights violations in relation to anti-terrorism security operations in south-east Turkey have ... raised serious questions about the functioning of its democratic institutions". On 20 August 2016, Erdoğan told his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko that Turkey would not recognize the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea; calling it "Crimea's occupation". In January 2017, Erdoğan said that the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Cyprus is "out of the question" and Turkey will be in Cyprus "forever". There is a long-standing dispute between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea. Erdoğan warned that Greece will pay a "heavy price" if Turkey's gas exploration vessel – in what Turkey said are disputed waters – is attacked. In September 2020, Erdoğan declared his government's support for Azerbaijan following clashes between Armenian and Azeri forces over a disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. He dismissed demands for a ceasefire. Diaspora In March 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated to the Turks in Europe, "Make not three, but five children. Because you are the future of Europe. That will be the best response to the injustices against you." This has been interpreted as an imperialist call for demographic warfare. According to The Economist, Erdoğan is the first Turkish leader to take the Turkish diaspora seriously, which has created friction within these diaspora communities and between the Turkish government and several of its European counterparts. The Balkans In February 2018, President Erdoğan expressed Turkish support of the Republic of Macedonia's position during negotiations over the Macedonia naming dispute saying that Greece's position is wrong. In March 2018, President Erdoğan criticized the Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj for dismissing his Interior Minister and Intelligence Chief for failing to inform him of an unauthorized and illegal secret operation conducted by the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey on Kosovo's territory that led to the arrest of six people allegedly associated with the Gülen movement. On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck the Durrës region of Albania. President Erdoğan expressed his condolences. and citing close Albanian-Turkish relations, he committed Turkey to reconstructing 500 earthquake destroyed homes and other civic structures in Laç, Albania. In Istanbul, Erdoğan organised and attended a donors conference (8 December) to assist Albania that included Turkish businessmen, investors and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. United Kingdom In May 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed Erdoğan to the United Kingdom for a three-day state visit. Erdoğan declared that the United Kingdom is "an ally and a strategic partner, but also a real friend. The cooperation we have is well beyond any mechanism that we have established with other partners." Israel Relations between Turkey and Israel began to normalize after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu officially apologized for the death of the nine Turkish activists during the Gaza flotilla raid. However, in response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of being "more barbaric than Hitler", and conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. In December 2017, President Erdoğan issued a warning to Donald Trump, after the U.S. President acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Erdoğan stated, "Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims", indicating that naming Jerusalem as Israel's capital would alienate Palestinians and other Muslims from the city, undermining hopes at a future capital of a Palestinian State. Erdoğan called Israel a "terrorist state". Naftali Bennett dismissed the threats, claiming "Erdoğan does not miss an opportunity to attack Israel". In April 2019, Erdoğan said the West Bank belongs to Palestinians, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would annex Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if he is re-elected. Erdoğan condemned the Israel–UAE peace agreement, stating that Turkey was considering suspending or cutting off diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates in retaliation. Syrian Civil War Amid allegations of Turkish collaboration with the Islamic State, the 2014 Kobanî protests broke out near the Syrian border city of Kobanî, in protest against the government's perceived facilitation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during the Siege of Kobanî. 42 protestors were killed during a brutal police crackdown. Asserting that aid to the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Syria would assist the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) (then on ceasefire) in Turkey, Erdoğan held bilateral talks with Barack Obama regarding IS during the 5–6 September 2014 NATO summit in Newport, Wales. In early October, United States Vice President Joe Biden criticised the Turkish government for supplying jihadists in Syria and said Erdoğan had expressed regret to him about letting foreign jihadists transit through Turkey en route to Syria. Erdoğan angrily responded, "Biden has to apologize for his statements" adding that if no apology is made, Biden would become "history to me." Biden subsequently apologised. In response to the U.S. request to use İncirlik Air Base to conduct air strikes against IS, Erdoğan demanded that Bashar al-Assad be removed from power first. Turkey lost its bid for a Security Council seat in the United Nations during the 2014 election; the unexpected result is believed to have been a reaction to Erdoğan's hostile treatment of the Kurds fighting ISIS on the Syrian border and a rebuke of his willingness to support IS-aligned insurgents opposed to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In 2015, there were consistent allegations that Erdoğan maintained financial links with the Islamic State, including allegation of his son-in-law Berat Albayrak's involvement with oil production and smuggling in ISIL. Revelations that the state was supplying arms to militant groups in Syria in the 2014 National Intelligence Organisation lorry scandal led to accusations of high treason. In July 2015, Turkey became involved in the international military intervention against ISIL, simultaneously launching airstrikes against PKK bases in Iraqi Kurdistan. As of 2015, Turkey began openly supporting the Army of Conquest, a coalition of Syrian rebel groups that included al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham. In late November 2016, Erdoğan said that the Turkish military launched its operations in Syria to end Assad's rule, but retracted this statement shortly afterwards. In January 2018, the Turkish military and its Syrian National Army and Sham Legion allies began the Turkish military operation in Afrin in the Kurdish-majority Afrin Canton in Northern Syria, against the YPG. On 10 April, Erdoğan rejected a Russian demand to return Afrin to Syrian government control. In October 2019, after Erdoğan spoke to him, U.S. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, despite recently agreeing to a Northern Syria Buffer Zone. U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the border to avoid interference with the Turkish operation. After the U.S. pullout, Turkey proceeded to attack the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Rejecting criticism of the invasion, Erdoğan claimed that NATO and European Union countries "sided with terrorists, and all of them attacked us". China Bilateral trade between Turkey and China increased from $1 billion a year in 2002 to $27 billion annually in 2017. Erdoğan has stated that Turkey might consider joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation instead of the European Union. Qatar blockade In June 2017 during a speech, Erdoğan called the isolation of Qatar as "inhumane and against Islamic values" and that "victimising Qatar through smear campaigns serves no purpose". Myanmar In September 2017, Erdoğan condemned the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar and accused Myanmar of "genocide" against the Muslim minority. United States Over time, Turkey began to look for ways to buy its own missile defense system and also to use that procurement to build up its own capacity to manufacture and sell an air and missile defense system. Turkey got serious about acquiring a missile defense system early in the first Obama administration when it opened a competition between the Raytheon Patriot PAC 2 system and systems from Europe, Russia, and even China. Taking advantage of the new low in U.S.-Turkish relations, Putin saw his chance to use an S-400 sale to Turkey, so in July 2017, he offered the air defense system to Turkey. In the months that followed, the United States warned Turkey that a S-400 purchase jeopardized Turkey's F-35 purchase. Integration of the Russian system into the NATO air defense net was also out of the question. Administration officials, including Mark Esper, warned that Turkey had to choose between the S-400 and the F-35. That they couldn't have both. The S-400 deliveries to Turkey began on 12 July. On 16 July, Trump mentioned to reporters that withholding the F-35 from Turkey was unfair. Said the president, "So what happens is we have a situation where Turkey is very good with us, very good, and we are now telling Turkey that because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we’re not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets". The U.S. Congress has made clear on a bipartisan basis that it expects the president to sanction Turkey for buying Russian equipment. Out of the F-35, Turkey now considers buying Russian fifth-generation jet fighter Su-57. On 1 August 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned two senior Turkish government ministers who were involved in the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Erdoğan said that the U.S. behavior will force Turkey to look for new friends and allies. The U.S.–Turkey tensions appear to be the most serious diplomatic crisis between the NATO allies in years. Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton claimed that President Donald Trump told Erdoğan he would 'take care' of investigation against Turkey's state-owned bank Halkbank accused of bank fraud charges and laundering up to $20 billion on behalf of Iranian entities. Turkey criticized Bolton's book, saying it included misleading accounts of conversations between Trump and Erdoğan. In August 2020, the former vice president and presidential candidate Joe Biden called for a new U.S. approach to the "autocrat" President Erdoğan and support for Turkish opposition parties. In September 2020, Biden demanded that Erdoğan "stay out" of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in which Turkey has supported the Azeris. Venezuela Relations with Venezuela were strengthened with recent developments and high level mutual visits. The first official visit between the two countries at presidential level was in October 2017 when Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro visited Turkey. In December 2018, Erdoğan visited Venezuela for the first time and expressed his will to build strong relations with Venezuela and expressed hope that high-level visits "will increasingly continue." Reuters reported that in 2018 23 tons of mined gold were taken from Venezuela to Istanbul. In the first nine months of 2018, Venezuela's gold exports to Turkey rose from zero in the previous year to US$900 million. During the Venezuelan presidential crisis, Erdoğan voiced solidarity with Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and criticized U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, saying that "political problems cannot be resolved by punishing an entire nation." Following the 2019 Venezuelan uprising attempt, Erdoğan condemned the actions of lawmaker Juan Guaidó, tweeting "Those who are in an effort to appoint a postmodern colonial governor to Venezuela, where the President was appointed by elections and where the people rule, should know that only democratic elections can determine how a country is governed". Events Coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a coup d'état was attempted by the military, with aims to remove Erdoğan from government. By the next day, Erdoğan's government managed to reassert effective control in the country. Reportedly, no government official was arrested or harmed, which, among other factors, raised the suspicion of a false flag event staged by the government itself. Erdoğan, as well as other government officials, has blamed an exiled cleric, and a former ally of Erdoğan, Fethullah Gülen, for staging the coup attempt. Süleyman Soylu, Minister of Labor in Erdoğan's government, accused the US of planning a coup to oust Erdoğan. Erdoğan, as well as other high-ranking Turkish government officials, has issued repeated demands to the US to extradite Gülen. Following the coup attempt, there has been a significant deterioration in Turkey-US relations. European and other world leaders have expressed their concerns over the situation in Turkey, with many of them warning Erdoğan not to use the coup attempt as an excuse to crack down on his opponents. The rise of ISIS and the collapse of the Kurdish peace process had led to a sharp rise in terror incidents in Turkey until 2016. Erdoğan was accused by his critics of having a 'soft corner' for ISIS. However, after the attempted coup, Erdoğan ordered the Turkish military into Syria to combat ISIS and Kurdish militant groups. Erdoğan's critics have decried purges in the education system and judiciary as undermining the rule of law however Erdoğan supporters argue this is a necessary measure as Gulen-linked schools cheated on entrance exams, requiring a purge in the education system and of the Gulen followers who then entered the judiciary. Erdoğan's plan is "to reconstitute Turkey as a presidential system. The plan would create a centralized system that would enable him to better tackle Turkey's internal and external threats. One of the main hurdles allegedly standing in his way is Fethullah Gulen's movement ..." In the aftermath of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, a groundswell of national unity and consensus emerged for cracking down on the coup plotters with a National Unity rally held in Turkey that included Islamists, secularists, liberals and nationalists. Erdoğan has used this consensus to remove Gulen's followers from the bureaucracy, curtail their role in NGOs, Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Turkish military, with 149 Generals discharged. In a foreign policy shift Erdoğan ordered the Turkish Armed Forces into battle in Syria and has liberated towns from IS control. As relations with Europe soured over in the aftermath of the attempted coup, Erdoğan developed alternative relationships with Russia, Saudi Arabia and a "strategic partnership" with Pakistan, with plans to cultivate relations through free trade agreements and deepening military relations for mutual co-operation with Turkey's regional allies. 2018 currency and debt crisis The Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018 was caused by the Turkish economy's excessive current account deficit and foreign-currency debt, in combination with Erdoğan's increasing authoritarianism and his unorthodox ideas about interest rate policy. Economist Paul Krugman described the unfolding crisis as "a classic currency-and-debt crisis, of a kind we’ve seen many times", adding: "At such a time, the quality of leadership suddenly matters a great deal. You need officials who understand what's happening, can devise a response and have enough credibility that markets give them the benefit of the doubt. Some emerging markets have those things, and they are riding out the turmoil fairly well. The Erdoğan regime has none of that". Ideology and public image Early during his premiership, Erdoğan was praised as a role model for emerging Middle Eastern nations due to several reform packages initiated by his government which expanded religious freedoms and minority rights as part of accession negotiations with the European Union. However, his government underwent several crises including the Sledgehammer coup and the Ergenekon trials, corruption scandals, accusations of media intimidation, as well as the pursuit of an increasingly polarizing political agenda; the opposition accused the government of inciting political hatred throughout the country. Critics say that Erdoğan's government legitimizes homophobia, as Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". Neo-Ottomanism As President, Erdoğan has overseen a revival of Ottoman tradition, greeting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas with an Ottoman-style ceremony in the new presidential palace, with guards dressed in costumes representing founders of 16 Great Turkish Empires in history. While serving as the Prime Minister of Turkey, Erdoğan's AKP made references to the Ottoman era during election campaigns, such as calling their supporters 'grandsons of Ottomans' (Osmanlı torunu). This proved controversial, since it was perceived to be an open attack against the republican nature of modern Turkey founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In 2015, Erdoğan made a statement in which he endorsed the old Ottoman term külliye to refer to university campuses rather than the standard Turkish word kampüs. Many critics have thus accused Erdoğan of wanting to become an Ottoman sultan and abandon the secular and democratic credentials of the Republic. One of the most cited scholars alive, Noam Chomsky, said that "Erdogan in Turkey is basically trying to create something like the Ottoman Caliphate, with him as caliph, supreme leader, throwing his weight around all over the place, and destroying the remnants of democracy in Turkey at the same time". When pressed on this issue in January 2015, Erdoğan denied these claims and said that he would aim to be more like Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom rather than like an Ottoman sultan. In July 2020, after the Council of State annulled the Cabinet's 1934 decision to establish the Hagia Sophia as museum and revoking the monument's status, Erdoğan ordered its reclassification as a mosque. The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia's waqf, endowed by Sultan Mehmed II, had designated the site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan. This redesignation is controversial, invoking condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO, the World Council of Churches, the Holy See, and many other international leaders. In August 2020, he also signed the order that transferred the administration of the Chora Church to the Directorate of Religious Affairs to open it for worship as a mosque. Initially converted to a mosque by the Ottomans, the building had then been designated as a museum by the government since 1934. Authoritarianism Erdoğan has served as the de facto leader of Turkey since 2002. In response to criticism, Erdoğan made a speech in May 2014 denouncing allegations of dictatorship, saying that the leader of the opposition, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was there at the speech, would not be able to "roam the streets" freely if he were a dictator. Kılıçdaroğlu responded that political tensions would cease to exist if Erdoğan stopped making his polarising speeches for three days. One observer said it was a measure of the state of Turkish democracy that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu could openly threaten, on 20 December 2015, that, if his party did not win the election, Turkish Kurds would endure a repeat of the era of the "white Toros", the Turkish name for the Renault 12, "a car associated with the gendarmarie’s fearsome intelligence agents, who carried out thousands of extrajudicial executions of Kurdish nationalists during the 1990s". In February 2015, a 13-year-old was charged by a prosecutor after allegedly insulting Erdoğan on Facebook. In 2016, a waiter was arrested for insulting Erdoğan by allegedly saying "If Erdoğan comes here, I will not even serve tea to him.". In April 2014, the President of the Constitutional Court, Haşim Kılıç, accused Erdoğan of damaging the credibility of the judiciary, labelling Erdoğan's attempts to increase political control over the courts as 'desperate'. During the chaotic 2007 presidential election, the military issued an E-memorandum warning the government to keep within the boundaries of secularism when choosing a candidate. Regardless, Erdoğan's close relations with Fethullah Gülen and his Cemaat Movement allowed his government to maintain a degree of influence within the judiciary through Gülen's supporters in high judicial and bureaucratic offices. Shortly after, an alleged coup plot codenamed Sledgehammer became public and resulted in the imprisonment of 300 military officers including İbrahim Fırtına, Çetin Doğan and Engin Alan. Several opposition politicians, journalists and military officers also went on trial for allegedly being part of an ultra-nationalist organisation called Ergenekon. Both cases were marred by irregularities and were condemned as a joint attempt by Erdoğan and Gülen to curb opposition to the AKP. The original Sledgehammer document containing the coup plans, allegedly written in 2003, was found to have been written using Microsoft Word 2007. Despite both domestic and international calls for these irregularities to be addressed in order to guarantee a fair trial, Erdoğan instead praised his government for bringing the coup plots to light. When Gülen publicly withdrew support and openly attacked Erdoğan in late 2013, several imprisoned military officers and journalists were released, with the government admitting that the judicial proceedings were unfair. When Gülen withdrew support from the AKP government in late 2013, a government corruption scandal broke out, leading to the arrest of several family members of cabinet ministers. Erdoğan accused Gülen of co-ordinating a "parallel state" within the judiciary in an attempt to topple him from power. He then removed or reassigned several judicial officials in an attempt to remove Gülen's supporters from office. Erdoğan's 'purge' was widely questioned and criticised by the European Union. In early 2014, a new law was passed by parliament giving the government greater control over the judiciary, which sparked public protest throughout the country. International organisations perceived the law to be a danger to the separation of powers. Several judicial officials removed from their posts said that they had been removed due to their secularist credentials. The political opposition accused Erdoğan of not only attempting to remove Gülen supporters, but supporters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's principles as well, in order to pave the way for increased politicisation of the judiciary. Several family members of Erdoğan's ministers who had been arrested as a result of the 2013 corruption scandal were released, and a judicial order to question Erdoğan's son Bilal Erdoğan was annulled. Controversy erupted when it emerged that many of the newly appointed judicial officials were actually AKP supporters. İslam Çiçek, a judge who ejected the cases of five ministers' relatives accused of corruption, was accused of being an AKP supporter and an official investigation was launched into his political affiliations. On 1 September 2014, the courts dissolved the cases of 96 suspects, which included Bilal Erdoğan. During a televised press conference he was asked if he believed a presidential system was possible in a unitary state. Erdoğan affirmed this and cited Nazi Germany (among other examples) as a case where such a combination existed. However, the Turkish president's office said that Erdoğan was not advocating a Hitler-style government when he called for a state system with a strong executive, and added that the Turkish president had declared the "Holocaust, anti-semitism and Islamophobia" as crimes against humanity and that it was out of the question for him to cite Hitler's Germany as a good example. Suppression of dissent Erdoğan has been criticised for his politicisation of the media, especially after the 2013 protests. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) alleged that over 1,863 journalists lost their jobs due to their anti-government views in 12 years of AKP rule. Opposition politicians have also alleged that intimidation in the media is due to the government's attempt to restructure the ownership of private media corporations. Journalists from the Cihan News Agency and the Gülenist Zaman newspaper were repeatedly barred from attending government press conferences or asking questions. Several opposition journalists such as Soner Yalçın were controversially arrested as part of the Ergenekon trials and Sledgehammer coup investigation. Veli Ağbaba, a CHP politician, has called the AKP the 'biggest media boss in Turkey.' In 2015, 74 US senators sent a letter to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to state their concern over what they saw as deviations from the basic principles of democracy in Turkey and oppressions of Erdoğan over media. Notable cases of media censorship occurred during the 2013 anti-government protests, when the mainstream media did not broadcast any news regarding the demonstrations for three days after they began. The lack of media coverage was symbolised by CNN International covering the protests while CNN Türk broadcast a documentary about penguins at the same time. The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) controversially issued a fine to pro-opposition news channels including Halk TV and Ulusal Kanal for their coverage of the protests, accusing them of broadcasting footage that could be morally, physically and mentally destabilising to children. Erdoğan was criticised for not responding to the accusations of media intimidation, and caused international outrage after telling a female journalist (Amberin Zaman of The Economist) to know her place and calling her a 'shameless militant' during his 2014 presidential election campaign. While the 2014 presidential election was not subject to substantial electoral fraud, Erdoğan was again criticised for receiving disproportionate media attention in comparison to his rivals. The British newspaper The Times commented that between 2 and 4 July, the state-owned media channel TRT gave 204 minutes of coverage to Erdoğan's campaign and less than a total of 3 minutes to both his rivals. Erdoğan also tightened controls over the Internet, signing into law a bill which allows the government to block websites without prior court order on 12 September 2014. His government blocked Twitter and YouTube in late March 2014 following the release of a recording of a conversation between him and his son Bilal, where Erdoğan allegedly warned his family to 'nullify' all cash reserves at their home amid the 2013 corruption scandal. Erdoğan has undertaken a media campaign that attempts to portray the presidential family as frugal and simple-living; their palace electricity-bill is estimated at $500,000 per month. In May 2016, former Miss Turkey model Merve Büyüksaraç was sentenced to more than a year in prison for allegedly insulting the president. In a 2016 news story, Bloomberg reported, "more than 2,000 cases have been opened against journalists, cartoonists, teachers, a former Miss Turkey, and even schoolchildren in the past two years". In November 2016, the Turkish government blocked access to social media in all of Turkey as well as sought to completely block Internet access for the citizens in the southeast of the country. Mehmet Aksoy lawsuit In 2009, Turkish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy created the Statue of Humanity in Kars to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. When visiting the city in 2011, Erdoğan deemed the statue a "freak", and months later it was demolished. Aksoy sued Erdoğan for "moral indemnities", although his lawyer said that his statement was a critique rather than an insult. In March 2015, a judge ordered Erdoğan to pay 10,000 liras. Erdoğanism Erdoğan has produced many aphorisms and catch-phrases known as Erdoğanisms. The term Erdoğanism first emerged shortly after Erdoğan's 2011 general election victory, where it was predominantly described as the AKP's liberal economic and conservative democratic ideals fused with Erdoğan demagoguery and cult of personality. Views on minorities LGBT In 2002, Erdoğan said that "homosexuals must be legally protected within the framework of their rights and freedoms. From time to time, we do not find the treatment they get on some television screens humane", he said. However, in 2017 Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey's top Muslim scholar and President of Religious Affairs, Ali Erbaş, said in a Friday Ramadan announcement that country condemns homosexuality because it "brings illness," insinuating that same sex relations are responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan backed Erbaş, saying that what Erbaş "said was totally right." Jews While Erdoğan has declared several times being against antisemitism, he has been accused of invoking antisemitic stereotypes in public statements. According to Erdoğan, he had been inspired by novelist and Islamist ideologue Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, a publisher (among others) of antisemitic literature. Others During a live interview in 2014, he said: "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian. Excuse me, but they have said even uglier things. They have called me Armenian, but I am Turkish." Honours and accolades Foreign honours Russia: Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan" (1 June 2006) Pakistan: Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award in Pakistan (26 October 2009) Georgia: Order of Golden Fleece, awarded for his contribution to development of bilateral relations (17 May 2010) Kyrgyzstan: Danaker Order in Bishkek (2 February 2011) Azerbaijan: Heydar Aliyev Order (3 September 2014) Belgium: Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold (5 October 2015) Madagascar: Knight Grand Cross in the national Order (25 January 2017) Gagauzia: Order of Gagauz-Yeri in Comrat (18 October 2018) Venezuela: Order of the Liberator, Grand Cordon (3 December 2018) Ukraine: Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (16 October 2020) Other awards 29 January 2004: Profile of Courage Award from the American Jewish Congress, for promoting peace between cultures. Returned at the request of the A.J.C. in July 2014. 13 June 2004: Golden Plate award from the Academy of Achievement during the conference in Chicago. 3 October 2004: German Quadriga prize for improving relationships between different cultures. 2 September 2005: Mediterranean Award for Institutions (). This was awarded by the Fondazione Mediterraneo. 8 August 2006: Caspian Energy Integration Award from the Caspian Integration Business Club. 1 November 2006: Outstanding Service award from the Turkish humanitarian organization Red Crescent. 2 February 2007: Dialogue Between Cultures Award from the President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev. 15 April 2007: Crystal Hermes Award from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the opening of the Hannover Industrial Fair. 11 July 2007: highest award of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Agricola Medal, in recognition of his contribution to agricultural and social development in Turkey. 11 May 2009: Avicenna award from the Avicenna Foundation in Frankfurt, Germany. 9 June 2009: guest of honor at the 20th Crans Montana Forum in Brussels and received the Prix de la Fondation, for democracy and freedom. 25 June 2009: Key to the City of Tirana on the occasion of his state visit to Albania. 29 December 2009: Award for Contribution to World Peace from the Turgut Özal Thought and Move Association. 12 January 2010: King Faisal International Prize for "service to Islam" from the King Faisal Foundation. 23 February 2010: Nodo Culture Award from the mayor of Seville for his efforts to launch the Alliance of Civilizations initiative. 1 March 2010: United Nations–HABITAT award in memorial of Rafik Hariri. A seven-member international jury unanimously found Erdoğan deserving of the award because of his "excellent achievement and commendable conduct in the area of leadership, statesmanship and good governance. Erdoğan also initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors." 27 May 2010: medal of honor from the Brazilian Federation of Industry for the State of São Paulo (FIESP) for his contributions to industry 31 May 2010: World Health Organization 2010 World No Tobacco Award for "his dedicated leadership on tobacco control in Turkey." 29 June 2010: 2010 World Family Award from the World Family Organization which operates under the umbrella of the United Nations. 4 November 2010: Golden Medal of Independence, an award conferred upon Kosovo citizens and foreigners that have contributed to the independence of Kosovo. 25 November 2010: "Leader of the Year" award presented by the Union of Arab Banks in Lebanon. 11 January 2011: "Outstanding Personality in the Islamic World Award" of the Sheikh Fahad al-Ahmad International Award for Charity in Kuwait. 25 October 2011: Palestinian International Award for Excellence and Creativity (PIA) 2011 for his support to the Palestinian people and cause. 21 January 2012: 'Gold Statue 2012 Special Award' by the Polish Business Center Club (BCC). Erdoğan was awarded for his systematic effort to clear barriers on the way to economic growth, striving to build democracy and free market relations. 2020: Ig Nobel Prize "for using the COVID-19 viral pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can." See also List of international presidential trips made by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Leadership approval polling for the 2023 Turkish general election The 500 Most Influential Muslims Notes References Further reading Cagaptay, Soner. The new sultan: Erdogan and the crisis of modern Turkey (2nd ed. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020). online review Cagaptay, Soner. "Making Turkey Great Again." Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 43 (2019): 169–78. online Kirişci, Kemal, and Amanda Sloat. "The rise and fall of liberal democracy in Turkey: Implications for the West" Foreign Policy at Brookings (2019) online Tziarras, Zenonas. "Erdoganist authoritarianism and the 'new' Turkey." Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 18.4 (2018): 593–598. online Yavuz, M. Hakan. "A framework for understanding the Intra-Islamist conflict between the AK party and the Gülen movement." Politics, Religion & Ideology 19.1 (2018): 11–32. online Yesil, Bilge. Media in New Turkey: The Origins of an Authoritarian Neoliberal State (University of Illinois Press, 2016) online review External links Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Instagram. Archived from the original. Welcome to demokrasi: how Erdoğan got more popular than ever by The Guardian 1954 births Living people 21st-century presidents of Turkey 21st-century prime ministers of Turkey Deniers of the Armenian genocide Deputies of Istanbul Deputies of Siirt Recep Tayyip Imam Hatip school alumni Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Leaders of political parties in Turkey Marmara University alumni Mayors of Istanbul Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Naqshbandi order People from Istanbul Politicians arrested in Turkey Presidents of Turkey Prime Ministers of Turkey Recipients of the Heydar Aliyev Order Recipients of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia) Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class Turkish Islamists Turkish Sunni Muslims Chairmen of the Organization of Turkic States Recipients of the Gagauz-Yeri Order Foreign recipients of the Nishan-e-Pakistan	false	[ "Altan Erdogan (born 29 June 1967, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch journalist. He is the former editor of the Dutch weekly magazine Nieuwe Revu.\n\nLife and career\nErdogan was born to a Turkish father and a Dutch mother. After his journalism studies at the School of Journalism in Utrecht, he worked as a reporter and editor for the Haarlem Dagblad, Het Parool and De Volkskrant. From 2002 he was managing editor and deputy of Times Magazine. In December 2007 he was the first foreign editor of a national magazine in the Netherlands.\n\nIn the years 2007-2010 Erdogan served as editor-in-chief of Nieuwe Revu. He changed the name to Revu but his successor, Frans Loman, changed it right back. In the Erdogan years the circulation of Nieuwe Revu dropped from 64,360 to 46,619 (by 28%), but this was not different from the previous and subsequent years.\n\nSubsequent to Nieuwe Revu, Erdogan worked for the Dutch broadcasters VARA and PowNed. From 2015 to 2021 he edited Folia, the free student and staff magazine of the University of Amsterdam.\n\nAfter his stint with the student newspaper he was announced as the editor in chief for the Amsterdam television station AT5. He started in October 2021.\n\nReferences \n\n1967 births\nLiving people\nDutch journalists\nDutch people of Turkish descent\nWriters from Amsterdam", "Ertuğrul Erdoğan (born October 18, 1968) is a Turkish professional basketball coach. He last served as a head coach for Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball Super League and the Basketball Champions League.\n\nCoaching career \nIn 1996, Erdogan began his professional level coaching career with Galatasaray.\n\nErdoğan later served as an assistant coach for the Fenerbahçe from 2000 to 2013. With Fenerbahçe, Erdoğan worked under legendary coaches Aydın Örs and Bogdan Tanjevic.\n\nDuring the 2009-2010 season, coach Tanjevic was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and left the team at late March, Erdogan took over and led Fenerbahçe to the 2009-10 Turkish Basketball League championship. Despite his success against the title favourites Efes Pilsen, he was not appointed as Fenerbahçe's head coach in the following season. Erdogan continued to serve in an assistant coach capacity with head coaches Neven Spahija and Simone Pianigiani in the following seasons. He left Fenerbahce in 2013, after 13 years.\n\nŽalgiris Kaunas' interest \nShortly after Sarunas Jasikevicius' decision to joining Barcelona in the summer of 2020, Ertugrul Erdogan has emerged the frontrunner for Zalgiris head coach position. Erdogan spoke with Zalgiris president and GM Paulius Motiejunas but there was never traction on reaching a contract agreement as the days wore on. Zalgiris opted to sign with the Salt Lake City Stars head coach, Martin Schiller. \n\nA couple of days after Zalgiris' interest, on July 14, 2020, Galatasaray officially signed head coach Ertugrul Erdogan to a 1+1 contract extension, the team announced.\n\nGalatasaray (2018-2020) \nOn July 26, 2018, Erdogan signed a two-year contract, and agreed to become the new head coach of the Turkish club Galatasaray.\n\nDuring his tenure at Galatasaray, Erdogan scouted and helped to promote many players into the Euroleague level. Rookies like Nigel Hayes, Aaron Harrison and Alex Poythress played under his leadership in their first seasons in Europe and then they signed with the Euroleague clubs Zalgiris, Olympiacos B.C and Zenit St. Petersburg respectively.\n\nZach Auguste, who was the starting center of Erdogan's Galatasaray for both seasons, agreed with Euroleague club Panathinaikos on July 20, 2020. Greg Whittington, another Galatasaray alum, \"will sign with an NBA team, unless a major Euroleague team makes a strong offer\" according to Whittington's agent Jerry Dianis. \n\nGalatasaray announced that the club has entered negotiations with head coach Ertugrul Erdogan for the mutual termination of his contract. On November 10, 2020, coach Erdogan bid his farewell to Galatasaray and their fans. “Without honesty, there is neither trust nor sustainable success. Thank you to everyone, mainly our fans, who supported me and my staff during my two and a half years at Galatasaray. My conscience is clear” he later tweeted.\n\nPersonal life \nErdogan graduated from Middle East Technical University Department of Physical Education and Sports.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Galatasaray.org\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Eurobasket.com\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Euroleague.net\n\n1968 births\nLiving people\nBasketbol Süper Ligi head coaches\nFenerbahçe basketball coaches\nGalatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) coaches\nTurkish basketball coaches\nTürk Telekom basketball coaches" ]
[ "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "Personal life and education", "Where did Erdogan go to college?", "He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences,", "Does Erdogan have children?", "I don't know.", "Where was Erdogan born?", "Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul,", "Is Erdogan married?", "Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (", "Did Erdogan open a mosque?", "Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village.", "What sport did Erdogan play?", "Erdogan played semi-professional football at a local club.", "What did Erdogan's father do for a living?", "his father Ahmet Erdogan (1905 - 1988) was a Captain in the Turkish Coast Guard." ]	C_15e775d39cc647c7987d95fdc23b6587_1	Is there a football stadium named after Erdogan?	8	Is there a football stadium named after Recep Tayyip Erdoğan?	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province. His parents are Ahmet Erdogan and Tenzile Erdogan. Erdogan reportedly said in 2003, "I'm a Georgian, my family is a Georgian family which migrated from Batumi to Rize." But in a 2014 televised interview on the NTV news network, he said, "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian... forgive me for saying this... even much uglier things, they have even called me an Armenian, but I am Turkish." In an account based on registry records, his genealogy was tracked to an ethnic Turkish family. Erdogan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father Ahmet Erdogan (1905 - 1988) was a Captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. Erdogan had a brother Mustafa (b. 1958) and sister Vesile (b. 1965). His summer holidays were mostly spent in Guneysu, Rize, where his family originates from. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdogan was 13 years old. As a teenager, he sold lemonade and sesame buns (simit) on the streets of the city's rougher districts to earn extra money. Brought up in an observant Muslim family, Erdogan graduated from Kasimpasa Piyale primary school in 1965, and Imam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. He received his high school diploma from Eyup High School. He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences, now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences--although several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated. In his youth, Erdogan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahce wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasimpasa S.K. is named after him. Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (born 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons; Ahmet Burak and Necmettin Bilal, and two daughters, Esra and Sumeyye. His father, Ahmet Erdogan, died in 1988 and his 88-year-old mother, Tenzile Erdogan, died in 2011. He is a member of the Community of Iskenderpasa, a Turkish sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to election victories in 2002, 2007, and 2011 general elections before being required to stand down upon his election as President in 2014. He later returned to the AKP leadership in 2017 following the constitutional referendum that year. Coming from an Islamist political background and self-describing as a conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration. Following the 1994 local elections, Erdoğan was elected mayor of Istanbul as the candidate of the Islamist Welfare Party. He was later stripped of his position, banned from political office, and imprisoned for four months for inciting religious hatred, due to his recitation of a poem by Ziya Gökalp. Erdoğan subsequently abandoned openly Islamist politics, establishing the moderate conservative AKP in 2001, which he went on to lead to a landslide victory in 2002. With Erdoğan still technically prohibited from holding office, the AKP's co-founder, Abdullah Gül, instead became prime minister, and later annulled Erdoğan's political ban. After winning a by-election in Siirt in 2003, Erdoğan replaced Gül as prime minister, with Gül instead becoming the AKP's candidate for the presidency. Erdoğan led the AKP to two more election victories in 2007 and 2011. The early years of Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister saw advances in negotiations for Turkey's membership of the European Union, an economic recovery following a economic crisis in 2001 and investments in infrastructure including roads, airports, and a high-speed train network. He also won two successful constitutional referendums in 2007 and 2010. However, his government remained controversial for its close links with Fethullah Gülen and his Gülen Movement (since designated as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish state) with whom the AKP was accused of orchestrating purges against secular bureaucrats and military officers through the Balyoz and Ergenekon trials. In late 2012, his government began peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to end the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present). The ceasefire broke down in 2015, leading to a renewed escalation in conflict. Erdoğan's foreign policy has been described as Neo-Ottoman and has led to the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, with its focus on preventing the Syrian Democratic Forces from gaining ground on the Syria–Turkey border during the Syrian Civil War. In the more recent years of Erdoğan's rule, Turkey has experienced democratic backsliding and corruption. Starting with the anti-government protests in 2013, his government imposed growing censorship on the press and social media, temporarily restricting access to sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. This stalled negotiations related to Turkey's EU membership. A US$100 billion corruption scandal in 2013 led to the arrests of Erdoğan's close allies, and incriminated Erdoğan. After 11 years as head of government (Prime Minister), Erdoğan decided to run for President in 2014. At the time, the presidency was a somewhat ceremonial function. Following the 2014 elections, Erdoğan became the first popularly elected president of Turkey. The souring in relations with Gülen continued, as the government proceeded to purge his supporters from judicial, bureaucratic and military positions. A failed military coup d'état attempt in July 2016 resulted in further purges and a temporary state of emergency. The government claimed that the coup leaders were linked to Gülen, but he has denied any role in it. Erdoğan's rule has been marked with increasing authoritarianism, expansionism, censorship and banning of parties or dissent. Erdoğan supported the 2017 referendum which changed Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential system, thus setting for the first time in Turkish history a term limit for the head of government (two full five-year terms). This new system of government formally came into place after the 2018 general election, where Erdoğan became an executive president. His party however lost the majority in the parliament and is currently in a coalition (People's Alliance) with the Turkish nationalist MHP. Erdoğan has since been tackling, but also accused of contributing to, the Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018, which has caused a significant decline in his popularity and is widely believed to have contributed to the results of the 2019 local elections, in which his party lost power in big cities like Ankara and Istanbul to opposition parties for the first time in 15 years. Family and personal life Early life Erdoğan was born in Kasımpaşa, a poor neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province in the 1930s. Erdoğan's tribe is originally from Adjara, a region in Georgia. His parents were Ahmet Erdoğan (1905–88) and Tenzile Erdoğan (née Mutlu; 1924–2011). Erdoğan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father was a captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. His summer holidays were mostly spent in Güneysu, Rize, where his family originates. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdoğan was 13 years old. As a teenager, Erdoğan's father provided him with a weekly allowance of 2.5 Turkish lira, less than a dollar. With it, Erdoğan bought postcards and resold them on the street. He sold bottles of water to drivers stuck in traffic. Erdoğan also worked as a street vendor selling simit (sesame bread rings), wearing a white gown and selling the simit from a red three-wheel cart with the rolls stacked behind glass. In his youth, Erdoğan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahçe wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasımpaşa S.K. is named after him. Erdoğan is a member of the Community of İskenderpaşa, a Turkish Sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. Education Erdoğan graduated from Kasımpaşa Piyale primary school in 1965, and İmam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. The same educational path was followed by other co-founders of the AKP party. One quarter of the curriculum of İmam Hatip schools involves study of the Qurʼān, the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the Arabic language. Erdoğan studied the Qurʼān at an İmam Hatip, where his classmates began calling him "hoca" ("Muslim teacher"). Erdoğan attended a meeting of the nationalist student group National Turkish Student Union (Milli Türk Talebe Birliği), who sought to raise a conservative cohort of young people to counter the rising movement of leftists in Turkey. Within the group, Erdoğan was distinguished by his oratorical skills, developing a penchant for public speaking and excelling in front of an audience. He won first place in a poetry-reading competition organized by the Community of Turkish Technical Painters, and began preparing for speeches through reading and research. Erdoğan would later comment on these competitions as "enhancing our courage to speak in front of the masses". Erdoğan wanted to pursue advanced studies at Mekteb-i Mülkiye, but Mülkiye accepted only students with regular high school diplomas, and not İmam Hatip graduates. Mülkiye was known for its political science department, which trained many statesmen and politicians in Turkey. Erdoğan was then admitted to Eyüp High School, a regular state school, and eventually received his high school diploma from Eyüp. According to his official biography, he subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences (), now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated, or even attended at all. Family Erdoğan married Emine Gülbaran (b. 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons, Ahmet Burak (b. 1979) and Necmettin Bilal (b. 1981), and two daughters, Esra (b. 1983) and Sümeyye (b. 1985). His father, Ahmet Erdoğan, died in 1988 and his mother, Tenzile Erdoğan, died in 2011 at the age of 88. Erdoğan has a brother, Mustafa (b. 1958), and a sister, Vesile (b. 1965). From his father's first marriage to Havuli Erdoğan (d. 1980), he had two half-brothers: Mehmet (1926–1988) and Hasan (1929–2006). Early political career In 1976, Erdoğan engaged in politics by joining the National Turkish Student Union, an anti-communist action group. In the same year, he became the head of the Beyoğlu youth branch of the Islamist National Salvation Party (MSP), and was later promoted to chair of the Istanbul youth branch of the party. Holding this position until 1980, he served as consultant and senior executive in the private sector during the era following the 1980 military coup when political parties were closed down. In 1983, Erdoğan followed most of Necmettin Erbakan's followers into the Islamist Welfare Party. He became the party's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984, and in 1985 he became the chair of the Istanbul city branch. He was elected to parliament in 1991, but was barred from taking his seat. Mayor of Istanbul (1994–1998) In the local elections of 27 March 1994, Erdoğan was elected Mayor of Istanbul with 25.19% of the popular vote. Erdoğan was a 40-year-old dark horse candidate who had been mocked by the mainstream media and treated as a country bumpkin by his opponents. He was pragmatic in office, tackling many chronic problems in Istanbul including water shortage, pollution and traffic chaos. The water shortage problem was solved with the laying of hundreds of kilometers of new pipelines. The garbage problem was solved with the establishment of state-of-the-art recycling facilities. While Erdoğan was in office, air pollution was reduced through a plan developed to switch to natural gas. He changed the public buses to environmentally friendly ones. The city's traffic and transportation jams were reduced with more than fifty bridges, viaducts, and highways built. He took precautions to prevent corruption, using measures to ensure that municipal funds were used prudently. He paid back a major portion of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's two-billion-dollar debt and invested four billion dollars in the city. Erdoğan initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors. A seven-member international jury from the United Nations unanimously awarded Erdoğan the UN-Habitat award. Imprisonment In 1998, the fundamentalist Welfare Party was declared unconstitutional on the grounds of threatening the secularism of Turkey and was shut down by the Turkish constitutional court. Erdoğan became a prominent speaker at demonstrations held by his party colleagues. In December 1997 in Siirt, Erdoğan recited a poem from a work written by Ziya Gökalp, a pan-Turkish activist of the early 20th century. His recitation included verses translated as "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...." which are not in the original version of the poem. Erdoğan said the poem had been approved by the education ministry to be published in textbooks. Under article 312/2 of the Turkish penal code his recitation was regarded as an incitement to violence and religious or racial hatred. He was given a ten-month prison sentence of which he served four months, from 24 March 1999 to 27 July 1999. Due to his conviction, Erdoğan was forced to give up his mayoral position. The conviction also stipulated a political ban, which prevented him from participating in parliamentary elections. He had appealed for the sentence to be converted to a monetary fine, but it was reduced to 120 days instead. In 2017, this period of Erdoğan's life was made into a film titled Reis. Justice and Development Party Erdoğan was member of political parties that kept getting banned by the army or judges. Within his Virtue Party, there was a dispute about the appropriate discourse of the party between traditional politicians and pro-reform politicians. The latter envisioned a party that could operate within the limits of the system, and thus not getting banned as its predecessors like National Order Party, National Salvation Party and Welfare Party. They wanted to give the group the character of an ordinary conservative party following the example of the European Christian democratic parties. When the Virtue Party was also banned in 2001, a definitive split took place: the followers of Necmettin Erbakan founded the Felicity Party (SP) and the reformers founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) under the leadership of Abdullah Gül and Erdoğan. The pro-reform politicians realized that a strictly Islamic party would never be accepted as a governing party by the state apparatus and they believed that an Islamic party did not appeal to more than about 20 percent of the Turkish electorate. The AK party emphatically placed itself as a broad democratic conservative party with new politicians from the political center (like Ali Babacan and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu), while respecting Islamic norms and values, but without an explicit religious program. This turned out to be successful as the new party won 34% of the vote in the general elections of 2002. Erdoğan became prime minister in March 2003 after the Gül government ended his political ban. Premiership (2003–2014) General elections The elections of 2002 were the first elections in which Erdoğan participated as a party leader. All parties previously elected to parliament failed to win enough votes to re-enter the parliament. The AKP won 34.3% of the national vote and formed the new government. Turkish stocks rose more than 7% on Monday morning. Politicians of the previous generation, such as Ecevit, Bahceli, Yılmaz and Çiller, resigned. The second largest party, the CHP, received 19.4% of the votes. The AKP won a landslide victory in the parliament, taking nearly two-thirds of the seats. Erdoğan could not become Prime Minister as he was still banned from politics by the judiciary for his speech in Siirt. Gül became the Prime Minister instead. In December 2002, the Supreme Election Board canceled the general election results from Siirt due to voting irregularities and scheduled a new election for 9 February 2003. By this time, party leader Erdoğan was able to run for parliament due to a legal change made possible by the opposition Republican People's Party. The AKP duly listed Erdoğan as a candidate for the rescheduled election, which he won, becoming Prime Minister after Gül handed over the post. On 14 April 2007, an estimated 300,000 people marched in Ankara to protest against the possible candidacy of Erdoğan in the 2007 presidential election, afraid that if elected as president, he would alter the secular nature of the Turkish state. Erdoğan announced on 24 April 2007 that the party had nominated Abdullah Gül as the AKP candidate in the presidential election. The protests continued over the next several weeks, with over one million people reported to have turned out at a 29 April rally in Istanbul, tens of thousands at separate protests on 4 May in Manisa and Çanakkale, and one million in İzmir on 13 May. The stage of the elections of 2007 was set for a fight for legitimacy in the eyes of voters between his government and the CHP. Erdoğan used the event that took place during the ill-fated Presidential elections a few months earlier as a part of the general election campaign of his party. On 22 July 2007, the AKP won an important victory over the opposition, garnering 46.7% of the popular vote. 22 July elections marked only the second time in the Republic of Turkey's history whereby an incumbent governing party won an election by increasing its share of popular support. On 14 March 2008, Turkey's Chief Prosecutor asked the country's Constitutional Court to ban Erdoğan's governing party. The party escaped a ban on 30 July 2008, a year after winning 46.7% of the vote in national elections, although judges did cut the party's public funding by 50%. In the June 2011 elections, Erdoğan's governing party won 327 seats (49.83% of the popular vote) making Erdoğan the only prime minister in Turkey's history to win three consecutive general elections, each time receiving more votes than the previous election. The second party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), received 135 seats (25.94%), the nationalist MHP received 53 seats (13.01%), and the Independents received 35 seats (6.58%). Referendums After the opposition parties deadlocked the 2007 presidential election by boycotting the parliament, the ruling AKP proposed a constitutional reform package. The reform package was first vetoed by president Sezer. Then he applied to the Turkish constitutional court about the reform package, because the president is unable to veto amendments for the second time. The Turkish constitutional court did not find any problems in the packet and 68.95% of the voters supported the constitutional changes. The reforms consisted of electing the president by popular vote instead of by parliament; reducing the presidential term from seven years to five; allowing the president to stand for re-election for a second term; holding general elections every four years instead of five; and reducing from 367 to 184 the quorum of lawmakers needed for parliamentary decisions. Reforming the Constitution was one of the main pledges of the AKP during the 2007 election campaign. The main opposition party CHP was not interested in altering the Constitution on a big scale, making it impossible to form a Constitutional Commission (Anayasa Uzlaşma Komisyonu). The amendments lacked the two-thirds majority needed to become law instantly, but secured 336 votes in the 550-seat parliament – enough to put the proposals to a referendum. The reform package included a number of issues such as the right of individuals to appeal to the highest court, the creation of the ombudsman's office; the possibility to negotiate a nationwide labour contract; gender equality; the ability of civilian courts to convict members of the military; the right of civil servants to go on strike; a privacy law; and the structure of the Constitutional Court. The referendum was agreed by a majority of 58%. Domestic Policy Kurdish issue In 2009, Prime Minister Erdoğan's government announced a plan to help end the quarter-century-long Turkey–Kurdistan Workers' Party conflict that had cost more than 40,000 lives. The government's plan, supported by the European Union, intended to allow the Kurdish language to be used in all broadcast media and political campaigns, and restored Kurdish names to cities and towns that had been given Turkish ones. Erdoğan said, "We took a courageous step to resolve chronic issues that constitute an obstacle along Turkey's development, progression and empowerment". Erdoğan passed a partial amnesty to reduce penalties faced by many members of the Kurdish guerrilla movement PKK who had surrendered to the government. On 23 November 2011, during a televised meeting of his party in Ankara, he apologised on behalf of the state for the Dersim massacre, where many Alevis and Zazas were killed. In 2013 the government of Erdoğan began a peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish Government, mediated by parliamentarians of the Peoples' Democratic party (HDP). In 2015 he decided that the peace process was over and supported the lift of the parliamentary immunity of the HDP parliamentarians. During his presidency a law was introduced which banned the use of the word Kurdistan in parliament and in a speech he held for the local election of 2019 he told the HDP politicians that if there is no Kurdistan in Turkey and if they looked for one they should go to Northern Iraq. Armenian genocide Prime Minister Erdoğan expressed multiple times that Turkey would acknowledge the mass killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide only after a thorough investigation by a joint Turkish-Armenian commission consisting of historians, archaeologists, political scientists and other experts. In 2005, Erdoğan and the main opposition party leader Deniz Baykal wrote a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, proposing the creation of a joint Turkish-Armenian commission. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian rejected the offer because he asserted that the proposal itself was "insincere and not serious". He added: "This issue cannot be considered at historical level with Turks, who themselves politicized the problem". In December 2008, Erdoğan criticised the I Apologize campaign by Turkish intellectuals to recognize the Armenian Genocide, saying, "I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologise ... It will not have any benefit other than stirring up trouble, disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have been taken". In November 2009, he said, "it is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide". In 2011, Erdoğan ordered the tearing-down of the Statue of Humanity, a Turkish–Armenian friendship monument in Kars, which was commissioned in 2006 and represented a metaphor of the rapprochement of the two countries after many years of dispute over the events of 1915. Erdoğan justified the removal by stating that the monument was offensively close to the tomb of an 11th-century Islamic scholar, and that its shadow ruined the view of that site, while Kars municipality officials said it was illegally erected in a protected area. However, the former mayor of Kars who approved the original construction of the monument said the municipality was destroying not just a "monument to humanity" but "humanity itself". The demolition was not unopposed; among its detractors were several Turkish artists. Two of them, the painter Bedri Baykam and his associate, Pyramid Art Gallery general coordinator Tugba Kurtulmus, were stabbed after a meeting with other artists at the Istanbul Akatlar cultural center. On 23 April 2014, Erdoğan's office issued a statement in nine languages (including two dialects of Armenian), offering condolences for the mass killings of Armenians and stating that the events of 1915 had inhumane consequences. The statement described the mass killings as the two nations' shared pain and said: "Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences – such as relocation – during the First World War, (it) should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among one another". The Ottoman Parliament of 1915 had previously used the term "relocation" to describe the purpose of the Tehcir Law, which resulted in the deaths of anywhere between 800,000 and over 1,800,000 Armenian civilians in what is commonly referred to as the Armenian Genocide. Pope Francis in April 2015, at a special mass in St. Peter's Basilica marking the centenary of the events, described atrocities against Armenian civilians in 1915–1922 as "the first genocide of the 20th century". In protest, Erdoğan recalled the Turkish ambassador from the Vatican, and summoned the Vatican's ambassador, to express "disappointment" at what he called a discriminatory message. He later stated "we don’t carry a stain or a shadow like genocide". US President Barack Obama called for a "full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts", but again stopped short of labelling it "genocide", despite his campaign promise to do so. Human rights During Erdoğan's time as Prime Minister, the far-reaching powers of the 1991 Anti-Terror Law were reduced and the Democratic initiative process was initiated, with the goal to improve democratic standards in general and the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in particular. However, after Turkey's bid to join the European Union stalled, European officials noted a return to more authoritarian ways, notably on freedom of speech, freedom of the press and Kurdish minority rights. Demands by activists for the recognition of LGBT rights were publicly rejected by government members, and members of the Turkish LGBT community were insulted by cabinet members. Reporters Without Borders observed a continuous decrease in Freedom of the Press during Erdoğan's later terms, with a rank of around 100 on the Press Freedom Index during his first term and a rank of 153 out of a total of 179 countries in 2021. Freedom House saw a slight recovery in later years and awarded Turkey a Press Freedom Score of 55/100 in 2012 after a low point of 48/100 in 2006. In 2011, Erdoğan's government made legal reforms to return properties of Christian and Jewish minorities which were seized by the Turkish government in the 1930s. The total value of the properties returned reached $2 billion (USD). Under Erdoğan, the Turkish government tightened the laws on the sale and consumption of alcohol, banning all advertising and increasing the tax on alcoholic beverages. Economy In 2002, Erdoğan inherited a Turkish economy that was beginning to recover from a recession as a result of reforms implemented by Kemal Derviş. Erdoğan supported Finance Minister Ali Babacan in enforcing macro-economic policies. Erdoğan tried to attract more foreign investors to Turkey and lifted many government regulations. The cash-flow into the Turkish economy between 2002 and 2012 caused a growth of 64% in real GDP and a 43% increase in GDP per capita; considerably higher numbers were commonly advertised but these did not account for the inflation of the US dollar between 2002 and 2012. The average annual growth in GDP per capita was 3.6%. The growth in real GDP between 2002 and 2012 was higher than the values from developed countries, but was close to average when developing countries are also taken into account. The ranking of the Turkish economy in terms of GDP moved slightly from 17 to 16 during this decade. A major consequence of the policies between 2002 and 2012 was the widening of the current account deficit from US$600 million to US$58 billion (2013 est.) Since 1961, Turkey has signed 19 IMF loan accords. Erdoğan's government satisfied the budgetary and market requirements of the two during his administration and received every loan installment, the only time any Turkish government has done so. Erdoğan inherited a debt of $23.5 billion to the IMF, which was reduced to $0.9 billion in 2012. He decided not to sign a new deal. Turkey's debt to the IMF was thus declared to be completely paid and he announced that the IMF could borrow from Turkey. In 2010, five-year credit default swaps for Turkey's sovereign debt were trading at a record low of 1.17%, below those of nine EU member countries and Russia. In 2002, the Turkish Central Bank had $26.5 billion in reserves. This amount reached $92.2 billion in 2011. During Erdoğan's leadership, inflation fell from 32% to 9.0% in 2004. Since then, Turkish inflation has continued to fluctuate around 9% and is still one of the highest inflation rates in the world. The Turkish public debt as a percentage of annual GDP declined from 74% in 2002 to 39% in 2009. In 2012, Turkey had a lower ratio of public debt to GDP than 21 of 27 members of the European Union and a lower budget deficit to GDP ratio than 23 of them. In 2003, Erdoğan's government pushed through the Labor Act, a comprehensive reform of Turkey's labor laws. The law greatly expanded the rights of employees, establishing a 45-hour workweek and limiting overtime work to 270 hours a year, provided legal protection against discrimination due to sex, religion, or political affiliation, prohibited discrimination between permanent and temporary workers, entitled employees terminated without "valid cause" to compensation, and mandated written contracts for employment arrangements lasting a year or more. Education Erdoğan increased the budget of the Ministry of Education from 7.5 billion lira in 2002 to 34 billion lira in 2011, the highest share of the national budget given to one ministry. Before his prime ministership the military received the highest share of the national budget. Compulsory education was increased from eight years to twelve. In 2003, the Turkish government, together with UNICEF, initiated a campaign called "Come on girls, [let's go] to school!" (). The goal of this campaign was to close the gender gap in primary school enrollment through the provision of a quality basic education for all girls, especially in southeast Turkey. In 2005, the parliament granted amnesty to students expelled from universities before 2003. The amnesty applied to students dismissed on academic or disciplinary grounds. In 2004, textbooks became free of charge and since 2008 every province in Turkey has its own university. During Erdoğan's Premiership, the number of universities in Turkey nearly doubled, from 98 in 2002 to 186 in October 2012. The Prime Minister kept his campaign promises by starting the Fatih project in which all state schools, from preschool to high school level, received a total of 620,000 smart boards, while tablet computers were distributed to 17 million students and approximately one million teachers and administrators. In June 2017 a draft proposal by the ministry of education was approved by Erdoğan, in which the curriculum for schools excluded the teaching of the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin by 2019. From then on the teaching will be postponed and start at undergraduate level. Infrastructure Under Erdoğan's government, the number of airports in Turkey increased from 26 to 50 in the period of 10 years. Between the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and 2002, there had been 6,000 km of dual carriageway roads created. Between 2002 and 2011, another 13,500 km of expressway were built. Due to these measures, the number of motor accidents fell by 50 percent. For the first time in Turkish history, high speed railway lines were constructed, and the country's high-speed train service began in 2009. In 8 years, 1,076 km of railway were built and 5,449 km of railway renewed. The construction of Marmaray, an undersea rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait, started in 2004. It was inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the Turkish Republic 29 October 2013. The inauguration of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third bridge over the Bosphorus, was on 26 August 2016. Justice In March 2006, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) held a press conference to publicly protest the obstruction of the appointment of judges to the high courts for over 10 months. The HSYK said Erdoğan wanted to fill the vacant posts with his own appointees. Erdoğan was accused of creating a rift with Turkey's highest court of appeal, the Yargıtay, and high administrative court, the Danıştay. Erdoğan stated that the constitution gave the power to assign these posts to his elected party. In May 2007, the head of Turkey's High Court asked prosecutors to consider whether Erdoğan should be charged over critical comments regarding the election of Abdullah Gül as president. Erdoğan said the ruling was "a disgrace to the justice system", and criticized the Constitutional Court which had invalidated a presidential vote because a boycott by other parties meant there was no quorum. Prosecutors investigated his earlier comments, including saying it had fired a "bullet at democracy". Tülay Tuğcu, head of the Constitutional Court, condemned Erdoğan for "threats, insults and hostility" towards the justice system. Civil–military relations The Turkish military has had a record of intervening in politics, having removed elected governments four times in the past. During the Erdoğan government, civil–military relationship moved towards normalization in which the influence of the military in politics was significantly reduced. The ruling Justice and Development Party has often faced off against the military, gaining political power by challenging a pillar of the country's laicistic establishment. The most significant issue that caused deep fissures between the army and the government was the midnight e-memorandum posted on the military's website objecting to the selection of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül as the ruling party's candidate for the Presidency in 2007. The military argued that the election of Gül, whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf, could undermine the laicistic order of the country. Contrary to expectations, the government responded harshly to former Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt's e-memorandum, stating the military had nothing to do with the selection of the presidential candidate. Health care After assuming power in 2003, Erdoğan's government embarked on a sweeping reform program of the Turkish healthcare system, called the Health Transformation Program (HTP), to greatly increase the quality of healthcare and protect all citizens from financial risks. Its introduction coincided with the period of sustained economic growth, allowing the Turkish government to put greater investments into the healthcare system. As part of the reforms, the "Green Card" program, which provides health benefits to the poor, was expanded in 2004. The reform program aimed at increasing the ratio of private to state-run healthcare, which, along with long queues in state-run hospitals, resulted in the rise of private medical care in Turkey, forcing state-run hospitals to compete by increasing quality. In April 2006, Erdoğan unveiled a social security reform package demanded by the International Monetary Fund under a loan deal. The move, which Erdoğan called one of the most radical reforms ever, was passed with fierce opposition. Turkey's three social security bodies were united under one roof, bringing equal health services and retirement benefits for members of all three bodies. The previous system had been criticized for reserving the best healthcare for civil servants and relegating others to wait in long queues. Under the second bill, everyone under the age of 18 years was entitled to free health services, irrespective of whether they pay premiums to any social security organization. The bill also envisages a gradual increase in the retirement age: starting from 2036, the retirement age will increase to 65 by 2048 for both women and men. In January 2008, the Turkish Parliament adopted a law to prohibit smoking in most public places. Erdoğan is outspokenly anti-smoking. Foreign policy Turkish foreign policy during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister has been associated with the name of Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu was the chief foreign policy advisor of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before he was appointed foreign minister in 2009. The basis of Erdoğan's foreign policy is based on the principle of "don't make enemies, make friends" and the pursuit of "zero problems" with neighboring countries. Erdoğan is co-founder of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (AOC). The initiative seeks to galvanize international action against extremism through the forging of international, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation. European Union When Erdoğan came to power, he continued Turkey's long ambition of joining the European Union. On 3 October 2005 negotiations began for Turkey's accession to the European Union. Erdoğan was named "The European of the Year 2004" by the newspaper European Voice for the reforms in his country in order to accomplish the accession of Turkey to the European Union. He said in a comment that "Turkey's accession shows that Europe is a continent where civilisations reconcile and not clash." On 3 October 2005, the negotiations for Turkey's accession to the EU formally started during Erdoğan's tenure as Prime Minister. The European Commission generally supports Erdoğan's reforms, but remains critical of his policies. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize EU member state Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus dispute Relations between Greece and Turkey were normalized during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister. In May 2004, Erdoğan became the first Turkish Prime Minister to visit Greece since 1988, and the first to visit the Turkish minority of Thrace since 1952. In 2007, Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis inaugurated the Greek-Turkish natural gas pipeline giving Caspian gas its first direct Western outlet. Turkey and Greece signed an agreement to create a Combined Joint Operational Unit within the framework of NATO to participate in Peace Support Operations. Erdoğan and his party strongly supported the EU-backed referendum to reunify Cyprus in 2004. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships as a consequence of the economic isolation of the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the failure of the EU to end the isolation, as it had promised in 2004. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize the Republic of Cyprus. Armenia Armenia is Turkey's only neighbor which Erdoğan has not visited during his premiership. The Turkish-Armenian border has been closed since 1993 because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Turkey's close ally Azerbaijan. Diplomatic efforts resulted in the signing of protocols between Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers in Switzerland to improve relations between the two countries. One of the points of the agreement was the creation of a joint commission on the issue. The Armenian Constitutional Court decided that the commission contradicts the Armenian constitution. Turkey responded saying that Armenian court's ruling on the protocols is not acceptable, resulting in a suspension of the rectification process by the Turkish side. Erdoğan has said that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan should apologize for calling on school children to re-occupy eastern Turkey. When asked by a student at a literature contest ceremony if Armenians will be able to get back their "western territories" along with Mt. Ararat, Sarksyan said, "This is the task of your generation". Russia In December 2004, President Putin visited Turkey, making it the first presidential visit in the history of Turkish-Russian relations besides that of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Nikolai Podgorny in 1972. In November 2005, Putin attended the inauguration of a jointly constructed Blue Stream natural gas pipeline in Turkey. This sequence of top-level visits has brought several important bilateral issues to the forefront. The two countries consider it their strategic goal to achieve "multidimensional co-operation", especially in the fields of energy, transport and the military. Specifically, Russia aims to invest in Turkey's fuel and energy industries, and it also expects to participate in tenders for the modernisation of Turkey's military. The relations during this time are described by President Medvedev as "Turkey is one of our most important partners with respect to regional and international issues. We can confidently say that Russian-Turkish relations have advanced to the level of a multidimensional strategic partnership". In May 2010, Turkey and Russia signed 17 agreements to enhance cooperation in energy and other fields, including pacts to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant and further plans for an oil pipeline from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The leaders of both countries also signed an agreement on visa-free travel, enabling tourists to get into the other country for free and stay there for up to 30 days. United States When Barack Obama became President of United States, he made his first overseas bilateral meeting to Turkey in April 2009. At a joint news conference in Turkey, Obama said: "I'm trying to make a statement about the importance of Turkey, not just to the United States but to the world. I think that where there's the most promise of building stronger U.S.-Turkish relations is in the recognition that Turkey and the United States can build a model partnership in which a predominantly Christian nation, a predominantly Muslim nation – a Western nation and a nation that straddles two continents," he continued, "that we can create a modern international community that is respectful, that is secure, that is prosperous, that there are not tensions – inevitable tensions between cultures – which I think is extraordinarily important." Iraq Turkey under Erdoğan was named by the Bush Administration as a part of the "coalition of the willing" that was central to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On 1 March 2003, a motion allowing Turkish military to participate in the U.S-led coalition's invasion of Iraq, along with the permission for foreign troops to be stationed in Turkey for this purpose, was overruled by the Turkish Parliament. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq and Turkey signed 48 trade agreements on issues including security, energy, and water. The Turkish government attempted to mend relations with Iraqi Kurdistan by opening a Turkish university in Erbil, and a Turkish consulate in Mosul. Erdoğan's government fostered economic and political relations with Irbil, and Turkey began to consider the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq as an ally against Maliki's government. Israel Erdoğan visited Israel on 1 May 2005, a gesture unusual for a leader of a Muslim majority country. During his trip, Erdoğan visited the Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The President of Israel Shimon Peres addressed the Turkish parliament during a visit in 2007, the first time an Israeli leader had addressed the legislature of a predominantly Muslim nation. Their relationship worsened at the 2009 World Economic Forum conference over Israel's actions during the Gaza War. Erdoğan was interrupted by the moderator while he was responding to Peres. Erdoğan stated: "Mister Peres, you are older than I am. Maybe you are feeling guilty and that is why you are raising your voice. When it comes to killing you know it too well. I remember how you killed the children on beaches..." Upon the moderator's reminder that they needed to adjourn for dinner, Erdoğan left the panel, accusing the moderator of giving Peres more time than all the other panelists combined. Tensions increased further following the Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010. Erdoğan strongly condemned the raid, describing it as "state terrorism", and demanded an Israeli apology. In February 2013, Erdoğan called Zionism a "crime against humanity", comparing it to Islamophobia, antisemitism, and fascism. He later retracted the statement, saying he had been misinterpreted. He said "everyone should know" that his comments were directed at "Israeli policies", especially as regards to "Gaza and the settlements." Erdoğan's statements were criticized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, among others. In August 2013, the Hürriyet reported that Erdoğan had claimed to have evidence of Israel's responsibility for the removal of Morsi from office in Egypt. The Israeli and Egyptian governments dismissed the suggestion. In response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. He also stated that "If Israel continues with this attitude, it will definitely be tried at international courts." Syria During Erdoğan's term of office, diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria significantly deteriorated. In 2004, President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Turkey for the first official visit by a Syrian President in 57 years. In late 2004, Erdoğan signed a free trade agreement with Syria. Visa restrictions between the two countries were lifted in 2009, which caused an economic boom in the regions near the Syrian border. However, in 2011 the relationship between the two countries was strained following the outbreak of conflict in Syria. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he was trying to "cultivate a favorable relationship with whatever government would take the place of Assad". However, he began to support the opposition in Syria, after demonstrations turned violent, creating a serious Syrian refugee problem in Turkey. Erdoğan's policy of providing military training for anti-Damascus fighters has also created conflict with Syria's ally and a neighbour of Turkey, Iran. Saudi Arabia In August 2006, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz as-Saud made a visit to Turkey. This was the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Turkey in the last four decades. The monarch made a second visit, on 9 November 2007. Turk-Saudi trade volume has exceeded 3.2 billion in 2006, almost double the figure achieved in 2003. In 2009, this amount reached 5.5 billion and the goal for the year 2010 was 10 billion. Erdoğan condemned the Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain and characterized the Saudi movement as "a new Karbala." He demanded withdrawal of Saudi forces from Bahrain. Egypt Erdoğan had made his first official visit to Egypt on 12 September 2011, accompanied by six ministers and 200 businessmen. This visit was made very soon after Turkey had ejected Israeli ambassadors, cutting off all diplomatic relations with Israel because Israel refused to apologize for the Gaza flotilla raid which killed eight Turkish and one Turco-American. Erdoğan's visit to Egypt was met with much enthusiasm by Egyptians. CNN reported some Egyptians saying "We consider him as the Islamic leader in the Middle East", while others were appreciative of his role in supporting Gaza. Erdoğan was later honored in Tahrir Square by members of the Egyptian Revolution Youth Union, and members of the Turkish embassy were presented with a coat of arms in acknowledgment of the Prime Minister's support of the Egyptian Revolution. Erdoğan stated in a 2011 interview that he supported secularism for Egypt, which generated an angry reaction among Islamic movements, especially the Freedom and Justice Party, which was the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. However, commentators suggest that by forming an alliance with the military junta during Egypt's transition to democracy, Erdoğan may have tipped the balance in favor of an authoritarian government. Erdoğan condemned the sit-in dispersals conducted by Egyptian police on 14 August 2013 at the Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares, where violent clashes between police officers and pro-Morsi Islamist protesters led to hundreds of deaths, mostly protesters. In July 2014, one year after the removal of Mohamed Morsi from office, Erdoğan described Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as an "illegitimate tyrant". Somalia Erdoğan's administration maintains strong ties with the Somali government. During the drought of 2011, Erdoğan's government contributed over $201 million to humanitarian relief efforts in the impacted parts of Somalia. Following a greatly improved security situation in Mogadishu in mid-2011, the Turkish government also re-opened its foreign embassy with the intention of more effectively assisting in the post-conflict development process. It was among the first foreign governments to resume formal diplomatic relations with Somalia after the civil war. In May 2010, the Turkish and Somali governments signed a military training agreement, in keeping with the provisions outlined in the Djibouti Peace Process. Turkish Airlines became the first long-distance international commercial airline in two decades to resume flights to and from Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport. Turkey also launched various development and infrastructure projects in Somalia including building several hospitals and helping renovate the National Assembly building. Protests 2013 Gezi Park protests against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdoğan and his policies, starting from a small sit-in in Istanbul in defense of a city park. After the police's intense reaction with tear gas, the protests grew each day. Faced by the largest mass protest in a decade, Erdoğan made this controversial remark in a televised speech: "The police were there yesterday, they are there today, and they will be there tomorrow". After weeks of clashes in the streets of Istanbul, his government at first apologized to the protestors and called for a plebiscite, but then ordered a crackdown on the protesters. Presidency (2014–present) Erdoğan took the oath of office on 28 August 2014 and became the 12th president of Turkey. He administered the new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's oath on 29 August. When asked about his lower-than-expected 51.79% share of the vote, he allegedly responded, "there were even those who did not like the Prophet. I, however, won 52%". Assuming the role of President, Erdoğan was criticized for openly stating that he would not maintain the tradition of presidential neutrality. Erdoğan has also stated his intention to pursue a more active role as president, such as utilising the President's rarely used cabinet-calling powers. The political opposition has argued that Erdoğan will continue to pursue his own political agenda, controlling the government, while his new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would be docile and submissive. Furthermore, the domination of loyal Erdoğan supporters in Davutoğlu's cabinet fuelled speculation that Erdoğan intended to exercise substantial control over the government. Presidential elections On 1 July 2014, Erdoğan was named the AKP's presidential candidate in the Turkish presidential election. His candidacy was announced by the Deputy President of the AKP, Mehmet Ali Şahin. Erdoğan made a speech after the announcement and used the 'Erdoğan logo' for the first time. The logo was criticised because it was very similar to the logo that U.S. President Barack Obama used in the 2008 presidential election. Erdoğan was elected as the President of Turkey in the first round of the election with 51.79% of the vote, obviating the need for a run-off by winning over 50%. The joint candidate of the CHP, MHP and 13 other opposition parties, former Organisation of Islamic Co-operation general secretary Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu won 38.44% of the vote. The pro-Kurdish HDP candidate Selahattin Demirtaş won 9.76%. The 2018 Turkish presidential election took place as part of the 2018 general election, alongside parliamentary elections on the same day. Following the approval of constitutional changes in a referendum held in 2017, the elected President will be both the head of state and head of government of Turkey, taking over the latter role from the to-be-abolished office of the Prime Minister. Incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared his candidacy for the People's Alliance (Turkish: Cumhur İttifakı) on 27 April 2018. Erdoğan's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, nominated Muharrem İnce, a member of the parliament known for his combative opposition and spirited speeches against Erdoğan. Besides these candidates, Meral Akşener, the founder and leader of İyi Party, Temel Karamollaoğlu, the leader of the Felicity Party and Doğu Perinçek, the leader of the Patriotic Party, have announced their candidacies and collected the 100,000 signatures required for nomination. The alliance which Erdoğan was candidate for won 52.59% of the popular vote. Referendum In April 2017, a constitutional referendum was held, where the voters in Turkey (and Turkish citizens abroad) approved a set of 18 proposed amendments to the Constitution of Turkey. The amendments included the replacement of the existing parliamentary system with a presidential system. The post of Prime Minister would be abolished, and the presidency would become an executive post vested with broad executive powers. The parliament seats would be increased from 550 to 600 and the age of candidacy to the parliament was lowered from 25 to 18. The referendum also called for changes to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors. Local elections In the 2019 local elections, the ruling party AKP lost control of Istanbul and Ankara for the first time in 25 years, as well as 5 of Turkey's 6 largest cities. The loss has been widely attributed to Erdoğan's mismanagement of the Turkish economic crisis, rising authoritarianism as well as the alleged government inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis. Soon after the elections, Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey ordered a re-election in Istanbul, cancelling Ekrem İmamoğlu's mayoral certificate. The decision led to a significant decrease of Erdoğan's and AKP's popularity and his party lost the elections again in June with a greater margin. The result was seen as a huge blow to Erdoğan, who had once said that if his party 'lost Istanbul, we would lose Turkey. The opposition's victory was characterised as 'the beginning of the end' for Erdoğan', with international commentators calling the re-run a huge government miscalculation that led to a potential İmamoğlu candidacy in the next scheduled presidential election. It is suspected that the scale of the government's defeat could provoke a cabinet reshuffle and early general elections, currently scheduled for June 2023. The New Zealand and Australian governments and opposition CHP party have criticized Erdoğan after he repeatedly showed video taken by the Christchurch mosque shooter to his supporters at campaign rallies for 31 March local elections and said Australians and New Zealanders who came to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments "would be sent back in coffins like their grandfathers" at Gallipoli. Domestic policy Presidential palace Erdoğan has also received criticism for the construction of a new palace called Ak Saray (pure white palace), which occupies approximately 50 acres of Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ) in Ankara. Since the AOÇ is protected land, several court orders were issued to halt the construction of the new palace, though building work went on nonetheless. The opposition described the move as a clear disregard for the rule of law. The project was subject to heavy criticism and allegations were made; of corruption during the construction process, wildlife destruction and the complete obliteration of the zoo in the AOÇ in order to make way for the new compound. The fact that the palace is technically illegal has led to it being branded as the 'Kaç-Ak Saray', the word kaçak in Turkish meaning 'illegal'. Ak Saray was originally designed as a new office for the Prime Minister. However, upon assuming the presidency, Erdoğan announced that the palace would become the new Presidential Palace, while the Çankaya Mansion will be used by the Prime Minister instead. The move was seen as a historic change since the Çankaya Mansion had been used as the iconic office of the presidency ever since its inception. The Ak Saray has almost 1,000 rooms and cost $350 million (€270 million), leading to huge criticism at a time when mining accidents and workers' rights had been dominating the agenda. On 29 October 2014, Erdoğan was due to hold a Republic Day reception in the new palace to commemorate the 91st anniversary of the Republic of Turkey and to officially inaugurate the Presidential Palace. However, after most invited participants announced that they would boycott the event and a mining accident occurred in the district of Ermenek in Karaman, the reception was cancelled. The media President Erdoğan and his government continue to press for court action against the remaining free press in Turkey. The latest newspaper that has been seized is Zaman, in March 2016. After the seizure Morton Abramowitz and Eric Edelman, former U.S. ambassadors to Turkey, condemned President Erdoğan's actions in an opinion piece published by The Washington Post: "Clearly, democracy cannot flourish under Erdoğan now". "The overall pace of reforms in Turkey has not only slowed down but in some key areas, such as freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary, there has been a regression, which is particularly worrying", rapporteur Kati Piri said in April 2016 after the European Parliament passed its annual progress report on Turkey. On 22 June 2016, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that he considered himself successful in "destroying" Turkish civil groups "working against the state", a conclusion that had been confirmed some days earlier by Sedat Laçiner, Professor of International Relations and rector of the Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University: "Outlawing unarmed and peaceful opposition, sentencing people to unfair punishment under erroneous terror accusations, will feed genuine terrorism in Erdoğan’s Turkey. Guns and violence will become the sole alternative for legally expressing free thought". After the coup attempt, over 200 journalists were arrested and over 120 media outlets were closed. Cumhuriyet journalists were detained in November 2016 after a long-standing crackdown on the newspaper. Subsequently, Reporters Without Borders called Erdoğan an "enemy of press freedom" and said that he "hides his aggressive dictatorship under a veneer of democracy". In April 2017, Turkey blocked all access to Wikipedia over a content dispute. The Turkish government lifted a two-and-a-half-year ban on Wikipedia on 15 January 2020, restoring access to the online encyclopedia a month after Turkey's top court ruled that blocking Wikipedia was unconstitutional. On 1 July 2020, in a statement made to his party members, Erdoğan announced that the government would introduce new measures and regulations to control or shut down social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Netflix. Through these new measures, each company would be required to appoint an official representative in the country to respond to legal concerns. The decision comes after a number of Twitter users insulted his daughter Esra after she welcomed her fourth child. State of emergency and purges On 20 July 2016, President Erdoğan declared the state of emergency, citing the coup d'état attempt as justification. It was first scheduled to last three months. The Turkish parliament approved this measure. The state of emergency was later extended for another three months, amidst the ongoing 2016 Turkish purges including comprehensive purges of independent media and detention of tens of thousands of Turkish citizens politically opposed to Erdoğan. More than 50,000 people have been arrested and over 160,000 fired from their jobs by March 2018. In August 2016, Erdoğan began rounding up journalists who had been publishing, or who were about to publish articles questioning corruption within the Erdoğan administration, and incarcerating them. The number of Turkish journalists jailed by Turkey is higher than any other country, including all of those journalists currently jailed in North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and China combined. In the wake of the coup attempt of July 2016 the Erdoğan administration began rounding up tens of thousands of individuals, both from within the government, and from the public sector, and incarcerating them on charges of alleged "terrorism". As a result of these arrests, many in the international community complained about the lack of proper judicial process in the incarceration of Erdoğan's opposition. In April 2017 Erdoğan successfully sponsored legislation effectively making it illegal for the Turkish legislative branch to investigate his executive branch of government. Without the checks and balances of freedom of speech, and the freedom of the Turkish legislature to hold him accountable for his actions, many have likened Turkey's current form of government to a dictatorship with only nominal forms of democracy in practice. At the time of Erdoğan's successful passing of the most recent legislation silencing his opposition, United States President Donald Trump called Erdoğan to congratulate him for his "recent referendum victory". On 29 April 2017 Erdoğan's administration began an internal Internet block of all of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia site via Turkey's domestic Internet filtering system. This blocking action took place after the government had first made a request for Wikipedia to remove what it referred to as "offensive content". In response, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales replied via a post on Twitter stating, "Access to information is a fundamental human right. Turkish people, I will always stand with you and fight for this right." In January 2016, more than a thousand academics signed a petition criticizing Turkey's military crackdown on ethnic Kurdish towns and neighborhoods in the east of the country, such as Sur (a district of Diyarbakır), Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre and Silopi, and asking an end to violence. Erdoğan accused those who signed the petition of "terrorist propaganda", calling them "the darkest of people". He called for action by institutions and universities, stating, "Everyone who benefits from this state but is now an enemy of the state must be punished without further delay". Within days, over 30 of the signatories were arrested, many in dawn-time raids on their homes. Although all were quickly released, nearly half were fired from their jobs, eliciting a denunciation from Turkey's Science Academy for such "wrong and disturbing" treatment. Erdoğan vowed that the academics would pay the price for "falling into a pit of treachery". On 8 July 2018, Erdoğan sacked 18,000 officials for alleged ties to US based cleric Fethullah Gülen, shortly before renewing his term as an executive president. Of those removed, 9000 were police officers with 5000 from the armed forces with the addition of hundreds of academics. Foreign policy Europe In February 2016, Erdoğan threatened to send the millions of refugees in Turkey to EU member states, saying: "We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses ... So how will you deal with refugees if you don't get a deal?" In an interview to the news magazine Der Spiegel, German minister of defence Ursula von der Leyen said on 11 March 2016 that the refugee crisis had made good cooperation between EU and Turkey an "existentially important" issue. "Therefore it is right to advance now negotiations on Turkey's EU accession". In its resolution "The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey" from 22 June 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe warned that "recent developments in Turkey pertaining to freedom of the media and of expression, erosion of the rule of law and the human rights violations in relation to anti-terrorism security operations in south-east Turkey have ... raised serious questions about the functioning of its democratic institutions". On 20 August 2016, Erdoğan told his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko that Turkey would not recognize the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea; calling it "Crimea's occupation". In January 2017, Erdoğan said that the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Cyprus is "out of the question" and Turkey will be in Cyprus "forever". There is a long-standing dispute between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea. Erdoğan warned that Greece will pay a "heavy price" if Turkey's gas exploration vessel – in what Turkey said are disputed waters – is attacked. In September 2020, Erdoğan declared his government's support for Azerbaijan following clashes between Armenian and Azeri forces over a disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. He dismissed demands for a ceasefire. Diaspora In March 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated to the Turks in Europe, "Make not three, but five children. Because you are the future of Europe. That will be the best response to the injustices against you." This has been interpreted as an imperialist call for demographic warfare. According to The Economist, Erdoğan is the first Turkish leader to take the Turkish diaspora seriously, which has created friction within these diaspora communities and between the Turkish government and several of its European counterparts. The Balkans In February 2018, President Erdoğan expressed Turkish support of the Republic of Macedonia's position during negotiations over the Macedonia naming dispute saying that Greece's position is wrong. In March 2018, President Erdoğan criticized the Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj for dismissing his Interior Minister and Intelligence Chief for failing to inform him of an unauthorized and illegal secret operation conducted by the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey on Kosovo's territory that led to the arrest of six people allegedly associated with the Gülen movement. On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck the Durrës region of Albania. President Erdoğan expressed his condolences. and citing close Albanian-Turkish relations, he committed Turkey to reconstructing 500 earthquake destroyed homes and other civic structures in Laç, Albania. In Istanbul, Erdoğan organised and attended a donors conference (8 December) to assist Albania that included Turkish businessmen, investors and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. United Kingdom In May 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed Erdoğan to the United Kingdom for a three-day state visit. Erdoğan declared that the United Kingdom is "an ally and a strategic partner, but also a real friend. The cooperation we have is well beyond any mechanism that we have established with other partners." Israel Relations between Turkey and Israel began to normalize after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu officially apologized for the death of the nine Turkish activists during the Gaza flotilla raid. However, in response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of being "more barbaric than Hitler", and conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. In December 2017, President Erdoğan issued a warning to Donald Trump, after the U.S. President acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Erdoğan stated, "Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims", indicating that naming Jerusalem as Israel's capital would alienate Palestinians and other Muslims from the city, undermining hopes at a future capital of a Palestinian State. Erdoğan called Israel a "terrorist state". Naftali Bennett dismissed the threats, claiming "Erdoğan does not miss an opportunity to attack Israel". In April 2019, Erdoğan said the West Bank belongs to Palestinians, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would annex Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if he is re-elected. Erdoğan condemned the Israel–UAE peace agreement, stating that Turkey was considering suspending or cutting off diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates in retaliation. Syrian Civil War Amid allegations of Turkish collaboration with the Islamic State, the 2014 Kobanî protests broke out near the Syrian border city of Kobanî, in protest against the government's perceived facilitation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during the Siege of Kobanî. 42 protestors were killed during a brutal police crackdown. Asserting that aid to the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Syria would assist the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) (then on ceasefire) in Turkey, Erdoğan held bilateral talks with Barack Obama regarding IS during the 5–6 September 2014 NATO summit in Newport, Wales. In early October, United States Vice President Joe Biden criticised the Turkish government for supplying jihadists in Syria and said Erdoğan had expressed regret to him about letting foreign jihadists transit through Turkey en route to Syria. Erdoğan angrily responded, "Biden has to apologize for his statements" adding that if no apology is made, Biden would become "history to me." Biden subsequently apologised. In response to the U.S. request to use İncirlik Air Base to conduct air strikes against IS, Erdoğan demanded that Bashar al-Assad be removed from power first. Turkey lost its bid for a Security Council seat in the United Nations during the 2014 election; the unexpected result is believed to have been a reaction to Erdoğan's hostile treatment of the Kurds fighting ISIS on the Syrian border and a rebuke of his willingness to support IS-aligned insurgents opposed to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In 2015, there were consistent allegations that Erdoğan maintained financial links with the Islamic State, including allegation of his son-in-law Berat Albayrak's involvement with oil production and smuggling in ISIL. Revelations that the state was supplying arms to militant groups in Syria in the 2014 National Intelligence Organisation lorry scandal led to accusations of high treason. In July 2015, Turkey became involved in the international military intervention against ISIL, simultaneously launching airstrikes against PKK bases in Iraqi Kurdistan. As of 2015, Turkey began openly supporting the Army of Conquest, a coalition of Syrian rebel groups that included al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham. In late November 2016, Erdoğan said that the Turkish military launched its operations in Syria to end Assad's rule, but retracted this statement shortly afterwards. In January 2018, the Turkish military and its Syrian National Army and Sham Legion allies began the Turkish military operation in Afrin in the Kurdish-majority Afrin Canton in Northern Syria, against the YPG. On 10 April, Erdoğan rejected a Russian demand to return Afrin to Syrian government control. In October 2019, after Erdoğan spoke to him, U.S. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, despite recently agreeing to a Northern Syria Buffer Zone. U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the border to avoid interference with the Turkish operation. After the U.S. pullout, Turkey proceeded to attack the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Rejecting criticism of the invasion, Erdoğan claimed that NATO and European Union countries "sided with terrorists, and all of them attacked us". China Bilateral trade between Turkey and China increased from $1 billion a year in 2002 to $27 billion annually in 2017. Erdoğan has stated that Turkey might consider joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation instead of the European Union. Qatar blockade In June 2017 during a speech, Erdoğan called the isolation of Qatar as "inhumane and against Islamic values" and that "victimising Qatar through smear campaigns serves no purpose". Myanmar In September 2017, Erdoğan condemned the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar and accused Myanmar of "genocide" against the Muslim minority. United States Over time, Turkey began to look for ways to buy its own missile defense system and also to use that procurement to build up its own capacity to manufacture and sell an air and missile defense system. Turkey got serious about acquiring a missile defense system early in the first Obama administration when it opened a competition between the Raytheon Patriot PAC 2 system and systems from Europe, Russia, and even China. Taking advantage of the new low in U.S.-Turkish relations, Putin saw his chance to use an S-400 sale to Turkey, so in July 2017, he offered the air defense system to Turkey. In the months that followed, the United States warned Turkey that a S-400 purchase jeopardized Turkey's F-35 purchase. Integration of the Russian system into the NATO air defense net was also out of the question. Administration officials, including Mark Esper, warned that Turkey had to choose between the S-400 and the F-35. That they couldn't have both. The S-400 deliveries to Turkey began on 12 July. On 16 July, Trump mentioned to reporters that withholding the F-35 from Turkey was unfair. Said the president, "So what happens is we have a situation where Turkey is very good with us, very good, and we are now telling Turkey that because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we’re not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets". The U.S. Congress has made clear on a bipartisan basis that it expects the president to sanction Turkey for buying Russian equipment. Out of the F-35, Turkey now considers buying Russian fifth-generation jet fighter Su-57. On 1 August 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned two senior Turkish government ministers who were involved in the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Erdoğan said that the U.S. behavior will force Turkey to look for new friends and allies. The U.S.–Turkey tensions appear to be the most serious diplomatic crisis between the NATO allies in years. Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton claimed that President Donald Trump told Erdoğan he would 'take care' of investigation against Turkey's state-owned bank Halkbank accused of bank fraud charges and laundering up to $20 billion on behalf of Iranian entities. Turkey criticized Bolton's book, saying it included misleading accounts of conversations between Trump and Erdoğan. In August 2020, the former vice president and presidential candidate Joe Biden called for a new U.S. approach to the "autocrat" President Erdoğan and support for Turkish opposition parties. In September 2020, Biden demanded that Erdoğan "stay out" of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in which Turkey has supported the Azeris. Venezuela Relations with Venezuela were strengthened with recent developments and high level mutual visits. The first official visit between the two countries at presidential level was in October 2017 when Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro visited Turkey. In December 2018, Erdoğan visited Venezuela for the first time and expressed his will to build strong relations with Venezuela and expressed hope that high-level visits "will increasingly continue." Reuters reported that in 2018 23 tons of mined gold were taken from Venezuela to Istanbul. In the first nine months of 2018, Venezuela's gold exports to Turkey rose from zero in the previous year to US$900 million. During the Venezuelan presidential crisis, Erdoğan voiced solidarity with Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and criticized U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, saying that "political problems cannot be resolved by punishing an entire nation." Following the 2019 Venezuelan uprising attempt, Erdoğan condemned the actions of lawmaker Juan Guaidó, tweeting "Those who are in an effort to appoint a postmodern colonial governor to Venezuela, where the President was appointed by elections and where the people rule, should know that only democratic elections can determine how a country is governed". Events Coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a coup d'état was attempted by the military, with aims to remove Erdoğan from government. By the next day, Erdoğan's government managed to reassert effective control in the country. Reportedly, no government official was arrested or harmed, which, among other factors, raised the suspicion of a false flag event staged by the government itself. Erdoğan, as well as other government officials, has blamed an exiled cleric, and a former ally of Erdoğan, Fethullah Gülen, for staging the coup attempt. Süleyman Soylu, Minister of Labor in Erdoğan's government, accused the US of planning a coup to oust Erdoğan. Erdoğan, as well as other high-ranking Turkish government officials, has issued repeated demands to the US to extradite Gülen. Following the coup attempt, there has been a significant deterioration in Turkey-US relations. European and other world leaders have expressed their concerns over the situation in Turkey, with many of them warning Erdoğan not to use the coup attempt as an excuse to crack down on his opponents. The rise of ISIS and the collapse of the Kurdish peace process had led to a sharp rise in terror incidents in Turkey until 2016. Erdoğan was accused by his critics of having a 'soft corner' for ISIS. However, after the attempted coup, Erdoğan ordered the Turkish military into Syria to combat ISIS and Kurdish militant groups. Erdoğan's critics have decried purges in the education system and judiciary as undermining the rule of law however Erdoğan supporters argue this is a necessary measure as Gulen-linked schools cheated on entrance exams, requiring a purge in the education system and of the Gulen followers who then entered the judiciary. Erdoğan's plan is "to reconstitute Turkey as a presidential system. The plan would create a centralized system that would enable him to better tackle Turkey's internal and external threats. One of the main hurdles allegedly standing in his way is Fethullah Gulen's movement ..." In the aftermath of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, a groundswell of national unity and consensus emerged for cracking down on the coup plotters with a National Unity rally held in Turkey that included Islamists, secularists, liberals and nationalists. Erdoğan has used this consensus to remove Gulen's followers from the bureaucracy, curtail their role in NGOs, Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Turkish military, with 149 Generals discharged. In a foreign policy shift Erdoğan ordered the Turkish Armed Forces into battle in Syria and has liberated towns from IS control. As relations with Europe soured over in the aftermath of the attempted coup, Erdoğan developed alternative relationships with Russia, Saudi Arabia and a "strategic partnership" with Pakistan, with plans to cultivate relations through free trade agreements and deepening military relations for mutual co-operation with Turkey's regional allies. 2018 currency and debt crisis The Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018 was caused by the Turkish economy's excessive current account deficit and foreign-currency debt, in combination with Erdoğan's increasing authoritarianism and his unorthodox ideas about interest rate policy. Economist Paul Krugman described the unfolding crisis as "a classic currency-and-debt crisis, of a kind we’ve seen many times", adding: "At such a time, the quality of leadership suddenly matters a great deal. You need officials who understand what's happening, can devise a response and have enough credibility that markets give them the benefit of the doubt. Some emerging markets have those things, and they are riding out the turmoil fairly well. The Erdoğan regime has none of that". Ideology and public image Early during his premiership, Erdoğan was praised as a role model for emerging Middle Eastern nations due to several reform packages initiated by his government which expanded religious freedoms and minority rights as part of accession negotiations with the European Union. However, his government underwent several crises including the Sledgehammer coup and the Ergenekon trials, corruption scandals, accusations of media intimidation, as well as the pursuit of an increasingly polarizing political agenda; the opposition accused the government of inciting political hatred throughout the country. Critics say that Erdoğan's government legitimizes homophobia, as Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". Neo-Ottomanism As President, Erdoğan has overseen a revival of Ottoman tradition, greeting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas with an Ottoman-style ceremony in the new presidential palace, with guards dressed in costumes representing founders of 16 Great Turkish Empires in history. While serving as the Prime Minister of Turkey, Erdoğan's AKP made references to the Ottoman era during election campaigns, such as calling their supporters 'grandsons of Ottomans' (Osmanlı torunu). This proved controversial, since it was perceived to be an open attack against the republican nature of modern Turkey founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In 2015, Erdoğan made a statement in which he endorsed the old Ottoman term külliye to refer to university campuses rather than the standard Turkish word kampüs. Many critics have thus accused Erdoğan of wanting to become an Ottoman sultan and abandon the secular and democratic credentials of the Republic. One of the most cited scholars alive, Noam Chomsky, said that "Erdogan in Turkey is basically trying to create something like the Ottoman Caliphate, with him as caliph, supreme leader, throwing his weight around all over the place, and destroying the remnants of democracy in Turkey at the same time". When pressed on this issue in January 2015, Erdoğan denied these claims and said that he would aim to be more like Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom rather than like an Ottoman sultan. In July 2020, after the Council of State annulled the Cabinet's 1934 decision to establish the Hagia Sophia as museum and revoking the monument's status, Erdoğan ordered its reclassification as a mosque. The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia's waqf, endowed by Sultan Mehmed II, had designated the site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan. This redesignation is controversial, invoking condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO, the World Council of Churches, the Holy See, and many other international leaders. In August 2020, he also signed the order that transferred the administration of the Chora Church to the Directorate of Religious Affairs to open it for worship as a mosque. Initially converted to a mosque by the Ottomans, the building had then been designated as a museum by the government since 1934. Authoritarianism Erdoğan has served as the de facto leader of Turkey since 2002. In response to criticism, Erdoğan made a speech in May 2014 denouncing allegations of dictatorship, saying that the leader of the opposition, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was there at the speech, would not be able to "roam the streets" freely if he were a dictator. Kılıçdaroğlu responded that political tensions would cease to exist if Erdoğan stopped making his polarising speeches for three days. One observer said it was a measure of the state of Turkish democracy that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu could openly threaten, on 20 December 2015, that, if his party did not win the election, Turkish Kurds would endure a repeat of the era of the "white Toros", the Turkish name for the Renault 12, "a car associated with the gendarmarie’s fearsome intelligence agents, who carried out thousands of extrajudicial executions of Kurdish nationalists during the 1990s". In February 2015, a 13-year-old was charged by a prosecutor after allegedly insulting Erdoğan on Facebook. In 2016, a waiter was arrested for insulting Erdoğan by allegedly saying "If Erdoğan comes here, I will not even serve tea to him.". In April 2014, the President of the Constitutional Court, Haşim Kılıç, accused Erdoğan of damaging the credibility of the judiciary, labelling Erdoğan's attempts to increase political control over the courts as 'desperate'. During the chaotic 2007 presidential election, the military issued an E-memorandum warning the government to keep within the boundaries of secularism when choosing a candidate. Regardless, Erdoğan's close relations with Fethullah Gülen and his Cemaat Movement allowed his government to maintain a degree of influence within the judiciary through Gülen's supporters in high judicial and bureaucratic offices. Shortly after, an alleged coup plot codenamed Sledgehammer became public and resulted in the imprisonment of 300 military officers including İbrahim Fırtına, Çetin Doğan and Engin Alan. Several opposition politicians, journalists and military officers also went on trial for allegedly being part of an ultra-nationalist organisation called Ergenekon. Both cases were marred by irregularities and were condemned as a joint attempt by Erdoğan and Gülen to curb opposition to the AKP. The original Sledgehammer document containing the coup plans, allegedly written in 2003, was found to have been written using Microsoft Word 2007. Despite both domestic and international calls for these irregularities to be addressed in order to guarantee a fair trial, Erdoğan instead praised his government for bringing the coup plots to light. When Gülen publicly withdrew support and openly attacked Erdoğan in late 2013, several imprisoned military officers and journalists were released, with the government admitting that the judicial proceedings were unfair. When Gülen withdrew support from the AKP government in late 2013, a government corruption scandal broke out, leading to the arrest of several family members of cabinet ministers. Erdoğan accused Gülen of co-ordinating a "parallel state" within the judiciary in an attempt to topple him from power. He then removed or reassigned several judicial officials in an attempt to remove Gülen's supporters from office. Erdoğan's 'purge' was widely questioned and criticised by the European Union. In early 2014, a new law was passed by parliament giving the government greater control over the judiciary, which sparked public protest throughout the country. International organisations perceived the law to be a danger to the separation of powers. Several judicial officials removed from their posts said that they had been removed due to their secularist credentials. The political opposition accused Erdoğan of not only attempting to remove Gülen supporters, but supporters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's principles as well, in order to pave the way for increased politicisation of the judiciary. Several family members of Erdoğan's ministers who had been arrested as a result of the 2013 corruption scandal were released, and a judicial order to question Erdoğan's son Bilal Erdoğan was annulled. Controversy erupted when it emerged that many of the newly appointed judicial officials were actually AKP supporters. İslam Çiçek, a judge who ejected the cases of five ministers' relatives accused of corruption, was accused of being an AKP supporter and an official investigation was launched into his political affiliations. On 1 September 2014, the courts dissolved the cases of 96 suspects, which included Bilal Erdoğan. During a televised press conference he was asked if he believed a presidential system was possible in a unitary state. Erdoğan affirmed this and cited Nazi Germany (among other examples) as a case where such a combination existed. However, the Turkish president's office said that Erdoğan was not advocating a Hitler-style government when he called for a state system with a strong executive, and added that the Turkish president had declared the "Holocaust, anti-semitism and Islamophobia" as crimes against humanity and that it was out of the question for him to cite Hitler's Germany as a good example. Suppression of dissent Erdoğan has been criticised for his politicisation of the media, especially after the 2013 protests. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) alleged that over 1,863 journalists lost their jobs due to their anti-government views in 12 years of AKP rule. Opposition politicians have also alleged that intimidation in the media is due to the government's attempt to restructure the ownership of private media corporations. Journalists from the Cihan News Agency and the Gülenist Zaman newspaper were repeatedly barred from attending government press conferences or asking questions. Several opposition journalists such as Soner Yalçın were controversially arrested as part of the Ergenekon trials and Sledgehammer coup investigation. Veli Ağbaba, a CHP politician, has called the AKP the 'biggest media boss in Turkey.' In 2015, 74 US senators sent a letter to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to state their concern over what they saw as deviations from the basic principles of democracy in Turkey and oppressions of Erdoğan over media. Notable cases of media censorship occurred during the 2013 anti-government protests, when the mainstream media did not broadcast any news regarding the demonstrations for three days after they began. The lack of media coverage was symbolised by CNN International covering the protests while CNN Türk broadcast a documentary about penguins at the same time. The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) controversially issued a fine to pro-opposition news channels including Halk TV and Ulusal Kanal for their coverage of the protests, accusing them of broadcasting footage that could be morally, physically and mentally destabilising to children. Erdoğan was criticised for not responding to the accusations of media intimidation, and caused international outrage after telling a female journalist (Amberin Zaman of The Economist) to know her place and calling her a 'shameless militant' during his 2014 presidential election campaign. While the 2014 presidential election was not subject to substantial electoral fraud, Erdoğan was again criticised for receiving disproportionate media attention in comparison to his rivals. The British newspaper The Times commented that between 2 and 4 July, the state-owned media channel TRT gave 204 minutes of coverage to Erdoğan's campaign and less than a total of 3 minutes to both his rivals. Erdoğan also tightened controls over the Internet, signing into law a bill which allows the government to block websites without prior court order on 12 September 2014. His government blocked Twitter and YouTube in late March 2014 following the release of a recording of a conversation between him and his son Bilal, where Erdoğan allegedly warned his family to 'nullify' all cash reserves at their home amid the 2013 corruption scandal. Erdoğan has undertaken a media campaign that attempts to portray the presidential family as frugal and simple-living; their palace electricity-bill is estimated at $500,000 per month. In May 2016, former Miss Turkey model Merve Büyüksaraç was sentenced to more than a year in prison for allegedly insulting the president. In a 2016 news story, Bloomberg reported, "more than 2,000 cases have been opened against journalists, cartoonists, teachers, a former Miss Turkey, and even schoolchildren in the past two years". In November 2016, the Turkish government blocked access to social media in all of Turkey as well as sought to completely block Internet access for the citizens in the southeast of the country. Mehmet Aksoy lawsuit In 2009, Turkish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy created the Statue of Humanity in Kars to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. When visiting the city in 2011, Erdoğan deemed the statue a "freak", and months later it was demolished. Aksoy sued Erdoğan for "moral indemnities", although his lawyer said that his statement was a critique rather than an insult. In March 2015, a judge ordered Erdoğan to pay 10,000 liras. Erdoğanism Erdoğan has produced many aphorisms and catch-phrases known as Erdoğanisms. The term Erdoğanism first emerged shortly after Erdoğan's 2011 general election victory, where it was predominantly described as the AKP's liberal economic and conservative democratic ideals fused with Erdoğan demagoguery and cult of personality. Views on minorities LGBT In 2002, Erdoğan said that "homosexuals must be legally protected within the framework of their rights and freedoms. From time to time, we do not find the treatment they get on some television screens humane", he said. However, in 2017 Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey's top Muslim scholar and President of Religious Affairs, Ali Erbaş, said in a Friday Ramadan announcement that country condemns homosexuality because it "brings illness," insinuating that same sex relations are responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan backed Erbaş, saying that what Erbaş "said was totally right." Jews While Erdoğan has declared several times being against antisemitism, he has been accused of invoking antisemitic stereotypes in public statements. According to Erdoğan, he had been inspired by novelist and Islamist ideologue Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, a publisher (among others) of antisemitic literature. Others During a live interview in 2014, he said: "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian. Excuse me, but they have said even uglier things. They have called me Armenian, but I am Turkish." Honours and accolades Foreign honours Russia: Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan" (1 June 2006) Pakistan: Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award in Pakistan (26 October 2009) Georgia: Order of Golden Fleece, awarded for his contribution to development of bilateral relations (17 May 2010) Kyrgyzstan: Danaker Order in Bishkek (2 February 2011) Azerbaijan: Heydar Aliyev Order (3 September 2014) Belgium: Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold (5 October 2015) Madagascar: Knight Grand Cross in the national Order (25 January 2017) Gagauzia: Order of Gagauz-Yeri in Comrat (18 October 2018) Venezuela: Order of the Liberator, Grand Cordon (3 December 2018) Ukraine: Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (16 October 2020) Other awards 29 January 2004: Profile of Courage Award from the American Jewish Congress, for promoting peace between cultures. Returned at the request of the A.J.C. in July 2014. 13 June 2004: Golden Plate award from the Academy of Achievement during the conference in Chicago. 3 October 2004: German Quadriga prize for improving relationships between different cultures. 2 September 2005: Mediterranean Award for Institutions (). This was awarded by the Fondazione Mediterraneo. 8 August 2006: Caspian Energy Integration Award from the Caspian Integration Business Club. 1 November 2006: Outstanding Service award from the Turkish humanitarian organization Red Crescent. 2 February 2007: Dialogue Between Cultures Award from the President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev. 15 April 2007: Crystal Hermes Award from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the opening of the Hannover Industrial Fair. 11 July 2007: highest award of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Agricola Medal, in recognition of his contribution to agricultural and social development in Turkey. 11 May 2009: Avicenna award from the Avicenna Foundation in Frankfurt, Germany. 9 June 2009: guest of honor at the 20th Crans Montana Forum in Brussels and received the Prix de la Fondation, for democracy and freedom. 25 June 2009: Key to the City of Tirana on the occasion of his state visit to Albania. 29 December 2009: Award for Contribution to World Peace from the Turgut Özal Thought and Move Association. 12 January 2010: King Faisal International Prize for "service to Islam" from the King Faisal Foundation. 23 February 2010: Nodo Culture Award from the mayor of Seville for his efforts to launch the Alliance of Civilizations initiative. 1 March 2010: United Nations–HABITAT award in memorial of Rafik Hariri. A seven-member international jury unanimously found Erdoğan deserving of the award because of his "excellent achievement and commendable conduct in the area of leadership, statesmanship and good governance. Erdoğan also initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors." 27 May 2010: medal of honor from the Brazilian Federation of Industry for the State of São Paulo (FIESP) for his contributions to industry 31 May 2010: World Health Organization 2010 World No Tobacco Award for "his dedicated leadership on tobacco control in Turkey." 29 June 2010: 2010 World Family Award from the World Family Organization which operates under the umbrella of the United Nations. 4 November 2010: Golden Medal of Independence, an award conferred upon Kosovo citizens and foreigners that have contributed to the independence of Kosovo. 25 November 2010: "Leader of the Year" award presented by the Union of Arab Banks in Lebanon. 11 January 2011: "Outstanding Personality in the Islamic World Award" of the Sheikh Fahad al-Ahmad International Award for Charity in Kuwait. 25 October 2011: Palestinian International Award for Excellence and Creativity (PIA) 2011 for his support to the Palestinian people and cause. 21 January 2012: 'Gold Statue 2012 Special Award' by the Polish Business Center Club (BCC). Erdoğan was awarded for his systematic effort to clear barriers on the way to economic growth, striving to build democracy and free market relations. 2020: Ig Nobel Prize "for using the COVID-19 viral pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can." See also List of international presidential trips made by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Leadership approval polling for the 2023 Turkish general election The 500 Most Influential Muslims Notes References Further reading Cagaptay, Soner. The new sultan: Erdogan and the crisis of modern Turkey (2nd ed. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020). online review Cagaptay, Soner. "Making Turkey Great Again." Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 43 (2019): 169–78. online Kirişci, Kemal, and Amanda Sloat. "The rise and fall of liberal democracy in Turkey: Implications for the West" Foreign Policy at Brookings (2019) online Tziarras, Zenonas. "Erdoganist authoritarianism and the 'new' Turkey." Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 18.4 (2018): 593–598. online Yavuz, M. Hakan. "A framework for understanding the Intra-Islamist conflict between the AK party and the Gülen movement." Politics, Religion & Ideology 19.1 (2018): 11–32. online Yesil, Bilge. Media in New Turkey: The Origins of an Authoritarian Neoliberal State (University of Illinois Press, 2016) online review External links Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Instagram. Archived from the original. Welcome to demokrasi: how Erdoğan got more popular than ever by The Guardian 1954 births Living people 21st-century presidents of Turkey 21st-century prime ministers of Turkey Deniers of the Armenian genocide Deputies of Istanbul Deputies of Siirt Recep Tayyip Imam Hatip school alumni Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Leaders of political parties in Turkey Marmara University alumni Mayors of Istanbul Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Naqshbandi order People from Istanbul Politicians arrested in Turkey Presidents of Turkey Prime Ministers of Turkey Recipients of the Heydar Aliyev Order Recipients of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia) Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class Turkish Islamists Turkish Sunni Muslims Chairmen of the Organization of Turkic States Recipients of the Gagauz-Yeri Order Foreign recipients of the Nishan-e-Pakistan	false	[ "Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Stadium (), also known as Comilla Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Comilla, Bangladesh. It is the current home venue of Dhaka Mohammedan and Chittagong Abahani Limited in Bangladesh Premier League Football. It is also used to list a cricket. It is the largest stadium in eastern Bangladesh. The stadium is named after Dhirendranath Datta. \n\nComilla district sports association said that\" in future, there will be floodlight and electric board in the stadium. The work of the contraction on the second floor of the stadium will begin soon \" The pitch and the outfield of the stadium is very well. There is a capacity of 18,000 people in this stadium (officially)But the highest audience attendance of the stadium was over 30,000 in a local T-20 cup tournament.\n\nRenovation\nIn 2016, the Government of Bangladesh appropriated to renovate the stadium.\n\nSee also\n Stadiums in Bangladesh\nList of football stadiums in Bangladesh\n List of cricket grounds in Bangladesh\n\nReferences\n\nFootball venues in Bangladesh\nCricket grounds in Bangladesh\nCumilla", "The Laos National Stadium or formally Anouvong Stadium (official name), also known as Vientiane Provincial stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Vientiane, Laos. It is named after Chao Anouvong, King of Vientiane. It is used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 20,000 people. Since 2008, some matches of the Lao League have been played there.\n\nReferences\n\nFootball venues in Laos\nAthletics (track and field) venues in Laos\nRugby union stadiums in Asia\nBuildings and structures in Vientiane" ]
[ "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "Personal life and education", "Where did Erdogan go to college?", "He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences,", "Does Erdogan have children?", "I don't know.", "Where was Erdogan born?", "Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul,", "Is Erdogan married?", "Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (", "Did Erdogan open a mosque?", "Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village.", "What sport did Erdogan play?", "Erdogan played semi-professional football at a local club.", "What did Erdogan's father do for a living?", "his father Ahmet Erdogan (1905 - 1988) was a Captain in the Turkish Coast Guard.", "Is there a football stadium named after Erdogan?", "I don't know." ]	C_15e775d39cc647c7987d95fdc23b6587_1	What religion does Erdogan practice?	9	What religion does Recep Tayyip Erdoğan practice?	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Erdogan was born in 1954 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province. His parents are Ahmet Erdogan and Tenzile Erdogan. Erdogan reportedly said in 2003, "I'm a Georgian, my family is a Georgian family which migrated from Batumi to Rize." But in a 2014 televised interview on the NTV news network, he said, "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian... forgive me for saying this... even much uglier things, they have even called me an Armenian, but I am Turkish." In an account based on registry records, his genealogy was tracked to an ethnic Turkish family. Erdogan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father Ahmet Erdogan (1905 - 1988) was a Captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. Erdogan had a brother Mustafa (b. 1958) and sister Vesile (b. 1965). His summer holidays were mostly spent in Guneysu, Rize, where his family originates from. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdogan was 13 years old. As a teenager, he sold lemonade and sesame buns (simit) on the streets of the city's rougher districts to earn extra money. Brought up in an observant Muslim family, Erdogan graduated from Kasimpasa Piyale primary school in 1965, and Imam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. He received his high school diploma from Eyup High School. He subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences, now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences--although several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated. In his youth, Erdogan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahce wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasimpasa S.K. is named after him. Erdogan married Emine Gulbaran (born 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons; Ahmet Burak and Necmettin Bilal, and two daughters, Esra and Sumeyye. His father, Ahmet Erdogan, died in 1988 and his 88-year-old mother, Tenzile Erdogan, died in 2011. He is a member of the Community of Iskenderpasa, a Turkish sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. CANNOTANSWER	Erdogan graduated from Kasimpasa Piyale primary school in 1965, and Imam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973.	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to election victories in 2002, 2007, and 2011 general elections before being required to stand down upon his election as President in 2014. He later returned to the AKP leadership in 2017 following the constitutional referendum that year. Coming from an Islamist political background and self-describing as a conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration. Following the 1994 local elections, Erdoğan was elected mayor of Istanbul as the candidate of the Islamist Welfare Party. He was later stripped of his position, banned from political office, and imprisoned for four months for inciting religious hatred, due to his recitation of a poem by Ziya Gökalp. Erdoğan subsequently abandoned openly Islamist politics, establishing the moderate conservative AKP in 2001, which he went on to lead to a landslide victory in 2002. With Erdoğan still technically prohibited from holding office, the AKP's co-founder, Abdullah Gül, instead became prime minister, and later annulled Erdoğan's political ban. After winning a by-election in Siirt in 2003, Erdoğan replaced Gül as prime minister, with Gül instead becoming the AKP's candidate for the presidency. Erdoğan led the AKP to two more election victories in 2007 and 2011. The early years of Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister saw advances in negotiations for Turkey's membership of the European Union, an economic recovery following a economic crisis in 2001 and investments in infrastructure including roads, airports, and a high-speed train network. He also won two successful constitutional referendums in 2007 and 2010. However, his government remained controversial for its close links with Fethullah Gülen and his Gülen Movement (since designated as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish state) with whom the AKP was accused of orchestrating purges against secular bureaucrats and military officers through the Balyoz and Ergenekon trials. In late 2012, his government began peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to end the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present). The ceasefire broke down in 2015, leading to a renewed escalation in conflict. Erdoğan's foreign policy has been described as Neo-Ottoman and has led to the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, with its focus on preventing the Syrian Democratic Forces from gaining ground on the Syria–Turkey border during the Syrian Civil War. In the more recent years of Erdoğan's rule, Turkey has experienced democratic backsliding and corruption. Starting with the anti-government protests in 2013, his government imposed growing censorship on the press and social media, temporarily restricting access to sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. This stalled negotiations related to Turkey's EU membership. A US$100 billion corruption scandal in 2013 led to the arrests of Erdoğan's close allies, and incriminated Erdoğan. After 11 years as head of government (Prime Minister), Erdoğan decided to run for President in 2014. At the time, the presidency was a somewhat ceremonial function. Following the 2014 elections, Erdoğan became the first popularly elected president of Turkey. The souring in relations with Gülen continued, as the government proceeded to purge his supporters from judicial, bureaucratic and military positions. A failed military coup d'état attempt in July 2016 resulted in further purges and a temporary state of emergency. The government claimed that the coup leaders were linked to Gülen, but he has denied any role in it. Erdoğan's rule has been marked with increasing authoritarianism, expansionism, censorship and banning of parties or dissent. Erdoğan supported the 2017 referendum which changed Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential system, thus setting for the first time in Turkish history a term limit for the head of government (two full five-year terms). This new system of government formally came into place after the 2018 general election, where Erdoğan became an executive president. His party however lost the majority in the parliament and is currently in a coalition (People's Alliance) with the Turkish nationalist MHP. Erdoğan has since been tackling, but also accused of contributing to, the Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018, which has caused a significant decline in his popularity and is widely believed to have contributed to the results of the 2019 local elections, in which his party lost power in big cities like Ankara and Istanbul to opposition parties for the first time in 15 years. Family and personal life Early life Erdoğan was born in Kasımpaşa, a poor neighborhood of Istanbul, to which his family had moved from Rize Province in the 1930s. Erdoğan's tribe is originally from Adjara, a region in Georgia. His parents were Ahmet Erdoğan (1905–88) and Tenzile Erdoğan (née Mutlu; 1924–2011). Erdoğan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father was a captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. His summer holidays were mostly spent in Güneysu, Rize, where his family originates. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdoğan was 13 years old. As a teenager, Erdoğan's father provided him with a weekly allowance of 2.5 Turkish lira, less than a dollar. With it, Erdoğan bought postcards and resold them on the street. He sold bottles of water to drivers stuck in traffic. Erdoğan also worked as a street vendor selling simit (sesame bread rings), wearing a white gown and selling the simit from a red three-wheel cart with the rolls stacked behind glass. In his youth, Erdoğan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahçe wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasımpaşa S.K. is named after him. Erdoğan is a member of the Community of İskenderpaşa, a Turkish Sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah. Education Erdoğan graduated from Kasımpaşa Piyale primary school in 1965, and İmam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. The same educational path was followed by other co-founders of the AKP party. One quarter of the curriculum of İmam Hatip schools involves study of the Qurʼān, the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the Arabic language. Erdoğan studied the Qurʼān at an İmam Hatip, where his classmates began calling him "hoca" ("Muslim teacher"). Erdoğan attended a meeting of the nationalist student group National Turkish Student Union (Milli Türk Talebe Birliği), who sought to raise a conservative cohort of young people to counter the rising movement of leftists in Turkey. Within the group, Erdoğan was distinguished by his oratorical skills, developing a penchant for public speaking and excelling in front of an audience. He won first place in a poetry-reading competition organized by the Community of Turkish Technical Painters, and began preparing for speeches through reading and research. Erdoğan would later comment on these competitions as "enhancing our courage to speak in front of the masses". Erdoğan wanted to pursue advanced studies at Mekteb-i Mülkiye, but Mülkiye accepted only students with regular high school diplomas, and not İmam Hatip graduates. Mülkiye was known for its political science department, which trained many statesmen and politicians in Turkey. Erdoğan was then admitted to Eyüp High School, a regular state school, and eventually received his high school diploma from Eyüp. According to his official biography, he subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences (), now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Several Turkish sources dispute that he graduated, or even attended at all. Family Erdoğan married Emine Gülbaran (b. 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons, Ahmet Burak (b. 1979) and Necmettin Bilal (b. 1981), and two daughters, Esra (b. 1983) and Sümeyye (b. 1985). His father, Ahmet Erdoğan, died in 1988 and his mother, Tenzile Erdoğan, died in 2011 at the age of 88. Erdoğan has a brother, Mustafa (b. 1958), and a sister, Vesile (b. 1965). From his father's first marriage to Havuli Erdoğan (d. 1980), he had two half-brothers: Mehmet (1926–1988) and Hasan (1929–2006). Early political career In 1976, Erdoğan engaged in politics by joining the National Turkish Student Union, an anti-communist action group. In the same year, he became the head of the Beyoğlu youth branch of the Islamist National Salvation Party (MSP), and was later promoted to chair of the Istanbul youth branch of the party. Holding this position until 1980, he served as consultant and senior executive in the private sector during the era following the 1980 military coup when political parties were closed down. In 1983, Erdoğan followed most of Necmettin Erbakan's followers into the Islamist Welfare Party. He became the party's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984, and in 1985 he became the chair of the Istanbul city branch. He was elected to parliament in 1991, but was barred from taking his seat. Mayor of Istanbul (1994–1998) In the local elections of 27 March 1994, Erdoğan was elected Mayor of Istanbul with 25.19% of the popular vote. Erdoğan was a 40-year-old dark horse candidate who had been mocked by the mainstream media and treated as a country bumpkin by his opponents. He was pragmatic in office, tackling many chronic problems in Istanbul including water shortage, pollution and traffic chaos. The water shortage problem was solved with the laying of hundreds of kilometers of new pipelines. The garbage problem was solved with the establishment of state-of-the-art recycling facilities. While Erdoğan was in office, air pollution was reduced through a plan developed to switch to natural gas. He changed the public buses to environmentally friendly ones. The city's traffic and transportation jams were reduced with more than fifty bridges, viaducts, and highways built. He took precautions to prevent corruption, using measures to ensure that municipal funds were used prudently. He paid back a major portion of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's two-billion-dollar debt and invested four billion dollars in the city. Erdoğan initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors. A seven-member international jury from the United Nations unanimously awarded Erdoğan the UN-Habitat award. Imprisonment In 1998, the fundamentalist Welfare Party was declared unconstitutional on the grounds of threatening the secularism of Turkey and was shut down by the Turkish constitutional court. Erdoğan became a prominent speaker at demonstrations held by his party colleagues. In December 1997 in Siirt, Erdoğan recited a poem from a work written by Ziya Gökalp, a pan-Turkish activist of the early 20th century. His recitation included verses translated as "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...." which are not in the original version of the poem. Erdoğan said the poem had been approved by the education ministry to be published in textbooks. Under article 312/2 of the Turkish penal code his recitation was regarded as an incitement to violence and religious or racial hatred. He was given a ten-month prison sentence of which he served four months, from 24 March 1999 to 27 July 1999. Due to his conviction, Erdoğan was forced to give up his mayoral position. The conviction also stipulated a political ban, which prevented him from participating in parliamentary elections. He had appealed for the sentence to be converted to a monetary fine, but it was reduced to 120 days instead. In 2017, this period of Erdoğan's life was made into a film titled Reis. Justice and Development Party Erdoğan was member of political parties that kept getting banned by the army or judges. Within his Virtue Party, there was a dispute about the appropriate discourse of the party between traditional politicians and pro-reform politicians. The latter envisioned a party that could operate within the limits of the system, and thus not getting banned as its predecessors like National Order Party, National Salvation Party and Welfare Party. They wanted to give the group the character of an ordinary conservative party following the example of the European Christian democratic parties. When the Virtue Party was also banned in 2001, a definitive split took place: the followers of Necmettin Erbakan founded the Felicity Party (SP) and the reformers founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) under the leadership of Abdullah Gül and Erdoğan. The pro-reform politicians realized that a strictly Islamic party would never be accepted as a governing party by the state apparatus and they believed that an Islamic party did not appeal to more than about 20 percent of the Turkish electorate. The AK party emphatically placed itself as a broad democratic conservative party with new politicians from the political center (like Ali Babacan and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu), while respecting Islamic norms and values, but without an explicit religious program. This turned out to be successful as the new party won 34% of the vote in the general elections of 2002. Erdoğan became prime minister in March 2003 after the Gül government ended his political ban. Premiership (2003–2014) General elections The elections of 2002 were the first elections in which Erdoğan participated as a party leader. All parties previously elected to parliament failed to win enough votes to re-enter the parliament. The AKP won 34.3% of the national vote and formed the new government. Turkish stocks rose more than 7% on Monday morning. Politicians of the previous generation, such as Ecevit, Bahceli, Yılmaz and Çiller, resigned. The second largest party, the CHP, received 19.4% of the votes. The AKP won a landslide victory in the parliament, taking nearly two-thirds of the seats. Erdoğan could not become Prime Minister as he was still banned from politics by the judiciary for his speech in Siirt. Gül became the Prime Minister instead. In December 2002, the Supreme Election Board canceled the general election results from Siirt due to voting irregularities and scheduled a new election for 9 February 2003. By this time, party leader Erdoğan was able to run for parliament due to a legal change made possible by the opposition Republican People's Party. The AKP duly listed Erdoğan as a candidate for the rescheduled election, which he won, becoming Prime Minister after Gül handed over the post. On 14 April 2007, an estimated 300,000 people marched in Ankara to protest against the possible candidacy of Erdoğan in the 2007 presidential election, afraid that if elected as president, he would alter the secular nature of the Turkish state. Erdoğan announced on 24 April 2007 that the party had nominated Abdullah Gül as the AKP candidate in the presidential election. The protests continued over the next several weeks, with over one million people reported to have turned out at a 29 April rally in Istanbul, tens of thousands at separate protests on 4 May in Manisa and Çanakkale, and one million in İzmir on 13 May. The stage of the elections of 2007 was set for a fight for legitimacy in the eyes of voters between his government and the CHP. Erdoğan used the event that took place during the ill-fated Presidential elections a few months earlier as a part of the general election campaign of his party. On 22 July 2007, the AKP won an important victory over the opposition, garnering 46.7% of the popular vote. 22 July elections marked only the second time in the Republic of Turkey's history whereby an incumbent governing party won an election by increasing its share of popular support. On 14 March 2008, Turkey's Chief Prosecutor asked the country's Constitutional Court to ban Erdoğan's governing party. The party escaped a ban on 30 July 2008, a year after winning 46.7% of the vote in national elections, although judges did cut the party's public funding by 50%. In the June 2011 elections, Erdoğan's governing party won 327 seats (49.83% of the popular vote) making Erdoğan the only prime minister in Turkey's history to win three consecutive general elections, each time receiving more votes than the previous election. The second party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), received 135 seats (25.94%), the nationalist MHP received 53 seats (13.01%), and the Independents received 35 seats (6.58%). Referendums After the opposition parties deadlocked the 2007 presidential election by boycotting the parliament, the ruling AKP proposed a constitutional reform package. The reform package was first vetoed by president Sezer. Then he applied to the Turkish constitutional court about the reform package, because the president is unable to veto amendments for the second time. The Turkish constitutional court did not find any problems in the packet and 68.95% of the voters supported the constitutional changes. The reforms consisted of electing the president by popular vote instead of by parliament; reducing the presidential term from seven years to five; allowing the president to stand for re-election for a second term; holding general elections every four years instead of five; and reducing from 367 to 184 the quorum of lawmakers needed for parliamentary decisions. Reforming the Constitution was one of the main pledges of the AKP during the 2007 election campaign. The main opposition party CHP was not interested in altering the Constitution on a big scale, making it impossible to form a Constitutional Commission (Anayasa Uzlaşma Komisyonu). The amendments lacked the two-thirds majority needed to become law instantly, but secured 336 votes in the 550-seat parliament – enough to put the proposals to a referendum. The reform package included a number of issues such as the right of individuals to appeal to the highest court, the creation of the ombudsman's office; the possibility to negotiate a nationwide labour contract; gender equality; the ability of civilian courts to convict members of the military; the right of civil servants to go on strike; a privacy law; and the structure of the Constitutional Court. The referendum was agreed by a majority of 58%. Domestic Policy Kurdish issue In 2009, Prime Minister Erdoğan's government announced a plan to help end the quarter-century-long Turkey–Kurdistan Workers' Party conflict that had cost more than 40,000 lives. The government's plan, supported by the European Union, intended to allow the Kurdish language to be used in all broadcast media and political campaigns, and restored Kurdish names to cities and towns that had been given Turkish ones. Erdoğan said, "We took a courageous step to resolve chronic issues that constitute an obstacle along Turkey's development, progression and empowerment". Erdoğan passed a partial amnesty to reduce penalties faced by many members of the Kurdish guerrilla movement PKK who had surrendered to the government. On 23 November 2011, during a televised meeting of his party in Ankara, he apologised on behalf of the state for the Dersim massacre, where many Alevis and Zazas were killed. In 2013 the government of Erdoğan began a peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish Government, mediated by parliamentarians of the Peoples' Democratic party (HDP). In 2015 he decided that the peace process was over and supported the lift of the parliamentary immunity of the HDP parliamentarians. During his presidency a law was introduced which banned the use of the word Kurdistan in parliament and in a speech he held for the local election of 2019 he told the HDP politicians that if there is no Kurdistan in Turkey and if they looked for one they should go to Northern Iraq. Armenian genocide Prime Minister Erdoğan expressed multiple times that Turkey would acknowledge the mass killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide only after a thorough investigation by a joint Turkish-Armenian commission consisting of historians, archaeologists, political scientists and other experts. In 2005, Erdoğan and the main opposition party leader Deniz Baykal wrote a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, proposing the creation of a joint Turkish-Armenian commission. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian rejected the offer because he asserted that the proposal itself was "insincere and not serious". He added: "This issue cannot be considered at historical level with Turks, who themselves politicized the problem". In December 2008, Erdoğan criticised the I Apologize campaign by Turkish intellectuals to recognize the Armenian Genocide, saying, "I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologise ... It will not have any benefit other than stirring up trouble, disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have been taken". In November 2009, he said, "it is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide". In 2011, Erdoğan ordered the tearing-down of the Statue of Humanity, a Turkish–Armenian friendship monument in Kars, which was commissioned in 2006 and represented a metaphor of the rapprochement of the two countries after many years of dispute over the events of 1915. Erdoğan justified the removal by stating that the monument was offensively close to the tomb of an 11th-century Islamic scholar, and that its shadow ruined the view of that site, while Kars municipality officials said it was illegally erected in a protected area. However, the former mayor of Kars who approved the original construction of the monument said the municipality was destroying not just a "monument to humanity" but "humanity itself". The demolition was not unopposed; among its detractors were several Turkish artists. Two of them, the painter Bedri Baykam and his associate, Pyramid Art Gallery general coordinator Tugba Kurtulmus, were stabbed after a meeting with other artists at the Istanbul Akatlar cultural center. On 23 April 2014, Erdoğan's office issued a statement in nine languages (including two dialects of Armenian), offering condolences for the mass killings of Armenians and stating that the events of 1915 had inhumane consequences. The statement described the mass killings as the two nations' shared pain and said: "Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences – such as relocation – during the First World War, (it) should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among one another". The Ottoman Parliament of 1915 had previously used the term "relocation" to describe the purpose of the Tehcir Law, which resulted in the deaths of anywhere between 800,000 and over 1,800,000 Armenian civilians in what is commonly referred to as the Armenian Genocide. Pope Francis in April 2015, at a special mass in St. Peter's Basilica marking the centenary of the events, described atrocities against Armenian civilians in 1915–1922 as "the first genocide of the 20th century". In protest, Erdoğan recalled the Turkish ambassador from the Vatican, and summoned the Vatican's ambassador, to express "disappointment" at what he called a discriminatory message. He later stated "we don’t carry a stain or a shadow like genocide". US President Barack Obama called for a "full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts", but again stopped short of labelling it "genocide", despite his campaign promise to do so. Human rights During Erdoğan's time as Prime Minister, the far-reaching powers of the 1991 Anti-Terror Law were reduced and the Democratic initiative process was initiated, with the goal to improve democratic standards in general and the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in particular. However, after Turkey's bid to join the European Union stalled, European officials noted a return to more authoritarian ways, notably on freedom of speech, freedom of the press and Kurdish minority rights. Demands by activists for the recognition of LGBT rights were publicly rejected by government members, and members of the Turkish LGBT community were insulted by cabinet members. Reporters Without Borders observed a continuous decrease in Freedom of the Press during Erdoğan's later terms, with a rank of around 100 on the Press Freedom Index during his first term and a rank of 153 out of a total of 179 countries in 2021. Freedom House saw a slight recovery in later years and awarded Turkey a Press Freedom Score of 55/100 in 2012 after a low point of 48/100 in 2006. In 2011, Erdoğan's government made legal reforms to return properties of Christian and Jewish minorities which were seized by the Turkish government in the 1930s. The total value of the properties returned reached $2 billion (USD). Under Erdoğan, the Turkish government tightened the laws on the sale and consumption of alcohol, banning all advertising and increasing the tax on alcoholic beverages. Economy In 2002, Erdoğan inherited a Turkish economy that was beginning to recover from a recession as a result of reforms implemented by Kemal Derviş. Erdoğan supported Finance Minister Ali Babacan in enforcing macro-economic policies. Erdoğan tried to attract more foreign investors to Turkey and lifted many government regulations. The cash-flow into the Turkish economy between 2002 and 2012 caused a growth of 64% in real GDP and a 43% increase in GDP per capita; considerably higher numbers were commonly advertised but these did not account for the inflation of the US dollar between 2002 and 2012. The average annual growth in GDP per capita was 3.6%. The growth in real GDP between 2002 and 2012 was higher than the values from developed countries, but was close to average when developing countries are also taken into account. The ranking of the Turkish economy in terms of GDP moved slightly from 17 to 16 during this decade. A major consequence of the policies between 2002 and 2012 was the widening of the current account deficit from US$600 million to US$58 billion (2013 est.) Since 1961, Turkey has signed 19 IMF loan accords. Erdoğan's government satisfied the budgetary and market requirements of the two during his administration and received every loan installment, the only time any Turkish government has done so. Erdoğan inherited a debt of $23.5 billion to the IMF, which was reduced to $0.9 billion in 2012. He decided not to sign a new deal. Turkey's debt to the IMF was thus declared to be completely paid and he announced that the IMF could borrow from Turkey. In 2010, five-year credit default swaps for Turkey's sovereign debt were trading at a record low of 1.17%, below those of nine EU member countries and Russia. In 2002, the Turkish Central Bank had $26.5 billion in reserves. This amount reached $92.2 billion in 2011. During Erdoğan's leadership, inflation fell from 32% to 9.0% in 2004. Since then, Turkish inflation has continued to fluctuate around 9% and is still one of the highest inflation rates in the world. The Turkish public debt as a percentage of annual GDP declined from 74% in 2002 to 39% in 2009. In 2012, Turkey had a lower ratio of public debt to GDP than 21 of 27 members of the European Union and a lower budget deficit to GDP ratio than 23 of them. In 2003, Erdoğan's government pushed through the Labor Act, a comprehensive reform of Turkey's labor laws. The law greatly expanded the rights of employees, establishing a 45-hour workweek and limiting overtime work to 270 hours a year, provided legal protection against discrimination due to sex, religion, or political affiliation, prohibited discrimination between permanent and temporary workers, entitled employees terminated without "valid cause" to compensation, and mandated written contracts for employment arrangements lasting a year or more. Education Erdoğan increased the budget of the Ministry of Education from 7.5 billion lira in 2002 to 34 billion lira in 2011, the highest share of the national budget given to one ministry. Before his prime ministership the military received the highest share of the national budget. Compulsory education was increased from eight years to twelve. In 2003, the Turkish government, together with UNICEF, initiated a campaign called "Come on girls, [let's go] to school!" (). The goal of this campaign was to close the gender gap in primary school enrollment through the provision of a quality basic education for all girls, especially in southeast Turkey. In 2005, the parliament granted amnesty to students expelled from universities before 2003. The amnesty applied to students dismissed on academic or disciplinary grounds. In 2004, textbooks became free of charge and since 2008 every province in Turkey has its own university. During Erdoğan's Premiership, the number of universities in Turkey nearly doubled, from 98 in 2002 to 186 in October 2012. The Prime Minister kept his campaign promises by starting the Fatih project in which all state schools, from preschool to high school level, received a total of 620,000 smart boards, while tablet computers were distributed to 17 million students and approximately one million teachers and administrators. In June 2017 a draft proposal by the ministry of education was approved by Erdoğan, in which the curriculum for schools excluded the teaching of the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin by 2019. From then on the teaching will be postponed and start at undergraduate level. Infrastructure Under Erdoğan's government, the number of airports in Turkey increased from 26 to 50 in the period of 10 years. Between the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and 2002, there had been 6,000 km of dual carriageway roads created. Between 2002 and 2011, another 13,500 km of expressway were built. Due to these measures, the number of motor accidents fell by 50 percent. For the first time in Turkish history, high speed railway lines were constructed, and the country's high-speed train service began in 2009. In 8 years, 1,076 km of railway were built and 5,449 km of railway renewed. The construction of Marmaray, an undersea rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait, started in 2004. It was inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the Turkish Republic 29 October 2013. The inauguration of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third bridge over the Bosphorus, was on 26 August 2016. Justice In March 2006, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) held a press conference to publicly protest the obstruction of the appointment of judges to the high courts for over 10 months. The HSYK said Erdoğan wanted to fill the vacant posts with his own appointees. Erdoğan was accused of creating a rift with Turkey's highest court of appeal, the Yargıtay, and high administrative court, the Danıştay. Erdoğan stated that the constitution gave the power to assign these posts to his elected party. In May 2007, the head of Turkey's High Court asked prosecutors to consider whether Erdoğan should be charged over critical comments regarding the election of Abdullah Gül as president. Erdoğan said the ruling was "a disgrace to the justice system", and criticized the Constitutional Court which had invalidated a presidential vote because a boycott by other parties meant there was no quorum. Prosecutors investigated his earlier comments, including saying it had fired a "bullet at democracy". Tülay Tuğcu, head of the Constitutional Court, condemned Erdoğan for "threats, insults and hostility" towards the justice system. Civil–military relations The Turkish military has had a record of intervening in politics, having removed elected governments four times in the past. During the Erdoğan government, civil–military relationship moved towards normalization in which the influence of the military in politics was significantly reduced. The ruling Justice and Development Party has often faced off against the military, gaining political power by challenging a pillar of the country's laicistic establishment. The most significant issue that caused deep fissures between the army and the government was the midnight e-memorandum posted on the military's website objecting to the selection of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül as the ruling party's candidate for the Presidency in 2007. The military argued that the election of Gül, whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf, could undermine the laicistic order of the country. Contrary to expectations, the government responded harshly to former Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt's e-memorandum, stating the military had nothing to do with the selection of the presidential candidate. Health care After assuming power in 2003, Erdoğan's government embarked on a sweeping reform program of the Turkish healthcare system, called the Health Transformation Program (HTP), to greatly increase the quality of healthcare and protect all citizens from financial risks. Its introduction coincided with the period of sustained economic growth, allowing the Turkish government to put greater investments into the healthcare system. As part of the reforms, the "Green Card" program, which provides health benefits to the poor, was expanded in 2004. The reform program aimed at increasing the ratio of private to state-run healthcare, which, along with long queues in state-run hospitals, resulted in the rise of private medical care in Turkey, forcing state-run hospitals to compete by increasing quality. In April 2006, Erdoğan unveiled a social security reform package demanded by the International Monetary Fund under a loan deal. The move, which Erdoğan called one of the most radical reforms ever, was passed with fierce opposition. Turkey's three social security bodies were united under one roof, bringing equal health services and retirement benefits for members of all three bodies. The previous system had been criticized for reserving the best healthcare for civil servants and relegating others to wait in long queues. Under the second bill, everyone under the age of 18 years was entitled to free health services, irrespective of whether they pay premiums to any social security organization. The bill also envisages a gradual increase in the retirement age: starting from 2036, the retirement age will increase to 65 by 2048 for both women and men. In January 2008, the Turkish Parliament adopted a law to prohibit smoking in most public places. Erdoğan is outspokenly anti-smoking. Foreign policy Turkish foreign policy during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister has been associated with the name of Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu was the chief foreign policy advisor of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before he was appointed foreign minister in 2009. The basis of Erdoğan's foreign policy is based on the principle of "don't make enemies, make friends" and the pursuit of "zero problems" with neighboring countries. Erdoğan is co-founder of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (AOC). The initiative seeks to galvanize international action against extremism through the forging of international, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation. European Union When Erdoğan came to power, he continued Turkey's long ambition of joining the European Union. On 3 October 2005 negotiations began for Turkey's accession to the European Union. Erdoğan was named "The European of the Year 2004" by the newspaper European Voice for the reforms in his country in order to accomplish the accession of Turkey to the European Union. He said in a comment that "Turkey's accession shows that Europe is a continent where civilisations reconcile and not clash." On 3 October 2005, the negotiations for Turkey's accession to the EU formally started during Erdoğan's tenure as Prime Minister. The European Commission generally supports Erdoğan's reforms, but remains critical of his policies. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize EU member state Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus dispute Relations between Greece and Turkey were normalized during Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister. In May 2004, Erdoğan became the first Turkish Prime Minister to visit Greece since 1988, and the first to visit the Turkish minority of Thrace since 1952. In 2007, Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis inaugurated the Greek-Turkish natural gas pipeline giving Caspian gas its first direct Western outlet. Turkey and Greece signed an agreement to create a Combined Joint Operational Unit within the framework of NATO to participate in Peace Support Operations. Erdoğan and his party strongly supported the EU-backed referendum to reunify Cyprus in 2004. Negotiations about a possible EU membership came to a standstill in 2009 and 2010, when Turkish ports were closed to Cypriot ships as a consequence of the economic isolation of the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the failure of the EU to end the isolation, as it had promised in 2004. The Turkish government continues its refusal to recognize the Republic of Cyprus. Armenia Armenia is Turkey's only neighbor which Erdoğan has not visited during his premiership. The Turkish-Armenian border has been closed since 1993 because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Turkey's close ally Azerbaijan. Diplomatic efforts resulted in the signing of protocols between Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers in Switzerland to improve relations between the two countries. One of the points of the agreement was the creation of a joint commission on the issue. The Armenian Constitutional Court decided that the commission contradicts the Armenian constitution. Turkey responded saying that Armenian court's ruling on the protocols is not acceptable, resulting in a suspension of the rectification process by the Turkish side. Erdoğan has said that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan should apologize for calling on school children to re-occupy eastern Turkey. When asked by a student at a literature contest ceremony if Armenians will be able to get back their "western territories" along with Mt. Ararat, Sarksyan said, "This is the task of your generation". Russia In December 2004, President Putin visited Turkey, making it the first presidential visit in the history of Turkish-Russian relations besides that of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Nikolai Podgorny in 1972. In November 2005, Putin attended the inauguration of a jointly constructed Blue Stream natural gas pipeline in Turkey. This sequence of top-level visits has brought several important bilateral issues to the forefront. The two countries consider it their strategic goal to achieve "multidimensional co-operation", especially in the fields of energy, transport and the military. Specifically, Russia aims to invest in Turkey's fuel and energy industries, and it also expects to participate in tenders for the modernisation of Turkey's military. The relations during this time are described by President Medvedev as "Turkey is one of our most important partners with respect to regional and international issues. We can confidently say that Russian-Turkish relations have advanced to the level of a multidimensional strategic partnership". In May 2010, Turkey and Russia signed 17 agreements to enhance cooperation in energy and other fields, including pacts to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant and further plans for an oil pipeline from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The leaders of both countries also signed an agreement on visa-free travel, enabling tourists to get into the other country for free and stay there for up to 30 days. United States When Barack Obama became President of United States, he made his first overseas bilateral meeting to Turkey in April 2009. At a joint news conference in Turkey, Obama said: "I'm trying to make a statement about the importance of Turkey, not just to the United States but to the world. I think that where there's the most promise of building stronger U.S.-Turkish relations is in the recognition that Turkey and the United States can build a model partnership in which a predominantly Christian nation, a predominantly Muslim nation – a Western nation and a nation that straddles two continents," he continued, "that we can create a modern international community that is respectful, that is secure, that is prosperous, that there are not tensions – inevitable tensions between cultures – which I think is extraordinarily important." Iraq Turkey under Erdoğan was named by the Bush Administration as a part of the "coalition of the willing" that was central to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On 1 March 2003, a motion allowing Turkish military to participate in the U.S-led coalition's invasion of Iraq, along with the permission for foreign troops to be stationed in Turkey for this purpose, was overruled by the Turkish Parliament. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq and Turkey signed 48 trade agreements on issues including security, energy, and water. The Turkish government attempted to mend relations with Iraqi Kurdistan by opening a Turkish university in Erbil, and a Turkish consulate in Mosul. Erdoğan's government fostered economic and political relations with Irbil, and Turkey began to consider the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq as an ally against Maliki's government. Israel Erdoğan visited Israel on 1 May 2005, a gesture unusual for a leader of a Muslim majority country. During his trip, Erdoğan visited the Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The President of Israel Shimon Peres addressed the Turkish parliament during a visit in 2007, the first time an Israeli leader had addressed the legislature of a predominantly Muslim nation. Their relationship worsened at the 2009 World Economic Forum conference over Israel's actions during the Gaza War. Erdoğan was interrupted by the moderator while he was responding to Peres. Erdoğan stated: "Mister Peres, you are older than I am. Maybe you are feeling guilty and that is why you are raising your voice. When it comes to killing you know it too well. I remember how you killed the children on beaches..." Upon the moderator's reminder that they needed to adjourn for dinner, Erdoğan left the panel, accusing the moderator of giving Peres more time than all the other panelists combined. Tensions increased further following the Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010. Erdoğan strongly condemned the raid, describing it as "state terrorism", and demanded an Israeli apology. In February 2013, Erdoğan called Zionism a "crime against humanity", comparing it to Islamophobia, antisemitism, and fascism. He later retracted the statement, saying he had been misinterpreted. He said "everyone should know" that his comments were directed at "Israeli policies", especially as regards to "Gaza and the settlements." Erdoğan's statements were criticized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, among others. In August 2013, the Hürriyet reported that Erdoğan had claimed to have evidence of Israel's responsibility for the removal of Morsi from office in Egypt. The Israeli and Egyptian governments dismissed the suggestion. In response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. He also stated that "If Israel continues with this attitude, it will definitely be tried at international courts." Syria During Erdoğan's term of office, diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria significantly deteriorated. In 2004, President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Turkey for the first official visit by a Syrian President in 57 years. In late 2004, Erdoğan signed a free trade agreement with Syria. Visa restrictions between the two countries were lifted in 2009, which caused an economic boom in the regions near the Syrian border. However, in 2011 the relationship between the two countries was strained following the outbreak of conflict in Syria. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he was trying to "cultivate a favorable relationship with whatever government would take the place of Assad". However, he began to support the opposition in Syria, after demonstrations turned violent, creating a serious Syrian refugee problem in Turkey. Erdoğan's policy of providing military training for anti-Damascus fighters has also created conflict with Syria's ally and a neighbour of Turkey, Iran. Saudi Arabia In August 2006, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz as-Saud made a visit to Turkey. This was the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Turkey in the last four decades. The monarch made a second visit, on 9 November 2007. Turk-Saudi trade volume has exceeded 3.2 billion in 2006, almost double the figure achieved in 2003. In 2009, this amount reached 5.5 billion and the goal for the year 2010 was 10 billion. Erdoğan condemned the Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain and characterized the Saudi movement as "a new Karbala." He demanded withdrawal of Saudi forces from Bahrain. Egypt Erdoğan had made his first official visit to Egypt on 12 September 2011, accompanied by six ministers and 200 businessmen. This visit was made very soon after Turkey had ejected Israeli ambassadors, cutting off all diplomatic relations with Israel because Israel refused to apologize for the Gaza flotilla raid which killed eight Turkish and one Turco-American. Erdoğan's visit to Egypt was met with much enthusiasm by Egyptians. CNN reported some Egyptians saying "We consider him as the Islamic leader in the Middle East", while others were appreciative of his role in supporting Gaza. Erdoğan was later honored in Tahrir Square by members of the Egyptian Revolution Youth Union, and members of the Turkish embassy were presented with a coat of arms in acknowledgment of the Prime Minister's support of the Egyptian Revolution. Erdoğan stated in a 2011 interview that he supported secularism for Egypt, which generated an angry reaction among Islamic movements, especially the Freedom and Justice Party, which was the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. However, commentators suggest that by forming an alliance with the military junta during Egypt's transition to democracy, Erdoğan may have tipped the balance in favor of an authoritarian government. Erdoğan condemned the sit-in dispersals conducted by Egyptian police on 14 August 2013 at the Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares, where violent clashes between police officers and pro-Morsi Islamist protesters led to hundreds of deaths, mostly protesters. In July 2014, one year after the removal of Mohamed Morsi from office, Erdoğan described Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as an "illegitimate tyrant". Somalia Erdoğan's administration maintains strong ties with the Somali government. During the drought of 2011, Erdoğan's government contributed over $201 million to humanitarian relief efforts in the impacted parts of Somalia. Following a greatly improved security situation in Mogadishu in mid-2011, the Turkish government also re-opened its foreign embassy with the intention of more effectively assisting in the post-conflict development process. It was among the first foreign governments to resume formal diplomatic relations with Somalia after the civil war. In May 2010, the Turkish and Somali governments signed a military training agreement, in keeping with the provisions outlined in the Djibouti Peace Process. Turkish Airlines became the first long-distance international commercial airline in two decades to resume flights to and from Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport. Turkey also launched various development and infrastructure projects in Somalia including building several hospitals and helping renovate the National Assembly building. Protests 2013 Gezi Park protests against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdoğan and his policies, starting from a small sit-in in Istanbul in defense of a city park. After the police's intense reaction with tear gas, the protests grew each day. Faced by the largest mass protest in a decade, Erdoğan made this controversial remark in a televised speech: "The police were there yesterday, they are there today, and they will be there tomorrow". After weeks of clashes in the streets of Istanbul, his government at first apologized to the protestors and called for a plebiscite, but then ordered a crackdown on the protesters. Presidency (2014–present) Erdoğan took the oath of office on 28 August 2014 and became the 12th president of Turkey. He administered the new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's oath on 29 August. When asked about his lower-than-expected 51.79% share of the vote, he allegedly responded, "there were even those who did not like the Prophet. I, however, won 52%". Assuming the role of President, Erdoğan was criticized for openly stating that he would not maintain the tradition of presidential neutrality. Erdoğan has also stated his intention to pursue a more active role as president, such as utilising the President's rarely used cabinet-calling powers. The political opposition has argued that Erdoğan will continue to pursue his own political agenda, controlling the government, while his new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would be docile and submissive. Furthermore, the domination of loyal Erdoğan supporters in Davutoğlu's cabinet fuelled speculation that Erdoğan intended to exercise substantial control over the government. Presidential elections On 1 July 2014, Erdoğan was named the AKP's presidential candidate in the Turkish presidential election. His candidacy was announced by the Deputy President of the AKP, Mehmet Ali Şahin. Erdoğan made a speech after the announcement and used the 'Erdoğan logo' for the first time. The logo was criticised because it was very similar to the logo that U.S. President Barack Obama used in the 2008 presidential election. Erdoğan was elected as the President of Turkey in the first round of the election with 51.79% of the vote, obviating the need for a run-off by winning over 50%. The joint candidate of the CHP, MHP and 13 other opposition parties, former Organisation of Islamic Co-operation general secretary Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu won 38.44% of the vote. The pro-Kurdish HDP candidate Selahattin Demirtaş won 9.76%. The 2018 Turkish presidential election took place as part of the 2018 general election, alongside parliamentary elections on the same day. Following the approval of constitutional changes in a referendum held in 2017, the elected President will be both the head of state and head of government of Turkey, taking over the latter role from the to-be-abolished office of the Prime Minister. Incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared his candidacy for the People's Alliance (Turkish: Cumhur İttifakı) on 27 April 2018. Erdoğan's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, nominated Muharrem İnce, a member of the parliament known for his combative opposition and spirited speeches against Erdoğan. Besides these candidates, Meral Akşener, the founder and leader of İyi Party, Temel Karamollaoğlu, the leader of the Felicity Party and Doğu Perinçek, the leader of the Patriotic Party, have announced their candidacies and collected the 100,000 signatures required for nomination. The alliance which Erdoğan was candidate for won 52.59% of the popular vote. Referendum In April 2017, a constitutional referendum was held, where the voters in Turkey (and Turkish citizens abroad) approved a set of 18 proposed amendments to the Constitution of Turkey. The amendments included the replacement of the existing parliamentary system with a presidential system. The post of Prime Minister would be abolished, and the presidency would become an executive post vested with broad executive powers. The parliament seats would be increased from 550 to 600 and the age of candidacy to the parliament was lowered from 25 to 18. The referendum also called for changes to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors. Local elections In the 2019 local elections, the ruling party AKP lost control of Istanbul and Ankara for the first time in 25 years, as well as 5 of Turkey's 6 largest cities. The loss has been widely attributed to Erdoğan's mismanagement of the Turkish economic crisis, rising authoritarianism as well as the alleged government inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis. Soon after the elections, Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey ordered a re-election in Istanbul, cancelling Ekrem İmamoğlu's mayoral certificate. The decision led to a significant decrease of Erdoğan's and AKP's popularity and his party lost the elections again in June with a greater margin. The result was seen as a huge blow to Erdoğan, who had once said that if his party 'lost Istanbul, we would lose Turkey. The opposition's victory was characterised as 'the beginning of the end' for Erdoğan', with international commentators calling the re-run a huge government miscalculation that led to a potential İmamoğlu candidacy in the next scheduled presidential election. It is suspected that the scale of the government's defeat could provoke a cabinet reshuffle and early general elections, currently scheduled for June 2023. The New Zealand and Australian governments and opposition CHP party have criticized Erdoğan after he repeatedly showed video taken by the Christchurch mosque shooter to his supporters at campaign rallies for 31 March local elections and said Australians and New Zealanders who came to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments "would be sent back in coffins like their grandfathers" at Gallipoli. Domestic policy Presidential palace Erdoğan has also received criticism for the construction of a new palace called Ak Saray (pure white palace), which occupies approximately 50 acres of Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ) in Ankara. Since the AOÇ is protected land, several court orders were issued to halt the construction of the new palace, though building work went on nonetheless. The opposition described the move as a clear disregard for the rule of law. The project was subject to heavy criticism and allegations were made; of corruption during the construction process, wildlife destruction and the complete obliteration of the zoo in the AOÇ in order to make way for the new compound. The fact that the palace is technically illegal has led to it being branded as the 'Kaç-Ak Saray', the word kaçak in Turkish meaning 'illegal'. Ak Saray was originally designed as a new office for the Prime Minister. However, upon assuming the presidency, Erdoğan announced that the palace would become the new Presidential Palace, while the Çankaya Mansion will be used by the Prime Minister instead. The move was seen as a historic change since the Çankaya Mansion had been used as the iconic office of the presidency ever since its inception. The Ak Saray has almost 1,000 rooms and cost $350 million (€270 million), leading to huge criticism at a time when mining accidents and workers' rights had been dominating the agenda. On 29 October 2014, Erdoğan was due to hold a Republic Day reception in the new palace to commemorate the 91st anniversary of the Republic of Turkey and to officially inaugurate the Presidential Palace. However, after most invited participants announced that they would boycott the event and a mining accident occurred in the district of Ermenek in Karaman, the reception was cancelled. The media President Erdoğan and his government continue to press for court action against the remaining free press in Turkey. The latest newspaper that has been seized is Zaman, in March 2016. After the seizure Morton Abramowitz and Eric Edelman, former U.S. ambassadors to Turkey, condemned President Erdoğan's actions in an opinion piece published by The Washington Post: "Clearly, democracy cannot flourish under Erdoğan now". "The overall pace of reforms in Turkey has not only slowed down but in some key areas, such as freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary, there has been a regression, which is particularly worrying", rapporteur Kati Piri said in April 2016 after the European Parliament passed its annual progress report on Turkey. On 22 June 2016, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that he considered himself successful in "destroying" Turkish civil groups "working against the state", a conclusion that had been confirmed some days earlier by Sedat Laçiner, Professor of International Relations and rector of the Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University: "Outlawing unarmed and peaceful opposition, sentencing people to unfair punishment under erroneous terror accusations, will feed genuine terrorism in Erdoğan’s Turkey. Guns and violence will become the sole alternative for legally expressing free thought". After the coup attempt, over 200 journalists were arrested and over 120 media outlets were closed. Cumhuriyet journalists were detained in November 2016 after a long-standing crackdown on the newspaper. Subsequently, Reporters Without Borders called Erdoğan an "enemy of press freedom" and said that he "hides his aggressive dictatorship under a veneer of democracy". In April 2017, Turkey blocked all access to Wikipedia over a content dispute. The Turkish government lifted a two-and-a-half-year ban on Wikipedia on 15 January 2020, restoring access to the online encyclopedia a month after Turkey's top court ruled that blocking Wikipedia was unconstitutional. On 1 July 2020, in a statement made to his party members, Erdoğan announced that the government would introduce new measures and regulations to control or shut down social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Netflix. Through these new measures, each company would be required to appoint an official representative in the country to respond to legal concerns. The decision comes after a number of Twitter users insulted his daughter Esra after she welcomed her fourth child. State of emergency and purges On 20 July 2016, President Erdoğan declared the state of emergency, citing the coup d'état attempt as justification. It was first scheduled to last three months. The Turkish parliament approved this measure. The state of emergency was later extended for another three months, amidst the ongoing 2016 Turkish purges including comprehensive purges of independent media and detention of tens of thousands of Turkish citizens politically opposed to Erdoğan. More than 50,000 people have been arrested and over 160,000 fired from their jobs by March 2018. In August 2016, Erdoğan began rounding up journalists who had been publishing, or who were about to publish articles questioning corruption within the Erdoğan administration, and incarcerating them. The number of Turkish journalists jailed by Turkey is higher than any other country, including all of those journalists currently jailed in North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and China combined. In the wake of the coup attempt of July 2016 the Erdoğan administration began rounding up tens of thousands of individuals, both from within the government, and from the public sector, and incarcerating them on charges of alleged "terrorism". As a result of these arrests, many in the international community complained about the lack of proper judicial process in the incarceration of Erdoğan's opposition. In April 2017 Erdoğan successfully sponsored legislation effectively making it illegal for the Turkish legislative branch to investigate his executive branch of government. Without the checks and balances of freedom of speech, and the freedom of the Turkish legislature to hold him accountable for his actions, many have likened Turkey's current form of government to a dictatorship with only nominal forms of democracy in practice. At the time of Erdoğan's successful passing of the most recent legislation silencing his opposition, United States President Donald Trump called Erdoğan to congratulate him for his "recent referendum victory". On 29 April 2017 Erdoğan's administration began an internal Internet block of all of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia site via Turkey's domestic Internet filtering system. This blocking action took place after the government had first made a request for Wikipedia to remove what it referred to as "offensive content". In response, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales replied via a post on Twitter stating, "Access to information is a fundamental human right. Turkish people, I will always stand with you and fight for this right." In January 2016, more than a thousand academics signed a petition criticizing Turkey's military crackdown on ethnic Kurdish towns and neighborhoods in the east of the country, such as Sur (a district of Diyarbakır), Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre and Silopi, and asking an end to violence. Erdoğan accused those who signed the petition of "terrorist propaganda", calling them "the darkest of people". He called for action by institutions and universities, stating, "Everyone who benefits from this state but is now an enemy of the state must be punished without further delay". Within days, over 30 of the signatories were arrested, many in dawn-time raids on their homes. Although all were quickly released, nearly half were fired from their jobs, eliciting a denunciation from Turkey's Science Academy for such "wrong and disturbing" treatment. Erdoğan vowed that the academics would pay the price for "falling into a pit of treachery". On 8 July 2018, Erdoğan sacked 18,000 officials for alleged ties to US based cleric Fethullah Gülen, shortly before renewing his term as an executive president. Of those removed, 9000 were police officers with 5000 from the armed forces with the addition of hundreds of academics. Foreign policy Europe In February 2016, Erdoğan threatened to send the millions of refugees in Turkey to EU member states, saying: "We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses ... So how will you deal with refugees if you don't get a deal?" In an interview to the news magazine Der Spiegel, German minister of defence Ursula von der Leyen said on 11 March 2016 that the refugee crisis had made good cooperation between EU and Turkey an "existentially important" issue. "Therefore it is right to advance now negotiations on Turkey's EU accession". In its resolution "The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey" from 22 June 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe warned that "recent developments in Turkey pertaining to freedom of the media and of expression, erosion of the rule of law and the human rights violations in relation to anti-terrorism security operations in south-east Turkey have ... raised serious questions about the functioning of its democratic institutions". On 20 August 2016, Erdoğan told his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko that Turkey would not recognize the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea; calling it "Crimea's occupation". In January 2017, Erdoğan said that the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Cyprus is "out of the question" and Turkey will be in Cyprus "forever". There is a long-standing dispute between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea. Erdoğan warned that Greece will pay a "heavy price" if Turkey's gas exploration vessel – in what Turkey said are disputed waters – is attacked. In September 2020, Erdoğan declared his government's support for Azerbaijan following clashes between Armenian and Azeri forces over a disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. He dismissed demands for a ceasefire. Diaspora In March 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated to the Turks in Europe, "Make not three, but five children. Because you are the future of Europe. That will be the best response to the injustices against you." This has been interpreted as an imperialist call for demographic warfare. According to The Economist, Erdoğan is the first Turkish leader to take the Turkish diaspora seriously, which has created friction within these diaspora communities and between the Turkish government and several of its European counterparts. The Balkans In February 2018, President Erdoğan expressed Turkish support of the Republic of Macedonia's position during negotiations over the Macedonia naming dispute saying that Greece's position is wrong. In March 2018, President Erdoğan criticized the Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj for dismissing his Interior Minister and Intelligence Chief for failing to inform him of an unauthorized and illegal secret operation conducted by the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey on Kosovo's territory that led to the arrest of six people allegedly associated with the Gülen movement. On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck the Durrës region of Albania. President Erdoğan expressed his condolences. and citing close Albanian-Turkish relations, he committed Turkey to reconstructing 500 earthquake destroyed homes and other civic structures in Laç, Albania. In Istanbul, Erdoğan organised and attended a donors conference (8 December) to assist Albania that included Turkish businessmen, investors and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. United Kingdom In May 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed Erdoğan to the United Kingdom for a three-day state visit. Erdoğan declared that the United Kingdom is "an ally and a strategic partner, but also a real friend. The cooperation we have is well beyond any mechanism that we have established with other partners." Israel Relations between Turkey and Israel began to normalize after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu officially apologized for the death of the nine Turkish activists during the Gaza flotilla raid. However, in response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of being "more barbaric than Hitler", and conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. In December 2017, President Erdoğan issued a warning to Donald Trump, after the U.S. President acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Erdoğan stated, "Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims", indicating that naming Jerusalem as Israel's capital would alienate Palestinians and other Muslims from the city, undermining hopes at a future capital of a Palestinian State. Erdoğan called Israel a "terrorist state". Naftali Bennett dismissed the threats, claiming "Erdoğan does not miss an opportunity to attack Israel". In April 2019, Erdoğan said the West Bank belongs to Palestinians, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would annex Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if he is re-elected. Erdoğan condemned the Israel–UAE peace agreement, stating that Turkey was considering suspending or cutting off diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates in retaliation. Syrian Civil War Amid allegations of Turkish collaboration with the Islamic State, the 2014 Kobanî protests broke out near the Syrian border city of Kobanî, in protest against the government's perceived facilitation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during the Siege of Kobanî. 42 protestors were killed during a brutal police crackdown. Asserting that aid to the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Syria would assist the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) (then on ceasefire) in Turkey, Erdoğan held bilateral talks with Barack Obama regarding IS during the 5–6 September 2014 NATO summit in Newport, Wales. In early October, United States Vice President Joe Biden criticised the Turkish government for supplying jihadists in Syria and said Erdoğan had expressed regret to him about letting foreign jihadists transit through Turkey en route to Syria. Erdoğan angrily responded, "Biden has to apologize for his statements" adding that if no apology is made, Biden would become "history to me." Biden subsequently apologised. In response to the U.S. request to use İncirlik Air Base to conduct air strikes against IS, Erdoğan demanded that Bashar al-Assad be removed from power first. Turkey lost its bid for a Security Council seat in the United Nations during the 2014 election; the unexpected result is believed to have been a reaction to Erdoğan's hostile treatment of the Kurds fighting ISIS on the Syrian border and a rebuke of his willingness to support IS-aligned insurgents opposed to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In 2015, there were consistent allegations that Erdoğan maintained financial links with the Islamic State, including allegation of his son-in-law Berat Albayrak's involvement with oil production and smuggling in ISIL. Revelations that the state was supplying arms to militant groups in Syria in the 2014 National Intelligence Organisation lorry scandal led to accusations of high treason. In July 2015, Turkey became involved in the international military intervention against ISIL, simultaneously launching airstrikes against PKK bases in Iraqi Kurdistan. As of 2015, Turkey began openly supporting the Army of Conquest, a coalition of Syrian rebel groups that included al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham. In late November 2016, Erdoğan said that the Turkish military launched its operations in Syria to end Assad's rule, but retracted this statement shortly afterwards. In January 2018, the Turkish military and its Syrian National Army and Sham Legion allies began the Turkish military operation in Afrin in the Kurdish-majority Afrin Canton in Northern Syria, against the YPG. On 10 April, Erdoğan rejected a Russian demand to return Afrin to Syrian government control. In October 2019, after Erdoğan spoke to him, U.S. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, despite recently agreeing to a Northern Syria Buffer Zone. U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the border to avoid interference with the Turkish operation. After the U.S. pullout, Turkey proceeded to attack the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Rejecting criticism of the invasion, Erdoğan claimed that NATO and European Union countries "sided with terrorists, and all of them attacked us". China Bilateral trade between Turkey and China increased from $1 billion a year in 2002 to $27 billion annually in 2017. Erdoğan has stated that Turkey might consider joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation instead of the European Union. Qatar blockade In June 2017 during a speech, Erdoğan called the isolation of Qatar as "inhumane and against Islamic values" and that "victimising Qatar through smear campaigns serves no purpose". Myanmar In September 2017, Erdoğan condemned the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar and accused Myanmar of "genocide" against the Muslim minority. United States Over time, Turkey began to look for ways to buy its own missile defense system and also to use that procurement to build up its own capacity to manufacture and sell an air and missile defense system. Turkey got serious about acquiring a missile defense system early in the first Obama administration when it opened a competition between the Raytheon Patriot PAC 2 system and systems from Europe, Russia, and even China. Taking advantage of the new low in U.S.-Turkish relations, Putin saw his chance to use an S-400 sale to Turkey, so in July 2017, he offered the air defense system to Turkey. In the months that followed, the United States warned Turkey that a S-400 purchase jeopardized Turkey's F-35 purchase. Integration of the Russian system into the NATO air defense net was also out of the question. Administration officials, including Mark Esper, warned that Turkey had to choose between the S-400 and the F-35. That they couldn't have both. The S-400 deliveries to Turkey began on 12 July. On 16 July, Trump mentioned to reporters that withholding the F-35 from Turkey was unfair. Said the president, "So what happens is we have a situation where Turkey is very good with us, very good, and we are now telling Turkey that because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we’re not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets". The U.S. Congress has made clear on a bipartisan basis that it expects the president to sanction Turkey for buying Russian equipment. Out of the F-35, Turkey now considers buying Russian fifth-generation jet fighter Su-57. On 1 August 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned two senior Turkish government ministers who were involved in the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Erdoğan said that the U.S. behavior will force Turkey to look for new friends and allies. The U.S.–Turkey tensions appear to be the most serious diplomatic crisis between the NATO allies in years. Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton claimed that President Donald Trump told Erdoğan he would 'take care' of investigation against Turkey's state-owned bank Halkbank accused of bank fraud charges and laundering up to $20 billion on behalf of Iranian entities. Turkey criticized Bolton's book, saying it included misleading accounts of conversations between Trump and Erdoğan. In August 2020, the former vice president and presidential candidate Joe Biden called for a new U.S. approach to the "autocrat" President Erdoğan and support for Turkish opposition parties. In September 2020, Biden demanded that Erdoğan "stay out" of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in which Turkey has supported the Azeris. Venezuela Relations with Venezuela were strengthened with recent developments and high level mutual visits. The first official visit between the two countries at presidential level was in October 2017 when Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro visited Turkey. In December 2018, Erdoğan visited Venezuela for the first time and expressed his will to build strong relations with Venezuela and expressed hope that high-level visits "will increasingly continue." Reuters reported that in 2018 23 tons of mined gold were taken from Venezuela to Istanbul. In the first nine months of 2018, Venezuela's gold exports to Turkey rose from zero in the previous year to US$900 million. During the Venezuelan presidential crisis, Erdoğan voiced solidarity with Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and criticized U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, saying that "political problems cannot be resolved by punishing an entire nation." Following the 2019 Venezuelan uprising attempt, Erdoğan condemned the actions of lawmaker Juan Guaidó, tweeting "Those who are in an effort to appoint a postmodern colonial governor to Venezuela, where the President was appointed by elections and where the people rule, should know that only democratic elections can determine how a country is governed". Events Coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a coup d'état was attempted by the military, with aims to remove Erdoğan from government. By the next day, Erdoğan's government managed to reassert effective control in the country. Reportedly, no government official was arrested or harmed, which, among other factors, raised the suspicion of a false flag event staged by the government itself. Erdoğan, as well as other government officials, has blamed an exiled cleric, and a former ally of Erdoğan, Fethullah Gülen, for staging the coup attempt. Süleyman Soylu, Minister of Labor in Erdoğan's government, accused the US of planning a coup to oust Erdoğan. Erdoğan, as well as other high-ranking Turkish government officials, has issued repeated demands to the US to extradite Gülen. Following the coup attempt, there has been a significant deterioration in Turkey-US relations. European and other world leaders have expressed their concerns over the situation in Turkey, with many of them warning Erdoğan not to use the coup attempt as an excuse to crack down on his opponents. The rise of ISIS and the collapse of the Kurdish peace process had led to a sharp rise in terror incidents in Turkey until 2016. Erdoğan was accused by his critics of having a 'soft corner' for ISIS. However, after the attempted coup, Erdoğan ordered the Turkish military into Syria to combat ISIS and Kurdish militant groups. Erdoğan's critics have decried purges in the education system and judiciary as undermining the rule of law however Erdoğan supporters argue this is a necessary measure as Gulen-linked schools cheated on entrance exams, requiring a purge in the education system and of the Gulen followers who then entered the judiciary. Erdoğan's plan is "to reconstitute Turkey as a presidential system. The plan would create a centralized system that would enable him to better tackle Turkey's internal and external threats. One of the main hurdles allegedly standing in his way is Fethullah Gulen's movement ..." In the aftermath of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, a groundswell of national unity and consensus emerged for cracking down on the coup plotters with a National Unity rally held in Turkey that included Islamists, secularists, liberals and nationalists. Erdoğan has used this consensus to remove Gulen's followers from the bureaucracy, curtail their role in NGOs, Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Turkish military, with 149 Generals discharged. In a foreign policy shift Erdoğan ordered the Turkish Armed Forces into battle in Syria and has liberated towns from IS control. As relations with Europe soured over in the aftermath of the attempted coup, Erdoğan developed alternative relationships with Russia, Saudi Arabia and a "strategic partnership" with Pakistan, with plans to cultivate relations through free trade agreements and deepening military relations for mutual co-operation with Turkey's regional allies. 2018 currency and debt crisis The Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018 was caused by the Turkish economy's excessive current account deficit and foreign-currency debt, in combination with Erdoğan's increasing authoritarianism and his unorthodox ideas about interest rate policy. Economist Paul Krugman described the unfolding crisis as "a classic currency-and-debt crisis, of a kind we’ve seen many times", adding: "At such a time, the quality of leadership suddenly matters a great deal. You need officials who understand what's happening, can devise a response and have enough credibility that markets give them the benefit of the doubt. Some emerging markets have those things, and they are riding out the turmoil fairly well. The Erdoğan regime has none of that". Ideology and public image Early during his premiership, Erdoğan was praised as a role model for emerging Middle Eastern nations due to several reform packages initiated by his government which expanded religious freedoms and minority rights as part of accession negotiations with the European Union. However, his government underwent several crises including the Sledgehammer coup and the Ergenekon trials, corruption scandals, accusations of media intimidation, as well as the pursuit of an increasingly polarizing political agenda; the opposition accused the government of inciting political hatred throughout the country. Critics say that Erdoğan's government legitimizes homophobia, as Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". Neo-Ottomanism As President, Erdoğan has overseen a revival of Ottoman tradition, greeting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas with an Ottoman-style ceremony in the new presidential palace, with guards dressed in costumes representing founders of 16 Great Turkish Empires in history. While serving as the Prime Minister of Turkey, Erdoğan's AKP made references to the Ottoman era during election campaigns, such as calling their supporters 'grandsons of Ottomans' (Osmanlı torunu). This proved controversial, since it was perceived to be an open attack against the republican nature of modern Turkey founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In 2015, Erdoğan made a statement in which he endorsed the old Ottoman term külliye to refer to university campuses rather than the standard Turkish word kampüs. Many critics have thus accused Erdoğan of wanting to become an Ottoman sultan and abandon the secular and democratic credentials of the Republic. One of the most cited scholars alive, Noam Chomsky, said that "Erdogan in Turkey is basically trying to create something like the Ottoman Caliphate, with him as caliph, supreme leader, throwing his weight around all over the place, and destroying the remnants of democracy in Turkey at the same time". When pressed on this issue in January 2015, Erdoğan denied these claims and said that he would aim to be more like Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom rather than like an Ottoman sultan. In July 2020, after the Council of State annulled the Cabinet's 1934 decision to establish the Hagia Sophia as museum and revoking the monument's status, Erdoğan ordered its reclassification as a mosque. The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia's waqf, endowed by Sultan Mehmed II, had designated the site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan. This redesignation is controversial, invoking condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO, the World Council of Churches, the Holy See, and many other international leaders. In August 2020, he also signed the order that transferred the administration of the Chora Church to the Directorate of Religious Affairs to open it for worship as a mosque. Initially converted to a mosque by the Ottomans, the building had then been designated as a museum by the government since 1934. Authoritarianism Erdoğan has served as the de facto leader of Turkey since 2002. In response to criticism, Erdoğan made a speech in May 2014 denouncing allegations of dictatorship, saying that the leader of the opposition, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was there at the speech, would not be able to "roam the streets" freely if he were a dictator. Kılıçdaroğlu responded that political tensions would cease to exist if Erdoğan stopped making his polarising speeches for three days. One observer said it was a measure of the state of Turkish democracy that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu could openly threaten, on 20 December 2015, that, if his party did not win the election, Turkish Kurds would endure a repeat of the era of the "white Toros", the Turkish name for the Renault 12, "a car associated with the gendarmarie’s fearsome intelligence agents, who carried out thousands of extrajudicial executions of Kurdish nationalists during the 1990s". In February 2015, a 13-year-old was charged by a prosecutor after allegedly insulting Erdoğan on Facebook. In 2016, a waiter was arrested for insulting Erdoğan by allegedly saying "If Erdoğan comes here, I will not even serve tea to him.". In April 2014, the President of the Constitutional Court, Haşim Kılıç, accused Erdoğan of damaging the credibility of the judiciary, labelling Erdoğan's attempts to increase political control over the courts as 'desperate'. During the chaotic 2007 presidential election, the military issued an E-memorandum warning the government to keep within the boundaries of secularism when choosing a candidate. Regardless, Erdoğan's close relations with Fethullah Gülen and his Cemaat Movement allowed his government to maintain a degree of influence within the judiciary through Gülen's supporters in high judicial and bureaucratic offices. Shortly after, an alleged coup plot codenamed Sledgehammer became public and resulted in the imprisonment of 300 military officers including İbrahim Fırtına, Çetin Doğan and Engin Alan. Several opposition politicians, journalists and military officers also went on trial for allegedly being part of an ultra-nationalist organisation called Ergenekon. Both cases were marred by irregularities and were condemned as a joint attempt by Erdoğan and Gülen to curb opposition to the AKP. The original Sledgehammer document containing the coup plans, allegedly written in 2003, was found to have been written using Microsoft Word 2007. Despite both domestic and international calls for these irregularities to be addressed in order to guarantee a fair trial, Erdoğan instead praised his government for bringing the coup plots to light. When Gülen publicly withdrew support and openly attacked Erdoğan in late 2013, several imprisoned military officers and journalists were released, with the government admitting that the judicial proceedings were unfair. When Gülen withdrew support from the AKP government in late 2013, a government corruption scandal broke out, leading to the arrest of several family members of cabinet ministers. Erdoğan accused Gülen of co-ordinating a "parallel state" within the judiciary in an attempt to topple him from power. He then removed or reassigned several judicial officials in an attempt to remove Gülen's supporters from office. Erdoğan's 'purge' was widely questioned and criticised by the European Union. In early 2014, a new law was passed by parliament giving the government greater control over the judiciary, which sparked public protest throughout the country. International organisations perceived the law to be a danger to the separation of powers. Several judicial officials removed from their posts said that they had been removed due to their secularist credentials. The political opposition accused Erdoğan of not only attempting to remove Gülen supporters, but supporters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's principles as well, in order to pave the way for increased politicisation of the judiciary. Several family members of Erdoğan's ministers who had been arrested as a result of the 2013 corruption scandal were released, and a judicial order to question Erdoğan's son Bilal Erdoğan was annulled. Controversy erupted when it emerged that many of the newly appointed judicial officials were actually AKP supporters. İslam Çiçek, a judge who ejected the cases of five ministers' relatives accused of corruption, was accused of being an AKP supporter and an official investigation was launched into his political affiliations. On 1 September 2014, the courts dissolved the cases of 96 suspects, which included Bilal Erdoğan. During a televised press conference he was asked if he believed a presidential system was possible in a unitary state. Erdoğan affirmed this and cited Nazi Germany (among other examples) as a case where such a combination existed. However, the Turkish president's office said that Erdoğan was not advocating a Hitler-style government when he called for a state system with a strong executive, and added that the Turkish president had declared the "Holocaust, anti-semitism and Islamophobia" as crimes against humanity and that it was out of the question for him to cite Hitler's Germany as a good example. Suppression of dissent Erdoğan has been criticised for his politicisation of the media, especially after the 2013 protests. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) alleged that over 1,863 journalists lost their jobs due to their anti-government views in 12 years of AKP rule. Opposition politicians have also alleged that intimidation in the media is due to the government's attempt to restructure the ownership of private media corporations. Journalists from the Cihan News Agency and the Gülenist Zaman newspaper were repeatedly barred from attending government press conferences or asking questions. Several opposition journalists such as Soner Yalçın were controversially arrested as part of the Ergenekon trials and Sledgehammer coup investigation. Veli Ağbaba, a CHP politician, has called the AKP the 'biggest media boss in Turkey.' In 2015, 74 US senators sent a letter to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to state their concern over what they saw as deviations from the basic principles of democracy in Turkey and oppressions of Erdoğan over media. Notable cases of media censorship occurred during the 2013 anti-government protests, when the mainstream media did not broadcast any news regarding the demonstrations for three days after they began. The lack of media coverage was symbolised by CNN International covering the protests while CNN Türk broadcast a documentary about penguins at the same time. The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) controversially issued a fine to pro-opposition news channels including Halk TV and Ulusal Kanal for their coverage of the protests, accusing them of broadcasting footage that could be morally, physically and mentally destabilising to children. Erdoğan was criticised for not responding to the accusations of media intimidation, and caused international outrage after telling a female journalist (Amberin Zaman of The Economist) to know her place and calling her a 'shameless militant' during his 2014 presidential election campaign. While the 2014 presidential election was not subject to substantial electoral fraud, Erdoğan was again criticised for receiving disproportionate media attention in comparison to his rivals. The British newspaper The Times commented that between 2 and 4 July, the state-owned media channel TRT gave 204 minutes of coverage to Erdoğan's campaign and less than a total of 3 minutes to both his rivals. Erdoğan also tightened controls over the Internet, signing into law a bill which allows the government to block websites without prior court order on 12 September 2014. His government blocked Twitter and YouTube in late March 2014 following the release of a recording of a conversation between him and his son Bilal, where Erdoğan allegedly warned his family to 'nullify' all cash reserves at their home amid the 2013 corruption scandal. Erdoğan has undertaken a media campaign that attempts to portray the presidential family as frugal and simple-living; their palace electricity-bill is estimated at $500,000 per month. In May 2016, former Miss Turkey model Merve Büyüksaraç was sentenced to more than a year in prison for allegedly insulting the president. In a 2016 news story, Bloomberg reported, "more than 2,000 cases have been opened against journalists, cartoonists, teachers, a former Miss Turkey, and even schoolchildren in the past two years". In November 2016, the Turkish government blocked access to social media in all of Turkey as well as sought to completely block Internet access for the citizens in the southeast of the country. Mehmet Aksoy lawsuit In 2009, Turkish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy created the Statue of Humanity in Kars to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. When visiting the city in 2011, Erdoğan deemed the statue a "freak", and months later it was demolished. Aksoy sued Erdoğan for "moral indemnities", although his lawyer said that his statement was a critique rather than an insult. In March 2015, a judge ordered Erdoğan to pay 10,000 liras. Erdoğanism Erdoğan has produced many aphorisms and catch-phrases known as Erdoğanisms. The term Erdoğanism first emerged shortly after Erdoğan's 2011 general election victory, where it was predominantly described as the AKP's liberal economic and conservative democratic ideals fused with Erdoğan demagoguery and cult of personality. Views on minorities LGBT In 2002, Erdoğan said that "homosexuals must be legally protected within the framework of their rights and freedoms. From time to time, we do not find the treatment they get on some television screens humane", he said. However, in 2017 Erdoğan has said that empowering LGBT people in Turkey was "against the values of our nation". In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey's top Muslim scholar and President of Religious Affairs, Ali Erbaş, said in a Friday Ramadan announcement that country condemns homosexuality because it "brings illness," insinuating that same sex relations are responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan backed Erbaş, saying that what Erbaş "said was totally right." Jews While Erdoğan has declared several times being against antisemitism, he has been accused of invoking antisemitic stereotypes in public statements. According to Erdoğan, he had been inspired by novelist and Islamist ideologue Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, a publisher (among others) of antisemitic literature. Others During a live interview in 2014, he said: "You wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian. Excuse me, but they have said even uglier things. They have called me Armenian, but I am Turkish." Honours and accolades Foreign honours Russia: Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan" (1 June 2006) Pakistan: Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award in Pakistan (26 October 2009) Georgia: Order of Golden Fleece, awarded for his contribution to development of bilateral relations (17 May 2010) Kyrgyzstan: Danaker Order in Bishkek (2 February 2011) Azerbaijan: Heydar Aliyev Order (3 September 2014) Belgium: Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold (5 October 2015) Madagascar: Knight Grand Cross in the national Order (25 January 2017) Gagauzia: Order of Gagauz-Yeri in Comrat (18 October 2018) Venezuela: Order of the Liberator, Grand Cordon (3 December 2018) Ukraine: Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (16 October 2020) Other awards 29 January 2004: Profile of Courage Award from the American Jewish Congress, for promoting peace between cultures. Returned at the request of the A.J.C. in July 2014. 13 June 2004: Golden Plate award from the Academy of Achievement during the conference in Chicago. 3 October 2004: German Quadriga prize for improving relationships between different cultures. 2 September 2005: Mediterranean Award for Institutions (). This was awarded by the Fondazione Mediterraneo. 8 August 2006: Caspian Energy Integration Award from the Caspian Integration Business Club. 1 November 2006: Outstanding Service award from the Turkish humanitarian organization Red Crescent. 2 February 2007: Dialogue Between Cultures Award from the President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev. 15 April 2007: Crystal Hermes Award from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the opening of the Hannover Industrial Fair. 11 July 2007: highest award of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Agricola Medal, in recognition of his contribution to agricultural and social development in Turkey. 11 May 2009: Avicenna award from the Avicenna Foundation in Frankfurt, Germany. 9 June 2009: guest of honor at the 20th Crans Montana Forum in Brussels and received the Prix de la Fondation, for democracy and freedom. 25 June 2009: Key to the City of Tirana on the occasion of his state visit to Albania. 29 December 2009: Award for Contribution to World Peace from the Turgut Özal Thought and Move Association. 12 January 2010: King Faisal International Prize for "service to Islam" from the King Faisal Foundation. 23 February 2010: Nodo Culture Award from the mayor of Seville for his efforts to launch the Alliance of Civilizations initiative. 1 March 2010: United Nations–HABITAT award in memorial of Rafik Hariri. A seven-member international jury unanimously found Erdoğan deserving of the award because of his "excellent achievement and commendable conduct in the area of leadership, statesmanship and good governance. Erdoğan also initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors." 27 May 2010: medal of honor from the Brazilian Federation of Industry for the State of São Paulo (FIESP) for his contributions to industry 31 May 2010: World Health Organization 2010 World No Tobacco Award for "his dedicated leadership on tobacco control in Turkey." 29 June 2010: 2010 World Family Award from the World Family Organization which operates under the umbrella of the United Nations. 4 November 2010: Golden Medal of Independence, an award conferred upon Kosovo citizens and foreigners that have contributed to the independence of Kosovo. 25 November 2010: "Leader of the Year" award presented by the Union of Arab Banks in Lebanon. 11 January 2011: "Outstanding Personality in the Islamic World Award" of the Sheikh Fahad al-Ahmad International Award for Charity in Kuwait. 25 October 2011: Palestinian International Award for Excellence and Creativity (PIA) 2011 for his support to the Palestinian people and cause. 21 January 2012: 'Gold Statue 2012 Special Award' by the Polish Business Center Club (BCC). Erdoğan was awarded for his systematic effort to clear barriers on the way to economic growth, striving to build democracy and free market relations. 2020: Ig Nobel Prize "for using the COVID-19 viral pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can." See also List of international presidential trips made by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Leadership approval polling for the 2023 Turkish general election The 500 Most Influential Muslims Notes References Further reading Cagaptay, Soner. The new sultan: Erdogan and the crisis of modern Turkey (2nd ed. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020). online review Cagaptay, Soner. "Making Turkey Great Again." Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 43 (2019): 169–78. online Kirişci, Kemal, and Amanda Sloat. "The rise and fall of liberal democracy in Turkey: Implications for the West" Foreign Policy at Brookings (2019) online Tziarras, Zenonas. "Erdoganist authoritarianism and the 'new' Turkey." Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 18.4 (2018): 593–598. online Yavuz, M. Hakan. "A framework for understanding the Intra-Islamist conflict between the AK party and the Gülen movement." Politics, Religion & Ideology 19.1 (2018): 11–32. online Yesil, Bilge. Media in New Turkey: The Origins of an Authoritarian Neoliberal State (University of Illinois Press, 2016) online review External links Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Instagram. Archived from the original. Welcome to demokrasi: how Erdoğan got more popular than ever by The Guardian 1954 births Living people 21st-century presidents of Turkey 21st-century prime ministers of Turkey Deniers of the Armenian genocide Deputies of Istanbul Deputies of Siirt Recep Tayyip Imam Hatip school alumni Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Leaders of political parties in Turkey Marmara University alumni Mayors of Istanbul Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Naqshbandi order People from Istanbul Politicians arrested in Turkey Presidents of Turkey Prime Ministers of Turkey Recipients of the Heydar Aliyev Order Recipients of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia) Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class Turkish Islamists Turkish Sunni Muslims Chairmen of the Organization of Turkic States Recipients of the Gagauz-Yeri Order Foreign recipients of the Nishan-e-Pakistan	false	[ "Ertuğrul Erdoğan (born October 18, 1968) is a Turkish professional basketball coach. He last served as a head coach for Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball Super League and the Basketball Champions League.\n\nCoaching career \nIn 1996, Erdogan began his professional level coaching career with Galatasaray.\n\nErdoğan later served as an assistant coach for the Fenerbahçe from 2000 to 2013. With Fenerbahçe, Erdoğan worked under legendary coaches Aydın Örs and Bogdan Tanjevic.\n\nDuring the 2009-2010 season, coach Tanjevic was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and left the team at late March, Erdogan took over and led Fenerbahçe to the 2009-10 Turkish Basketball League championship. Despite his success against the title favourites Efes Pilsen, he was not appointed as Fenerbahçe's head coach in the following season. Erdogan continued to serve in an assistant coach capacity with head coaches Neven Spahija and Simone Pianigiani in the following seasons. He left Fenerbahce in 2013, after 13 years.\n\nŽalgiris Kaunas' interest \nShortly after Sarunas Jasikevicius' decision to joining Barcelona in the summer of 2020, Ertugrul Erdogan has emerged the frontrunner for Zalgiris head coach position. Erdogan spoke with Zalgiris president and GM Paulius Motiejunas but there was never traction on reaching a contract agreement as the days wore on. Zalgiris opted to sign with the Salt Lake City Stars head coach, Martin Schiller. \n\nA couple of days after Zalgiris' interest, on July 14, 2020, Galatasaray officially signed head coach Ertugrul Erdogan to a 1+1 contract extension, the team announced.\n\nGalatasaray (2018-2020) \nOn July 26, 2018, Erdogan signed a two-year contract, and agreed to become the new head coach of the Turkish club Galatasaray.\n\nDuring his tenure at Galatasaray, Erdogan scouted and helped to promote many players into the Euroleague level. Rookies like Nigel Hayes, Aaron Harrison and Alex Poythress played under his leadership in their first seasons in Europe and then they signed with the Euroleague clubs Zalgiris, Olympiacos B.C and Zenit St. Petersburg respectively.\n\nZach Auguste, who was the starting center of Erdogan's Galatasaray for both seasons, agreed with Euroleague club Panathinaikos on July 20, 2020. Greg Whittington, another Galatasaray alum, \"will sign with an NBA team, unless a major Euroleague team makes a strong offer\" according to Whittington's agent Jerry Dianis. \n\nGalatasaray announced that the club has entered negotiations with head coach Ertugrul Erdogan for the mutual termination of his contract. On November 10, 2020, coach Erdogan bid his farewell to Galatasaray and their fans. “Without honesty, there is neither trust nor sustainable success. Thank you to everyone, mainly our fans, who supported me and my staff during my two and a half years at Galatasaray. My conscience is clear” he later tweeted.\n\nPersonal life \nErdogan graduated from Middle East Technical University Department of Physical Education and Sports.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Galatasaray.org\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Eurobasket.com\n Ertuğrul Erdoğan at Euroleague.net\n\n1968 births\nLiving people\nBasketbol Süper Ligi head coaches\nFenerbahçe basketball coaches\nGalatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) coaches\nTurkish basketball coaches\nTürk Telekom basketball coaches", "Altan Erdogan (born 29 June 1967, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch journalist. He is the former editor of the Dutch weekly magazine Nieuwe Revu.\n\nLife and career\nErdogan was born to a Turkish father and a Dutch mother. After his journalism studies at the School of Journalism in Utrecht, he worked as a reporter and editor for the Haarlem Dagblad, Het Parool and De Volkskrant. From 2002 he was managing editor and deputy of Times Magazine. In December 2007 he was the first foreign editor of a national magazine in the Netherlands.\n\nIn the years 2007-2010 Erdogan served as editor-in-chief of Nieuwe Revu. He changed the name to Revu but his successor, Frans Loman, changed it right back. In the Erdogan years the circulation of Nieuwe Revu dropped from 64,360 to 46,619 (by 28%), but this was not different from the previous and subsequent years.\n\nSubsequent to Nieuwe Revu, Erdogan worked for the Dutch broadcasters VARA and PowNed. From 2015 to 2021 he edited Folia, the free student and staff magazine of the University of Amsterdam.\n\nAfter his stint with the student newspaper he was announced as the editor in chief for the Amsterdam television station AT5. He started in October 2021.\n\nReferences \n\n1967 births\nLiving people\nDutch journalists\nDutch people of Turkish descent\nWriters from Amsterdam" ]
[ "Steve Albini", "1992-present: Shellac" ]	C_dacb9718e8514ff682c360856099fa67_1	what is shellac?	1	what is shellac?	Steve Albini	Albini formed Shellac in 1992. With bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns), and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake), they initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994)--the first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album in CD format titled raivuinDong Jing --an English-language reference to the name Shellac cannot be found anywhere on the CD product, which was not available outside Japan. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Albini explained in 2010 that Shellac had made a decision early in their existence that they would not play at festivals and this position was articulated to All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) festival organizer Barry Hogan during the preparation stage of the inaugural ATP event. However, Scottish band Mogwai managed to convince Albini at the time that they were ATP curators and the band was very impressed by the experience: "They (ATP) completely changed the festival game. Now the whole world has to operate under the knowledge that there are these cool, curated festivals where everyone is treated well and the experience is a generally pleasant one." CANNOTANSWER	Albini formed Shellac	Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1961) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums over his career. He has worked with acts such as Nirvana, Pixies, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, and former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Albini is also known for his outspoken views on the music industry, having stated repeatedly that it financially exploits artists and homogenizes their sound. Nearly alone among well-known producers and musicians, Albini refuses to take ongoing royalties from album sales, feeling that a producer's job is to record the music to the band's desires, and that paying producers as if they had contributed artistically to an album is unethical. Early life Albini was born in Pasadena, California, to Gina (née Martinelli) and Frank Addison Albini. His father was a wildfire researcher. He has two siblings. In his youth, Albini's family moved often, before settling in the college town of Missoula, Montana in 1974. Albini is Italian American and part of his family comes from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. While recovering from a broken leg, Albini began playing bass guitar and participated in bass lessons in high school for one week. He was exposed to the Ramones by a schoolmate on a field trip when he was 14 or 15. He felt it was the best music he had ever heard and bought every Ramones recording available to him, and credits his music career to hearing their first album. He said: "I was baffled and thrilled by music like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Pere Ubu, Devo and all those contemporaneous, inspirational punk bands without wanting to try to mimic them." During his teenage years, Albini played in bands such as the Montana punk band Just Ducky, the Chicago band Small Irregular Pieces of Aluminum, Stations, and another band that record label Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records explained "he [Albini] is paying us not to mention". After graduating from Hellgate High School, Albini moved to Evanston, Illinois, to attend college at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (NU), where he attained a degree in journalism. Albini said he studied painting in college with Ed Paschke, someone he calls a brilliant educator and "one of the only people in college who actually taught me anything". In the Chicago area, Albini was active as a writer in local zines such as Matter and Forced Exposure, covering the then-nascent punk rock scene, and gained a reputation for the iconoclastic nature of his articles. Around the same time, he began recording musicians and engineered his first album in 1981. He co-managed Ruthless Records (Chicago) with John Kezdy of the Effigies and Jon Babbin (Criminal IQ Records). According to Albini, he maintained a "straight job" for five years until 1987, working in a photography studio as a photograph retouch artist. Performing career 1981–1987: Big Black In 1981, Albini formed Big Black while he was a student at NU, and recorded Lungs, the band's debut EP, on Ruthless Records (Chicago), a label he co-managed with Babbin and Kezdy. Albini played all of the instruments on Lungs except the saxophone, played by his friend John Bohnen. The Bulldozer (1983) EP was released on Ruthless and Fever Records. Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango, of Chicago band Naked Raygun, and live drummer Pat Byrne joined shortly thereafter, and the band—along with a drum machine, the Roland TR-606, credited as "Roland"—released the EP Racer-X in 1984, after touring and signing a new contract with the Homestead Records business. Pezzati commenced recording the "Il Duce" 7-inch single with the band, but returned to his original band before it was completed. Pezzati was replaced on bass by Dave Riley, with whom the group recorded their debut full-length album, Atomizer (1986). The "Il Duce" recording was eventually finished with Riley as bassist; the band also released The Hammer Party album while signed to Homestead, which was a compilation of the Lungs and Bulldozer EPs. Big Black left the Homestead label for Touch and Go Records in late 1985/early 1986, and recorded the Headache EP and the 7-inch single, Heartbeat between June and August 1986—both were released the following year. Also in 1986, a live album titled Sound of Impact was released on the Not/Blast First label. The accompanying booklet provides insight into the band's influences; Albini cited bands such as Ramones, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, Suicide, SPK, Minor Threat, Whitehouse, Link Wray, Pere Ubu, Chrome, Rudimentary Peni, The 4-Skins, Throbbing Gristle, Skrewdriver, the Ex, Minimal Man, U.S. Chaos, Gang Green, Tommi Stumpff, Swans and Bad Brains. In 1987, the band released their second studio album, Songs About Fucking, as well as the He's a Whore / The Model 7-inch single, both on Touch and Go. Big Black disbanded shortly after a period of extensive touring that year in support of Songs About Fucking. Durango enrolled in law school and became a lawyer. 1987–1988: Rapeman Albini formed Rapeman in 1987: the band consisted of Albini (vocals, guitar), Rey Washam (drums), and David Wm. Sims. The band was named after a Japanese comic book. They broke up after the release of two 7-inch singles, "Hated Chinee b/w Marmoset" (1988) and "Inki's Butt Crack b/w Song Number One" (1989), one EP titled Budd (1988) and the Two Nuns and a Pack Mule album, also released in 1988 on Touch and Go. In a 2020 interview, Albini expressed regret for the name of the band, saying that he didn't feel he had been "held to account for being in a band called Rapeman". He added that "it was a flippant choice", calling it unconscionable and indefensible. He likened it to getting a bad tattoo. 1992–present: Shellac Albini formed Shellac in 1992, with bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns) and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake). They initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994). The first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album, Live in Tokyo. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Recording career Since the early 1990s, Albini has been best known as a record producer; however, he dislikes the term and prefers to receive no credit on album sleeves or notes. When credited, he prefers the term "recording engineer". In 2004, Albini estimated that he has engineered the recording of 1,500 albums, mostly by obscure musicians. By 2018, his estimate had increased to several thousand. More prominent artists that Albini has worked with include: Foxy Shazam, Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, The Jesus Lizard, Don Caballero, PJ Harvey, The Wedding Present, Joanna Newsom, Superchunk, Low, Dirty Three, Jawbreaker, Neurosis, Cloud Nothings, Bush, Chevelle, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (as Page and Plant), Helmet, Fred Schneider, The Stooges, Owls, Manic Street Preachers, Jarvis Cocker, The Cribs, the Fleshtones, Nina Nastasia, The Frames, The Membranes, Cheap Trick, Motorpsycho, Slint, mclusky, Labradford, Veruca Salt, Zao, The Auteurs and Spare Snare. Following the release of Schneider's album Just Fred, the Vinyl District's Joseph Neff wrote: "The reality is that when enlisted by the big leagues, Albini took his job just as seriously as when he was assisting on the debut recording from a bunch of aspiring unknowns." Stereogum's Tom Breihan wrote in 2012: "Even though he's [Albini] been an outspoken opponent of the major-label system (and of other underground-rock heroes), he's known to work with just about anyone who requests his service." In February 2018, along with the Scottish lo-fi band Spare Snare, Albini presented a one-day Audio Engineers' Workshop at Chem19 Studios in Blantyre, Scotland. Methodology In Albini's opinion, putting producers in charge of recording sessions often destroys records, while the role of the recording engineer is to solve problems in capturing the sound of the musicians, not to threaten the artists' control over their product. Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such as Michael Azerrad, who is also a musician. In Azerrad's 2001 book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991, Azerrad describes Albini's work on the Pixies album Surfer Rosa: "The recordings were both very basic and very exacting: Albini used few special effects; got an aggressive, often violent guitar sound; and made sure the rhythm section slammed as one." Production influences A key influence on Albini was English producer John Loder, who came to prominence in the late 1970s with a reputation for recording albums quickly and inexpensively, but nonetheless with distinctive qualities and a sensitivity towards a band's sound and aesthetic. Albini has mentioned an admiration for ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Among his peers, Albini has praised his frequent collaborator (and Shellac bandmate) Bob Weston, as well as Brian Paulson and Matt Barnhart, among others. In Utero Perhaps Albini's most well-known production work was for the 1993 album In Utero, the third and final album by the American rock band Nirvana. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sought out Albini because he had produced two of Cobain's favorite albums, Surfer Rosa (1988) by the Pixies and Pod (1990) by The Breeders. All of the band was eager to work with Albini because they wanted the rawer sound for which Albini was already known, after feeling that their previous album, Nevermind, had come out sounding too polished. Albini was not particularly fond of Nirvana's music, later stating that he had considered them to be "R.E.M. with a fuzzbox", but agreed to work with them since he felt that they had been exploited by their label and management. At Albini's recommendation, the members of Nirvana travelled to Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota to record the album. Albini chose the studio in part due to its isolation, hoping to keep representatives of Nirvana's record label, DGC Records, away. The studio was booked for two weeks, but the recording itself was completed in six days, and Cobain referred to it as "the easiest recording we've ever done, hands down". Once the label and management heard the resulting recording, they were displeased with it. The members of Nirvana had mixed feelings as well: Cobain said afterward that the first time he played it at home, "I got no emotion from it", and considered re-recording the songs with more radio-friendly production. However, a month later, having listened to it more and played it for friends, he felt that it was "exactly the kind of record I would buy as a fan". The band did collectively decide that the vocals and bass were too low in the mix. They asked Albini to remix the album, but he refused, as he was happy with the results and feared that the process would lead to "a spiral of recriminations and remixes" among himself, the band and the record company. During the remastering process, engineer Bob Ludwig raised the volume of the vocals and sharpened the bass guitar sound. Additionally, R.E.M. producer Scott Litt was brought in to remix several of the songs. The final album was a critical and commercial success, and remains strongly associated with Albini, despite Albini's contention that the finished album "doesn't sound all that much like the record that was made". Asked about In Utero in 2004, Albini stated that the record label was responsible for the difficulties that marred the trajectory of the album. According to Albini, In Utero made him unpopular with major record labels, and he faced problems finding work in the year following. Electrical Audio Albini bought Electrical Audio, his personal recording studio, in 1995. The impetus for the move to his own studio was the lack of privacy for Albini and his wife. His former studio was in their house, eventually taking over almost all the rooms, with the exception of the bedroom. Before Electrical Audio, Albini had a studio in the basement of another personal residence. Musician Robbie Fulks recalls the hassle of "running up two flights of stairs all the time from the tracking room" to where Albini was. Albini does not receive royalties for anything he records or mixes at his own facility, unlike many other engineer/record producers with his experience and prominence. At Electrical Audio in 2004, Albini earned a daily fee of US$750 for engineering work, and drew a salary of US$24,000 a year. Azerrad referred to Albini's rates in 2001 as among the most affordable for a world-class recording studio. Following the completion of the studio's construction, Albini initially charged only for his time, allowing his friends or musicians he respected—who were willing to engineer their own recording sessions and purchase their own magnetic tape—to use his studio free. In a 2004 lecture, Albini stated that he always deals with bands directly at Electrical Audio, and answers the phone himself in the studio. Musical influences Albini mentioned his liking for "good guitar", saying "good noise is like orgasm". He commented: "Anybody can play notes. There's no trick. What is a trick and a good one is to make a guitar do things that don't sound like a guitar at all. The point here is stretching the boundaries." Albini has praised guitarists including Andy Gill of Gang of Four, Rowland S. Howard of Birthday Party, John McKay of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd, Steve Diggle and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks, Ron Asheton of the Stooges, Paul Fox of the Ruts, Link Wray, Greg Ginn of Black Flag, Lyle Preslar of Minor Threat, John McGeoch of Magazine and the Banshees, and Tom Verlaine of Television. Albini praised Andy Gill's guitar tone on Gang of Four's Entertainment!, stating: "[he] makes six strings produce more beautiful, broken noise than anybody". He praised John McKay for his work on Siouxsie and the Banshees's The Scream, saying "only now people are trying to copy it, and even now nobody understands how that guitar player got all that pointless noise to stick together as songs". Albini cited Ron Asheton because "he made great squealy death noise feedback". He also described John McGeoch's guitar playing as "great choral swells, great scratches and buzzes, [and] great dissonant noise". He admired Tom Verlaine for his ability to "twist almost any conceivable sound out of a guitar". Views Music industry Albini's opinions on the music industry, as well as on trends in indie music, have received considerable exposure. His most famous piece is the essay "The Problem with Music", which was first published in the December 1993 issue of art and criticism journal The Baffler. The essay criticizes the music industry, and specifically the major record labels of the time, for financially exploiting and deceiving their artists. In the essay's longest section, Albini runs a financial breakdown to show how a hypothetical band which sells 250,000 copies of their major-label debut album could end up making only "about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11" from the album, due to all the expenditures the label makes, ostensibly on their behalf. At a 2004 Middle Tennessee State University presentation, Albini reaffirmed his perspective on major labels, explaining that he was opposed to any form of human exploitation. In November 2014, Albini delivered the keynote speech at the Face the Music conference in Melbourne, Australia, where he discussed the evolution of the music scene and industry since he started making music in the late 1970s. He described the pre-internet corporate music industry as "a system that ensured waste by rewarding the most profligate spendthrifts in a system specifically engineered to waste the band's money," which aimed to perpetuate its structures and business arrangements while preventing bands (except for "monumental stars") from earning a living. He contrasted it with the independent scene, which encouraged resourcefulness and established an alternative network of clubs, promoters, fanzines, DJs and labels, and allowed musicians to make a reasonable income due to the system's greater efficiency. Music production Albini is a supporter of analog recording over digital, as can be evidenced by a 1987 quote on the back cover of the CD version of Big Black's Songs About Fucking: "The future belongs to the analog loyalists. Fuck digital." He has maintained his support for analog recording, stating in a 2013 interview that using digital files as audio masters is "irresponsible", because such files will "eventually disappear or become unusable". In the essay "The Problem with Music", Albini also criticized music producers who lack a solid understanding of music engineering, and thus latch on to whatever is trendy at the moment, such as Pultec equalizers or compression (which he wrote "makes everything sound like a beer commercial"). He criticized producers who put vocals in the mix much higher than everything else in order to "sound more like the Beatles". He also wrote that when he hears producers and engineers use "meaningless" words like "punchy" and "warm", he feels the need to "throttle somebody." Asked about these statements in a 2018 interview, Albini stated that, given the reduction in the power of record labels over the previous 25 years, the prevalence of producers who are there only to exert artistic control over the recording had dropped significantly. He also noted that digital recording had enabled many more people to "do productive work" as audio engineers, while noting that he himself was sticking with analog recording. Music streaming Albini was asked about file sharing in June 2014 and he clarified that, while he does not believe that the technological development is the "best thing" for the music industry, he does not identify with the music industry. He considers "the community, the band, the musician" as his peers, and is pleased that musicians can "get their music out to the world at no cost instantly". As part of the Face the Music speech, Albini noted that both the corporate and independent industry models had been damaged by internet file sharing; however, he praised the spread of free music as being a "fantastic development", which allowed previously ignored music and bands to find an audience (citing the protopunk band Death as one example); the use of the internet as a distribution channel for music to be heard worldwide; and the increasing affordability of recording equipment, all of which allow bands to circumvent the traditional recording industry. Albini also argued that the increased availability of recorded music stimulates demand for live music, boosting bands' income. Albini critiqued Jay Z's subscription-only, lossless audio streaming service Tidal in an April 2015 interview with Vulture.com, arguing that streaming services would eventually be usurped by a more convenient technology, that convenience would trump sound quality in streaming, and that audiophiles would prefer vinyl to streaming. He made the point that the internet has a history "of breaking limitations placed on its content" by making paid-for products freely available. Music journalism In 1983, Albini wrote for Matter, a monthly new US music magazine appeared at the time in Chicago. He wrote in each issue a chronicle called "Tired of Ugly Fat?", and also contributed articles such as "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows For Sure". In 1994, Albini wrote a famous letter to music critic Bill Wyman (not to be confused with rock musician Bill Wyman), which was published in the Chicago Reader, calling Wyman a "music press stooge" for having championed three Chicago-based music acts whom Albini labeled as "frauds": Liz Phair, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Urge Overkill. While in Australia in November 2014, Albini spoke with national radio station Double J and stated that, while the state of the music industry is healthy in his view, the industry of music journalism is in crisis. Albini used the example of the media spotlight that he received after criticizing Amanda Palmer for not paying her musicians after receiving over $1 million on Kickstarter to release her 2012 album Theatre Is Evil, stating: "I don't think I was wrong but I also don't think that it was that big of a deal." He described the music media as "superficial" and composed of "copy paste bullshit." Albini has frequently stated his dislike for pop music, and in a 2015 interview told 2SER Sydney that "pop music is for children and idiots". Media appearances Albini is featured in the first episode of the 2014 documentary miniseries Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, "Chicago", in which Albini is shown talking about being a producer, as well as recording the Foo Fighters song "Something from Nothing". He has appeared in a number of documentary films and videos about the making of various albums that he has produced, including Josephine by Magnolia Electric Co. (2009), This Is Nowhere by Malojian (2016), Carrier Wave by Porcupine (2019) and In Bed with Medusa by Medusa (2020). Rock vs. Cancer, a 2018 short documentary about the making of the 2012 album The Strain by Teeth, additionally features Albini as the narrator. Albini was a guest on the audio podcast WTF with Marc Maron in 2015. The 2019 short documentary Albini Cashes In, part of the Stories from the Felt series for the streaming service PokerGO, is about Albini's 2018 World Series of Poker win. Other activities Albini began a cooking and food blog, titled "Mariobatalivoice: What I made Heather for dinner", in March 2011. Albini is an avid poker player and ranked in 12th place at the 2013 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Seniors Championship. Albini won his first WSOP Gold Bracelet at the $1500 Seven-Card Stud at 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP); he beat out Jeff Lisandro to win $105,629. Albini also regularly engages in public-speaking appointments for the audio industry. Personal life Albini is married to film director Heather Whinna and they work and live in Chicago. His right leg is slightly deformed as a result of a car accident when he was 18. In 2010, he revealed that he is not an avid consumer of media and watches a lot of cat videos on YouTube, while avoiding feature films. Albini called himself an atheist in a 2011 interview. Discography Works or publications "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows for Sure" Article for Matter on Hüsker Dü, published September 1983. "I'll Rap Your head With A Rachet" Letter written by Steve Albini to Nirvana in 1992, outlining his working philosophy "Ask a music scene micro celebrity" Steve Albini answers questions about bands and music on a poker forum, The 2+2 Forums, July 7, 2007. "I am Steve Albini, ask me anything" reddit IAmA, May 8, 2012; accessed June 21, 2015. "Steve Albini talks to LISTEN: "I try to be an ally in feminism"" Interview in LISTEN, May 2, 2016; accessed August 16, 2016. References Further reading Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001; Cameron, Keith. "This Is Pop," MOJO magazine, Issue 90, May 2001. King, Braden. Looking for a Thrill: An Anthology of Inspiration. Chicago, IL: Thrill Jockey, 2005. (DVD) External links Electrical Audio official website 1961 births Living people American audio engineers American atheists American male singer-songwriters American music journalists American poker players Alternative rock guitarists Noise rock musicians Post-hardcore musicians American writers of Italian descent Medill School of Journalism alumni Big Black members Singers from Chicago Musicians from Missoula, Montana Writers from Pasadena, California Pigface members Writers from Evanston, Illinois Musicians from Pasadena, California Musicians from Evanston, Illinois Journalists from Montana Guitarists from California Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Montana Record producers from Montana Record producers from Illinois Record producers from California Rapeman members Shellac (band) members 20th-century American guitarists World Series of Poker bracelet winners American male non-fiction writers American male guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American punk rock singers American punk rock guitarists American punk rock bass guitarists American post-punk musicians American bloggers Singer-songwriters from Illinois Singer-songwriters from California	true	[ "Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish. Shellac functions as a tough natural primer, sanding sealant, tannin-blocker, odour-blocker, stain, and high-gloss varnish. Shellac was once used in electrical applications as it possesses good insulation qualities and it seals out moisture. Phonograph and 78 rpm gramophone records were made of it until they were replaced by vinyl long-playing records from 1948 onwards.\n\nFrom the time it replaced oil and wax finishes in the 19th century, shellac was one of the dominant wood finishes in the western world until it was largely replaced by nitrocellulose lacquer in the 1920s and 1930s.\n\nEtymology \nShellac comes from shell and lac, a calque of French , 'lac in thin pieces', later , 'gum lac'. Most European languages (except Romance ones and Greek) have borrowed the word for the substance from English or from the German equivalent .\n\nProduction \n\nShellac is scraped from the bark of the trees where the female lac bug, Kerria lacca (order Hemiptera, family Kerriidae, also known as Laccifer lacca), secretes it to form a tunnel-like tube as it traverses the branches of the tree. Though these tunnels are sometimes referred to as \"cocoons\", they are not cocoons in the entomological sense. This insect is in the same superfamily as the insect from which cochineal is obtained. The insects suck the sap of the tree and excrete \"sticklac\" almost constantly. The least-coloured shellac is produced when the insects feed on the kusum tree (Schleichera).\n\nThe number of lac bugs required to produce of shellac has variously been estimated as , , or . The root word lakh is a unit in Indian numbering system for and presumably refers to the huge numbers of insects that swarm on host trees, up to .\n\nThe raw shellac, which contains bark shavings and lac bugs removed during scraping, is placed in canvas tubes (much like long socks) and heated over a fire. This causes the shellac to liquefy, and it seeps out of the canvas, leaving the bark and bugs behind. The thick, sticky shellac is then dried into a flat sheet and broken into flakes, or dried into \"buttons\" (pucks/cakes), then bagged and sold. The end-user then crushes it into a fine powder and mixes it with ethyl alcohol before use, to dissolve the flakes and make liquid shellac.\n\nLiquid shellac has a limited shelf life (about 1 year), so is sold in dry form for dissolution before use. Liquid shellac sold in hardware stores is often marked with the production (mixing) date, so the consumer can know whether the shellac inside is still good. Some manufacturers (e.g., Zinsser) have ceased labeling shellac with the production date, but the production date may be discernible from the production lot code. Alternatively, old shellac may be tested to see if it is still usable: a few drops on glass should dry to a hard surface in roughly 15 minutes. Shellac that remains tacky for a long time is no longer usable. Storage life depends on peak temperature, so refrigeration extends shelf life.\n\nThe thickness (concentration) of shellac is measured by the unit \"pound cut\", referring to the amount (in pounds) of shellac flakes dissolved in a gallon of denatured alcohol. For example: a 1-lb. cut of shellac is the strength obtained by dissolving one pound of shellac flakes in a gallon of alcohol (equivalent to ). Most pre-mixed commercial preparations come at a 3-lb. cut. Multiple thin layers of shellac produce a significantly better end result than a few thick layers. Thick layers of shellac do not adhere to the substrate or to each other well, and thus can peel off with relative ease; in addition, thick shellac will obscure fine details in carved designs in wood and other substrates.\n\nShellac naturally dries to a high-gloss sheen. For applications where a flatter (less shiny) sheen is desired, products containing amorphous silica, such as \"Shellac Flat\", may be added to the dissolved shellac.\n\nShellac naturally contains a small amount of wax (3%–5% by volume), which comes from the lac bug. In some preparations, this wax is removed (the resulting product being called \"dewaxed shellac\"). This is done for applications where the shellac will be coated with something else (such as paint or varnish), so the topcoat will adhere. Waxy (non-dewaxed) shellac appears milky in liquid form, but dries clear.\n\nColours and availability \nShellac comes in many warm colours, ranging from a very light blonde (\"platina\") to a very dark brown (\"garnet\"), with many varieties of brown, yellow, orange and red in between. The colour is influenced by the sap of the tree the lac bug is living on and by the time of harvest. Historically, the most commonly sold shellac is called \"orange shellac\", and was used extensively as a combination stain and protectant for wood panelling and cabinetry in the 20th century.\n\nShellac was once very common anywhere paints or varnishes were sold (such as hardware stores). However, cheaper and more abrasion- and chemical-resistant finishes, such as polyurethane, have almost completely replaced it in decorative residential wood finishing such as hardwood floors, wooden wainscoting plank panelling, and kitchen cabinets. These alternative products, however, must be applied over a stain if the user wants the wood to be coloured; clear or blonde shellac may be applied over a stain without affecting the colour of the finished piece, as a protective topcoat. \"Wax over shellac\" (an application of buffed-on paste wax over several coats of shellac) is often regarded as a beautiful, if fragile, finish for hardwood floors. Luthiers still use shellac to French polish fine acoustic stringed instruments, but it has been replaced by synthetic plastic lacquers and varnishes in many workshops, especially high-volume production environments.\n\nShellac dissolved in alcohol, typically more dilute than French-Polish, is now commonly sold as \"sanding sealer\" by several companies. It is used to seal wooden surfaces, often as preparation for a final more durable finish; it reduces the amount of final coating required by reducing its absorption into the wood.\n\nProperties \n\nShellac is a natural bioadhesive polymer and is chemically similar to synthetic polymers. It can thus can be considered a natural form of plastic.\n \nWith a melting point of , it can be classed as a thermoplastic; used to bind wood flour, the mixture can be moulded with heat and pressure.\n\nShellac scratches more easily than most lacquers and varnishes, and application is more labour-intensive, which is why it has been replaced by plastic in most areas. But damaged shellac can easily be touched up with another coat of shellac (unlike polyurethane, which chemically cures to a solid) because the new coat merges with and bonds to the existing coat(s). Shellac is much softer than Urushi lacquer, for instance, which is far superior with regard to both chemical and mechanical resistance.\n\nShellac is soluble in alkaline solutions such as ammonia, sodium borate, sodium carbonate, and sodium hydroxide, and also in various organic solvents. When dissolved in alcohol (typically denatured ethanol) for application, shellac yields a coating of good durability and hardness.\n\nUpon mild hydrolysis shellac gives a complex mix of aliphatic and alicyclic hydroxy acids and their polymers that varies in exact composition depending upon the source of the shellac and the season of collection. The major component of the aliphatic component is aleuritic acid, whereas the main alicyclic component is shellolic acid.\n\nShellac is UV-resistant, and does not darken as it ages (though the wood under it may do so, as in the case of pine).\n\nHistory \nThe earliest written evidence of shellac goes back years, but shellac is known to have been used earlier. According to the ancient Indian epic poem, the Mahabharata, an entire palace was built out of dried shellac.\n\nShellac was in rare use as a dyestuff for as long as there was a trade with the East Indies. Merrifield cites 1220 for the introduction of shellac as an artist's pigment in Spain. Lapis lazuli, an ultramarine pigment from Afghanistan, was already being imported long before this.\n\nThe use of overall paint or varnish decoration on large pieces of furniture was first popularised in Venice (then later throughout Italy). There are a number of 13th-century references to painted or varnished cassone, often dowry cassone that were made deliberately impressive as part of dynastic marriages. The definition of varnish is not always clear, but it seems to have been a spirit varnish based on gum benjamin or mastic, both traded around the Mediterranean. At some time, shellac began to be used as well. An article from the Journal of the American Institute of Conservation describes using infrared spectroscopy to identify shellac coating on a 16th-century cassone. This is also the period in history where \"varnisher\" was identified as a distinct trade, separate from both carpenter and artist.\n\nAnother use for shellac is sealing wax. Woods's The Nature and Treatment of Wax and Shellac Seals discusses the various formulations, and the period when shellac started to be added to the previous beeswax recipes.\n\nThe \"period of widespread introduction\" would seem to be around 1550 to 1650, when the substance moved from being a rarity on highly decorated pieces to being described in the standard texts of the day.\n\nUses\n\nHistorical \nIn the early- and mid-twentieth century, orange shellac was used as a one-product finish (combination stain and varnish-like topcoat) on decorative wood panelling used on walls and ceilings in homes, particularly in the US. In the American South, use of knotty pine plank panelling covered with orange shellac was once as common in new construction as drywall is today. It was also often used on kitchen cabinets and hardwood floors, prior to the advent of polyurethane.\n\nUntil the advent of vinyl, most gramophone records were pressed from shellac compounds. From 1921 to 1928, tons of shellac were used to create 260 million records for Europe. In the 1930s, it was estimated that half of all shellac was used for gramophone records. Use of shellac for records was common until the 1950s and continued into the 1970s in some non-Western countries.\n\nUntil recent advances in technology, shellac (French polish) was the only glue used in the making of ballet dancers' pointe shoes, to stiffen the box (toe area) to support the dancer en pointe. Many manufacturers of pointe shoes still use the traditional techniques, and many dancers use shellac to revive a softening pair of shoes.\n\nShellac was historically used as a protective coating on paintings.\n\nSheets of Braille were coated with shellac to help protect them from wear due to being read by hand.\n\nShellac was used from the mid-nineteenth century to produce small moulded goods such as picture frames, boxes, toilet articles, jewelry, inkwells and even dentures. Advances in plastics have rendered shellac obsolete as a moulding compound.\n\nShellac (both orange and white varieties) was used both in the field and laboratory to glue and stabilise dinosaur bones until about the mid-1960s. While effective at the time, the long-term negative effects of shellac (being organic in nature) on dinosaur bones and other fossils is debated, and shellac is very rarely used by professional conservators and fossil preparators today.\n\nShellac was used for fixing inductor, motor, generator and transformer windings. It was applied directly to single-layer windings in an alcohol solution. For multi-layer windings, the whole coil was submerged in shellac solution, then drained and placed in a warm place to allow the alcohol to evaporate. The shellac locked the wire turns in place, provided extra insulation, prevented movement and vibration and reduced buzz and hum. In motors and generators it also helps transfer force generated by magnetic attraction and repulsion from the windings to the rotor or armature. In more recent times, shellac has been replaced in these applications by synthetic resins such as polyester resin. Some applications use shellac mixed with other natural or synthetic resins, such as pine resin or phenol-formaldehyde resin, of which Bakelite is the best known, for electrical use. Mixed with other resins, barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, zinc sulfide, aluminium oxide and/or cuprous carbonate (malachite), shellac forms a component of heat-cured capping cement used to fasten the caps or bases to the bulbs of electric lamps.\n\nCurrent \nIt is the central element of the traditional \"French polish\" method of finishing furniture, fine string instruments, and pianos.\n\nShellac, edible, is used as a glazing agent on pills (see excipient) and sweets, in the form of pharmaceutical glaze (or, \"confectioner's glaze\"). Because of its acidic properties (resisting stomach acids), shellac-coated pills may be used for a timed enteric or colonic release. Shellac is used as a 'wax' coating on citrus fruit to prolong its shelf/storage life. It is also used to replace the natural wax of the apple, which is removed during the cleaning process. When used for this purpose, it has the food additive E number E904.\n\nShellac is an odour and stain blocker and so is often used as the base of \"solves all problems\" primers. Although its durability against abrasives and many common solvents is not very good, shellac provides an excellent barrier against water vapour penetration. Shellac-based primers are an effective sealant to control odours associated with fire damage.\n\nShellac has traditionally been used as a dye for cotton and, especially, silk cloth in Thailand, particularly in the north-eastern region. It yields a range of warm colours from pale yellow through to dark orange-reds and dark ochre. Naturally dyed silk cloth, including that using shellac, is widely available in the rural northeast, especially in Ban Khwao District, Chaiyaphum province. The Thai name for the insect and the substance is \"khrang\" (Thai: ครั่ง).\n\nWood finish\n\nWood finishing is one of the most traditional and still popular uses of shellac mixed with solvents or alcohol. This dissolved shellac liquid, applied to a piece of wood, is an evaporative finish: the alcohol of the shellac mixture evaporates, leaving behind a protective film.\n\nShellac as wood finish is natural and non-toxic in its pure form. A finish made of shellac is UV-resistant. For water-resistance and durability, it does not keep up with synthetic finishing products.\n\nBecause it is compatible with most other finishes, shellac is also used as a barrier or primer coat on wood to prevent the bleeding of resin or pigments into the final finish, or to prevent wood stain from blotching.\n\nOther \nShellac is used:\n in the tying of artificial flies for trout and salmon, where the shellac was used to seal all trimmed materials at the head of the fly.\n in combination with wax for preserving and imparting a shine to citrus fruits, such as lemons.\n in dental technology, where it is occasionally used in the production of custom impression trays and (partial) denture production.\n as a binder in India ink.\n for bicycles, as a protective and decorative coating for bicycle handlebar tape, and as a hard-drying adhesive for tubular tyres, particularly for track racing.\n for re-attaching ink sacs when restoring vintage fountain pens, the orange variety preferably.\n for fixing pads to the key-cups of woodwind instruments.\n for Luthier applications, to bind wood fibres down and prevent tear out on the soft spruce soundboards.\n to stiffen and impart water-resistance to felt hats, for wood finishing and as a constituent of gossamer (or goss for short), a cheesecloth fabric coated in shellac and ammonia solution used in the shell of traditional silk top and riding hats.\n for mounting insects, in the form of a gel adhesive mixture composed of 75% ethyl alcohol.\n as a binder in the fabrication of abrasive wheels, imparting flexibility and smoothness not found in vitrified (ceramic bond) wheels. 'Elastic' bonded wheels typically contain plaster of paris, yielding a stronger bond when mixed with shellac; the mixture of dry plaster powder, abrasive (e.g. corundum/aluminium oxide Al2O3), and shellac are heated and the mixture pressed in a mould.\n in fireworks pyrotechnic compositions as a low-temperature fuel, where it allows the creation of pure 'greens' and 'blues'- colours difficult to achieve with other fuel mixes.\n In Jewellery; shellac is often applied to the top of a 'shellac stick' in order to hold small, complex, objects. By melting the shellac, the jeweller can press the object (such as a stone setting mount) into it. The shellac, once cool, can firmly hold the object - allowing it to be manipulated with tools.\n in watchmaking, due to its low melting temperature (about ), shellac is used in most mechanical movements to adjust and adhere pallet stones to the pallet fork and secure the roller jewel to the roller table of the balance wheel. Also for securing small parts to a 'wax chuck' ( faceplate ) in a watchmakers' lathe.\n in the early twentieth century, it was used to protect some military rifle stocks.\n in Jelly Belly jelly beans, in combination with beeswax to give them their final buff and polish.\n in modern traditional archery, shellac is one of the hot-melt glue/resin products used to attach arrowheads to wooden or bamboo arrow shafts.\n Sanding sealer, is a solution of shellac dissolved in alcohol widely sold to seal sanded surfaces, typically wooden surfaces before a final coat of a more durable finish. Similar to French Polish but more dilute.\n as a topcoat in nail polish (although not all nail polish sold as \"shellac\" contains shellac, and some nail polish not labelled in this way does)\n in sculpture, to seal plaster and in conjunction with wax or oilsoaps, to act as a barrier during mold-making processes\n as a dilute solution in the sealing of harpsichord soundboards, protecting them from dust and buffering humidity changes while maintaining a bare-wood appearance.\n\nGallery\n\nSee also \n\n shellac, Wiktionary entry\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n Shellac.net US shellac vendor – properties and uses of dewaxed and non-dewaxed shellac\n The Story of Shellac (history)\n DIYinfo.org's Shellac Wiki, practical information on everything to do with shellac\n Reactive Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography of Shellac\n Shellac A short introduction to the origin of shellac, the history of Japanning and French polishing, and how to conserve and repair these finishes sympathetically\n Shellac Application By Smith & Rodger\n\nWood finishing materials\nFood additives\nInsect products\nPolymers\nResins\nWaxes\nExcipients\nForestry in India\nNon-timber forest products\nE-number additives", "Resinous glaze is an alcohol-based solution of various types of food-grade shellac. The shellac is derived from the raw material sticklac, which is a resin scraped from the branches of trees left from when the small insect, Kerria lacca (also known as Laccifer lacca), creates a hard, waterproof cocoon. When used in food and confections, it is also known as confectioner's glaze, pure food glaze, natural glaze, or confectioner's resin. When used on medicines, it is sometimes called pharmaceutical glaze.\n\nPharmaceutical glaze may contain 20–51% shellac in solution in ethyl alcohol (grain alcohol) that has not been denatured (denatured alcohol is poisonous), waxes, and titanium dioxide as an opacifying agent. Confectioner’s glaze used for candy contains roughly 35% shellac, while the remaining components are volatile organic compounds that evaporate after the glaze is applied.\n\nPharmaceutical glaze is used by the drug and nutritional supplement industry as a coating material for tablets and capsules. It serves to improve the product's appearance, extend shelf life and protect it from moisture, as well as provide a solid finishing film for pre-print coatings. It also serves to mask unpleasant odors and aid in the swallowing of the tablet.\n\nThe shellac coating is insoluble in stomach acid and may make the tablet difficult for the body to break down or assimilate. For this reason, it can also be used as an ingredient in time-released, sustained or delayed-action pills. The product is listed on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) inactive ingredient list.\n\nShellac is labeled as GRAS (generally recognized as safe) by the US FDA and is used as glaze for several types of foods, including some fruit, coffee beans, chewing gum, and candy. Examples of candies containing shellac include candy corn, Hershey's Whoppers and Milk Duds, Nestlé's Raisinets and Goobers, Tootsie Roll Industries's Junior Mints and Sugar Babies, Jelly Belly's jelly beans and Mint Cremes, Russell Stover's jelly beans, and several candies by Godiva Chocolatier and Gertrude Hawk. M&M's do not contain shellac.\n\nA competing non-animal-based product is zein, a corn protein. It is preferred by some vegans because shellac production can kill many insects.\n\nReferences \n\nPharmacy\nFood additives" ]
[ "Steve Albini", "1992-present: Shellac", "what is shellac?", "Albini formed Shellac" ]	C_dacb9718e8514ff682c360856099fa67_1	What did he do after that?	2	What did Steve Albini do after forming Shellac?	Steve Albini	Albini formed Shellac in 1992. With bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns), and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake), they initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994)--the first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album in CD format titled raivuinDong Jing --an English-language reference to the name Shellac cannot be found anywhere on the CD product, which was not available outside Japan. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Albini explained in 2010 that Shellac had made a decision early in their existence that they would not play at festivals and this position was articulated to All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) festival organizer Barry Hogan during the preparation stage of the inaugural ATP event. However, Scottish band Mogwai managed to convince Albini at the time that they were ATP curators and the band was very impressed by the experience: "They (ATP) completely changed the festival game. Now the whole world has to operate under the knowledge that there are these cool, curated festivals where everyone is treated well and the experience is a generally pleasant one." CANNOTANSWER	they initially released three EPs:	Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1961) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums over his career. He has worked with acts such as Nirvana, Pixies, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, and former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Albini is also known for his outspoken views on the music industry, having stated repeatedly that it financially exploits artists and homogenizes their sound. Nearly alone among well-known producers and musicians, Albini refuses to take ongoing royalties from album sales, feeling that a producer's job is to record the music to the band's desires, and that paying producers as if they had contributed artistically to an album is unethical. Early life Albini was born in Pasadena, California, to Gina (née Martinelli) and Frank Addison Albini. His father was a wildfire researcher. He has two siblings. In his youth, Albini's family moved often, before settling in the college town of Missoula, Montana in 1974. Albini is Italian American and part of his family comes from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. While recovering from a broken leg, Albini began playing bass guitar and participated in bass lessons in high school for one week. He was exposed to the Ramones by a schoolmate on a field trip when he was 14 or 15. He felt it was the best music he had ever heard and bought every Ramones recording available to him, and credits his music career to hearing their first album. He said: "I was baffled and thrilled by music like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Pere Ubu, Devo and all those contemporaneous, inspirational punk bands without wanting to try to mimic them." During his teenage years, Albini played in bands such as the Montana punk band Just Ducky, the Chicago band Small Irregular Pieces of Aluminum, Stations, and another band that record label Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records explained "he [Albini] is paying us not to mention". After graduating from Hellgate High School, Albini moved to Evanston, Illinois, to attend college at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (NU), where he attained a degree in journalism. Albini said he studied painting in college with Ed Paschke, someone he calls a brilliant educator and "one of the only people in college who actually taught me anything". In the Chicago area, Albini was active as a writer in local zines such as Matter and Forced Exposure, covering the then-nascent punk rock scene, and gained a reputation for the iconoclastic nature of his articles. Around the same time, he began recording musicians and engineered his first album in 1981. He co-managed Ruthless Records (Chicago) with John Kezdy of the Effigies and Jon Babbin (Criminal IQ Records). According to Albini, he maintained a "straight job" for five years until 1987, working in a photography studio as a photograph retouch artist. Performing career 1981–1987: Big Black In 1981, Albini formed Big Black while he was a student at NU, and recorded Lungs, the band's debut EP, on Ruthless Records (Chicago), a label he co-managed with Babbin and Kezdy. Albini played all of the instruments on Lungs except the saxophone, played by his friend John Bohnen. The Bulldozer (1983) EP was released on Ruthless and Fever Records. Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango, of Chicago band Naked Raygun, and live drummer Pat Byrne joined shortly thereafter, and the band—along with a drum machine, the Roland TR-606, credited as "Roland"—released the EP Racer-X in 1984, after touring and signing a new contract with the Homestead Records business. Pezzati commenced recording the "Il Duce" 7-inch single with the band, but returned to his original band before it was completed. Pezzati was replaced on bass by Dave Riley, with whom the group recorded their debut full-length album, Atomizer (1986). The "Il Duce" recording was eventually finished with Riley as bassist; the band also released The Hammer Party album while signed to Homestead, which was a compilation of the Lungs and Bulldozer EPs. Big Black left the Homestead label for Touch and Go Records in late 1985/early 1986, and recorded the Headache EP and the 7-inch single, Heartbeat between June and August 1986—both were released the following year. Also in 1986, a live album titled Sound of Impact was released on the Not/Blast First label. The accompanying booklet provides insight into the band's influences; Albini cited bands such as Ramones, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, Suicide, SPK, Minor Threat, Whitehouse, Link Wray, Pere Ubu, Chrome, Rudimentary Peni, The 4-Skins, Throbbing Gristle, Skrewdriver, the Ex, Minimal Man, U.S. Chaos, Gang Green, Tommi Stumpff, Swans and Bad Brains. In 1987, the band released their second studio album, Songs About Fucking, as well as the He's a Whore / The Model 7-inch single, both on Touch and Go. Big Black disbanded shortly after a period of extensive touring that year in support of Songs About Fucking. Durango enrolled in law school and became a lawyer. 1987–1988: Rapeman Albini formed Rapeman in 1987: the band consisted of Albini (vocals, guitar), Rey Washam (drums), and David Wm. Sims. The band was named after a Japanese comic book. They broke up after the release of two 7-inch singles, "Hated Chinee b/w Marmoset" (1988) and "Inki's Butt Crack b/w Song Number One" (1989), one EP titled Budd (1988) and the Two Nuns and a Pack Mule album, also released in 1988 on Touch and Go. In a 2020 interview, Albini expressed regret for the name of the band, saying that he didn't feel he had been "held to account for being in a band called Rapeman". He added that "it was a flippant choice", calling it unconscionable and indefensible. He likened it to getting a bad tattoo. 1992–present: Shellac Albini formed Shellac in 1992, with bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns) and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake). They initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994). The first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album, Live in Tokyo. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Recording career Since the early 1990s, Albini has been best known as a record producer; however, he dislikes the term and prefers to receive no credit on album sleeves or notes. When credited, he prefers the term "recording engineer". In 2004, Albini estimated that he has engineered the recording of 1,500 albums, mostly by obscure musicians. By 2018, his estimate had increased to several thousand. More prominent artists that Albini has worked with include: Foxy Shazam, Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, The Jesus Lizard, Don Caballero, PJ Harvey, The Wedding Present, Joanna Newsom, Superchunk, Low, Dirty Three, Jawbreaker, Neurosis, Cloud Nothings, Bush, Chevelle, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (as Page and Plant), Helmet, Fred Schneider, The Stooges, Owls, Manic Street Preachers, Jarvis Cocker, The Cribs, the Fleshtones, Nina Nastasia, The Frames, The Membranes, Cheap Trick, Motorpsycho, Slint, mclusky, Labradford, Veruca Salt, Zao, The Auteurs and Spare Snare. Following the release of Schneider's album Just Fred, the Vinyl District's Joseph Neff wrote: "The reality is that when enlisted by the big leagues, Albini took his job just as seriously as when he was assisting on the debut recording from a bunch of aspiring unknowns." Stereogum's Tom Breihan wrote in 2012: "Even though he's [Albini] been an outspoken opponent of the major-label system (and of other underground-rock heroes), he's known to work with just about anyone who requests his service." In February 2018, along with the Scottish lo-fi band Spare Snare, Albini presented a one-day Audio Engineers' Workshop at Chem19 Studios in Blantyre, Scotland. Methodology In Albini's opinion, putting producers in charge of recording sessions often destroys records, while the role of the recording engineer is to solve problems in capturing the sound of the musicians, not to threaten the artists' control over their product. Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such as Michael Azerrad, who is also a musician. In Azerrad's 2001 book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991, Azerrad describes Albini's work on the Pixies album Surfer Rosa: "The recordings were both very basic and very exacting: Albini used few special effects; got an aggressive, often violent guitar sound; and made sure the rhythm section slammed as one." Production influences A key influence on Albini was English producer John Loder, who came to prominence in the late 1970s with a reputation for recording albums quickly and inexpensively, but nonetheless with distinctive qualities and a sensitivity towards a band's sound and aesthetic. Albini has mentioned an admiration for ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Among his peers, Albini has praised his frequent collaborator (and Shellac bandmate) Bob Weston, as well as Brian Paulson and Matt Barnhart, among others. In Utero Perhaps Albini's most well-known production work was for the 1993 album In Utero, the third and final album by the American rock band Nirvana. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sought out Albini because he had produced two of Cobain's favorite albums, Surfer Rosa (1988) by the Pixies and Pod (1990) by The Breeders. All of the band was eager to work with Albini because they wanted the rawer sound for which Albini was already known, after feeling that their previous album, Nevermind, had come out sounding too polished. Albini was not particularly fond of Nirvana's music, later stating that he had considered them to be "R.E.M. with a fuzzbox", but agreed to work with them since he felt that they had been exploited by their label and management. At Albini's recommendation, the members of Nirvana travelled to Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota to record the album. Albini chose the studio in part due to its isolation, hoping to keep representatives of Nirvana's record label, DGC Records, away. The studio was booked for two weeks, but the recording itself was completed in six days, and Cobain referred to it as "the easiest recording we've ever done, hands down". Once the label and management heard the resulting recording, they were displeased with it. The members of Nirvana had mixed feelings as well: Cobain said afterward that the first time he played it at home, "I got no emotion from it", and considered re-recording the songs with more radio-friendly production. However, a month later, having listened to it more and played it for friends, he felt that it was "exactly the kind of record I would buy as a fan". The band did collectively decide that the vocals and bass were too low in the mix. They asked Albini to remix the album, but he refused, as he was happy with the results and feared that the process would lead to "a spiral of recriminations and remixes" among himself, the band and the record company. During the remastering process, engineer Bob Ludwig raised the volume of the vocals and sharpened the bass guitar sound. Additionally, R.E.M. producer Scott Litt was brought in to remix several of the songs. The final album was a critical and commercial success, and remains strongly associated with Albini, despite Albini's contention that the finished album "doesn't sound all that much like the record that was made". Asked about In Utero in 2004, Albini stated that the record label was responsible for the difficulties that marred the trajectory of the album. According to Albini, In Utero made him unpopular with major record labels, and he faced problems finding work in the year following. Electrical Audio Albini bought Electrical Audio, his personal recording studio, in 1995. The impetus for the move to his own studio was the lack of privacy for Albini and his wife. His former studio was in their house, eventually taking over almost all the rooms, with the exception of the bedroom. Before Electrical Audio, Albini had a studio in the basement of another personal residence. Musician Robbie Fulks recalls the hassle of "running up two flights of stairs all the time from the tracking room" to where Albini was. Albini does not receive royalties for anything he records or mixes at his own facility, unlike many other engineer/record producers with his experience and prominence. At Electrical Audio in 2004, Albini earned a daily fee of US$750 for engineering work, and drew a salary of US$24,000 a year. Azerrad referred to Albini's rates in 2001 as among the most affordable for a world-class recording studio. Following the completion of the studio's construction, Albini initially charged only for his time, allowing his friends or musicians he respected—who were willing to engineer their own recording sessions and purchase their own magnetic tape—to use his studio free. In a 2004 lecture, Albini stated that he always deals with bands directly at Electrical Audio, and answers the phone himself in the studio. Musical influences Albini mentioned his liking for "good guitar", saying "good noise is like orgasm". He commented: "Anybody can play notes. There's no trick. What is a trick and a good one is to make a guitar do things that don't sound like a guitar at all. The point here is stretching the boundaries." Albini has praised guitarists including Andy Gill of Gang of Four, Rowland S. Howard of Birthday Party, John McKay of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd, Steve Diggle and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks, Ron Asheton of the Stooges, Paul Fox of the Ruts, Link Wray, Greg Ginn of Black Flag, Lyle Preslar of Minor Threat, John McGeoch of Magazine and the Banshees, and Tom Verlaine of Television. Albini praised Andy Gill's guitar tone on Gang of Four's Entertainment!, stating: "[he] makes six strings produce more beautiful, broken noise than anybody". He praised John McKay for his work on Siouxsie and the Banshees's The Scream, saying "only now people are trying to copy it, and even now nobody understands how that guitar player got all that pointless noise to stick together as songs". Albini cited Ron Asheton because "he made great squealy death noise feedback". He also described John McGeoch's guitar playing as "great choral swells, great scratches and buzzes, [and] great dissonant noise". He admired Tom Verlaine for his ability to "twist almost any conceivable sound out of a guitar". Views Music industry Albini's opinions on the music industry, as well as on trends in indie music, have received considerable exposure. His most famous piece is the essay "The Problem with Music", which was first published in the December 1993 issue of art and criticism journal The Baffler. The essay criticizes the music industry, and specifically the major record labels of the time, for financially exploiting and deceiving their artists. In the essay's longest section, Albini runs a financial breakdown to show how a hypothetical band which sells 250,000 copies of their major-label debut album could end up making only "about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11" from the album, due to all the expenditures the label makes, ostensibly on their behalf. At a 2004 Middle Tennessee State University presentation, Albini reaffirmed his perspective on major labels, explaining that he was opposed to any form of human exploitation. In November 2014, Albini delivered the keynote speech at the Face the Music conference in Melbourne, Australia, where he discussed the evolution of the music scene and industry since he started making music in the late 1970s. He described the pre-internet corporate music industry as "a system that ensured waste by rewarding the most profligate spendthrifts in a system specifically engineered to waste the band's money," which aimed to perpetuate its structures and business arrangements while preventing bands (except for "monumental stars") from earning a living. He contrasted it with the independent scene, which encouraged resourcefulness and established an alternative network of clubs, promoters, fanzines, DJs and labels, and allowed musicians to make a reasonable income due to the system's greater efficiency. Music production Albini is a supporter of analog recording over digital, as can be evidenced by a 1987 quote on the back cover of the CD version of Big Black's Songs About Fucking: "The future belongs to the analog loyalists. Fuck digital." He has maintained his support for analog recording, stating in a 2013 interview that using digital files as audio masters is "irresponsible", because such files will "eventually disappear or become unusable". In the essay "The Problem with Music", Albini also criticized music producers who lack a solid understanding of music engineering, and thus latch on to whatever is trendy at the moment, such as Pultec equalizers or compression (which he wrote "makes everything sound like a beer commercial"). He criticized producers who put vocals in the mix much higher than everything else in order to "sound more like the Beatles". He also wrote that when he hears producers and engineers use "meaningless" words like "punchy" and "warm", he feels the need to "throttle somebody." Asked about these statements in a 2018 interview, Albini stated that, given the reduction in the power of record labels over the previous 25 years, the prevalence of producers who are there only to exert artistic control over the recording had dropped significantly. He also noted that digital recording had enabled many more people to "do productive work" as audio engineers, while noting that he himself was sticking with analog recording. Music streaming Albini was asked about file sharing in June 2014 and he clarified that, while he does not believe that the technological development is the "best thing" for the music industry, he does not identify with the music industry. He considers "the community, the band, the musician" as his peers, and is pleased that musicians can "get their music out to the world at no cost instantly". As part of the Face the Music speech, Albini noted that both the corporate and independent industry models had been damaged by internet file sharing; however, he praised the spread of free music as being a "fantastic development", which allowed previously ignored music and bands to find an audience (citing the protopunk band Death as one example); the use of the internet as a distribution channel for music to be heard worldwide; and the increasing affordability of recording equipment, all of which allow bands to circumvent the traditional recording industry. Albini also argued that the increased availability of recorded music stimulates demand for live music, boosting bands' income. Albini critiqued Jay Z's subscription-only, lossless audio streaming service Tidal in an April 2015 interview with Vulture.com, arguing that streaming services would eventually be usurped by a more convenient technology, that convenience would trump sound quality in streaming, and that audiophiles would prefer vinyl to streaming. He made the point that the internet has a history "of breaking limitations placed on its content" by making paid-for products freely available. Music journalism In 1983, Albini wrote for Matter, a monthly new US music magazine appeared at the time in Chicago. He wrote in each issue a chronicle called "Tired of Ugly Fat?", and also contributed articles such as "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows For Sure". In 1994, Albini wrote a famous letter to music critic Bill Wyman (not to be confused with rock musician Bill Wyman), which was published in the Chicago Reader, calling Wyman a "music press stooge" for having championed three Chicago-based music acts whom Albini labeled as "frauds": Liz Phair, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Urge Overkill. While in Australia in November 2014, Albini spoke with national radio station Double J and stated that, while the state of the music industry is healthy in his view, the industry of music journalism is in crisis. Albini used the example of the media spotlight that he received after criticizing Amanda Palmer for not paying her musicians after receiving over $1 million on Kickstarter to release her 2012 album Theatre Is Evil, stating: "I don't think I was wrong but I also don't think that it was that big of a deal." He described the music media as "superficial" and composed of "copy paste bullshit." Albini has frequently stated his dislike for pop music, and in a 2015 interview told 2SER Sydney that "pop music is for children and idiots". Media appearances Albini is featured in the first episode of the 2014 documentary miniseries Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, "Chicago", in which Albini is shown talking about being a producer, as well as recording the Foo Fighters song "Something from Nothing". He has appeared in a number of documentary films and videos about the making of various albums that he has produced, including Josephine by Magnolia Electric Co. (2009), This Is Nowhere by Malojian (2016), Carrier Wave by Porcupine (2019) and In Bed with Medusa by Medusa (2020). Rock vs. Cancer, a 2018 short documentary about the making of the 2012 album The Strain by Teeth, additionally features Albini as the narrator. Albini was a guest on the audio podcast WTF with Marc Maron in 2015. The 2019 short documentary Albini Cashes In, part of the Stories from the Felt series for the streaming service PokerGO, is about Albini's 2018 World Series of Poker win. Other activities Albini began a cooking and food blog, titled "Mariobatalivoice: What I made Heather for dinner", in March 2011. Albini is an avid poker player and ranked in 12th place at the 2013 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Seniors Championship. Albini won his first WSOP Gold Bracelet at the $1500 Seven-Card Stud at 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP); he beat out Jeff Lisandro to win $105,629. Albini also regularly engages in public-speaking appointments for the audio industry. Personal life Albini is married to film director Heather Whinna and they work and live in Chicago. His right leg is slightly deformed as a result of a car accident when he was 18. In 2010, he revealed that he is not an avid consumer of media and watches a lot of cat videos on YouTube, while avoiding feature films. Albini called himself an atheist in a 2011 interview. Discography Works or publications "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows for Sure" Article for Matter on Hüsker Dü, published September 1983. "I'll Rap Your head With A Rachet" Letter written by Steve Albini to Nirvana in 1992, outlining his working philosophy "Ask a music scene micro celebrity" Steve Albini answers questions about bands and music on a poker forum, The 2+2 Forums, July 7, 2007. "I am Steve Albini, ask me anything" reddit IAmA, May 8, 2012; accessed June 21, 2015. "Steve Albini talks to LISTEN: "I try to be an ally in feminism"" Interview in LISTEN, May 2, 2016; accessed August 16, 2016. References Further reading Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001; Cameron, Keith. "This Is Pop," MOJO magazine, Issue 90, May 2001. King, Braden. Looking for a Thrill: An Anthology of Inspiration. Chicago, IL: Thrill Jockey, 2005. (DVD) External links Electrical Audio official website 1961 births Living people American audio engineers American atheists American male singer-songwriters American music journalists American poker players Alternative rock guitarists Noise rock musicians Post-hardcore musicians American writers of Italian descent Medill School of Journalism alumni Big Black members Singers from Chicago Musicians from Missoula, Montana Writers from Pasadena, California Pigface members Writers from Evanston, Illinois Musicians from Pasadena, California Musicians from Evanston, Illinois Journalists from Montana Guitarists from California Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Montana Record producers from Montana Record producers from Illinois Record producers from California Rapeman members Shellac (band) members 20th-century American guitarists World Series of Poker bracelet winners American male non-fiction writers American male guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American punk rock singers American punk rock guitarists American punk rock bass guitarists American post-punk musicians American bloggers Singer-songwriters from Illinois Singer-songwriters from California	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)", "Follow Me! is a series of television programmes produced by Bayerischer Rundfunk and the BBC in the late 1970s to provide a crash course in the English language. It became popular in many overseas countries as a first introduction to English; in 1983, one hundred million people watched the show in China alone, featuring Kathy Flower.\n\nThe British actor Francis Matthews hosted and narrated the series.\n\nThe course consists of sixty lessons. Each lesson lasts from 12 to 15 minutes and covers a specific lexis. The lessons follow a consistent group of actors, with the relationships between their characters developing during the course.\n\nFollow Me! actors\n Francis Matthews\n Raymond Mason\n David Savile\n Ian Bamforth\n Keith Alexander\n Diane Mercer\n Jane Argyle\n Diana King\n Veronica Leigh\n Elaine Wells\n Danielle Cohn\n Lashawnda Bell\n\nEpisodes \n \"What's your name\"\n \"How are you\"\n \"Can you help me\"\n \"Left, right, straight ahead\"\n \"Where are they\"\n \"What's the time\"\n \"What's this What's that\"\n \"I like it very much\"\n \"Have you got any wine\"\n \"What are they doing\"\n \"Can I have your name, please\"\n \"What does she look like\"\n \"No smoking\"\n \"It's on the first floor\"\n \"Where's he gone\"\n \"Going away\"\n \"Buying things\"\n \"Why do you like it\"\n \"What do you need\"\n \"I sometimes work late\"\n \"Welcome to Britain\"\n \"Who's that\"\n \"What would you like to do\"\n \"How can I get there?\"\n \"Where is it\"\n \"What's the date\"\n \"Whose is it\"\n \"I enjoy it\"\n \"How many and how much\"\n \"What have you done\"\n \"Haven't we met before\"\n \"What did you say\"\n \"Please stop\"\n \"How can I get to Brightly\"\n \"Where can I get it\"\n \"There's a concert on Wednesday\"\n \"What's it like\"\n \"What do you think of him\"\n \"I need someone\"\n \"What were you doing\"\n \"What do you do\"\n \"What do you know about him\"\n \"You shouldn't do that\"\n \"I hope you enjoy your holiday\"\n \"Where can I see a football match\"\n \"When will it be ready\"\n \"Where did you go\"\n \"I think it's awful\"\n \"A room with a view\"\n \"You'll be ill\"\n \"I don't believe in strikes\"\n \"They look tired\"\n \"Would you like to\"\n \"Holiday plans\"\n \"The second shelf on the left\"\n \"When you are ready\"\n \"Tell them about Britain\"\n \"I liked everything\"\n \"Classical or modern\"\n \"Finale\"\n\nReferences \n\n BBC article about the series in China\n\nExternal links \n Follow Me – Beginner level \n Follow Me – Elementary level\n Follow Me – Intermediate level\n Follow Me – Advanced level\n\nAdult education television series\nEnglish-language education television programming" ]
[ "Steve Albini", "1992-present: Shellac", "what is shellac?", "Albini formed Shellac", "What did he do after that?", "they initially released three EPs:" ]	C_dacb9718e8514ff682c360856099fa67_1	What else did they release?	3	Other than the initial three EPs, what else did Shellac release?	Steve Albini	Albini formed Shellac in 1992. With bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns), and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake), they initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994)--the first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album in CD format titled raivuinDong Jing --an English-language reference to the name Shellac cannot be found anywhere on the CD product, which was not available outside Japan. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Albini explained in 2010 that Shellac had made a decision early in their existence that they would not play at festivals and this position was articulated to All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) festival organizer Barry Hogan during the preparation stage of the inaugural ATP event. However, Scottish band Mogwai managed to convince Albini at the time that they were ATP curators and the band was very impressed by the experience: "They (ATP) completely changed the festival game. Now the whole world has to operate under the knowledge that there are these cool, curated festivals where everyone is treated well and the experience is a generally pleasant one." CANNOTANSWER	Uranus	Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1961) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums over his career. He has worked with acts such as Nirvana, Pixies, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, and former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Albini is also known for his outspoken views on the music industry, having stated repeatedly that it financially exploits artists and homogenizes their sound. Nearly alone among well-known producers and musicians, Albini refuses to take ongoing royalties from album sales, feeling that a producer's job is to record the music to the band's desires, and that paying producers as if they had contributed artistically to an album is unethical. Early life Albini was born in Pasadena, California, to Gina (née Martinelli) and Frank Addison Albini. His father was a wildfire researcher. He has two siblings. In his youth, Albini's family moved often, before settling in the college town of Missoula, Montana in 1974. Albini is Italian American and part of his family comes from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. While recovering from a broken leg, Albini began playing bass guitar and participated in bass lessons in high school for one week. He was exposed to the Ramones by a schoolmate on a field trip when he was 14 or 15. He felt it was the best music he had ever heard and bought every Ramones recording available to him, and credits his music career to hearing their first album. He said: "I was baffled and thrilled by music like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Pere Ubu, Devo and all those contemporaneous, inspirational punk bands without wanting to try to mimic them." During his teenage years, Albini played in bands such as the Montana punk band Just Ducky, the Chicago band Small Irregular Pieces of Aluminum, Stations, and another band that record label Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records explained "he [Albini] is paying us not to mention". After graduating from Hellgate High School, Albini moved to Evanston, Illinois, to attend college at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (NU), where he attained a degree in journalism. Albini said he studied painting in college with Ed Paschke, someone he calls a brilliant educator and "one of the only people in college who actually taught me anything". In the Chicago area, Albini was active as a writer in local zines such as Matter and Forced Exposure, covering the then-nascent punk rock scene, and gained a reputation for the iconoclastic nature of his articles. Around the same time, he began recording musicians and engineered his first album in 1981. He co-managed Ruthless Records (Chicago) with John Kezdy of the Effigies and Jon Babbin (Criminal IQ Records). According to Albini, he maintained a "straight job" for five years until 1987, working in a photography studio as a photograph retouch artist. Performing career 1981–1987: Big Black In 1981, Albini formed Big Black while he was a student at NU, and recorded Lungs, the band's debut EP, on Ruthless Records (Chicago), a label he co-managed with Babbin and Kezdy. Albini played all of the instruments on Lungs except the saxophone, played by his friend John Bohnen. The Bulldozer (1983) EP was released on Ruthless and Fever Records. Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango, of Chicago band Naked Raygun, and live drummer Pat Byrne joined shortly thereafter, and the band—along with a drum machine, the Roland TR-606, credited as "Roland"—released the EP Racer-X in 1984, after touring and signing a new contract with the Homestead Records business. Pezzati commenced recording the "Il Duce" 7-inch single with the band, but returned to his original band before it was completed. Pezzati was replaced on bass by Dave Riley, with whom the group recorded their debut full-length album, Atomizer (1986). The "Il Duce" recording was eventually finished with Riley as bassist; the band also released The Hammer Party album while signed to Homestead, which was a compilation of the Lungs and Bulldozer EPs. Big Black left the Homestead label for Touch and Go Records in late 1985/early 1986, and recorded the Headache EP and the 7-inch single, Heartbeat between June and August 1986—both were released the following year. Also in 1986, a live album titled Sound of Impact was released on the Not/Blast First label. The accompanying booklet provides insight into the band's influences; Albini cited bands such as Ramones, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, Suicide, SPK, Minor Threat, Whitehouse, Link Wray, Pere Ubu, Chrome, Rudimentary Peni, The 4-Skins, Throbbing Gristle, Skrewdriver, the Ex, Minimal Man, U.S. Chaos, Gang Green, Tommi Stumpff, Swans and Bad Brains. In 1987, the band released their second studio album, Songs About Fucking, as well as the He's a Whore / The Model 7-inch single, both on Touch and Go. Big Black disbanded shortly after a period of extensive touring that year in support of Songs About Fucking. Durango enrolled in law school and became a lawyer. 1987–1988: Rapeman Albini formed Rapeman in 1987: the band consisted of Albini (vocals, guitar), Rey Washam (drums), and David Wm. Sims. The band was named after a Japanese comic book. They broke up after the release of two 7-inch singles, "Hated Chinee b/w Marmoset" (1988) and "Inki's Butt Crack b/w Song Number One" (1989), one EP titled Budd (1988) and the Two Nuns and a Pack Mule album, also released in 1988 on Touch and Go. In a 2020 interview, Albini expressed regret for the name of the band, saying that he didn't feel he had been "held to account for being in a band called Rapeman". He added that "it was a flippant choice", calling it unconscionable and indefensible. He likened it to getting a bad tattoo. 1992–present: Shellac Albini formed Shellac in 1992, with bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns) and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake). They initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994). The first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album, Live in Tokyo. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Recording career Since the early 1990s, Albini has been best known as a record producer; however, he dislikes the term and prefers to receive no credit on album sleeves or notes. When credited, he prefers the term "recording engineer". In 2004, Albini estimated that he has engineered the recording of 1,500 albums, mostly by obscure musicians. By 2018, his estimate had increased to several thousand. More prominent artists that Albini has worked with include: Foxy Shazam, Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, The Jesus Lizard, Don Caballero, PJ Harvey, The Wedding Present, Joanna Newsom, Superchunk, Low, Dirty Three, Jawbreaker, Neurosis, Cloud Nothings, Bush, Chevelle, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (as Page and Plant), Helmet, Fred Schneider, The Stooges, Owls, Manic Street Preachers, Jarvis Cocker, The Cribs, the Fleshtones, Nina Nastasia, The Frames, The Membranes, Cheap Trick, Motorpsycho, Slint, mclusky, Labradford, Veruca Salt, Zao, The Auteurs and Spare Snare. Following the release of Schneider's album Just Fred, the Vinyl District's Joseph Neff wrote: "The reality is that when enlisted by the big leagues, Albini took his job just as seriously as when he was assisting on the debut recording from a bunch of aspiring unknowns." Stereogum's Tom Breihan wrote in 2012: "Even though he's [Albini] been an outspoken opponent of the major-label system (and of other underground-rock heroes), he's known to work with just about anyone who requests his service." In February 2018, along with the Scottish lo-fi band Spare Snare, Albini presented a one-day Audio Engineers' Workshop at Chem19 Studios in Blantyre, Scotland. Methodology In Albini's opinion, putting producers in charge of recording sessions often destroys records, while the role of the recording engineer is to solve problems in capturing the sound of the musicians, not to threaten the artists' control over their product. Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such as Michael Azerrad, who is also a musician. In Azerrad's 2001 book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991, Azerrad describes Albini's work on the Pixies album Surfer Rosa: "The recordings were both very basic and very exacting: Albini used few special effects; got an aggressive, often violent guitar sound; and made sure the rhythm section slammed as one." Production influences A key influence on Albini was English producer John Loder, who came to prominence in the late 1970s with a reputation for recording albums quickly and inexpensively, but nonetheless with distinctive qualities and a sensitivity towards a band's sound and aesthetic. Albini has mentioned an admiration for ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Among his peers, Albini has praised his frequent collaborator (and Shellac bandmate) Bob Weston, as well as Brian Paulson and Matt Barnhart, among others. In Utero Perhaps Albini's most well-known production work was for the 1993 album In Utero, the third and final album by the American rock band Nirvana. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sought out Albini because he had produced two of Cobain's favorite albums, Surfer Rosa (1988) by the Pixies and Pod (1990) by The Breeders. All of the band was eager to work with Albini because they wanted the rawer sound for which Albini was already known, after feeling that their previous album, Nevermind, had come out sounding too polished. Albini was not particularly fond of Nirvana's music, later stating that he had considered them to be "R.E.M. with a fuzzbox", but agreed to work with them since he felt that they had been exploited by their label and management. At Albini's recommendation, the members of Nirvana travelled to Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota to record the album. Albini chose the studio in part due to its isolation, hoping to keep representatives of Nirvana's record label, DGC Records, away. The studio was booked for two weeks, but the recording itself was completed in six days, and Cobain referred to it as "the easiest recording we've ever done, hands down". Once the label and management heard the resulting recording, they were displeased with it. The members of Nirvana had mixed feelings as well: Cobain said afterward that the first time he played it at home, "I got no emotion from it", and considered re-recording the songs with more radio-friendly production. However, a month later, having listened to it more and played it for friends, he felt that it was "exactly the kind of record I would buy as a fan". The band did collectively decide that the vocals and bass were too low in the mix. They asked Albini to remix the album, but he refused, as he was happy with the results and feared that the process would lead to "a spiral of recriminations and remixes" among himself, the band and the record company. During the remastering process, engineer Bob Ludwig raised the volume of the vocals and sharpened the bass guitar sound. Additionally, R.E.M. producer Scott Litt was brought in to remix several of the songs. The final album was a critical and commercial success, and remains strongly associated with Albini, despite Albini's contention that the finished album "doesn't sound all that much like the record that was made". Asked about In Utero in 2004, Albini stated that the record label was responsible for the difficulties that marred the trajectory of the album. According to Albini, In Utero made him unpopular with major record labels, and he faced problems finding work in the year following. Electrical Audio Albini bought Electrical Audio, his personal recording studio, in 1995. The impetus for the move to his own studio was the lack of privacy for Albini and his wife. His former studio was in their house, eventually taking over almost all the rooms, with the exception of the bedroom. Before Electrical Audio, Albini had a studio in the basement of another personal residence. Musician Robbie Fulks recalls the hassle of "running up two flights of stairs all the time from the tracking room" to where Albini was. Albini does not receive royalties for anything he records or mixes at his own facility, unlike many other engineer/record producers with his experience and prominence. At Electrical Audio in 2004, Albini earned a daily fee of US$750 for engineering work, and drew a salary of US$24,000 a year. Azerrad referred to Albini's rates in 2001 as among the most affordable for a world-class recording studio. Following the completion of the studio's construction, Albini initially charged only for his time, allowing his friends or musicians he respected—who were willing to engineer their own recording sessions and purchase their own magnetic tape—to use his studio free. In a 2004 lecture, Albini stated that he always deals with bands directly at Electrical Audio, and answers the phone himself in the studio. Musical influences Albini mentioned his liking for "good guitar", saying "good noise is like orgasm". He commented: "Anybody can play notes. There's no trick. What is a trick and a good one is to make a guitar do things that don't sound like a guitar at all. The point here is stretching the boundaries." Albini has praised guitarists including Andy Gill of Gang of Four, Rowland S. Howard of Birthday Party, John McKay of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd, Steve Diggle and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks, Ron Asheton of the Stooges, Paul Fox of the Ruts, Link Wray, Greg Ginn of Black Flag, Lyle Preslar of Minor Threat, John McGeoch of Magazine and the Banshees, and Tom Verlaine of Television. Albini praised Andy Gill's guitar tone on Gang of Four's Entertainment!, stating: "[he] makes six strings produce more beautiful, broken noise than anybody". He praised John McKay for his work on Siouxsie and the Banshees's The Scream, saying "only now people are trying to copy it, and even now nobody understands how that guitar player got all that pointless noise to stick together as songs". Albini cited Ron Asheton because "he made great squealy death noise feedback". He also described John McGeoch's guitar playing as "great choral swells, great scratches and buzzes, [and] great dissonant noise". He admired Tom Verlaine for his ability to "twist almost any conceivable sound out of a guitar". Views Music industry Albini's opinions on the music industry, as well as on trends in indie music, have received considerable exposure. His most famous piece is the essay "The Problem with Music", which was first published in the December 1993 issue of art and criticism journal The Baffler. The essay criticizes the music industry, and specifically the major record labels of the time, for financially exploiting and deceiving their artists. In the essay's longest section, Albini runs a financial breakdown to show how a hypothetical band which sells 250,000 copies of their major-label debut album could end up making only "about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11" from the album, due to all the expenditures the label makes, ostensibly on their behalf. At a 2004 Middle Tennessee State University presentation, Albini reaffirmed his perspective on major labels, explaining that he was opposed to any form of human exploitation. In November 2014, Albini delivered the keynote speech at the Face the Music conference in Melbourne, Australia, where he discussed the evolution of the music scene and industry since he started making music in the late 1970s. He described the pre-internet corporate music industry as "a system that ensured waste by rewarding the most profligate spendthrifts in a system specifically engineered to waste the band's money," which aimed to perpetuate its structures and business arrangements while preventing bands (except for "monumental stars") from earning a living. He contrasted it with the independent scene, which encouraged resourcefulness and established an alternative network of clubs, promoters, fanzines, DJs and labels, and allowed musicians to make a reasonable income due to the system's greater efficiency. Music production Albini is a supporter of analog recording over digital, as can be evidenced by a 1987 quote on the back cover of the CD version of Big Black's Songs About Fucking: "The future belongs to the analog loyalists. Fuck digital." He has maintained his support for analog recording, stating in a 2013 interview that using digital files as audio masters is "irresponsible", because such files will "eventually disappear or become unusable". In the essay "The Problem with Music", Albini also criticized music producers who lack a solid understanding of music engineering, and thus latch on to whatever is trendy at the moment, such as Pultec equalizers or compression (which he wrote "makes everything sound like a beer commercial"). He criticized producers who put vocals in the mix much higher than everything else in order to "sound more like the Beatles". He also wrote that when he hears producers and engineers use "meaningless" words like "punchy" and "warm", he feels the need to "throttle somebody." Asked about these statements in a 2018 interview, Albini stated that, given the reduction in the power of record labels over the previous 25 years, the prevalence of producers who are there only to exert artistic control over the recording had dropped significantly. He also noted that digital recording had enabled many more people to "do productive work" as audio engineers, while noting that he himself was sticking with analog recording. Music streaming Albini was asked about file sharing in June 2014 and he clarified that, while he does not believe that the technological development is the "best thing" for the music industry, he does not identify with the music industry. He considers "the community, the band, the musician" as his peers, and is pleased that musicians can "get their music out to the world at no cost instantly". As part of the Face the Music speech, Albini noted that both the corporate and independent industry models had been damaged by internet file sharing; however, he praised the spread of free music as being a "fantastic development", which allowed previously ignored music and bands to find an audience (citing the protopunk band Death as one example); the use of the internet as a distribution channel for music to be heard worldwide; and the increasing affordability of recording equipment, all of which allow bands to circumvent the traditional recording industry. Albini also argued that the increased availability of recorded music stimulates demand for live music, boosting bands' income. Albini critiqued Jay Z's subscription-only, lossless audio streaming service Tidal in an April 2015 interview with Vulture.com, arguing that streaming services would eventually be usurped by a more convenient technology, that convenience would trump sound quality in streaming, and that audiophiles would prefer vinyl to streaming. He made the point that the internet has a history "of breaking limitations placed on its content" by making paid-for products freely available. Music journalism In 1983, Albini wrote for Matter, a monthly new US music magazine appeared at the time in Chicago. He wrote in each issue a chronicle called "Tired of Ugly Fat?", and also contributed articles such as "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows For Sure". In 1994, Albini wrote a famous letter to music critic Bill Wyman (not to be confused with rock musician Bill Wyman), which was published in the Chicago Reader, calling Wyman a "music press stooge" for having championed three Chicago-based music acts whom Albini labeled as "frauds": Liz Phair, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Urge Overkill. While in Australia in November 2014, Albini spoke with national radio station Double J and stated that, while the state of the music industry is healthy in his view, the industry of music journalism is in crisis. Albini used the example of the media spotlight that he received after criticizing Amanda Palmer for not paying her musicians after receiving over $1 million on Kickstarter to release her 2012 album Theatre Is Evil, stating: "I don't think I was wrong but I also don't think that it was that big of a deal." He described the music media as "superficial" and composed of "copy paste bullshit." Albini has frequently stated his dislike for pop music, and in a 2015 interview told 2SER Sydney that "pop music is for children and idiots". Media appearances Albini is featured in the first episode of the 2014 documentary miniseries Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, "Chicago", in which Albini is shown talking about being a producer, as well as recording the Foo Fighters song "Something from Nothing". He has appeared in a number of documentary films and videos about the making of various albums that he has produced, including Josephine by Magnolia Electric Co. (2009), This Is Nowhere by Malojian (2016), Carrier Wave by Porcupine (2019) and In Bed with Medusa by Medusa (2020). Rock vs. Cancer, a 2018 short documentary about the making of the 2012 album The Strain by Teeth, additionally features Albini as the narrator. Albini was a guest on the audio podcast WTF with Marc Maron in 2015. The 2019 short documentary Albini Cashes In, part of the Stories from the Felt series for the streaming service PokerGO, is about Albini's 2018 World Series of Poker win. Other activities Albini began a cooking and food blog, titled "Mariobatalivoice: What I made Heather for dinner", in March 2011. Albini is an avid poker player and ranked in 12th place at the 2013 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Seniors Championship. Albini won his first WSOP Gold Bracelet at the $1500 Seven-Card Stud at 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP); he beat out Jeff Lisandro to win $105,629. Albini also regularly engages in public-speaking appointments for the audio industry. Personal life Albini is married to film director Heather Whinna and they work and live in Chicago. His right leg is slightly deformed as a result of a car accident when he was 18. In 2010, he revealed that he is not an avid consumer of media and watches a lot of cat videos on YouTube, while avoiding feature films. Albini called himself an atheist in a 2011 interview. Discography Works or publications "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows for Sure" Article for Matter on Hüsker Dü, published September 1983. "I'll Rap Your head With A Rachet" Letter written by Steve Albini to Nirvana in 1992, outlining his working philosophy "Ask a music scene micro celebrity" Steve Albini answers questions about bands and music on a poker forum, The 2+2 Forums, July 7, 2007. "I am Steve Albini, ask me anything" reddit IAmA, May 8, 2012; accessed June 21, 2015. "Steve Albini talks to LISTEN: "I try to be an ally in feminism"" Interview in LISTEN, May 2, 2016; accessed August 16, 2016. References Further reading Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001; Cameron, Keith. "This Is Pop," MOJO magazine, Issue 90, May 2001. King, Braden. Looking for a Thrill: An Anthology of Inspiration. Chicago, IL: Thrill Jockey, 2005. (DVD) External links Electrical Audio official website 1961 births Living people American audio engineers American atheists American male singer-songwriters American music journalists American poker players Alternative rock guitarists Noise rock musicians Post-hardcore musicians American writers of Italian descent Medill School of Journalism alumni Big Black members Singers from Chicago Musicians from Missoula, Montana Writers from Pasadena, California Pigface members Writers from Evanston, Illinois Musicians from Pasadena, California Musicians from Evanston, Illinois Journalists from Montana Guitarists from California Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Montana Record producers from Montana Record producers from Illinois Record producers from California Rapeman members Shellac (band) members 20th-century American guitarists World Series of Poker bracelet winners American male non-fiction writers American male guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American punk rock singers American punk rock guitarists American punk rock bass guitarists American post-punk musicians American bloggers Singer-songwriters from Illinois Singer-songwriters from California	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", "\"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" ]
[ "Steve Albini", "1992-present: Shellac", "what is shellac?", "Albini formed Shellac", "What did he do after that?", "they initially released three EPs:", "What else did they release?", "Uranus" ]	C_dacb9718e8514ff682c360856099fa67_1	Any other releases?	4	Other than the initial three EPs and Uranus, did Shellac have any other releases?	Steve Albini	Albini formed Shellac in 1992. With bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns), and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake), they initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994)--the first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album in CD format titled raivuinDong Jing --an English-language reference to the name Shellac cannot be found anywhere on the CD product, which was not available outside Japan. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Albini explained in 2010 that Shellac had made a decision early in their existence that they would not play at festivals and this position was articulated to All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) festival organizer Barry Hogan during the preparation stage of the inaugural ATP event. However, Scottish band Mogwai managed to convince Albini at the time that they were ATP curators and the band was very impressed by the experience: "They (ATP) completely changed the festival game. Now the whole world has to operate under the knowledge that there are these cool, curated festivals where everyone is treated well and the experience is a generally pleasant one." CANNOTANSWER	The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger	Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1961) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums over his career. He has worked with acts such as Nirvana, Pixies, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, and former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Albini is also known for his outspoken views on the music industry, having stated repeatedly that it financially exploits artists and homogenizes their sound. Nearly alone among well-known producers and musicians, Albini refuses to take ongoing royalties from album sales, feeling that a producer's job is to record the music to the band's desires, and that paying producers as if they had contributed artistically to an album is unethical. Early life Albini was born in Pasadena, California, to Gina (née Martinelli) and Frank Addison Albini. His father was a wildfire researcher. He has two siblings. In his youth, Albini's family moved often, before settling in the college town of Missoula, Montana in 1974. Albini is Italian American and part of his family comes from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. While recovering from a broken leg, Albini began playing bass guitar and participated in bass lessons in high school for one week. He was exposed to the Ramones by a schoolmate on a field trip when he was 14 or 15. He felt it was the best music he had ever heard and bought every Ramones recording available to him, and credits his music career to hearing their first album. He said: "I was baffled and thrilled by music like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Pere Ubu, Devo and all those contemporaneous, inspirational punk bands without wanting to try to mimic them." During his teenage years, Albini played in bands such as the Montana punk band Just Ducky, the Chicago band Small Irregular Pieces of Aluminum, Stations, and another band that record label Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records explained "he [Albini] is paying us not to mention". After graduating from Hellgate High School, Albini moved to Evanston, Illinois, to attend college at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (NU), where he attained a degree in journalism. Albini said he studied painting in college with Ed Paschke, someone he calls a brilliant educator and "one of the only people in college who actually taught me anything". In the Chicago area, Albini was active as a writer in local zines such as Matter and Forced Exposure, covering the then-nascent punk rock scene, and gained a reputation for the iconoclastic nature of his articles. Around the same time, he began recording musicians and engineered his first album in 1981. He co-managed Ruthless Records (Chicago) with John Kezdy of the Effigies and Jon Babbin (Criminal IQ Records). According to Albini, he maintained a "straight job" for five years until 1987, working in a photography studio as a photograph retouch artist. Performing career 1981–1987: Big Black In 1981, Albini formed Big Black while he was a student at NU, and recorded Lungs, the band's debut EP, on Ruthless Records (Chicago), a label he co-managed with Babbin and Kezdy. Albini played all of the instruments on Lungs except the saxophone, played by his friend John Bohnen. The Bulldozer (1983) EP was released on Ruthless and Fever Records. Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango, of Chicago band Naked Raygun, and live drummer Pat Byrne joined shortly thereafter, and the band—along with a drum machine, the Roland TR-606, credited as "Roland"—released the EP Racer-X in 1984, after touring and signing a new contract with the Homestead Records business. Pezzati commenced recording the "Il Duce" 7-inch single with the band, but returned to his original band before it was completed. Pezzati was replaced on bass by Dave Riley, with whom the group recorded their debut full-length album, Atomizer (1986). The "Il Duce" recording was eventually finished with Riley as bassist; the band also released The Hammer Party album while signed to Homestead, which was a compilation of the Lungs and Bulldozer EPs. Big Black left the Homestead label for Touch and Go Records in late 1985/early 1986, and recorded the Headache EP and the 7-inch single, Heartbeat between June and August 1986—both were released the following year. Also in 1986, a live album titled Sound of Impact was released on the Not/Blast First label. The accompanying booklet provides insight into the band's influences; Albini cited bands such as Ramones, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, Suicide, SPK, Minor Threat, Whitehouse, Link Wray, Pere Ubu, Chrome, Rudimentary Peni, The 4-Skins, Throbbing Gristle, Skrewdriver, the Ex, Minimal Man, U.S. Chaos, Gang Green, Tommi Stumpff, Swans and Bad Brains. In 1987, the band released their second studio album, Songs About Fucking, as well as the He's a Whore / The Model 7-inch single, both on Touch and Go. Big Black disbanded shortly after a period of extensive touring that year in support of Songs About Fucking. Durango enrolled in law school and became a lawyer. 1987–1988: Rapeman Albini formed Rapeman in 1987: the band consisted of Albini (vocals, guitar), Rey Washam (drums), and David Wm. Sims. The band was named after a Japanese comic book. They broke up after the release of two 7-inch singles, "Hated Chinee b/w Marmoset" (1988) and "Inki's Butt Crack b/w Song Number One" (1989), one EP titled Budd (1988) and the Two Nuns and a Pack Mule album, also released in 1988 on Touch and Go. In a 2020 interview, Albini expressed regret for the name of the band, saying that he didn't feel he had been "held to account for being in a band called Rapeman". He added that "it was a flippant choice", calling it unconscionable and indefensible. He likened it to getting a bad tattoo. 1992–present: Shellac Albini formed Shellac in 1992, with bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns) and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake). They initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994). The first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album, Live in Tokyo. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Recording career Since the early 1990s, Albini has been best known as a record producer; however, he dislikes the term and prefers to receive no credit on album sleeves or notes. When credited, he prefers the term "recording engineer". In 2004, Albini estimated that he has engineered the recording of 1,500 albums, mostly by obscure musicians. By 2018, his estimate had increased to several thousand. More prominent artists that Albini has worked with include: Foxy Shazam, Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, The Jesus Lizard, Don Caballero, PJ Harvey, The Wedding Present, Joanna Newsom, Superchunk, Low, Dirty Three, Jawbreaker, Neurosis, Cloud Nothings, Bush, Chevelle, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (as Page and Plant), Helmet, Fred Schneider, The Stooges, Owls, Manic Street Preachers, Jarvis Cocker, The Cribs, the Fleshtones, Nina Nastasia, The Frames, The Membranes, Cheap Trick, Motorpsycho, Slint, mclusky, Labradford, Veruca Salt, Zao, The Auteurs and Spare Snare. Following the release of Schneider's album Just Fred, the Vinyl District's Joseph Neff wrote: "The reality is that when enlisted by the big leagues, Albini took his job just as seriously as when he was assisting on the debut recording from a bunch of aspiring unknowns." Stereogum's Tom Breihan wrote in 2012: "Even though he's [Albini] been an outspoken opponent of the major-label system (and of other underground-rock heroes), he's known to work with just about anyone who requests his service." In February 2018, along with the Scottish lo-fi band Spare Snare, Albini presented a one-day Audio Engineers' Workshop at Chem19 Studios in Blantyre, Scotland. Methodology In Albini's opinion, putting producers in charge of recording sessions often destroys records, while the role of the recording engineer is to solve problems in capturing the sound of the musicians, not to threaten the artists' control over their product. Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such as Michael Azerrad, who is also a musician. In Azerrad's 2001 book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991, Azerrad describes Albini's work on the Pixies album Surfer Rosa: "The recordings were both very basic and very exacting: Albini used few special effects; got an aggressive, often violent guitar sound; and made sure the rhythm section slammed as one." Production influences A key influence on Albini was English producer John Loder, who came to prominence in the late 1970s with a reputation for recording albums quickly and inexpensively, but nonetheless with distinctive qualities and a sensitivity towards a band's sound and aesthetic. Albini has mentioned an admiration for ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Among his peers, Albini has praised his frequent collaborator (and Shellac bandmate) Bob Weston, as well as Brian Paulson and Matt Barnhart, among others. In Utero Perhaps Albini's most well-known production work was for the 1993 album In Utero, the third and final album by the American rock band Nirvana. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sought out Albini because he had produced two of Cobain's favorite albums, Surfer Rosa (1988) by the Pixies and Pod (1990) by The Breeders. All of the band was eager to work with Albini because they wanted the rawer sound for which Albini was already known, after feeling that their previous album, Nevermind, had come out sounding too polished. Albini was not particularly fond of Nirvana's music, later stating that he had considered them to be "R.E.M. with a fuzzbox", but agreed to work with them since he felt that they had been exploited by their label and management. At Albini's recommendation, the members of Nirvana travelled to Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota to record the album. Albini chose the studio in part due to its isolation, hoping to keep representatives of Nirvana's record label, DGC Records, away. The studio was booked for two weeks, but the recording itself was completed in six days, and Cobain referred to it as "the easiest recording we've ever done, hands down". Once the label and management heard the resulting recording, they were displeased with it. The members of Nirvana had mixed feelings as well: Cobain said afterward that the first time he played it at home, "I got no emotion from it", and considered re-recording the songs with more radio-friendly production. However, a month later, having listened to it more and played it for friends, he felt that it was "exactly the kind of record I would buy as a fan". The band did collectively decide that the vocals and bass were too low in the mix. They asked Albini to remix the album, but he refused, as he was happy with the results and feared that the process would lead to "a spiral of recriminations and remixes" among himself, the band and the record company. During the remastering process, engineer Bob Ludwig raised the volume of the vocals and sharpened the bass guitar sound. Additionally, R.E.M. producer Scott Litt was brought in to remix several of the songs. The final album was a critical and commercial success, and remains strongly associated with Albini, despite Albini's contention that the finished album "doesn't sound all that much like the record that was made". Asked about In Utero in 2004, Albini stated that the record label was responsible for the difficulties that marred the trajectory of the album. According to Albini, In Utero made him unpopular with major record labels, and he faced problems finding work in the year following. Electrical Audio Albini bought Electrical Audio, his personal recording studio, in 1995. The impetus for the move to his own studio was the lack of privacy for Albini and his wife. His former studio was in their house, eventually taking over almost all the rooms, with the exception of the bedroom. Before Electrical Audio, Albini had a studio in the basement of another personal residence. Musician Robbie Fulks recalls the hassle of "running up two flights of stairs all the time from the tracking room" to where Albini was. Albini does not receive royalties for anything he records or mixes at his own facility, unlike many other engineer/record producers with his experience and prominence. At Electrical Audio in 2004, Albini earned a daily fee of US$750 for engineering work, and drew a salary of US$24,000 a year. Azerrad referred to Albini's rates in 2001 as among the most affordable for a world-class recording studio. Following the completion of the studio's construction, Albini initially charged only for his time, allowing his friends or musicians he respected—who were willing to engineer their own recording sessions and purchase their own magnetic tape—to use his studio free. In a 2004 lecture, Albini stated that he always deals with bands directly at Electrical Audio, and answers the phone himself in the studio. Musical influences Albini mentioned his liking for "good guitar", saying "good noise is like orgasm". He commented: "Anybody can play notes. There's no trick. What is a trick and a good one is to make a guitar do things that don't sound like a guitar at all. The point here is stretching the boundaries." Albini has praised guitarists including Andy Gill of Gang of Four, Rowland S. Howard of Birthday Party, John McKay of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd, Steve Diggle and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks, Ron Asheton of the Stooges, Paul Fox of the Ruts, Link Wray, Greg Ginn of Black Flag, Lyle Preslar of Minor Threat, John McGeoch of Magazine and the Banshees, and Tom Verlaine of Television. Albini praised Andy Gill's guitar tone on Gang of Four's Entertainment!, stating: "[he] makes six strings produce more beautiful, broken noise than anybody". He praised John McKay for his work on Siouxsie and the Banshees's The Scream, saying "only now people are trying to copy it, and even now nobody understands how that guitar player got all that pointless noise to stick together as songs". Albini cited Ron Asheton because "he made great squealy death noise feedback". He also described John McGeoch's guitar playing as "great choral swells, great scratches and buzzes, [and] great dissonant noise". He admired Tom Verlaine for his ability to "twist almost any conceivable sound out of a guitar". Views Music industry Albini's opinions on the music industry, as well as on trends in indie music, have received considerable exposure. His most famous piece is the essay "The Problem with Music", which was first published in the December 1993 issue of art and criticism journal The Baffler. The essay criticizes the music industry, and specifically the major record labels of the time, for financially exploiting and deceiving their artists. In the essay's longest section, Albini runs a financial breakdown to show how a hypothetical band which sells 250,000 copies of their major-label debut album could end up making only "about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11" from the album, due to all the expenditures the label makes, ostensibly on their behalf. At a 2004 Middle Tennessee State University presentation, Albini reaffirmed his perspective on major labels, explaining that he was opposed to any form of human exploitation. In November 2014, Albini delivered the keynote speech at the Face the Music conference in Melbourne, Australia, where he discussed the evolution of the music scene and industry since he started making music in the late 1970s. He described the pre-internet corporate music industry as "a system that ensured waste by rewarding the most profligate spendthrifts in a system specifically engineered to waste the band's money," which aimed to perpetuate its structures and business arrangements while preventing bands (except for "monumental stars") from earning a living. He contrasted it with the independent scene, which encouraged resourcefulness and established an alternative network of clubs, promoters, fanzines, DJs and labels, and allowed musicians to make a reasonable income due to the system's greater efficiency. Music production Albini is a supporter of analog recording over digital, as can be evidenced by a 1987 quote on the back cover of the CD version of Big Black's Songs About Fucking: "The future belongs to the analog loyalists. Fuck digital." He has maintained his support for analog recording, stating in a 2013 interview that using digital files as audio masters is "irresponsible", because such files will "eventually disappear or become unusable". In the essay "The Problem with Music", Albini also criticized music producers who lack a solid understanding of music engineering, and thus latch on to whatever is trendy at the moment, such as Pultec equalizers or compression (which he wrote "makes everything sound like a beer commercial"). He criticized producers who put vocals in the mix much higher than everything else in order to "sound more like the Beatles". He also wrote that when he hears producers and engineers use "meaningless" words like "punchy" and "warm", he feels the need to "throttle somebody." Asked about these statements in a 2018 interview, Albini stated that, given the reduction in the power of record labels over the previous 25 years, the prevalence of producers who are there only to exert artistic control over the recording had dropped significantly. He also noted that digital recording had enabled many more people to "do productive work" as audio engineers, while noting that he himself was sticking with analog recording. Music streaming Albini was asked about file sharing in June 2014 and he clarified that, while he does not believe that the technological development is the "best thing" for the music industry, he does not identify with the music industry. He considers "the community, the band, the musician" as his peers, and is pleased that musicians can "get their music out to the world at no cost instantly". As part of the Face the Music speech, Albini noted that both the corporate and independent industry models had been damaged by internet file sharing; however, he praised the spread of free music as being a "fantastic development", which allowed previously ignored music and bands to find an audience (citing the protopunk band Death as one example); the use of the internet as a distribution channel for music to be heard worldwide; and the increasing affordability of recording equipment, all of which allow bands to circumvent the traditional recording industry. Albini also argued that the increased availability of recorded music stimulates demand for live music, boosting bands' income. Albini critiqued Jay Z's subscription-only, lossless audio streaming service Tidal in an April 2015 interview with Vulture.com, arguing that streaming services would eventually be usurped by a more convenient technology, that convenience would trump sound quality in streaming, and that audiophiles would prefer vinyl to streaming. He made the point that the internet has a history "of breaking limitations placed on its content" by making paid-for products freely available. Music journalism In 1983, Albini wrote for Matter, a monthly new US music magazine appeared at the time in Chicago. He wrote in each issue a chronicle called "Tired of Ugly Fat?", and also contributed articles such as "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows For Sure". In 1994, Albini wrote a famous letter to music critic Bill Wyman (not to be confused with rock musician Bill Wyman), which was published in the Chicago Reader, calling Wyman a "music press stooge" for having championed three Chicago-based music acts whom Albini labeled as "frauds": Liz Phair, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Urge Overkill. While in Australia in November 2014, Albini spoke with national radio station Double J and stated that, while the state of the music industry is healthy in his view, the industry of music journalism is in crisis. Albini used the example of the media spotlight that he received after criticizing Amanda Palmer for not paying her musicians after receiving over $1 million on Kickstarter to release her 2012 album Theatre Is Evil, stating: "I don't think I was wrong but I also don't think that it was that big of a deal." He described the music media as "superficial" and composed of "copy paste bullshit." Albini has frequently stated his dislike for pop music, and in a 2015 interview told 2SER Sydney that "pop music is for children and idiots". Media appearances Albini is featured in the first episode of the 2014 documentary miniseries Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, "Chicago", in which Albini is shown talking about being a producer, as well as recording the Foo Fighters song "Something from Nothing". He has appeared in a number of documentary films and videos about the making of various albums that he has produced, including Josephine by Magnolia Electric Co. (2009), This Is Nowhere by Malojian (2016), Carrier Wave by Porcupine (2019) and In Bed with Medusa by Medusa (2020). Rock vs. Cancer, a 2018 short documentary about the making of the 2012 album The Strain by Teeth, additionally features Albini as the narrator. Albini was a guest on the audio podcast WTF with Marc Maron in 2015. The 2019 short documentary Albini Cashes In, part of the Stories from the Felt series for the streaming service PokerGO, is about Albini's 2018 World Series of Poker win. Other activities Albini began a cooking and food blog, titled "Mariobatalivoice: What I made Heather for dinner", in March 2011. Albini is an avid poker player and ranked in 12th place at the 2013 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Seniors Championship. Albini won his first WSOP Gold Bracelet at the $1500 Seven-Card Stud at 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP); he beat out Jeff Lisandro to win $105,629. Albini also regularly engages in public-speaking appointments for the audio industry. Personal life Albini is married to film director Heather Whinna and they work and live in Chicago. His right leg is slightly deformed as a result of a car accident when he was 18. In 2010, he revealed that he is not an avid consumer of media and watches a lot of cat videos on YouTube, while avoiding feature films. Albini called himself an atheist in a 2011 interview. Discography Works or publications "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows for Sure" Article for Matter on Hüsker Dü, published September 1983. "I'll Rap Your head With A Rachet" Letter written by Steve Albini to Nirvana in 1992, outlining his working philosophy "Ask a music scene micro celebrity" Steve Albini answers questions about bands and music on a poker forum, The 2+2 Forums, July 7, 2007. "I am Steve Albini, ask me anything" reddit IAmA, May 8, 2012; accessed June 21, 2015. "Steve Albini talks to LISTEN: "I try to be an ally in feminism"" Interview in LISTEN, May 2, 2016; accessed August 16, 2016. References Further reading Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001; Cameron, Keith. "This Is Pop," MOJO magazine, Issue 90, May 2001. King, Braden. Looking for a Thrill: An Anthology of Inspiration. Chicago, IL: Thrill Jockey, 2005. (DVD) External links Electrical Audio official website 1961 births Living people American audio engineers American atheists American male singer-songwriters American music journalists American poker players Alternative rock guitarists Noise rock musicians Post-hardcore musicians American writers of Italian descent Medill School of Journalism alumni Big Black members Singers from Chicago Musicians from Missoula, Montana Writers from Pasadena, California Pigface members Writers from Evanston, Illinois Musicians from Pasadena, California Musicians from Evanston, Illinois Journalists from Montana Guitarists from California Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Montana Record producers from Montana Record producers from Illinois Record producers from California Rapeman members Shellac (band) members 20th-century American guitarists World Series of Poker bracelet winners American male non-fiction writers American male guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American punk rock singers American punk rock guitarists American punk rock bass guitarists American post-punk musicians American bloggers Singer-songwriters from Illinois Singer-songwriters from California	true	[ "The following is a list of Hannah Montana home video releases. The series has been released to DVD in Regions 1, 2, and 4.\n\nRegion 1 (United States and Canada)\n\nVolume releases\n\nDisney's mixed releases\n\nOther releases\n\nSeason releases\n\nAccording to Amazon.com, Seasons 2 and 3 will be released; however, no dates have been announced.\n\nRegion 2 (Europe, Turkey, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Africa)\n\nVolume releases\n\nDisney's mixed releases\n\nOther releases\n\nSeason releases\n\nRegion 4 (Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Caribbean, and South America)\n\nVolume releases\n\nDisney's mixed releases\n\nOther releases\n\nSeason releases\n\nHannah Montana DVDs are available in New Zealand, but they can only be bought online.\n\nReferences\n\nHome video releases\nHannah Montana", "On Our Way Up is one of several unauthorized releases of an early Doobie Brothers demo recorded in 1970. Other unauthorized releases of some or all of the tracks on this recording include Runaround Ways, Introducing The Doobie Brothers, Still Smokin' and Excitement, among other titles. The covers of the releases commonly show pictures of later Doobie Brothers lineups, including members that don't appear on the recording.\n\nTrack listing\n\"By Yourself\" (Pat Simmons) – 2:48\n\"Make It Easy\" (Tom Johnston) – 2:54\n\"Quicksilver Princess\" (Johnston) – 2:18\n\"Blue Jay\" (Johnston) – 4:42\n\"Coke Can Changes\" (Johnston) – 3:24\n\"Runaround Ways\" (Simmons) – 2:45\n\"Pauper's Diary\" (Johnston) – 3:24\n\"I'll Keep on Givin'\" (Johnston) – 3:27\n\"Excitement\" (Johnston) – 4:00\n\"Song to J.C.\" (Simmons) – 2:29\n\"Another Way\" (Johnston) – 2:54\n\"On Our Way Up\" (Johnston, Simmons) – 3:39\n\"Tilted Park Crud Hunchery\" (Johnston, Simmons) – 7:57\n\nA later recording of \"Blue Jay\" (in a modified version) appears on the 1999 box set Long Train Runnin'''. The melody & chord changes for \"I'll Keep On Givin'\" were later reworked on \"Another Park, Another Sunday\" (from What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits''). None of the remaining songs on this collection appear on any official Doobie Brothers release in any form. Some CD releases of the demos erroneously swap the titles of \"Song to J.C.\" and \"Another Way.\" \"Tilted Park Crud Hunchery\" is unique in that it includes a short lead vocal by bassist Dave Shogren.\n\nPersonnel\nTom Johnston - guitar, vocals\nPat Simmons - guitar, vocals\nDave Shogren - bass, vocals\nJohn Hartman - drums\n\nThe Doobie Brothers albums\n2001 albums" ]
[ "Steve Albini", "1992-present: Shellac", "what is shellac?", "Albini formed Shellac", "What did he do after that?", "they initially released three EPs:", "What else did they release?", "Uranus", "Any other releases?", "The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger" ]	C_dacb9718e8514ff682c360856099fa67_1	What followed that one?	5	What followed Shellac's The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger?	Steve Albini	Albini formed Shellac in 1992. With bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns), and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake), they initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994)--the first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album in CD format titled raivuinDong Jing --an English-language reference to the name Shellac cannot be found anywhere on the CD product, which was not available outside Japan. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Albini explained in 2010 that Shellac had made a decision early in their existence that they would not play at festivals and this position was articulated to All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) festival organizer Barry Hogan during the preparation stage of the inaugural ATP event. However, Scottish band Mogwai managed to convince Albini at the time that they were ATP curators and the band was very impressed by the experience: "They (ATP) completely changed the festival game. Now the whole world has to operate under the knowledge that there are these cool, curated festivals where everyone is treated well and the experience is a generally pleasant one." CANNOTANSWER	The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History	Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1961) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums over his career. He has worked with acts such as Nirvana, Pixies, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, and former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Albini is also known for his outspoken views on the music industry, having stated repeatedly that it financially exploits artists and homogenizes their sound. Nearly alone among well-known producers and musicians, Albini refuses to take ongoing royalties from album sales, feeling that a producer's job is to record the music to the band's desires, and that paying producers as if they had contributed artistically to an album is unethical. Early life Albini was born in Pasadena, California, to Gina (née Martinelli) and Frank Addison Albini. His father was a wildfire researcher. He has two siblings. In his youth, Albini's family moved often, before settling in the college town of Missoula, Montana in 1974. Albini is Italian American and part of his family comes from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. While recovering from a broken leg, Albini began playing bass guitar and participated in bass lessons in high school for one week. He was exposed to the Ramones by a schoolmate on a field trip when he was 14 or 15. He felt it was the best music he had ever heard and bought every Ramones recording available to him, and credits his music career to hearing their first album. He said: "I was baffled and thrilled by music like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Pere Ubu, Devo and all those contemporaneous, inspirational punk bands without wanting to try to mimic them." During his teenage years, Albini played in bands such as the Montana punk band Just Ducky, the Chicago band Small Irregular Pieces of Aluminum, Stations, and another band that record label Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records explained "he [Albini] is paying us not to mention". After graduating from Hellgate High School, Albini moved to Evanston, Illinois, to attend college at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (NU), where he attained a degree in journalism. Albini said he studied painting in college with Ed Paschke, someone he calls a brilliant educator and "one of the only people in college who actually taught me anything". In the Chicago area, Albini was active as a writer in local zines such as Matter and Forced Exposure, covering the then-nascent punk rock scene, and gained a reputation for the iconoclastic nature of his articles. Around the same time, he began recording musicians and engineered his first album in 1981. He co-managed Ruthless Records (Chicago) with John Kezdy of the Effigies and Jon Babbin (Criminal IQ Records). According to Albini, he maintained a "straight job" for five years until 1987, working in a photography studio as a photograph retouch artist. Performing career 1981–1987: Big Black In 1981, Albini formed Big Black while he was a student at NU, and recorded Lungs, the band's debut EP, on Ruthless Records (Chicago), a label he co-managed with Babbin and Kezdy. Albini played all of the instruments on Lungs except the saxophone, played by his friend John Bohnen. The Bulldozer (1983) EP was released on Ruthless and Fever Records. Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango, of Chicago band Naked Raygun, and live drummer Pat Byrne joined shortly thereafter, and the band—along with a drum machine, the Roland TR-606, credited as "Roland"—released the EP Racer-X in 1984, after touring and signing a new contract with the Homestead Records business. Pezzati commenced recording the "Il Duce" 7-inch single with the band, but returned to his original band before it was completed. Pezzati was replaced on bass by Dave Riley, with whom the group recorded their debut full-length album, Atomizer (1986). The "Il Duce" recording was eventually finished with Riley as bassist; the band also released The Hammer Party album while signed to Homestead, which was a compilation of the Lungs and Bulldozer EPs. Big Black left the Homestead label for Touch and Go Records in late 1985/early 1986, and recorded the Headache EP and the 7-inch single, Heartbeat between June and August 1986—both were released the following year. Also in 1986, a live album titled Sound of Impact was released on the Not/Blast First label. The accompanying booklet provides insight into the band's influences; Albini cited bands such as Ramones, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, Suicide, SPK, Minor Threat, Whitehouse, Link Wray, Pere Ubu, Chrome, Rudimentary Peni, The 4-Skins, Throbbing Gristle, Skrewdriver, the Ex, Minimal Man, U.S. Chaos, Gang Green, Tommi Stumpff, Swans and Bad Brains. In 1987, the band released their second studio album, Songs About Fucking, as well as the He's a Whore / The Model 7-inch single, both on Touch and Go. Big Black disbanded shortly after a period of extensive touring that year in support of Songs About Fucking. Durango enrolled in law school and became a lawyer. 1987–1988: Rapeman Albini formed Rapeman in 1987: the band consisted of Albini (vocals, guitar), Rey Washam (drums), and David Wm. Sims. The band was named after a Japanese comic book. They broke up after the release of two 7-inch singles, "Hated Chinee b/w Marmoset" (1988) and "Inki's Butt Crack b/w Song Number One" (1989), one EP titled Budd (1988) and the Two Nuns and a Pack Mule album, also released in 1988 on Touch and Go. In a 2020 interview, Albini expressed regret for the name of the band, saying that he didn't feel he had been "held to account for being in a band called Rapeman". He added that "it was a flippant choice", calling it unconscionable and indefensible. He likened it to getting a bad tattoo. 1992–present: Shellac Albini formed Shellac in 1992, with bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns) and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake). They initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994). The first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album, Live in Tokyo. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Recording career Since the early 1990s, Albini has been best known as a record producer; however, he dislikes the term and prefers to receive no credit on album sleeves or notes. When credited, he prefers the term "recording engineer". In 2004, Albini estimated that he has engineered the recording of 1,500 albums, mostly by obscure musicians. By 2018, his estimate had increased to several thousand. More prominent artists that Albini has worked with include: Foxy Shazam, Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, The Jesus Lizard, Don Caballero, PJ Harvey, The Wedding Present, Joanna Newsom, Superchunk, Low, Dirty Three, Jawbreaker, Neurosis, Cloud Nothings, Bush, Chevelle, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (as Page and Plant), Helmet, Fred Schneider, The Stooges, Owls, Manic Street Preachers, Jarvis Cocker, The Cribs, the Fleshtones, Nina Nastasia, The Frames, The Membranes, Cheap Trick, Motorpsycho, Slint, mclusky, Labradford, Veruca Salt, Zao, The Auteurs and Spare Snare. Following the release of Schneider's album Just Fred, the Vinyl District's Joseph Neff wrote: "The reality is that when enlisted by the big leagues, Albini took his job just as seriously as when he was assisting on the debut recording from a bunch of aspiring unknowns." Stereogum's Tom Breihan wrote in 2012: "Even though he's [Albini] been an outspoken opponent of the major-label system (and of other underground-rock heroes), he's known to work with just about anyone who requests his service." In February 2018, along with the Scottish lo-fi band Spare Snare, Albini presented a one-day Audio Engineers' Workshop at Chem19 Studios in Blantyre, Scotland. Methodology In Albini's opinion, putting producers in charge of recording sessions often destroys records, while the role of the recording engineer is to solve problems in capturing the sound of the musicians, not to threaten the artists' control over their product. Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such as Michael Azerrad, who is also a musician. In Azerrad's 2001 book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991, Azerrad describes Albini's work on the Pixies album Surfer Rosa: "The recordings were both very basic and very exacting: Albini used few special effects; got an aggressive, often violent guitar sound; and made sure the rhythm section slammed as one." Production influences A key influence on Albini was English producer John Loder, who came to prominence in the late 1970s with a reputation for recording albums quickly and inexpensively, but nonetheless with distinctive qualities and a sensitivity towards a band's sound and aesthetic. Albini has mentioned an admiration for ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Among his peers, Albini has praised his frequent collaborator (and Shellac bandmate) Bob Weston, as well as Brian Paulson and Matt Barnhart, among others. In Utero Perhaps Albini's most well-known production work was for the 1993 album In Utero, the third and final album by the American rock band Nirvana. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sought out Albini because he had produced two of Cobain's favorite albums, Surfer Rosa (1988) by the Pixies and Pod (1990) by The Breeders. All of the band was eager to work with Albini because they wanted the rawer sound for which Albini was already known, after feeling that their previous album, Nevermind, had come out sounding too polished. Albini was not particularly fond of Nirvana's music, later stating that he had considered them to be "R.E.M. with a fuzzbox", but agreed to work with them since he felt that they had been exploited by their label and management. At Albini's recommendation, the members of Nirvana travelled to Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota to record the album. Albini chose the studio in part due to its isolation, hoping to keep representatives of Nirvana's record label, DGC Records, away. The studio was booked for two weeks, but the recording itself was completed in six days, and Cobain referred to it as "the easiest recording we've ever done, hands down". Once the label and management heard the resulting recording, they were displeased with it. The members of Nirvana had mixed feelings as well: Cobain said afterward that the first time he played it at home, "I got no emotion from it", and considered re-recording the songs with more radio-friendly production. However, a month later, having listened to it more and played it for friends, he felt that it was "exactly the kind of record I would buy as a fan". The band did collectively decide that the vocals and bass were too low in the mix. They asked Albini to remix the album, but he refused, as he was happy with the results and feared that the process would lead to "a spiral of recriminations and remixes" among himself, the band and the record company. During the remastering process, engineer Bob Ludwig raised the volume of the vocals and sharpened the bass guitar sound. Additionally, R.E.M. producer Scott Litt was brought in to remix several of the songs. The final album was a critical and commercial success, and remains strongly associated with Albini, despite Albini's contention that the finished album "doesn't sound all that much like the record that was made". Asked about In Utero in 2004, Albini stated that the record label was responsible for the difficulties that marred the trajectory of the album. According to Albini, In Utero made him unpopular with major record labels, and he faced problems finding work in the year following. Electrical Audio Albini bought Electrical Audio, his personal recording studio, in 1995. The impetus for the move to his own studio was the lack of privacy for Albini and his wife. His former studio was in their house, eventually taking over almost all the rooms, with the exception of the bedroom. Before Electrical Audio, Albini had a studio in the basement of another personal residence. Musician Robbie Fulks recalls the hassle of "running up two flights of stairs all the time from the tracking room" to where Albini was. Albini does not receive royalties for anything he records or mixes at his own facility, unlike many other engineer/record producers with his experience and prominence. At Electrical Audio in 2004, Albini earned a daily fee of US$750 for engineering work, and drew a salary of US$24,000 a year. Azerrad referred to Albini's rates in 2001 as among the most affordable for a world-class recording studio. Following the completion of the studio's construction, Albini initially charged only for his time, allowing his friends or musicians he respected—who were willing to engineer their own recording sessions and purchase their own magnetic tape—to use his studio free. In a 2004 lecture, Albini stated that he always deals with bands directly at Electrical Audio, and answers the phone himself in the studio. Musical influences Albini mentioned his liking for "good guitar", saying "good noise is like orgasm". He commented: "Anybody can play notes. There's no trick. What is a trick and a good one is to make a guitar do things that don't sound like a guitar at all. The point here is stretching the boundaries." Albini has praised guitarists including Andy Gill of Gang of Four, Rowland S. Howard of Birthday Party, John McKay of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd, Steve Diggle and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks, Ron Asheton of the Stooges, Paul Fox of the Ruts, Link Wray, Greg Ginn of Black Flag, Lyle Preslar of Minor Threat, John McGeoch of Magazine and the Banshees, and Tom Verlaine of Television. Albini praised Andy Gill's guitar tone on Gang of Four's Entertainment!, stating: "[he] makes six strings produce more beautiful, broken noise than anybody". He praised John McKay for his work on Siouxsie and the Banshees's The Scream, saying "only now people are trying to copy it, and even now nobody understands how that guitar player got all that pointless noise to stick together as songs". Albini cited Ron Asheton because "he made great squealy death noise feedback". He also described John McGeoch's guitar playing as "great choral swells, great scratches and buzzes, [and] great dissonant noise". He admired Tom Verlaine for his ability to "twist almost any conceivable sound out of a guitar". Views Music industry Albini's opinions on the music industry, as well as on trends in indie music, have received considerable exposure. His most famous piece is the essay "The Problem with Music", which was first published in the December 1993 issue of art and criticism journal The Baffler. The essay criticizes the music industry, and specifically the major record labels of the time, for financially exploiting and deceiving their artists. In the essay's longest section, Albini runs a financial breakdown to show how a hypothetical band which sells 250,000 copies of their major-label debut album could end up making only "about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11" from the album, due to all the expenditures the label makes, ostensibly on their behalf. At a 2004 Middle Tennessee State University presentation, Albini reaffirmed his perspective on major labels, explaining that he was opposed to any form of human exploitation. In November 2014, Albini delivered the keynote speech at the Face the Music conference in Melbourne, Australia, where he discussed the evolution of the music scene and industry since he started making music in the late 1970s. He described the pre-internet corporate music industry as "a system that ensured waste by rewarding the most profligate spendthrifts in a system specifically engineered to waste the band's money," which aimed to perpetuate its structures and business arrangements while preventing bands (except for "monumental stars") from earning a living. He contrasted it with the independent scene, which encouraged resourcefulness and established an alternative network of clubs, promoters, fanzines, DJs and labels, and allowed musicians to make a reasonable income due to the system's greater efficiency. Music production Albini is a supporter of analog recording over digital, as can be evidenced by a 1987 quote on the back cover of the CD version of Big Black's Songs About Fucking: "The future belongs to the analog loyalists. Fuck digital." He has maintained his support for analog recording, stating in a 2013 interview that using digital files as audio masters is "irresponsible", because such files will "eventually disappear or become unusable". In the essay "The Problem with Music", Albini also criticized music producers who lack a solid understanding of music engineering, and thus latch on to whatever is trendy at the moment, such as Pultec equalizers or compression (which he wrote "makes everything sound like a beer commercial"). He criticized producers who put vocals in the mix much higher than everything else in order to "sound more like the Beatles". He also wrote that when he hears producers and engineers use "meaningless" words like "punchy" and "warm", he feels the need to "throttle somebody." Asked about these statements in a 2018 interview, Albini stated that, given the reduction in the power of record labels over the previous 25 years, the prevalence of producers who are there only to exert artistic control over the recording had dropped significantly. He also noted that digital recording had enabled many more people to "do productive work" as audio engineers, while noting that he himself was sticking with analog recording. Music streaming Albini was asked about file sharing in June 2014 and he clarified that, while he does not believe that the technological development is the "best thing" for the music industry, he does not identify with the music industry. He considers "the community, the band, the musician" as his peers, and is pleased that musicians can "get their music out to the world at no cost instantly". As part of the Face the Music speech, Albini noted that both the corporate and independent industry models had been damaged by internet file sharing; however, he praised the spread of free music as being a "fantastic development", which allowed previously ignored music and bands to find an audience (citing the protopunk band Death as one example); the use of the internet as a distribution channel for music to be heard worldwide; and the increasing affordability of recording equipment, all of which allow bands to circumvent the traditional recording industry. Albini also argued that the increased availability of recorded music stimulates demand for live music, boosting bands' income. Albini critiqued Jay Z's subscription-only, lossless audio streaming service Tidal in an April 2015 interview with Vulture.com, arguing that streaming services would eventually be usurped by a more convenient technology, that convenience would trump sound quality in streaming, and that audiophiles would prefer vinyl to streaming. He made the point that the internet has a history "of breaking limitations placed on its content" by making paid-for products freely available. Music journalism In 1983, Albini wrote for Matter, a monthly new US music magazine appeared at the time in Chicago. He wrote in each issue a chronicle called "Tired of Ugly Fat?", and also contributed articles such as "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows For Sure". In 1994, Albini wrote a famous letter to music critic Bill Wyman (not to be confused with rock musician Bill Wyman), which was published in the Chicago Reader, calling Wyman a "music press stooge" for having championed three Chicago-based music acts whom Albini labeled as "frauds": Liz Phair, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Urge Overkill. While in Australia in November 2014, Albini spoke with national radio station Double J and stated that, while the state of the music industry is healthy in his view, the industry of music journalism is in crisis. Albini used the example of the media spotlight that he received after criticizing Amanda Palmer for not paying her musicians after receiving over $1 million on Kickstarter to release her 2012 album Theatre Is Evil, stating: "I don't think I was wrong but I also don't think that it was that big of a deal." He described the music media as "superficial" and composed of "copy paste bullshit." Albini has frequently stated his dislike for pop music, and in a 2015 interview told 2SER Sydney that "pop music is for children and idiots". Media appearances Albini is featured in the first episode of the 2014 documentary miniseries Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, "Chicago", in which Albini is shown talking about being a producer, as well as recording the Foo Fighters song "Something from Nothing". He has appeared in a number of documentary films and videos about the making of various albums that he has produced, including Josephine by Magnolia Electric Co. (2009), This Is Nowhere by Malojian (2016), Carrier Wave by Porcupine (2019) and In Bed with Medusa by Medusa (2020). Rock vs. Cancer, a 2018 short documentary about the making of the 2012 album The Strain by Teeth, additionally features Albini as the narrator. Albini was a guest on the audio podcast WTF with Marc Maron in 2015. The 2019 short documentary Albini Cashes In, part of the Stories from the Felt series for the streaming service PokerGO, is about Albini's 2018 World Series of Poker win. Other activities Albini began a cooking and food blog, titled "Mariobatalivoice: What I made Heather for dinner", in March 2011. Albini is an avid poker player and ranked in 12th place at the 2013 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Seniors Championship. Albini won his first WSOP Gold Bracelet at the $1500 Seven-Card Stud at 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP); he beat out Jeff Lisandro to win $105,629. Albini also regularly engages in public-speaking appointments for the audio industry. Personal life Albini is married to film director Heather Whinna and they work and live in Chicago. His right leg is slightly deformed as a result of a car accident when he was 18. In 2010, he revealed that he is not an avid consumer of media and watches a lot of cat videos on YouTube, while avoiding feature films. Albini called himself an atheist in a 2011 interview. Discography Works or publications "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows for Sure" Article for Matter on Hüsker Dü, published September 1983. "I'll Rap Your head With A Rachet" Letter written by Steve Albini to Nirvana in 1992, outlining his working philosophy "Ask a music scene micro celebrity" Steve Albini answers questions about bands and music on a poker forum, The 2+2 Forums, July 7, 2007. "I am Steve Albini, ask me anything" reddit IAmA, May 8, 2012; accessed June 21, 2015. "Steve Albini talks to LISTEN: "I try to be an ally in feminism"" Interview in LISTEN, May 2, 2016; accessed August 16, 2016. References Further reading Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001; Cameron, Keith. "This Is Pop," MOJO magazine, Issue 90, May 2001. King, Braden. Looking for a Thrill: An Anthology of Inspiration. Chicago, IL: Thrill Jockey, 2005. (DVD) External links Electrical Audio official website 1961 births Living people American audio engineers American atheists American male singer-songwriters American music journalists American poker players Alternative rock guitarists Noise rock musicians Post-hardcore musicians American writers of Italian descent Medill School of Journalism alumni Big Black members Singers from Chicago Musicians from Missoula, Montana Writers from Pasadena, California Pigface members Writers from Evanston, Illinois Musicians from Pasadena, California Musicians from Evanston, Illinois Journalists from Montana Guitarists from California Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Montana Record producers from Montana Record producers from Illinois Record producers from California Rapeman members Shellac (band) members 20th-century American guitarists World Series of Poker bracelet winners American male non-fiction writers American male guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American punk rock singers American punk rock guitarists American punk rock bass guitarists American post-punk musicians American bloggers Singer-songwriters from Illinois Singer-songwriters from California	true	[ "TV Time is a social television and tracking website that allows users to report what television series and movies they have seen.\n\nMost followed television series \n\nAs of 1 January, 2022, the most followed television shows on TV Time are:\n\nMost followed films \n\nAs of June 18 2021, the most followed films on TV Time were:\n\nReferences \n\nLists of Internet-related superlatives\n21st century-related lists", "Consequences is an old parlour game in a similar vein to the Surrealist game exquisite corpse and Mad Libs.\n\nEach player is given a sheet of paper, and all are told to write down a word or phrase to fit a description (\"an animal\"), optionally with some extra words to make the story. Each player then folds the paper over to hide the most recent line, and hands it to the next person. At the end of the game, the stories are read out.\n\nExample game\nThe exact sequence varies, but an example sequence given in Everyman's Word Games is:\n An adjective\n A man's name\n The word met followed by an adjective\n A woman's name\n The word at followed by where they met\n The word to followed by what they went there for\n The words he wore followed by what he wore\n The words she wore followed by she wore\n What he did\n What she did\n The words and the consequence was followed by details of what happened as a result\n The words and the world said followed by what it said\n\nThe same reference book gives the following example of a completed story:\n\nVariations\nConsequences can also be played in a drawing version, sometimes known as picture consequences, where the first player draws the head, passes it unseen (by means of folding) to the second player who draws the body, then on to the third player who draws the legs. The composite person or creature is then revealed to all by unfolding the paper.\n\nAlthough Consequences originally is an analogue game there are digital versions available, some of which are slightly modified and adjusted to a digital roam. Examples: FoldingStory™, Unfolding Stories, etc.\n\nReferences\n\nComedy games\nPaper-and-pencil games\nParty games\nRandom text generation" ]
[ "Steve Albini", "1992-present: Shellac", "what is shellac?", "Albini formed Shellac", "What did he do after that?", "they initially released three EPs:", "What else did they release?", "Uranus", "Any other releases?", "The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger", "What followed that one?", "The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History" ]	C_dacb9718e8514ff682c360856099fa67_1	Anything after Rude Gesture?	6	Did Shellac release anything after Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History?	Steve Albini	Albini formed Shellac in 1992. With bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns), and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake), they initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994)--the first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album in CD format titled raivuinDong Jing --an English-language reference to the name Shellac cannot be found anywhere on the CD product, which was not available outside Japan. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Albini explained in 2010 that Shellac had made a decision early in their existence that they would not play at festivals and this position was articulated to All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) festival organizer Barry Hogan during the preparation stage of the inaugural ATP event. However, Scottish band Mogwai managed to convince Albini at the time that they were ATP curators and the band was very impressed by the experience: "They (ATP) completely changed the festival game. Now the whole world has to operate under the knowledge that there are these cool, curated festivals where everyone is treated well and the experience is a generally pleasant one." CANNOTANSWER	a Japan-exclusive live album in CD	Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1961) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums over his career. He has worked with acts such as Nirvana, Pixies, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, and former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Albini is also known for his outspoken views on the music industry, having stated repeatedly that it financially exploits artists and homogenizes their sound. Nearly alone among well-known producers and musicians, Albini refuses to take ongoing royalties from album sales, feeling that a producer's job is to record the music to the band's desires, and that paying producers as if they had contributed artistically to an album is unethical. Early life Albini was born in Pasadena, California, to Gina (née Martinelli) and Frank Addison Albini. His father was a wildfire researcher. He has two siblings. In his youth, Albini's family moved often, before settling in the college town of Missoula, Montana in 1974. Albini is Italian American and part of his family comes from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. While recovering from a broken leg, Albini began playing bass guitar and participated in bass lessons in high school for one week. He was exposed to the Ramones by a schoolmate on a field trip when he was 14 or 15. He felt it was the best music he had ever heard and bought every Ramones recording available to him, and credits his music career to hearing their first album. He said: "I was baffled and thrilled by music like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Pere Ubu, Devo and all those contemporaneous, inspirational punk bands without wanting to try to mimic them." During his teenage years, Albini played in bands such as the Montana punk band Just Ducky, the Chicago band Small Irregular Pieces of Aluminum, Stations, and another band that record label Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records explained "he [Albini] is paying us not to mention". After graduating from Hellgate High School, Albini moved to Evanston, Illinois, to attend college at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (NU), where he attained a degree in journalism. Albini said he studied painting in college with Ed Paschke, someone he calls a brilliant educator and "one of the only people in college who actually taught me anything". In the Chicago area, Albini was active as a writer in local zines such as Matter and Forced Exposure, covering the then-nascent punk rock scene, and gained a reputation for the iconoclastic nature of his articles. Around the same time, he began recording musicians and engineered his first album in 1981. He co-managed Ruthless Records (Chicago) with John Kezdy of the Effigies and Jon Babbin (Criminal IQ Records). According to Albini, he maintained a "straight job" for five years until 1987, working in a photography studio as a photograph retouch artist. Performing career 1981–1987: Big Black In 1981, Albini formed Big Black while he was a student at NU, and recorded Lungs, the band's debut EP, on Ruthless Records (Chicago), a label he co-managed with Babbin and Kezdy. Albini played all of the instruments on Lungs except the saxophone, played by his friend John Bohnen. The Bulldozer (1983) EP was released on Ruthless and Fever Records. Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango, of Chicago band Naked Raygun, and live drummer Pat Byrne joined shortly thereafter, and the band—along with a drum machine, the Roland TR-606, credited as "Roland"—released the EP Racer-X in 1984, after touring and signing a new contract with the Homestead Records business. Pezzati commenced recording the "Il Duce" 7-inch single with the band, but returned to his original band before it was completed. Pezzati was replaced on bass by Dave Riley, with whom the group recorded their debut full-length album, Atomizer (1986). The "Il Duce" recording was eventually finished with Riley as bassist; the band also released The Hammer Party album while signed to Homestead, which was a compilation of the Lungs and Bulldozer EPs. Big Black left the Homestead label for Touch and Go Records in late 1985/early 1986, and recorded the Headache EP and the 7-inch single, Heartbeat between June and August 1986—both were released the following year. Also in 1986, a live album titled Sound of Impact was released on the Not/Blast First label. The accompanying booklet provides insight into the band's influences; Albini cited bands such as Ramones, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, Suicide, SPK, Minor Threat, Whitehouse, Link Wray, Pere Ubu, Chrome, Rudimentary Peni, The 4-Skins, Throbbing Gristle, Skrewdriver, the Ex, Minimal Man, U.S. Chaos, Gang Green, Tommi Stumpff, Swans and Bad Brains. In 1987, the band released their second studio album, Songs About Fucking, as well as the He's a Whore / The Model 7-inch single, both on Touch and Go. Big Black disbanded shortly after a period of extensive touring that year in support of Songs About Fucking. Durango enrolled in law school and became a lawyer. 1987–1988: Rapeman Albini formed Rapeman in 1987: the band consisted of Albini (vocals, guitar), Rey Washam (drums), and David Wm. Sims. The band was named after a Japanese comic book. They broke up after the release of two 7-inch singles, "Hated Chinee b/w Marmoset" (1988) and "Inki's Butt Crack b/w Song Number One" (1989), one EP titled Budd (1988) and the Two Nuns and a Pack Mule album, also released in 1988 on Touch and Go. In a 2020 interview, Albini expressed regret for the name of the band, saying that he didn't feel he had been "held to account for being in a band called Rapeman". He added that "it was a flippant choice", calling it unconscionable and indefensible. He likened it to getting a bad tattoo. 1992–present: Shellac Albini formed Shellac in 1992, with bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns) and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake). They initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994). The first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album, Live in Tokyo. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Recording career Since the early 1990s, Albini has been best known as a record producer; however, he dislikes the term and prefers to receive no credit on album sleeves or notes. When credited, he prefers the term "recording engineer". In 2004, Albini estimated that he has engineered the recording of 1,500 albums, mostly by obscure musicians. By 2018, his estimate had increased to several thousand. More prominent artists that Albini has worked with include: Foxy Shazam, Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, The Jesus Lizard, Don Caballero, PJ Harvey, The Wedding Present, Joanna Newsom, Superchunk, Low, Dirty Three, Jawbreaker, Neurosis, Cloud Nothings, Bush, Chevelle, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (as Page and Plant), Helmet, Fred Schneider, The Stooges, Owls, Manic Street Preachers, Jarvis Cocker, The Cribs, the Fleshtones, Nina Nastasia, The Frames, The Membranes, Cheap Trick, Motorpsycho, Slint, mclusky, Labradford, Veruca Salt, Zao, The Auteurs and Spare Snare. Following the release of Schneider's album Just Fred, the Vinyl District's Joseph Neff wrote: "The reality is that when enlisted by the big leagues, Albini took his job just as seriously as when he was assisting on the debut recording from a bunch of aspiring unknowns." Stereogum's Tom Breihan wrote in 2012: "Even though he's [Albini] been an outspoken opponent of the major-label system (and of other underground-rock heroes), he's known to work with just about anyone who requests his service." In February 2018, along with the Scottish lo-fi band Spare Snare, Albini presented a one-day Audio Engineers' Workshop at Chem19 Studios in Blantyre, Scotland. Methodology In Albini's opinion, putting producers in charge of recording sessions often destroys records, while the role of the recording engineer is to solve problems in capturing the sound of the musicians, not to threaten the artists' control over their product. Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such as Michael Azerrad, who is also a musician. In Azerrad's 2001 book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991, Azerrad describes Albini's work on the Pixies album Surfer Rosa: "The recordings were both very basic and very exacting: Albini used few special effects; got an aggressive, often violent guitar sound; and made sure the rhythm section slammed as one." Production influences A key influence on Albini was English producer John Loder, who came to prominence in the late 1970s with a reputation for recording albums quickly and inexpensively, but nonetheless with distinctive qualities and a sensitivity towards a band's sound and aesthetic. Albini has mentioned an admiration for ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Among his peers, Albini has praised his frequent collaborator (and Shellac bandmate) Bob Weston, as well as Brian Paulson and Matt Barnhart, among others. In Utero Perhaps Albini's most well-known production work was for the 1993 album In Utero, the third and final album by the American rock band Nirvana. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sought out Albini because he had produced two of Cobain's favorite albums, Surfer Rosa (1988) by the Pixies and Pod (1990) by The Breeders. All of the band was eager to work with Albini because they wanted the rawer sound for which Albini was already known, after feeling that their previous album, Nevermind, had come out sounding too polished. Albini was not particularly fond of Nirvana's music, later stating that he had considered them to be "R.E.M. with a fuzzbox", but agreed to work with them since he felt that they had been exploited by their label and management. At Albini's recommendation, the members of Nirvana travelled to Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota to record the album. Albini chose the studio in part due to its isolation, hoping to keep representatives of Nirvana's record label, DGC Records, away. The studio was booked for two weeks, but the recording itself was completed in six days, and Cobain referred to it as "the easiest recording we've ever done, hands down". Once the label and management heard the resulting recording, they were displeased with it. The members of Nirvana had mixed feelings as well: Cobain said afterward that the first time he played it at home, "I got no emotion from it", and considered re-recording the songs with more radio-friendly production. However, a month later, having listened to it more and played it for friends, he felt that it was "exactly the kind of record I would buy as a fan". The band did collectively decide that the vocals and bass were too low in the mix. They asked Albini to remix the album, but he refused, as he was happy with the results and feared that the process would lead to "a spiral of recriminations and remixes" among himself, the band and the record company. During the remastering process, engineer Bob Ludwig raised the volume of the vocals and sharpened the bass guitar sound. Additionally, R.E.M. producer Scott Litt was brought in to remix several of the songs. The final album was a critical and commercial success, and remains strongly associated with Albini, despite Albini's contention that the finished album "doesn't sound all that much like the record that was made". Asked about In Utero in 2004, Albini stated that the record label was responsible for the difficulties that marred the trajectory of the album. According to Albini, In Utero made him unpopular with major record labels, and he faced problems finding work in the year following. Electrical Audio Albini bought Electrical Audio, his personal recording studio, in 1995. The impetus for the move to his own studio was the lack of privacy for Albini and his wife. His former studio was in their house, eventually taking over almost all the rooms, with the exception of the bedroom. Before Electrical Audio, Albini had a studio in the basement of another personal residence. Musician Robbie Fulks recalls the hassle of "running up two flights of stairs all the time from the tracking room" to where Albini was. Albini does not receive royalties for anything he records or mixes at his own facility, unlike many other engineer/record producers with his experience and prominence. At Electrical Audio in 2004, Albini earned a daily fee of US$750 for engineering work, and drew a salary of US$24,000 a year. Azerrad referred to Albini's rates in 2001 as among the most affordable for a world-class recording studio. Following the completion of the studio's construction, Albini initially charged only for his time, allowing his friends or musicians he respected—who were willing to engineer their own recording sessions and purchase their own magnetic tape—to use his studio free. In a 2004 lecture, Albini stated that he always deals with bands directly at Electrical Audio, and answers the phone himself in the studio. Musical influences Albini mentioned his liking for "good guitar", saying "good noise is like orgasm". He commented: "Anybody can play notes. There's no trick. What is a trick and a good one is to make a guitar do things that don't sound like a guitar at all. The point here is stretching the boundaries." Albini has praised guitarists including Andy Gill of Gang of Four, Rowland S. Howard of Birthday Party, John McKay of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd, Steve Diggle and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks, Ron Asheton of the Stooges, Paul Fox of the Ruts, Link Wray, Greg Ginn of Black Flag, Lyle Preslar of Minor Threat, John McGeoch of Magazine and the Banshees, and Tom Verlaine of Television. Albini praised Andy Gill's guitar tone on Gang of Four's Entertainment!, stating: "[he] makes six strings produce more beautiful, broken noise than anybody". He praised John McKay for his work on Siouxsie and the Banshees's The Scream, saying "only now people are trying to copy it, and even now nobody understands how that guitar player got all that pointless noise to stick together as songs". Albini cited Ron Asheton because "he made great squealy death noise feedback". He also described John McGeoch's guitar playing as "great choral swells, great scratches and buzzes, [and] great dissonant noise". He admired Tom Verlaine for his ability to "twist almost any conceivable sound out of a guitar". Views Music industry Albini's opinions on the music industry, as well as on trends in indie music, have received considerable exposure. His most famous piece is the essay "The Problem with Music", which was first published in the December 1993 issue of art and criticism journal The Baffler. The essay criticizes the music industry, and specifically the major record labels of the time, for financially exploiting and deceiving their artists. In the essay's longest section, Albini runs a financial breakdown to show how a hypothetical band which sells 250,000 copies of their major-label debut album could end up making only "about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11" from the album, due to all the expenditures the label makes, ostensibly on their behalf. At a 2004 Middle Tennessee State University presentation, Albini reaffirmed his perspective on major labels, explaining that he was opposed to any form of human exploitation. In November 2014, Albini delivered the keynote speech at the Face the Music conference in Melbourne, Australia, where he discussed the evolution of the music scene and industry since he started making music in the late 1970s. He described the pre-internet corporate music industry as "a system that ensured waste by rewarding the most profligate spendthrifts in a system specifically engineered to waste the band's money," which aimed to perpetuate its structures and business arrangements while preventing bands (except for "monumental stars") from earning a living. He contrasted it with the independent scene, which encouraged resourcefulness and established an alternative network of clubs, promoters, fanzines, DJs and labels, and allowed musicians to make a reasonable income due to the system's greater efficiency. Music production Albini is a supporter of analog recording over digital, as can be evidenced by a 1987 quote on the back cover of the CD version of Big Black's Songs About Fucking: "The future belongs to the analog loyalists. Fuck digital." He has maintained his support for analog recording, stating in a 2013 interview that using digital files as audio masters is "irresponsible", because such files will "eventually disappear or become unusable". In the essay "The Problem with Music", Albini also criticized music producers who lack a solid understanding of music engineering, and thus latch on to whatever is trendy at the moment, such as Pultec equalizers or compression (which he wrote "makes everything sound like a beer commercial"). He criticized producers who put vocals in the mix much higher than everything else in order to "sound more like the Beatles". He also wrote that when he hears producers and engineers use "meaningless" words like "punchy" and "warm", he feels the need to "throttle somebody." Asked about these statements in a 2018 interview, Albini stated that, given the reduction in the power of record labels over the previous 25 years, the prevalence of producers who are there only to exert artistic control over the recording had dropped significantly. He also noted that digital recording had enabled many more people to "do productive work" as audio engineers, while noting that he himself was sticking with analog recording. Music streaming Albini was asked about file sharing in June 2014 and he clarified that, while he does not believe that the technological development is the "best thing" for the music industry, he does not identify with the music industry. He considers "the community, the band, the musician" as his peers, and is pleased that musicians can "get their music out to the world at no cost instantly". As part of the Face the Music speech, Albini noted that both the corporate and independent industry models had been damaged by internet file sharing; however, he praised the spread of free music as being a "fantastic development", which allowed previously ignored music and bands to find an audience (citing the protopunk band Death as one example); the use of the internet as a distribution channel for music to be heard worldwide; and the increasing affordability of recording equipment, all of which allow bands to circumvent the traditional recording industry. Albini also argued that the increased availability of recorded music stimulates demand for live music, boosting bands' income. Albini critiqued Jay Z's subscription-only, lossless audio streaming service Tidal in an April 2015 interview with Vulture.com, arguing that streaming services would eventually be usurped by a more convenient technology, that convenience would trump sound quality in streaming, and that audiophiles would prefer vinyl to streaming. He made the point that the internet has a history "of breaking limitations placed on its content" by making paid-for products freely available. Music journalism In 1983, Albini wrote for Matter, a monthly new US music magazine appeared at the time in Chicago. He wrote in each issue a chronicle called "Tired of Ugly Fat?", and also contributed articles such as "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows For Sure". In 1994, Albini wrote a famous letter to music critic Bill Wyman (not to be confused with rock musician Bill Wyman), which was published in the Chicago Reader, calling Wyman a "music press stooge" for having championed three Chicago-based music acts whom Albini labeled as "frauds": Liz Phair, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Urge Overkill. While in Australia in November 2014, Albini spoke with national radio station Double J and stated that, while the state of the music industry is healthy in his view, the industry of music journalism is in crisis. Albini used the example of the media spotlight that he received after criticizing Amanda Palmer for not paying her musicians after receiving over $1 million on Kickstarter to release her 2012 album Theatre Is Evil, stating: "I don't think I was wrong but I also don't think that it was that big of a deal." He described the music media as "superficial" and composed of "copy paste bullshit." Albini has frequently stated his dislike for pop music, and in a 2015 interview told 2SER Sydney that "pop music is for children and idiots". Media appearances Albini is featured in the first episode of the 2014 documentary miniseries Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, "Chicago", in which Albini is shown talking about being a producer, as well as recording the Foo Fighters song "Something from Nothing". He has appeared in a number of documentary films and videos about the making of various albums that he has produced, including Josephine by Magnolia Electric Co. (2009), This Is Nowhere by Malojian (2016), Carrier Wave by Porcupine (2019) and In Bed with Medusa by Medusa (2020). Rock vs. Cancer, a 2018 short documentary about the making of the 2012 album The Strain by Teeth, additionally features Albini as the narrator. Albini was a guest on the audio podcast WTF with Marc Maron in 2015. The 2019 short documentary Albini Cashes In, part of the Stories from the Felt series for the streaming service PokerGO, is about Albini's 2018 World Series of Poker win. Other activities Albini began a cooking and food blog, titled "Mariobatalivoice: What I made Heather for dinner", in March 2011. Albini is an avid poker player and ranked in 12th place at the 2013 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Seniors Championship. Albini won his first WSOP Gold Bracelet at the $1500 Seven-Card Stud at 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP); he beat out Jeff Lisandro to win $105,629. Albini also regularly engages in public-speaking appointments for the audio industry. Personal life Albini is married to film director Heather Whinna and they work and live in Chicago. His right leg is slightly deformed as a result of a car accident when he was 18. In 2010, he revealed that he is not an avid consumer of media and watches a lot of cat videos on YouTube, while avoiding feature films. Albini called himself an atheist in a 2011 interview. Discography Works or publications "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows for Sure" Article for Matter on Hüsker Dü, published September 1983. "I'll Rap Your head With A Rachet" Letter written by Steve Albini to Nirvana in 1992, outlining his working philosophy "Ask a music scene micro celebrity" Steve Albini answers questions about bands and music on a poker forum, The 2+2 Forums, July 7, 2007. "I am Steve Albini, ask me anything" reddit IAmA, May 8, 2012; accessed June 21, 2015. "Steve Albini talks to LISTEN: "I try to be an ally in feminism"" Interview in LISTEN, May 2, 2016; accessed August 16, 2016. References Further reading Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001; Cameron, Keith. "This Is Pop," MOJO magazine, Issue 90, May 2001. King, Braden. Looking for a Thrill: An Anthology of Inspiration. Chicago, IL: Thrill Jockey, 2005. (DVD) External links Electrical Audio official website 1961 births Living people American audio engineers American atheists American male singer-songwriters American music journalists American poker players Alternative rock guitarists Noise rock musicians Post-hardcore musicians American writers of Italian descent Medill School of Journalism alumni Big Black members Singers from Chicago Musicians from Missoula, Montana Writers from Pasadena, California Pigface members Writers from Evanston, Illinois Musicians from Pasadena, California Musicians from Evanston, Illinois Journalists from Montana Guitarists from California Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Montana Record producers from Montana Record producers from Illinois Record producers from California Rapeman members Shellac (band) members 20th-century American guitarists World Series of Poker bracelet winners American male non-fiction writers American male guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American punk rock singers American punk rock guitarists American punk rock bass guitarists American post-punk musicians American bloggers Singer-songwriters from Illinois Singer-songwriters from California	false	[ "The fig sign is a mildly obscene gesture used at least since the Roman Age in Italy, Southern Europe, parts of the Mediterranean region, including in Turkish culture, and has also been adopted by Slavic cultures and South Africa. The gesture uses a thumb wedged in between two fingers. This gesture is most commonly used to ward off the evil eye, insult someone, or deny a request. It is used in countries such as the UK, Australia, Argentina, France, The Netherlands and Czech Republic to pretend taking the nose off a child. \n\nBecause of its origins in Southern Europe or Latin Europe, the gesture was imported to Latin America.\n\nIn ancient Rome, the fig sign, or , was made by the to ward off the evil spirits of the dead as a part of the Lemuria ritual.\n\nThe hand gesture may have originated in ancient Indian culture to depict the lingam and yoni.\n\nAmong early Christians, it was known as the , or 'obscene hand'.\n\nThe letter \"T\" in the American manual alphabet is very similar to this gesture.\n\nThe word sycophant comes from the Ancient Greek word συκοφάντης (sykophántēs), meaning \"one who shows or reveals figs\"; though there is no unequivocal explanation as to the reason why sycophants in Ancient Greece were so called, one explanation is that the sycophant, by making false accusations, insulted the defendant in a manner analogous to making the fig sign.\n\nInternational nomenclature\n\n In Italy this sign, known as fica in mano ('fig-hand'), or ('cunt gesture'), for the resemblance to female genitalia, was a common and very rude gesture in past centuries, similar to the finger, but has long since fallen out of use. Notably, a remnant of its usage is found in Dante's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto XXV), and it is commonly represented in medieval paintings of the Man of Sorrow.. The same gesture is now used, as a joke, with kids, but represents the stealing of the nose and has no offensive or intimate meaning.\n In Greece and particularly in the Ionian Islands this gesture is still used as an alternative to the moutza. It is known as a \"fist-phallus\", and can be accompanied by extending the right hand while clasping the left hand under one's armpit in a derogatory manner.\n In Japan this sign is called () and means sex. This hand gesture is still used up until today.\nIn Russia, Poland ktoś pokazał figę - WSJP it is used when denying a request. For example, when asked to hand something over, a child might make the gesture, thereby implying that they will not give it.\n In Belarus, it is not considered an obscene gesture; it is rather used to express disagreement or denial in a rude form, but it doesn't have insulting or abusing someone as its main goal. Parents won't care much about their children using this gesture, unlike for the middle finger which is considered obscene. \n In Lithuania it's called and usually when using it some would say . As well as in Russia and Poland it means denying a request and refusing to do it. It's not as commonly used now, but more by the parents generation born around 1950s–60s as well as their parents' generation too.\n In Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia it is used when denying a request or when swearing a false oath. In the request denial case it is called a fig () but also a \"rose hip\" ( / ). (here is a fig/rose hip for you!) is a slightly rude but also a humorous way of rejecting someone's request. In addition — it is also used when swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth. In this case, it is said that a person is taking a false oath by hiding a fig sign in a pocket ().\n In Turkey, it is an obscene gesture equivalent to showing the middle finger, and is also used to show disagreement at a statement or to deny a request. In the latter sense, it is often accompanied by the (rude) conveying negation or disagreement (see wiktionary:nah), or by the imperative meaning 'take it!', or the combination of the two: meaning 'you will get nothing!' Thus, the gesture is often referred to as , meaning to 'draw (show) a nah'. It is used in a similar context in Bulgaria and Ukraine.\nIn Korea, it has a likewise meaning as in Turkey as to mean \"Here have it!\", often accompanied by a gesture in which one looks through his/her pockets as of searching something later to reveal the fig sign. It's an old sign and fallen into mostly disuse. \n In many countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, France, Spain, Denmark, Czech Republic, Argentina and Uruguay, this sign has no obscene meaning and is instead used in a game where a player \"steals\" someone else's nose. This is usually done with small children where the player pretends to take their nose and then say \"I've got your nose\". The thumb represents the \"stolen\" nose held between the player's index and middle finger. This innocent meaning may exist alongside the obscene one, for example in Germany.\n In Indonesia and the Netherlands, it is known as a gesture symbol for sexual intercourse. Where the thumb represent the male genitalia, the middle and index finger act as the female genitalia, this is to replicate the penetration of the male genitalia into the female genitalia. This hand gesture is still popular up until today especially among men.\n In South Africa, it was once known as \"the zap sign\" and was the equivalent of giving the finger. The sign is nowadays known as the toffee sign, particularly in Afrikaans culture. \n In Portugal, Galicia and in Brazil it is a gesture of good luck, or even wishing good luck. It is also believed to ward off evil eye and protect oneself from evil. \n In Madagascar, the gesture is an insult referring to one's mother's genitalia.\n In Romania and Moldova the gesture is an insult often referring to \"Hai sictir\" which means shut up or fuck off.\nIn Mongolia, the gesure is called salaavch (Mongolian: Салаавч) and means branch. This is referencing the way how the thumb branches out from between the index and middle finger. It is used to insult someone.\n\nSee also\n\nI've got your nose\n\nReferences\n\nHand gestures", "Robert Harriell is an American writer, actor and entrepreneur. He is best known for his starring roles in the independent films Freezer Burn and The Final Equation, and for appearing alongside his wife, Marcy Harriell, in the fashion entertainment series Re:Fashion on NBCUniversal's Bluprint. He is also the co-founder of the Slammin' Sauce food brand, rude RED.\n\nCareer\nHarriell made his professional acting debut in 1993 in The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis production of Six Degrees of Separation. Shortly thereafter, he joined his soon-to-be wife, Marcy Harriell in New York, where he went on to perform in numerous Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions, along with multiple film & TV roles. He also helped found and was Co-Artistic Director of Blue Sphere East theatre company with actors Christian Campbell and Kim Tobin.\n\nRude Red\nIn the late 1990s, Harriell started making his own BBQ sauce, because \"I couldn't find anything off the shelf that I liked.\" In 2016, his best friend from childhood, Chris Dill, tried Rude Red for the first time and was shocked at how different the sauce was from anything he had ever tasted. Dill (a professional chef) convinced Harriell that the sauce was marketable. In 2017, Harriell and Dill incorporated Rude Red LLC and began selling to the public. Recently a second hotter version, Really Rude Red, was launched, and both can be found in Hannaford supermarket chains across New England, and exclusively in New York at Westerly Natural Market.\n\nPersonal life\nHarriell has been married to actress/singer/writer/show host Marcy Harriell since 1995.\n\nFilmography\nSources: IMDb\nLord Of The City (1997) - Bobby\nFloating (1997) - Steve\nCelebrity (1998) - Elaine's Book Party Guest\nA Fish in the Bathtub (1998) - Barfly\nLaw & Order (2001) - Mark Lawford (1 episode)\nStuart Little 2 (2002) - Blader\nFrank Bidart, The Maker (2004) - Reader (1 episode)\nPrice (2005) Stuart\nTraveler (2005) - The Specialist\nThe Orange Bow (2005) - Officer\nCall Me In The Morning (2006) \nFreezer Burn (2007) - Virgil Stamp (Park City Film Music Festival)\nNight Falls Fast (2007) - Vale Trueman (writer) (Nashville Film Festival)\nThe Final Equation (2009) - Jack (Philip K Dick Film Festival)\nFirst Kiss (2012) - Lover\nRe:Fashion (2018–19) - Himself (11 episodes) (writer) (Best Instructional Video - 2019 Cynopsis Awards)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Robert Harriell official website\n Rude Red official website\n \n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\n20th-century American male actors\n21st-century American male actors\nAmerican company founders\nPeople from Fayetteville, Arkansas" ]
[ "Steve Albini", "1992-present: Shellac", "what is shellac?", "Albini formed Shellac", "What did he do after that?", "they initially released three EPs:", "What else did they release?", "Uranus", "Any other releases?", "The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger", "What followed that one?", "The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History", "Anything after Rude Gesture?", "a Japan-exclusive live album in CD" ]	C_dacb9718e8514ff682c360856099fa67_1	What else has he done?	7	Other than Shellac's three EPs, Uranus, The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger, The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History, and a Japan-exclusive live album, what else has Steve Albini done?	Steve Albini	Albini formed Shellac in 1992. With bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns), and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake), they initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994)--the first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album in CD format titled raivuinDong Jing --an English-language reference to the name Shellac cannot be found anywhere on the CD product, which was not available outside Japan. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Albini explained in 2010 that Shellac had made a decision early in their existence that they would not play at festivals and this position was articulated to All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) festival organizer Barry Hogan during the preparation stage of the inaugural ATP event. However, Scottish band Mogwai managed to convince Albini at the time that they were ATP curators and the band was very impressed by the experience: "They (ATP) completely changed the festival game. Now the whole world has to operate under the knowledge that there are these cool, curated festivals where everyone is treated well and the experience is a generally pleasant one." CANNOTANSWER	Albini explained in 2010 that Shellac had made a decision early in their existence that they would not play at festivals	Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1961) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums over his career. He has worked with acts such as Nirvana, Pixies, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, and former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Albini is also known for his outspoken views on the music industry, having stated repeatedly that it financially exploits artists and homogenizes their sound. Nearly alone among well-known producers and musicians, Albini refuses to take ongoing royalties from album sales, feeling that a producer's job is to record the music to the band's desires, and that paying producers as if they had contributed artistically to an album is unethical. Early life Albini was born in Pasadena, California, to Gina (née Martinelli) and Frank Addison Albini. His father was a wildfire researcher. He has two siblings. In his youth, Albini's family moved often, before settling in the college town of Missoula, Montana in 1974. Albini is Italian American and part of his family comes from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. While recovering from a broken leg, Albini began playing bass guitar and participated in bass lessons in high school for one week. He was exposed to the Ramones by a schoolmate on a field trip when he was 14 or 15. He felt it was the best music he had ever heard and bought every Ramones recording available to him, and credits his music career to hearing their first album. He said: "I was baffled and thrilled by music like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Pere Ubu, Devo and all those contemporaneous, inspirational punk bands without wanting to try to mimic them." During his teenage years, Albini played in bands such as the Montana punk band Just Ducky, the Chicago band Small Irregular Pieces of Aluminum, Stations, and another band that record label Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records explained "he [Albini] is paying us not to mention". After graduating from Hellgate High School, Albini moved to Evanston, Illinois, to attend college at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (NU), where he attained a degree in journalism. Albini said he studied painting in college with Ed Paschke, someone he calls a brilliant educator and "one of the only people in college who actually taught me anything". In the Chicago area, Albini was active as a writer in local zines such as Matter and Forced Exposure, covering the then-nascent punk rock scene, and gained a reputation for the iconoclastic nature of his articles. Around the same time, he began recording musicians and engineered his first album in 1981. He co-managed Ruthless Records (Chicago) with John Kezdy of the Effigies and Jon Babbin (Criminal IQ Records). According to Albini, he maintained a "straight job" for five years until 1987, working in a photography studio as a photograph retouch artist. Performing career 1981–1987: Big Black In 1981, Albini formed Big Black while he was a student at NU, and recorded Lungs, the band's debut EP, on Ruthless Records (Chicago), a label he co-managed with Babbin and Kezdy. Albini played all of the instruments on Lungs except the saxophone, played by his friend John Bohnen. The Bulldozer (1983) EP was released on Ruthless and Fever Records. Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango, of Chicago band Naked Raygun, and live drummer Pat Byrne joined shortly thereafter, and the band—along with a drum machine, the Roland TR-606, credited as "Roland"—released the EP Racer-X in 1984, after touring and signing a new contract with the Homestead Records business. Pezzati commenced recording the "Il Duce" 7-inch single with the band, but returned to his original band before it was completed. Pezzati was replaced on bass by Dave Riley, with whom the group recorded their debut full-length album, Atomizer (1986). The "Il Duce" recording was eventually finished with Riley as bassist; the band also released The Hammer Party album while signed to Homestead, which was a compilation of the Lungs and Bulldozer EPs. Big Black left the Homestead label for Touch and Go Records in late 1985/early 1986, and recorded the Headache EP and the 7-inch single, Heartbeat between June and August 1986—both were released the following year. Also in 1986, a live album titled Sound of Impact was released on the Not/Blast First label. The accompanying booklet provides insight into the band's influences; Albini cited bands such as Ramones, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, Suicide, SPK, Minor Threat, Whitehouse, Link Wray, Pere Ubu, Chrome, Rudimentary Peni, The 4-Skins, Throbbing Gristle, Skrewdriver, the Ex, Minimal Man, U.S. Chaos, Gang Green, Tommi Stumpff, Swans and Bad Brains. In 1987, the band released their second studio album, Songs About Fucking, as well as the He's a Whore / The Model 7-inch single, both on Touch and Go. Big Black disbanded shortly after a period of extensive touring that year in support of Songs About Fucking. Durango enrolled in law school and became a lawyer. 1987–1988: Rapeman Albini formed Rapeman in 1987: the band consisted of Albini (vocals, guitar), Rey Washam (drums), and David Wm. Sims. The band was named after a Japanese comic book. They broke up after the release of two 7-inch singles, "Hated Chinee b/w Marmoset" (1988) and "Inki's Butt Crack b/w Song Number One" (1989), one EP titled Budd (1988) and the Two Nuns and a Pack Mule album, also released in 1988 on Touch and Go. In a 2020 interview, Albini expressed regret for the name of the band, saying that he didn't feel he had been "held to account for being in a band called Rapeman". He added that "it was a flippant choice", calling it unconscionable and indefensible. He likened it to getting a bad tattoo. 1992–present: Shellac Albini formed Shellac in 1992, with bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns) and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake). They initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994). The first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album, Live in Tokyo. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Recording career Since the early 1990s, Albini has been best known as a record producer; however, he dislikes the term and prefers to receive no credit on album sleeves or notes. When credited, he prefers the term "recording engineer". In 2004, Albini estimated that he has engineered the recording of 1,500 albums, mostly by obscure musicians. By 2018, his estimate had increased to several thousand. More prominent artists that Albini has worked with include: Foxy Shazam, Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, The Jesus Lizard, Don Caballero, PJ Harvey, The Wedding Present, Joanna Newsom, Superchunk, Low, Dirty Three, Jawbreaker, Neurosis, Cloud Nothings, Bush, Chevelle, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (as Page and Plant), Helmet, Fred Schneider, The Stooges, Owls, Manic Street Preachers, Jarvis Cocker, The Cribs, the Fleshtones, Nina Nastasia, The Frames, The Membranes, Cheap Trick, Motorpsycho, Slint, mclusky, Labradford, Veruca Salt, Zao, The Auteurs and Spare Snare. Following the release of Schneider's album Just Fred, the Vinyl District's Joseph Neff wrote: "The reality is that when enlisted by the big leagues, Albini took his job just as seriously as when he was assisting on the debut recording from a bunch of aspiring unknowns." Stereogum's Tom Breihan wrote in 2012: "Even though he's [Albini] been an outspoken opponent of the major-label system (and of other underground-rock heroes), he's known to work with just about anyone who requests his service." In February 2018, along with the Scottish lo-fi band Spare Snare, Albini presented a one-day Audio Engineers' Workshop at Chem19 Studios in Blantyre, Scotland. Methodology In Albini's opinion, putting producers in charge of recording sessions often destroys records, while the role of the recording engineer is to solve problems in capturing the sound of the musicians, not to threaten the artists' control over their product. Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such as Michael Azerrad, who is also a musician. In Azerrad's 2001 book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991, Azerrad describes Albini's work on the Pixies album Surfer Rosa: "The recordings were both very basic and very exacting: Albini used few special effects; got an aggressive, often violent guitar sound; and made sure the rhythm section slammed as one." Production influences A key influence on Albini was English producer John Loder, who came to prominence in the late 1970s with a reputation for recording albums quickly and inexpensively, but nonetheless with distinctive qualities and a sensitivity towards a band's sound and aesthetic. Albini has mentioned an admiration for ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Among his peers, Albini has praised his frequent collaborator (and Shellac bandmate) Bob Weston, as well as Brian Paulson and Matt Barnhart, among others. In Utero Perhaps Albini's most well-known production work was for the 1993 album In Utero, the third and final album by the American rock band Nirvana. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sought out Albini because he had produced two of Cobain's favorite albums, Surfer Rosa (1988) by the Pixies and Pod (1990) by The Breeders. All of the band was eager to work with Albini because they wanted the rawer sound for which Albini was already known, after feeling that their previous album, Nevermind, had come out sounding too polished. Albini was not particularly fond of Nirvana's music, later stating that he had considered them to be "R.E.M. with a fuzzbox", but agreed to work with them since he felt that they had been exploited by their label and management. At Albini's recommendation, the members of Nirvana travelled to Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota to record the album. Albini chose the studio in part due to its isolation, hoping to keep representatives of Nirvana's record label, DGC Records, away. The studio was booked for two weeks, but the recording itself was completed in six days, and Cobain referred to it as "the easiest recording we've ever done, hands down". Once the label and management heard the resulting recording, they were displeased with it. The members of Nirvana had mixed feelings as well: Cobain said afterward that the first time he played it at home, "I got no emotion from it", and considered re-recording the songs with more radio-friendly production. However, a month later, having listened to it more and played it for friends, he felt that it was "exactly the kind of record I would buy as a fan". The band did collectively decide that the vocals and bass were too low in the mix. They asked Albini to remix the album, but he refused, as he was happy with the results and feared that the process would lead to "a spiral of recriminations and remixes" among himself, the band and the record company. During the remastering process, engineer Bob Ludwig raised the volume of the vocals and sharpened the bass guitar sound. Additionally, R.E.M. producer Scott Litt was brought in to remix several of the songs. The final album was a critical and commercial success, and remains strongly associated with Albini, despite Albini's contention that the finished album "doesn't sound all that much like the record that was made". Asked about In Utero in 2004, Albini stated that the record label was responsible for the difficulties that marred the trajectory of the album. According to Albini, In Utero made him unpopular with major record labels, and he faced problems finding work in the year following. Electrical Audio Albini bought Electrical Audio, his personal recording studio, in 1995. The impetus for the move to his own studio was the lack of privacy for Albini and his wife. His former studio was in their house, eventually taking over almost all the rooms, with the exception of the bedroom. Before Electrical Audio, Albini had a studio in the basement of another personal residence. Musician Robbie Fulks recalls the hassle of "running up two flights of stairs all the time from the tracking room" to where Albini was. Albini does not receive royalties for anything he records or mixes at his own facility, unlike many other engineer/record producers with his experience and prominence. At Electrical Audio in 2004, Albini earned a daily fee of US$750 for engineering work, and drew a salary of US$24,000 a year. Azerrad referred to Albini's rates in 2001 as among the most affordable for a world-class recording studio. Following the completion of the studio's construction, Albini initially charged only for his time, allowing his friends or musicians he respected—who were willing to engineer their own recording sessions and purchase their own magnetic tape—to use his studio free. In a 2004 lecture, Albini stated that he always deals with bands directly at Electrical Audio, and answers the phone himself in the studio. Musical influences Albini mentioned his liking for "good guitar", saying "good noise is like orgasm". He commented: "Anybody can play notes. There's no trick. What is a trick and a good one is to make a guitar do things that don't sound like a guitar at all. The point here is stretching the boundaries." Albini has praised guitarists including Andy Gill of Gang of Four, Rowland S. Howard of Birthday Party, John McKay of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd, Steve Diggle and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks, Ron Asheton of the Stooges, Paul Fox of the Ruts, Link Wray, Greg Ginn of Black Flag, Lyle Preslar of Minor Threat, John McGeoch of Magazine and the Banshees, and Tom Verlaine of Television. Albini praised Andy Gill's guitar tone on Gang of Four's Entertainment!, stating: "[he] makes six strings produce more beautiful, broken noise than anybody". He praised John McKay for his work on Siouxsie and the Banshees's The Scream, saying "only now people are trying to copy it, and even now nobody understands how that guitar player got all that pointless noise to stick together as songs". Albini cited Ron Asheton because "he made great squealy death noise feedback". He also described John McGeoch's guitar playing as "great choral swells, great scratches and buzzes, [and] great dissonant noise". He admired Tom Verlaine for his ability to "twist almost any conceivable sound out of a guitar". Views Music industry Albini's opinions on the music industry, as well as on trends in indie music, have received considerable exposure. His most famous piece is the essay "The Problem with Music", which was first published in the December 1993 issue of art and criticism journal The Baffler. The essay criticizes the music industry, and specifically the major record labels of the time, for financially exploiting and deceiving their artists. In the essay's longest section, Albini runs a financial breakdown to show how a hypothetical band which sells 250,000 copies of their major-label debut album could end up making only "about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11" from the album, due to all the expenditures the label makes, ostensibly on their behalf. At a 2004 Middle Tennessee State University presentation, Albini reaffirmed his perspective on major labels, explaining that he was opposed to any form of human exploitation. In November 2014, Albini delivered the keynote speech at the Face the Music conference in Melbourne, Australia, where he discussed the evolution of the music scene and industry since he started making music in the late 1970s. He described the pre-internet corporate music industry as "a system that ensured waste by rewarding the most profligate spendthrifts in a system specifically engineered to waste the band's money," which aimed to perpetuate its structures and business arrangements while preventing bands (except for "monumental stars") from earning a living. He contrasted it with the independent scene, which encouraged resourcefulness and established an alternative network of clubs, promoters, fanzines, DJs and labels, and allowed musicians to make a reasonable income due to the system's greater efficiency. Music production Albini is a supporter of analog recording over digital, as can be evidenced by a 1987 quote on the back cover of the CD version of Big Black's Songs About Fucking: "The future belongs to the analog loyalists. Fuck digital." He has maintained his support for analog recording, stating in a 2013 interview that using digital files as audio masters is "irresponsible", because such files will "eventually disappear or become unusable". In the essay "The Problem with Music", Albini also criticized music producers who lack a solid understanding of music engineering, and thus latch on to whatever is trendy at the moment, such as Pultec equalizers or compression (which he wrote "makes everything sound like a beer commercial"). He criticized producers who put vocals in the mix much higher than everything else in order to "sound more like the Beatles". He also wrote that when he hears producers and engineers use "meaningless" words like "punchy" and "warm", he feels the need to "throttle somebody." Asked about these statements in a 2018 interview, Albini stated that, given the reduction in the power of record labels over the previous 25 years, the prevalence of producers who are there only to exert artistic control over the recording had dropped significantly. He also noted that digital recording had enabled many more people to "do productive work" as audio engineers, while noting that he himself was sticking with analog recording. Music streaming Albini was asked about file sharing in June 2014 and he clarified that, while he does not believe that the technological development is the "best thing" for the music industry, he does not identify with the music industry. He considers "the community, the band, the musician" as his peers, and is pleased that musicians can "get their music out to the world at no cost instantly". As part of the Face the Music speech, Albini noted that both the corporate and independent industry models had been damaged by internet file sharing; however, he praised the spread of free music as being a "fantastic development", which allowed previously ignored music and bands to find an audience (citing the protopunk band Death as one example); the use of the internet as a distribution channel for music to be heard worldwide; and the increasing affordability of recording equipment, all of which allow bands to circumvent the traditional recording industry. Albini also argued that the increased availability of recorded music stimulates demand for live music, boosting bands' income. Albini critiqued Jay Z's subscription-only, lossless audio streaming service Tidal in an April 2015 interview with Vulture.com, arguing that streaming services would eventually be usurped by a more convenient technology, that convenience would trump sound quality in streaming, and that audiophiles would prefer vinyl to streaming. He made the point that the internet has a history "of breaking limitations placed on its content" by making paid-for products freely available. Music journalism In 1983, Albini wrote for Matter, a monthly new US music magazine appeared at the time in Chicago. He wrote in each issue a chronicle called "Tired of Ugly Fat?", and also contributed articles such as "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows For Sure". In 1994, Albini wrote a famous letter to music critic Bill Wyman (not to be confused with rock musician Bill Wyman), which was published in the Chicago Reader, calling Wyman a "music press stooge" for having championed three Chicago-based music acts whom Albini labeled as "frauds": Liz Phair, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Urge Overkill. While in Australia in November 2014, Albini spoke with national radio station Double J and stated that, while the state of the music industry is healthy in his view, the industry of music journalism is in crisis. Albini used the example of the media spotlight that he received after criticizing Amanda Palmer for not paying her musicians after receiving over $1 million on Kickstarter to release her 2012 album Theatre Is Evil, stating: "I don't think I was wrong but I also don't think that it was that big of a deal." He described the music media as "superficial" and composed of "copy paste bullshit." Albini has frequently stated his dislike for pop music, and in a 2015 interview told 2SER Sydney that "pop music is for children and idiots". Media appearances Albini is featured in the first episode of the 2014 documentary miniseries Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, "Chicago", in which Albini is shown talking about being a producer, as well as recording the Foo Fighters song "Something from Nothing". He has appeared in a number of documentary films and videos about the making of various albums that he has produced, including Josephine by Magnolia Electric Co. (2009), This Is Nowhere by Malojian (2016), Carrier Wave by Porcupine (2019) and In Bed with Medusa by Medusa (2020). Rock vs. Cancer, a 2018 short documentary about the making of the 2012 album The Strain by Teeth, additionally features Albini as the narrator. Albini was a guest on the audio podcast WTF with Marc Maron in 2015. The 2019 short documentary Albini Cashes In, part of the Stories from the Felt series for the streaming service PokerGO, is about Albini's 2018 World Series of Poker win. Other activities Albini began a cooking and food blog, titled "Mariobatalivoice: What I made Heather for dinner", in March 2011. Albini is an avid poker player and ranked in 12th place at the 2013 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Seniors Championship. Albini won his first WSOP Gold Bracelet at the $1500 Seven-Card Stud at 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP); he beat out Jeff Lisandro to win $105,629. Albini also regularly engages in public-speaking appointments for the audio industry. Personal life Albini is married to film director Heather Whinna and they work and live in Chicago. His right leg is slightly deformed as a result of a car accident when he was 18. In 2010, he revealed that he is not an avid consumer of media and watches a lot of cat videos on YouTube, while avoiding feature films. Albini called himself an atheist in a 2011 interview. Discography Works or publications "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows for Sure" Article for Matter on Hüsker Dü, published September 1983. "I'll Rap Your head With A Rachet" Letter written by Steve Albini to Nirvana in 1992, outlining his working philosophy "Ask a music scene micro celebrity" Steve Albini answers questions about bands and music on a poker forum, The 2+2 Forums, July 7, 2007. "I am Steve Albini, ask me anything" reddit IAmA, May 8, 2012; accessed June 21, 2015. "Steve Albini talks to LISTEN: "I try to be an ally in feminism"" Interview in LISTEN, May 2, 2016; accessed August 16, 2016. References Further reading Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001; Cameron, Keith. "This Is Pop," MOJO magazine, Issue 90, May 2001. King, Braden. Looking for a Thrill: An Anthology of Inspiration. Chicago, IL: Thrill Jockey, 2005. (DVD) External links Electrical Audio official website 1961 births Living people American audio engineers American atheists American male singer-songwriters American music journalists American poker players Alternative rock guitarists Noise rock musicians Post-hardcore musicians American writers of Italian descent Medill School of Journalism alumni Big Black members Singers from Chicago Musicians from Missoula, Montana Writers from Pasadena, California Pigface members Writers from Evanston, Illinois Musicians from Pasadena, California Musicians from Evanston, Illinois Journalists from Montana Guitarists from California Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Montana Record producers from Montana Record producers from Illinois Record producers from California Rapeman members Shellac (band) members 20th-century American guitarists World Series of Poker bracelet winners American male non-fiction writers American male guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American punk rock singers American punk rock guitarists American punk rock bass guitarists American post-punk musicians American bloggers Singer-songwriters from Illinois Singer-songwriters from California	false	[ "Once Upon a Time Twenty Years Later () is a 1980 Soviet comedy film directed by Yuri Yegorov.\n\nPlot \nThe film tells about the graduates of a Moscow school who come together 20 years later and try to answer two questions: What have you already done? and What else are you waiting for in life?\n\nCast \n Natalya Gundareva as Nadya Kruglova\n Viktor Proskurin as Kirill\n Yevgeni Lazarev\n Oleg Efremov as Painter\n Valentina Titova\n Olga Gobzeva\t\t\n Aleksandr Potapov\n Igor Yasulovich\n Valentin Smirnitskiy\n Alyona Chukhray\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1980 films\n1980s Russian-language films\nSoviet comedy films\nSoviet films\n1980 comedy films", "\"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" ]
[ "Steve Albini", "1992-present: Shellac", "what is shellac?", "Albini formed Shellac", "What did he do after that?", "they initially released three EPs:", "What else did they release?", "Uranus", "Any other releases?", "The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger", "What followed that one?", "The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History", "Anything after Rude Gesture?", "a Japan-exclusive live album in CD", "What else has he done?", "Albini explained in 2010 that Shellac had made a decision early in their existence that they would not play at festivals" ]	C_dacb9718e8514ff682c360856099fa67_1	Did they tour?	8	Did Shellac tour?	Steve Albini	Albini formed Shellac in 1992. With bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns), and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake), they initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994)--the first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album in CD format titled raivuinDong Jing --an English-language reference to the name Shellac cannot be found anywhere on the CD product, which was not available outside Japan. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Albini explained in 2010 that Shellac had made a decision early in their existence that they would not play at festivals and this position was articulated to All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) festival organizer Barry Hogan during the preparation stage of the inaugural ATP event. However, Scottish band Mogwai managed to convince Albini at the time that they were ATP curators and the band was very impressed by the experience: "They (ATP) completely changed the festival game. Now the whole world has to operate under the knowledge that there are these cool, curated festivals where everyone is treated well and the experience is a generally pleasant one." CANNOTANSWER	However, Scottish band Mogwai managed to convince Albini at the time that they were ATP curators and the band was very impressed by the experience:	Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1961) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums over his career. He has worked with acts such as Nirvana, Pixies, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, and former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Albini is also known for his outspoken views on the music industry, having stated repeatedly that it financially exploits artists and homogenizes their sound. Nearly alone among well-known producers and musicians, Albini refuses to take ongoing royalties from album sales, feeling that a producer's job is to record the music to the band's desires, and that paying producers as if they had contributed artistically to an album is unethical. Early life Albini was born in Pasadena, California, to Gina (née Martinelli) and Frank Addison Albini. His father was a wildfire researcher. He has two siblings. In his youth, Albini's family moved often, before settling in the college town of Missoula, Montana in 1974. Albini is Italian American and part of his family comes from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. While recovering from a broken leg, Albini began playing bass guitar and participated in bass lessons in high school for one week. He was exposed to the Ramones by a schoolmate on a field trip when he was 14 or 15. He felt it was the best music he had ever heard and bought every Ramones recording available to him, and credits his music career to hearing their first album. He said: "I was baffled and thrilled by music like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Pere Ubu, Devo and all those contemporaneous, inspirational punk bands without wanting to try to mimic them." During his teenage years, Albini played in bands such as the Montana punk band Just Ducky, the Chicago band Small Irregular Pieces of Aluminum, Stations, and another band that record label Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records explained "he [Albini] is paying us not to mention". After graduating from Hellgate High School, Albini moved to Evanston, Illinois, to attend college at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (NU), where he attained a degree in journalism. Albini said he studied painting in college with Ed Paschke, someone he calls a brilliant educator and "one of the only people in college who actually taught me anything". In the Chicago area, Albini was active as a writer in local zines such as Matter and Forced Exposure, covering the then-nascent punk rock scene, and gained a reputation for the iconoclastic nature of his articles. Around the same time, he began recording musicians and engineered his first album in 1981. He co-managed Ruthless Records (Chicago) with John Kezdy of the Effigies and Jon Babbin (Criminal IQ Records). According to Albini, he maintained a "straight job" for five years until 1987, working in a photography studio as a photograph retouch artist. Performing career 1981–1987: Big Black In 1981, Albini formed Big Black while he was a student at NU, and recorded Lungs, the band's debut EP, on Ruthless Records (Chicago), a label he co-managed with Babbin and Kezdy. Albini played all of the instruments on Lungs except the saxophone, played by his friend John Bohnen. The Bulldozer (1983) EP was released on Ruthless and Fever Records. Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango, of Chicago band Naked Raygun, and live drummer Pat Byrne joined shortly thereafter, and the band—along with a drum machine, the Roland TR-606, credited as "Roland"—released the EP Racer-X in 1984, after touring and signing a new contract with the Homestead Records business. Pezzati commenced recording the "Il Duce" 7-inch single with the band, but returned to his original band before it was completed. Pezzati was replaced on bass by Dave Riley, with whom the group recorded their debut full-length album, Atomizer (1986). The "Il Duce" recording was eventually finished with Riley as bassist; the band also released The Hammer Party album while signed to Homestead, which was a compilation of the Lungs and Bulldozer EPs. Big Black left the Homestead label for Touch and Go Records in late 1985/early 1986, and recorded the Headache EP and the 7-inch single, Heartbeat between June and August 1986—both were released the following year. Also in 1986, a live album titled Sound of Impact was released on the Not/Blast First label. The accompanying booklet provides insight into the band's influences; Albini cited bands such as Ramones, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, Suicide, SPK, Minor Threat, Whitehouse, Link Wray, Pere Ubu, Chrome, Rudimentary Peni, The 4-Skins, Throbbing Gristle, Skrewdriver, the Ex, Minimal Man, U.S. Chaos, Gang Green, Tommi Stumpff, Swans and Bad Brains. In 1987, the band released their second studio album, Songs About Fucking, as well as the He's a Whore / The Model 7-inch single, both on Touch and Go. Big Black disbanded shortly after a period of extensive touring that year in support of Songs About Fucking. Durango enrolled in law school and became a lawyer. 1987–1988: Rapeman Albini formed Rapeman in 1987: the band consisted of Albini (vocals, guitar), Rey Washam (drums), and David Wm. Sims. The band was named after a Japanese comic book. They broke up after the release of two 7-inch singles, "Hated Chinee b/w Marmoset" (1988) and "Inki's Butt Crack b/w Song Number One" (1989), one EP titled Budd (1988) and the Two Nuns and a Pack Mule album, also released in 1988 on Touch and Go. In a 2020 interview, Albini expressed regret for the name of the band, saying that he didn't feel he had been "held to account for being in a band called Rapeman". He added that "it was a flippant choice", calling it unconscionable and indefensible. He likened it to getting a bad tattoo. 1992–present: Shellac Albini formed Shellac in 1992, with bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns) and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake). They initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994). The first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album, Live in Tokyo. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Recording career Since the early 1990s, Albini has been best known as a record producer; however, he dislikes the term and prefers to receive no credit on album sleeves or notes. When credited, he prefers the term "recording engineer". In 2004, Albini estimated that he has engineered the recording of 1,500 albums, mostly by obscure musicians. By 2018, his estimate had increased to several thousand. More prominent artists that Albini has worked with include: Foxy Shazam, Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, The Jesus Lizard, Don Caballero, PJ Harvey, The Wedding Present, Joanna Newsom, Superchunk, Low, Dirty Three, Jawbreaker, Neurosis, Cloud Nothings, Bush, Chevelle, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (as Page and Plant), Helmet, Fred Schneider, The Stooges, Owls, Manic Street Preachers, Jarvis Cocker, The Cribs, the Fleshtones, Nina Nastasia, The Frames, The Membranes, Cheap Trick, Motorpsycho, Slint, mclusky, Labradford, Veruca Salt, Zao, The Auteurs and Spare Snare. Following the release of Schneider's album Just Fred, the Vinyl District's Joseph Neff wrote: "The reality is that when enlisted by the big leagues, Albini took his job just as seriously as when he was assisting on the debut recording from a bunch of aspiring unknowns." Stereogum's Tom Breihan wrote in 2012: "Even though he's [Albini] been an outspoken opponent of the major-label system (and of other underground-rock heroes), he's known to work with just about anyone who requests his service." In February 2018, along with the Scottish lo-fi band Spare Snare, Albini presented a one-day Audio Engineers' Workshop at Chem19 Studios in Blantyre, Scotland. Methodology In Albini's opinion, putting producers in charge of recording sessions often destroys records, while the role of the recording engineer is to solve problems in capturing the sound of the musicians, not to threaten the artists' control over their product. Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such as Michael Azerrad, who is also a musician. In Azerrad's 2001 book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991, Azerrad describes Albini's work on the Pixies album Surfer Rosa: "The recordings were both very basic and very exacting: Albini used few special effects; got an aggressive, often violent guitar sound; and made sure the rhythm section slammed as one." Production influences A key influence on Albini was English producer John Loder, who came to prominence in the late 1970s with a reputation for recording albums quickly and inexpensively, but nonetheless with distinctive qualities and a sensitivity towards a band's sound and aesthetic. Albini has mentioned an admiration for ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Among his peers, Albini has praised his frequent collaborator (and Shellac bandmate) Bob Weston, as well as Brian Paulson and Matt Barnhart, among others. In Utero Perhaps Albini's most well-known production work was for the 1993 album In Utero, the third and final album by the American rock band Nirvana. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sought out Albini because he had produced two of Cobain's favorite albums, Surfer Rosa (1988) by the Pixies and Pod (1990) by The Breeders. All of the band was eager to work with Albini because they wanted the rawer sound for which Albini was already known, after feeling that their previous album, Nevermind, had come out sounding too polished. Albini was not particularly fond of Nirvana's music, later stating that he had considered them to be "R.E.M. with a fuzzbox", but agreed to work with them since he felt that they had been exploited by their label and management. At Albini's recommendation, the members of Nirvana travelled to Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota to record the album. Albini chose the studio in part due to its isolation, hoping to keep representatives of Nirvana's record label, DGC Records, away. The studio was booked for two weeks, but the recording itself was completed in six days, and Cobain referred to it as "the easiest recording we've ever done, hands down". Once the label and management heard the resulting recording, they were displeased with it. The members of Nirvana had mixed feelings as well: Cobain said afterward that the first time he played it at home, "I got no emotion from it", and considered re-recording the songs with more radio-friendly production. However, a month later, having listened to it more and played it for friends, he felt that it was "exactly the kind of record I would buy as a fan". The band did collectively decide that the vocals and bass were too low in the mix. They asked Albini to remix the album, but he refused, as he was happy with the results and feared that the process would lead to "a spiral of recriminations and remixes" among himself, the band and the record company. During the remastering process, engineer Bob Ludwig raised the volume of the vocals and sharpened the bass guitar sound. Additionally, R.E.M. producer Scott Litt was brought in to remix several of the songs. The final album was a critical and commercial success, and remains strongly associated with Albini, despite Albini's contention that the finished album "doesn't sound all that much like the record that was made". Asked about In Utero in 2004, Albini stated that the record label was responsible for the difficulties that marred the trajectory of the album. According to Albini, In Utero made him unpopular with major record labels, and he faced problems finding work in the year following. Electrical Audio Albini bought Electrical Audio, his personal recording studio, in 1995. The impetus for the move to his own studio was the lack of privacy for Albini and his wife. His former studio was in their house, eventually taking over almost all the rooms, with the exception of the bedroom. Before Electrical Audio, Albini had a studio in the basement of another personal residence. Musician Robbie Fulks recalls the hassle of "running up two flights of stairs all the time from the tracking room" to where Albini was. Albini does not receive royalties for anything he records or mixes at his own facility, unlike many other engineer/record producers with his experience and prominence. At Electrical Audio in 2004, Albini earned a daily fee of US$750 for engineering work, and drew a salary of US$24,000 a year. Azerrad referred to Albini's rates in 2001 as among the most affordable for a world-class recording studio. Following the completion of the studio's construction, Albini initially charged only for his time, allowing his friends or musicians he respected—who were willing to engineer their own recording sessions and purchase their own magnetic tape—to use his studio free. In a 2004 lecture, Albini stated that he always deals with bands directly at Electrical Audio, and answers the phone himself in the studio. Musical influences Albini mentioned his liking for "good guitar", saying "good noise is like orgasm". He commented: "Anybody can play notes. There's no trick. What is a trick and a good one is to make a guitar do things that don't sound like a guitar at all. The point here is stretching the boundaries." Albini has praised guitarists including Andy Gill of Gang of Four, Rowland S. Howard of Birthday Party, John McKay of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd, Steve Diggle and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks, Ron Asheton of the Stooges, Paul Fox of the Ruts, Link Wray, Greg Ginn of Black Flag, Lyle Preslar of Minor Threat, John McGeoch of Magazine and the Banshees, and Tom Verlaine of Television. Albini praised Andy Gill's guitar tone on Gang of Four's Entertainment!, stating: "[he] makes six strings produce more beautiful, broken noise than anybody". He praised John McKay for his work on Siouxsie and the Banshees's The Scream, saying "only now people are trying to copy it, and even now nobody understands how that guitar player got all that pointless noise to stick together as songs". Albini cited Ron Asheton because "he made great squealy death noise feedback". He also described John McGeoch's guitar playing as "great choral swells, great scratches and buzzes, [and] great dissonant noise". He admired Tom Verlaine for his ability to "twist almost any conceivable sound out of a guitar". Views Music industry Albini's opinions on the music industry, as well as on trends in indie music, have received considerable exposure. His most famous piece is the essay "The Problem with Music", which was first published in the December 1993 issue of art and criticism journal The Baffler. The essay criticizes the music industry, and specifically the major record labels of the time, for financially exploiting and deceiving their artists. In the essay's longest section, Albini runs a financial breakdown to show how a hypothetical band which sells 250,000 copies of their major-label debut album could end up making only "about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11" from the album, due to all the expenditures the label makes, ostensibly on their behalf. At a 2004 Middle Tennessee State University presentation, Albini reaffirmed his perspective on major labels, explaining that he was opposed to any form of human exploitation. In November 2014, Albini delivered the keynote speech at the Face the Music conference in Melbourne, Australia, where he discussed the evolution of the music scene and industry since he started making music in the late 1970s. He described the pre-internet corporate music industry as "a system that ensured waste by rewarding the most profligate spendthrifts in a system specifically engineered to waste the band's money," which aimed to perpetuate its structures and business arrangements while preventing bands (except for "monumental stars") from earning a living. He contrasted it with the independent scene, which encouraged resourcefulness and established an alternative network of clubs, promoters, fanzines, DJs and labels, and allowed musicians to make a reasonable income due to the system's greater efficiency. Music production Albini is a supporter of analog recording over digital, as can be evidenced by a 1987 quote on the back cover of the CD version of Big Black's Songs About Fucking: "The future belongs to the analog loyalists. Fuck digital." He has maintained his support for analog recording, stating in a 2013 interview that using digital files as audio masters is "irresponsible", because such files will "eventually disappear or become unusable". In the essay "The Problem with Music", Albini also criticized music producers who lack a solid understanding of music engineering, and thus latch on to whatever is trendy at the moment, such as Pultec equalizers or compression (which he wrote "makes everything sound like a beer commercial"). He criticized producers who put vocals in the mix much higher than everything else in order to "sound more like the Beatles". He also wrote that when he hears producers and engineers use "meaningless" words like "punchy" and "warm", he feels the need to "throttle somebody." Asked about these statements in a 2018 interview, Albini stated that, given the reduction in the power of record labels over the previous 25 years, the prevalence of producers who are there only to exert artistic control over the recording had dropped significantly. He also noted that digital recording had enabled many more people to "do productive work" as audio engineers, while noting that he himself was sticking with analog recording. Music streaming Albini was asked about file sharing in June 2014 and he clarified that, while he does not believe that the technological development is the "best thing" for the music industry, he does not identify with the music industry. He considers "the community, the band, the musician" as his peers, and is pleased that musicians can "get their music out to the world at no cost instantly". As part of the Face the Music speech, Albini noted that both the corporate and independent industry models had been damaged by internet file sharing; however, he praised the spread of free music as being a "fantastic development", which allowed previously ignored music and bands to find an audience (citing the protopunk band Death as one example); the use of the internet as a distribution channel for music to be heard worldwide; and the increasing affordability of recording equipment, all of which allow bands to circumvent the traditional recording industry. Albini also argued that the increased availability of recorded music stimulates demand for live music, boosting bands' income. Albini critiqued Jay Z's subscription-only, lossless audio streaming service Tidal in an April 2015 interview with Vulture.com, arguing that streaming services would eventually be usurped by a more convenient technology, that convenience would trump sound quality in streaming, and that audiophiles would prefer vinyl to streaming. He made the point that the internet has a history "of breaking limitations placed on its content" by making paid-for products freely available. Music journalism In 1983, Albini wrote for Matter, a monthly new US music magazine appeared at the time in Chicago. He wrote in each issue a chronicle called "Tired of Ugly Fat?", and also contributed articles such as "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows For Sure". In 1994, Albini wrote a famous letter to music critic Bill Wyman (not to be confused with rock musician Bill Wyman), which was published in the Chicago Reader, calling Wyman a "music press stooge" for having championed three Chicago-based music acts whom Albini labeled as "frauds": Liz Phair, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Urge Overkill. While in Australia in November 2014, Albini spoke with national radio station Double J and stated that, while the state of the music industry is healthy in his view, the industry of music journalism is in crisis. Albini used the example of the media spotlight that he received after criticizing Amanda Palmer for not paying her musicians after receiving over $1 million on Kickstarter to release her 2012 album Theatre Is Evil, stating: "I don't think I was wrong but I also don't think that it was that big of a deal." He described the music media as "superficial" and composed of "copy paste bullshit." Albini has frequently stated his dislike for pop music, and in a 2015 interview told 2SER Sydney that "pop music is for children and idiots". Media appearances Albini is featured in the first episode of the 2014 documentary miniseries Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, "Chicago", in which Albini is shown talking about being a producer, as well as recording the Foo Fighters song "Something from Nothing". He has appeared in a number of documentary films and videos about the making of various albums that he has produced, including Josephine by Magnolia Electric Co. (2009), This Is Nowhere by Malojian (2016), Carrier Wave by Porcupine (2019) and In Bed with Medusa by Medusa (2020). Rock vs. Cancer, a 2018 short documentary about the making of the 2012 album The Strain by Teeth, additionally features Albini as the narrator. Albini was a guest on the audio podcast WTF with Marc Maron in 2015. The 2019 short documentary Albini Cashes In, part of the Stories from the Felt series for the streaming service PokerGO, is about Albini's 2018 World Series of Poker win. Other activities Albini began a cooking and food blog, titled "Mariobatalivoice: What I made Heather for dinner", in March 2011. Albini is an avid poker player and ranked in 12th place at the 2013 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Seniors Championship. Albini won his first WSOP Gold Bracelet at the $1500 Seven-Card Stud at 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP); he beat out Jeff Lisandro to win $105,629. Albini also regularly engages in public-speaking appointments for the audio industry. Personal life Albini is married to film director Heather Whinna and they work and live in Chicago. His right leg is slightly deformed as a result of a car accident when he was 18. In 2010, he revealed that he is not an avid consumer of media and watches a lot of cat videos on YouTube, while avoiding feature films. Albini called himself an atheist in a 2011 interview. Discography Works or publications "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows for Sure" Article for Matter on Hüsker Dü, published September 1983. "I'll Rap Your head With A Rachet" Letter written by Steve Albini to Nirvana in 1992, outlining his working philosophy "Ask a music scene micro celebrity" Steve Albini answers questions about bands and music on a poker forum, The 2+2 Forums, July 7, 2007. "I am Steve Albini, ask me anything" reddit IAmA, May 8, 2012; accessed June 21, 2015. "Steve Albini talks to LISTEN: "I try to be an ally in feminism"" Interview in LISTEN, May 2, 2016; accessed August 16, 2016. References Further reading Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001; Cameron, Keith. "This Is Pop," MOJO magazine, Issue 90, May 2001. King, Braden. Looking for a Thrill: An Anthology of Inspiration. Chicago, IL: Thrill Jockey, 2005. (DVD) External links Electrical Audio official website 1961 births Living people American audio engineers American atheists American male singer-songwriters American music journalists American poker players Alternative rock guitarists Noise rock musicians Post-hardcore musicians American writers of Italian descent Medill School of Journalism alumni Big Black members Singers from Chicago Musicians from Missoula, Montana Writers from Pasadena, California Pigface members Writers from Evanston, Illinois Musicians from Pasadena, California Musicians from Evanston, Illinois Journalists from Montana Guitarists from California Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Montana Record producers from Montana Record producers from Illinois Record producers from California Rapeman members Shellac (band) members 20th-century American guitarists World Series of Poker bracelet winners American male non-fiction writers American male guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American punk rock singers American punk rock guitarists American punk rock bass guitarists American post-punk musicians American bloggers Singer-songwriters from Illinois Singer-songwriters from California	false	[ "\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\nPGA 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", "\nThis is a list of the 29 players who earned their 2012 PGA Tour card through Q School in 2011. Note: Roberto Castro and Mark Anderson had already qualified for the PGA Tour by placing in the Top 25 during the 2011 Nationwide Tour season; they did not count among the Top 25 Q school graduates.\n\nPlayers in yellow were 2012 PGA Tour rookies.\n\n2012 Results\n\nPGA Tour rookie in 2012\nT = Tied \nGreen background indicates the player retained his PGA Tour card for 2013 (won or finished inside the top 125). \nYellow background indicates the player did not retain his PGA Tour card for 2013, but retained conditional status (finished between 126-150). \nRed background indicates the player did not retain his PGA Tour card for 2013 (finished outside the top 150).\n\nWinners on the PGA Tour in 2012\n\nRunners-up on the PGA Tour in 2012\n\nSee also\n2011 Nationwide Tour graduates\n\nReferences\nResults from pgatour.com\n\nPGA Tour Qualifying School\nPGA Tour Qualifying School Graduates\nPGA Tour Qualifying School Graduates" ]
[ "Steve Albini", "1992-present: Shellac", "what is shellac?", "Albini formed Shellac", "What did he do after that?", "they initially released three EPs:", "What else did they release?", "Uranus", "Any other releases?", "The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger", "What followed that one?", "The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History", "Anything after Rude Gesture?", "a Japan-exclusive live album in CD", "What else has he done?", "Albini explained in 2010 that Shellac had made a decision early in their existence that they would not play at festivals", "Did they tour?", "However, Scottish band Mogwai managed to convince Albini at the time that they were ATP curators and the band was very impressed by the experience:" ]	C_dacb9718e8514ff682c360856099fa67_1	were they well recieved?	9	Were Shellac well received?	Steve Albini	Albini formed Shellac in 1992. With bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns), and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake), they initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994)--the first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album in CD format titled raivuinDong Jing --an English-language reference to the name Shellac cannot be found anywhere on the CD product, which was not available outside Japan. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Albini explained in 2010 that Shellac had made a decision early in their existence that they would not play at festivals and this position was articulated to All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) festival organizer Barry Hogan during the preparation stage of the inaugural ATP event. However, Scottish band Mogwai managed to convince Albini at the time that they were ATP curators and the band was very impressed by the experience: "They (ATP) completely changed the festival game. Now the whole world has to operate under the knowledge that there are these cool, curated festivals where everyone is treated well and the experience is a generally pleasant one." CANNOTANSWER	They (ATP) completely changed the festival game.	Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1961) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums over his career. He has worked with acts such as Nirvana, Pixies, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, and former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Albini is also known for his outspoken views on the music industry, having stated repeatedly that it financially exploits artists and homogenizes their sound. Nearly alone among well-known producers and musicians, Albini refuses to take ongoing royalties from album sales, feeling that a producer's job is to record the music to the band's desires, and that paying producers as if they had contributed artistically to an album is unethical. Early life Albini was born in Pasadena, California, to Gina (née Martinelli) and Frank Addison Albini. His father was a wildfire researcher. He has two siblings. In his youth, Albini's family moved often, before settling in the college town of Missoula, Montana in 1974. Albini is Italian American and part of his family comes from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. While recovering from a broken leg, Albini began playing bass guitar and participated in bass lessons in high school for one week. He was exposed to the Ramones by a schoolmate on a field trip when he was 14 or 15. He felt it was the best music he had ever heard and bought every Ramones recording available to him, and credits his music career to hearing their first album. He said: "I was baffled and thrilled by music like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Pere Ubu, Devo and all those contemporaneous, inspirational punk bands without wanting to try to mimic them." During his teenage years, Albini played in bands such as the Montana punk band Just Ducky, the Chicago band Small Irregular Pieces of Aluminum, Stations, and another band that record label Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records explained "he [Albini] is paying us not to mention". After graduating from Hellgate High School, Albini moved to Evanston, Illinois, to attend college at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (NU), where he attained a degree in journalism. Albini said he studied painting in college with Ed Paschke, someone he calls a brilliant educator and "one of the only people in college who actually taught me anything". In the Chicago area, Albini was active as a writer in local zines such as Matter and Forced Exposure, covering the then-nascent punk rock scene, and gained a reputation for the iconoclastic nature of his articles. Around the same time, he began recording musicians and engineered his first album in 1981. He co-managed Ruthless Records (Chicago) with John Kezdy of the Effigies and Jon Babbin (Criminal IQ Records). According to Albini, he maintained a "straight job" for five years until 1987, working in a photography studio as a photograph retouch artist. Performing career 1981–1987: Big Black In 1981, Albini formed Big Black while he was a student at NU, and recorded Lungs, the band's debut EP, on Ruthless Records (Chicago), a label he co-managed with Babbin and Kezdy. Albini played all of the instruments on Lungs except the saxophone, played by his friend John Bohnen. The Bulldozer (1983) EP was released on Ruthless and Fever Records. Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango, of Chicago band Naked Raygun, and live drummer Pat Byrne joined shortly thereafter, and the band—along with a drum machine, the Roland TR-606, credited as "Roland"—released the EP Racer-X in 1984, after touring and signing a new contract with the Homestead Records business. Pezzati commenced recording the "Il Duce" 7-inch single with the band, but returned to his original band before it was completed. Pezzati was replaced on bass by Dave Riley, with whom the group recorded their debut full-length album, Atomizer (1986). The "Il Duce" recording was eventually finished with Riley as bassist; the band also released The Hammer Party album while signed to Homestead, which was a compilation of the Lungs and Bulldozer EPs. Big Black left the Homestead label for Touch and Go Records in late 1985/early 1986, and recorded the Headache EP and the 7-inch single, Heartbeat between June and August 1986—both were released the following year. Also in 1986, a live album titled Sound of Impact was released on the Not/Blast First label. The accompanying booklet provides insight into the band's influences; Albini cited bands such as Ramones, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, Suicide, SPK, Minor Threat, Whitehouse, Link Wray, Pere Ubu, Chrome, Rudimentary Peni, The 4-Skins, Throbbing Gristle, Skrewdriver, the Ex, Minimal Man, U.S. Chaos, Gang Green, Tommi Stumpff, Swans and Bad Brains. In 1987, the band released their second studio album, Songs About Fucking, as well as the He's a Whore / The Model 7-inch single, both on Touch and Go. Big Black disbanded shortly after a period of extensive touring that year in support of Songs About Fucking. Durango enrolled in law school and became a lawyer. 1987–1988: Rapeman Albini formed Rapeman in 1987: the band consisted of Albini (vocals, guitar), Rey Washam (drums), and David Wm. Sims. The band was named after a Japanese comic book. They broke up after the release of two 7-inch singles, "Hated Chinee b/w Marmoset" (1988) and "Inki's Butt Crack b/w Song Number One" (1989), one EP titled Budd (1988) and the Two Nuns and a Pack Mule album, also released in 1988 on Touch and Go. In a 2020 interview, Albini expressed regret for the name of the band, saying that he didn't feel he had been "held to account for being in a band called Rapeman". He added that "it was a flippant choice", calling it unconscionable and indefensible. He likened it to getting a bad tattoo. 1992–present: Shellac Albini formed Shellac in 1992, with bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns) and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake). They initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994). The first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release. Two years after formation, the Japanese label NUX Organization released a Japan-exclusive live album, Live in Tokyo. The live album was followed by five studio albums: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007) and Dude Incredible (2014). All of Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl as well as CD. Recording career Since the early 1990s, Albini has been best known as a record producer; however, he dislikes the term and prefers to receive no credit on album sleeves or notes. When credited, he prefers the term "recording engineer". In 2004, Albini estimated that he has engineered the recording of 1,500 albums, mostly by obscure musicians. By 2018, his estimate had increased to several thousand. More prominent artists that Albini has worked with include: Foxy Shazam, Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, The Jesus Lizard, Don Caballero, PJ Harvey, The Wedding Present, Joanna Newsom, Superchunk, Low, Dirty Three, Jawbreaker, Neurosis, Cloud Nothings, Bush, Chevelle, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (as Page and Plant), Helmet, Fred Schneider, The Stooges, Owls, Manic Street Preachers, Jarvis Cocker, The Cribs, the Fleshtones, Nina Nastasia, The Frames, The Membranes, Cheap Trick, Motorpsycho, Slint, mclusky, Labradford, Veruca Salt, Zao, The Auteurs and Spare Snare. Following the release of Schneider's album Just Fred, the Vinyl District's Joseph Neff wrote: "The reality is that when enlisted by the big leagues, Albini took his job just as seriously as when he was assisting on the debut recording from a bunch of aspiring unknowns." Stereogum's Tom Breihan wrote in 2012: "Even though he's [Albini] been an outspoken opponent of the major-label system (and of other underground-rock heroes), he's known to work with just about anyone who requests his service." In February 2018, along with the Scottish lo-fi band Spare Snare, Albini presented a one-day Audio Engineers' Workshop at Chem19 Studios in Blantyre, Scotland. Methodology In Albini's opinion, putting producers in charge of recording sessions often destroys records, while the role of the recording engineer is to solve problems in capturing the sound of the musicians, not to threaten the artists' control over their product. Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such as Michael Azerrad, who is also a musician. In Azerrad's 2001 book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991, Azerrad describes Albini's work on the Pixies album Surfer Rosa: "The recordings were both very basic and very exacting: Albini used few special effects; got an aggressive, often violent guitar sound; and made sure the rhythm section slammed as one." Production influences A key influence on Albini was English producer John Loder, who came to prominence in the late 1970s with a reputation for recording albums quickly and inexpensively, but nonetheless with distinctive qualities and a sensitivity towards a band's sound and aesthetic. Albini has mentioned an admiration for ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Among his peers, Albini has praised his frequent collaborator (and Shellac bandmate) Bob Weston, as well as Brian Paulson and Matt Barnhart, among others. In Utero Perhaps Albini's most well-known production work was for the 1993 album In Utero, the third and final album by the American rock band Nirvana. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sought out Albini because he had produced two of Cobain's favorite albums, Surfer Rosa (1988) by the Pixies and Pod (1990) by The Breeders. All of the band was eager to work with Albini because they wanted the rawer sound for which Albini was already known, after feeling that their previous album, Nevermind, had come out sounding too polished. Albini was not particularly fond of Nirvana's music, later stating that he had considered them to be "R.E.M. with a fuzzbox", but agreed to work with them since he felt that they had been exploited by their label and management. At Albini's recommendation, the members of Nirvana travelled to Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota to record the album. Albini chose the studio in part due to its isolation, hoping to keep representatives of Nirvana's record label, DGC Records, away. The studio was booked for two weeks, but the recording itself was completed in six days, and Cobain referred to it as "the easiest recording we've ever done, hands down". Once the label and management heard the resulting recording, they were displeased with it. The members of Nirvana had mixed feelings as well: Cobain said afterward that the first time he played it at home, "I got no emotion from it", and considered re-recording the songs with more radio-friendly production. However, a month later, having listened to it more and played it for friends, he felt that it was "exactly the kind of record I would buy as a fan". The band did collectively decide that the vocals and bass were too low in the mix. They asked Albini to remix the album, but he refused, as he was happy with the results and feared that the process would lead to "a spiral of recriminations and remixes" among himself, the band and the record company. During the remastering process, engineer Bob Ludwig raised the volume of the vocals and sharpened the bass guitar sound. Additionally, R.E.M. producer Scott Litt was brought in to remix several of the songs. The final album was a critical and commercial success, and remains strongly associated with Albini, despite Albini's contention that the finished album "doesn't sound all that much like the record that was made". Asked about In Utero in 2004, Albini stated that the record label was responsible for the difficulties that marred the trajectory of the album. According to Albini, In Utero made him unpopular with major record labels, and he faced problems finding work in the year following. Electrical Audio Albini bought Electrical Audio, his personal recording studio, in 1995. The impetus for the move to his own studio was the lack of privacy for Albini and his wife. His former studio was in their house, eventually taking over almost all the rooms, with the exception of the bedroom. Before Electrical Audio, Albini had a studio in the basement of another personal residence. Musician Robbie Fulks recalls the hassle of "running up two flights of stairs all the time from the tracking room" to where Albini was. Albini does not receive royalties for anything he records or mixes at his own facility, unlike many other engineer/record producers with his experience and prominence. At Electrical Audio in 2004, Albini earned a daily fee of US$750 for engineering work, and drew a salary of US$24,000 a year. Azerrad referred to Albini's rates in 2001 as among the most affordable for a world-class recording studio. Following the completion of the studio's construction, Albini initially charged only for his time, allowing his friends or musicians he respected—who were willing to engineer their own recording sessions and purchase their own magnetic tape—to use his studio free. In a 2004 lecture, Albini stated that he always deals with bands directly at Electrical Audio, and answers the phone himself in the studio. Musical influences Albini mentioned his liking for "good guitar", saying "good noise is like orgasm". He commented: "Anybody can play notes. There's no trick. What is a trick and a good one is to make a guitar do things that don't sound like a guitar at all. The point here is stretching the boundaries." Albini has praised guitarists including Andy Gill of Gang of Four, Rowland S. Howard of Birthday Party, John McKay of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd, Steve Diggle and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks, Ron Asheton of the Stooges, Paul Fox of the Ruts, Link Wray, Greg Ginn of Black Flag, Lyle Preslar of Minor Threat, John McGeoch of Magazine and the Banshees, and Tom Verlaine of Television. Albini praised Andy Gill's guitar tone on Gang of Four's Entertainment!, stating: "[he] makes six strings produce more beautiful, broken noise than anybody". He praised John McKay for his work on Siouxsie and the Banshees's The Scream, saying "only now people are trying to copy it, and even now nobody understands how that guitar player got all that pointless noise to stick together as songs". Albini cited Ron Asheton because "he made great squealy death noise feedback". He also described John McGeoch's guitar playing as "great choral swells, great scratches and buzzes, [and] great dissonant noise". He admired Tom Verlaine for his ability to "twist almost any conceivable sound out of a guitar". Views Music industry Albini's opinions on the music industry, as well as on trends in indie music, have received considerable exposure. His most famous piece is the essay "The Problem with Music", which was first published in the December 1993 issue of art and criticism journal The Baffler. The essay criticizes the music industry, and specifically the major record labels of the time, for financially exploiting and deceiving their artists. In the essay's longest section, Albini runs a financial breakdown to show how a hypothetical band which sells 250,000 copies of their major-label debut album could end up making only "about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11" from the album, due to all the expenditures the label makes, ostensibly on their behalf. At a 2004 Middle Tennessee State University presentation, Albini reaffirmed his perspective on major labels, explaining that he was opposed to any form of human exploitation. In November 2014, Albini delivered the keynote speech at the Face the Music conference in Melbourne, Australia, where he discussed the evolution of the music scene and industry since he started making music in the late 1970s. He described the pre-internet corporate music industry as "a system that ensured waste by rewarding the most profligate spendthrifts in a system specifically engineered to waste the band's money," which aimed to perpetuate its structures and business arrangements while preventing bands (except for "monumental stars") from earning a living. He contrasted it with the independent scene, which encouraged resourcefulness and established an alternative network of clubs, promoters, fanzines, DJs and labels, and allowed musicians to make a reasonable income due to the system's greater efficiency. Music production Albini is a supporter of analog recording over digital, as can be evidenced by a 1987 quote on the back cover of the CD version of Big Black's Songs About Fucking: "The future belongs to the analog loyalists. Fuck digital." He has maintained his support for analog recording, stating in a 2013 interview that using digital files as audio masters is "irresponsible", because such files will "eventually disappear or become unusable". In the essay "The Problem with Music", Albini also criticized music producers who lack a solid understanding of music engineering, and thus latch on to whatever is trendy at the moment, such as Pultec equalizers or compression (which he wrote "makes everything sound like a beer commercial"). He criticized producers who put vocals in the mix much higher than everything else in order to "sound more like the Beatles". He also wrote that when he hears producers and engineers use "meaningless" words like "punchy" and "warm", he feels the need to "throttle somebody." Asked about these statements in a 2018 interview, Albini stated that, given the reduction in the power of record labels over the previous 25 years, the prevalence of producers who are there only to exert artistic control over the recording had dropped significantly. He also noted that digital recording had enabled many more people to "do productive work" as audio engineers, while noting that he himself was sticking with analog recording. Music streaming Albini was asked about file sharing in June 2014 and he clarified that, while he does not believe that the technological development is the "best thing" for the music industry, he does not identify with the music industry. He considers "the community, the band, the musician" as his peers, and is pleased that musicians can "get their music out to the world at no cost instantly". As part of the Face the Music speech, Albini noted that both the corporate and independent industry models had been damaged by internet file sharing; however, he praised the spread of free music as being a "fantastic development", which allowed previously ignored music and bands to find an audience (citing the protopunk band Death as one example); the use of the internet as a distribution channel for music to be heard worldwide; and the increasing affordability of recording equipment, all of which allow bands to circumvent the traditional recording industry. Albini also argued that the increased availability of recorded music stimulates demand for live music, boosting bands' income. Albini critiqued Jay Z's subscription-only, lossless audio streaming service Tidal in an April 2015 interview with Vulture.com, arguing that streaming services would eventually be usurped by a more convenient technology, that convenience would trump sound quality in streaming, and that audiophiles would prefer vinyl to streaming. He made the point that the internet has a history "of breaking limitations placed on its content" by making paid-for products freely available. Music journalism In 1983, Albini wrote for Matter, a monthly new US music magazine appeared at the time in Chicago. He wrote in each issue a chronicle called "Tired of Ugly Fat?", and also contributed articles such as "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows For Sure". In 1994, Albini wrote a famous letter to music critic Bill Wyman (not to be confused with rock musician Bill Wyman), which was published in the Chicago Reader, calling Wyman a "music press stooge" for having championed three Chicago-based music acts whom Albini labeled as "frauds": Liz Phair, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Urge Overkill. While in Australia in November 2014, Albini spoke with national radio station Double J and stated that, while the state of the music industry is healthy in his view, the industry of music journalism is in crisis. Albini used the example of the media spotlight that he received after criticizing Amanda Palmer for not paying her musicians after receiving over $1 million on Kickstarter to release her 2012 album Theatre Is Evil, stating: "I don't think I was wrong but I also don't think that it was that big of a deal." He described the music media as "superficial" and composed of "copy paste bullshit." Albini has frequently stated his dislike for pop music, and in a 2015 interview told 2SER Sydney that "pop music is for children and idiots". Media appearances Albini is featured in the first episode of the 2014 documentary miniseries Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, "Chicago", in which Albini is shown talking about being a producer, as well as recording the Foo Fighters song "Something from Nothing". He has appeared in a number of documentary films and videos about the making of various albums that he has produced, including Josephine by Magnolia Electric Co. (2009), This Is Nowhere by Malojian (2016), Carrier Wave by Porcupine (2019) and In Bed with Medusa by Medusa (2020). Rock vs. Cancer, a 2018 short documentary about the making of the 2012 album The Strain by Teeth, additionally features Albini as the narrator. Albini was a guest on the audio podcast WTF with Marc Maron in 2015. The 2019 short documentary Albini Cashes In, part of the Stories from the Felt series for the streaming service PokerGO, is about Albini's 2018 World Series of Poker win. Other activities Albini began a cooking and food blog, titled "Mariobatalivoice: What I made Heather for dinner", in March 2011. Albini is an avid poker player and ranked in 12th place at the 2013 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Seniors Championship. Albini won his first WSOP Gold Bracelet at the $1500 Seven-Card Stud at 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP); he beat out Jeff Lisandro to win $105,629. Albini also regularly engages in public-speaking appointments for the audio industry. Personal life Albini is married to film director Heather Whinna and they work and live in Chicago. His right leg is slightly deformed as a result of a car accident when he was 18. In 2010, he revealed that he is not an avid consumer of media and watches a lot of cat videos on YouTube, while avoiding feature films. Albini called himself an atheist in a 2011 interview. Discography Works or publications "Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows for Sure" Article for Matter on Hüsker Dü, published September 1983. "I'll Rap Your head With A Rachet" Letter written by Steve Albini to Nirvana in 1992, outlining his working philosophy "Ask a music scene micro celebrity" Steve Albini answers questions about bands and music on a poker forum, The 2+2 Forums, July 7, 2007. "I am Steve Albini, ask me anything" reddit IAmA, May 8, 2012; accessed June 21, 2015. "Steve Albini talks to LISTEN: "I try to be an ally in feminism"" Interview in LISTEN, May 2, 2016; accessed August 16, 2016. References Further reading Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001; Cameron, Keith. "This Is Pop," MOJO magazine, Issue 90, May 2001. King, Braden. Looking for a Thrill: An Anthology of Inspiration. Chicago, IL: Thrill Jockey, 2005. (DVD) External links Electrical Audio official website 1961 births Living people American audio engineers American atheists American male singer-songwriters American music journalists American poker players Alternative rock guitarists Noise rock musicians Post-hardcore musicians American writers of Italian descent Medill School of Journalism alumni Big Black members Singers from Chicago Musicians from Missoula, Montana Writers from Pasadena, California Pigface members Writers from Evanston, Illinois Musicians from Pasadena, California Musicians from Evanston, Illinois Journalists from Montana Guitarists from California Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Montana Record producers from Montana Record producers from Illinois Record producers from California Rapeman members Shellac (band) members 20th-century American guitarists World Series of Poker bracelet winners American male non-fiction writers American male guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American punk rock singers American punk rock guitarists American punk rock bass guitarists American post-punk musicians American bloggers Singer-songwriters from Illinois Singer-songwriters from California	false	[ "Hảo Sơn Village lies in Gio An Commune 8 km from Gio Linh town, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam.\nIts economy depends on agriculture. Agricultural products are rice, sweet potato, manioc, pepper, rubber, and watercress, the most important crop.\n\nThere are four ancient wells here. Those are Gai Well (Ramie Well), Ong well (Men Well), Ba Well (Women Well) and Tep Well (Tiny Shrimp Well). They were built between 10th and 5th century B.C. during the Champa period. They are main irrigation systems for almost all of the communes in the western region of Gio Linh district. Currently, they are recognized as a national cultural heritage.\n\nReferences\n\nPopulated places in Quảng Trị province", "Takabara was a unit in the Persian Achaemenid army. They appear in some references related to the Greco-Persian wars, but little is known about them. According to Greek sources they were a tough type of peltasts. Takabara nevertheless were more garrison warriors than front line fighters as proved against the well-armed Hoplites of Greece where they were easily defeated in hand to hand conflict. They tended to fight with their own native weapons which would have included a crescent-shaped light wickerwork shield and a type of light-axe called the Sagaris as well as light linen cloth and leather. The Takabara were recruited from territories that incorporated modern Iraq and parts of Iran.\n\nReferences\n\nMilitary units and formations of the Achaemenid Empire" ]
[ "Visage (band)", "Second incarnation (2004-2010)" ]	C_71bbcbb7b4dd428e9c33da2c2fc99259_1	When was Visage formed?	1	When was Visage band formed?	Visage (band)	Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction and other personal problems. He performed several Visage songs on the Here and Now Xmas Tour - a revival of 1980s pop acts. Some time after the performance, Strange decided to create a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record made slow progress. An updated version of "Fade to Grey" was produced in 2005. In 2006, Strange also collaborated with the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck and provided vocals on the track "In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The first Visage mk II track was released in 2007, entitled "Diary of a Madman". Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need. However, no further new material surfaced from this line-up. The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live. In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub. In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focused (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey". In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes were included on a new compilation album, The Face - The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010. CANNOTANSWER	2002,	Visage were a British synthpop band, formed in London in 1978. The band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their hit "Fade to Grey" which was released in late 1980. In the UK, the band achieved two Top 20 albums (Visage and The Anvil) and five Top 30 singles before the commercial failure of their third album (Beat Boy) led to their break-up in 1985. The band has seen various line-up changes over the years, all fronted by vocalist Steve Strange, who resurrected the band name in the 2000s. In 2013, the most recent line-up of the band released Hearts and Knives, the first new Visage album in 29 years. The band's fifth and final album, Demons to Diamonds, was released in 2015, nine months after Strange had died following a heart attack. History First incarnation (1978–1985) Founding members Midge Ure and Rusty Egan started working on Visage to produce music to play at the clubs Egan was DJing at. Egan alongside Steve Strange was hosting David Bowie and Roxy Music club nights at Billy's nightclub in London's Soho district at the time and Egan was eager to find new music to play, ultimately opting to create music himself with Ure. Steve Strange had briefly been in the punk/new wave bands The Moors Murderers and The Photons, and Egan was working with Midge Ure in the band The Rich Kids. Ure and Egan recorded a demo which included the original track "The Dancer" of which a version appeared on the debut Visage album and a cover of the Zager and Evans hit "In the Year 2525". Strange was then brought into the band to provide the face and voice of Visage with the line-up being completed with the addition of Ultravox keyboardist Billy Currie and three-fifths of the post-punk band Magazine – guitarist John McGeoch, keyboardist Dave Formula and bassist Barry Adamson (who left the band after playing on its debut single, but returned as a session musician). Producer Martin Rushent had heard some of the band's material at Billy's nightclub and financed further recordings with a view to signing the band to his new Genetic Records label. Visage recorded their first album at Rushent's home studio in Berkshire, but Rushent's label collapsed, and the band instead signed to Radar Records, a new independent label run by Rushent's former colleague Martin Davis (the pair had worked together at United Artists Records). Visage released their first single "Tar" on Radar in September 1979, though the single failed to chart. By this time, however, Strange and Egan had relocated their themed club nights to the Blitz club in Covent Garden and the New Romantic movement had begun in earnest. In mid-1980, David Bowie himself visited the club and asked Strange and three other regulars to appear in the video for his single "Ashes to Ashes", which helped to propel the New Romantic movement into the mainstream. Although Visage's self-titled debut album had been completed for several months, it was not released until November 1980 when the band was now signed to the major label Polydor Records. The band's second single, "Fade to Grey", was released at the same time. The single became a hit in early 1981, making the top ten in the UK Singles Chart and several other countries, and reaching no. 1 in Germany and Switzerland. The album also became a Top 20 hit in the UK and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. After further hits with the singles "Mind of a Toy" and the title track "Visage", Strange struggled to reunite the band's members again to record a second album due to their commitments with their respective bands; Ure had now joined Currie in Ultravox, Formula and Adamson with Magazine and McGeoch had joined Siouxsie and the Banshees. Nonetheless, in the autumn of 1981, Visage went into the studio and recorded The Anvil as a five-piece band without McGeoch and only limited guest work from Adamson. The album, which was named after an infamous gay nightclub in New York City, was released in March 1982 and became the band's only Top 10 hit in the UK Albums Chart, producing two top-twenty singles with "The Damned Don't Cry" and "Night Train". Like their first album, The Anvil earned a Silver disc in the UK. Following this, Ure quit from Visage to concentrate on his work with Ultravox, who were now even more successful than Visage. Creative differences with Strange and Egan were also cited as reasons for his departure at the time. Visage were now without Ure, McGeoch and Adamson, who went on to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Bassist Steve Barnacle was recruited to replace Adamson, and the remaining lineup recorded the stand-alone single "Pleasure Boys", which was released in October 1982. The single failed to prolong their string of hits and peaked just outside the UK Top 40. Although still recording, Visage then took a two-year hiatus from releasing any new material due to contractual difficulties with their management company. Polydor issued a "best of" compilation, Fade to Grey – The Singles Collection, which included all of the singles released to date and the previously unreleased "In the Year 2525". Although the album was certified Gold in the UK for pre-release sales to stores, it only peaked at No. 38 in the UK Albums Chart after its release in November 1983. In 1984, with their contractual problems resolved, Visage returned with their third album, Beat Boy. Released in October 1984, the album was a critical and commercial failure, peaking at No. 79 in the UK. Two singles from the album, "Love Glove" and "Beat Boy", also failed to make the UK top 40. By this time, Billy Currie and Dave Formula had also left the band (though they received a "special thanks" credit on the album sleeve for their input), leaving only Strange and Egan from the original line-up along with Steve Barnacle and new recruits Gary Barnacle (Steve Barnacle's brother) and Andy Barnett who also was a member of FM and ASAP. A decision to make Visage a live band instead of a strictly studio-based project also failed to meet with success and the band split in 1985. Their final release was a Visage video compilation of the band's renowned promotional videos and other footage, including Strange's 1983 trip to North Africa. The compilation does not, however, include the original video for the "Love Glove" single which was filmed at a late-night Dockland location in London in 1984. Following the demise of Visage, Strange and Barnacle then formed the short-lived band Strange Cruise, though this too proved unsuccessful. Visage returned to the charts once more when a Bassheads remix of "Fade to Grey" was a UK Top 40 hit in 1993. Second incarnation (2002–2011) Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction and other personal problems. He performed several Visage songs on the Here and Now Xmas Tour – a revival of 1980s pop acts. Some time after the performance, Strange decided to create a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record made slow progress. An updated version of "Fade to Grey" was produced in 2005. In 2006, Strange also collaborated with the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck and provided vocals on the track "In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The first Visage mk II track was released in 2007, entitled "Diary of a Madman". Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need. However, no further new material surfaced from this line-up. The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live. In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub. In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focused (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey". In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes were included on a new compilation album, The Face – The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010. Final incarnation (2012–2015) On 8 January 2013, Strange appeared as a guest on the Channel 4 News programme to discuss the forthcoming David Bowie album The Next Day. During the interview he mentioned that a new Visage album was also due for release in Spring 2013. Also on 8 January 2013, Visage launched their new website, Twitter, Facebook and Soundcloud accounts and announced their new line-up, consisting of Steve Strange, former Visage bassist Steve Barnacle, former Ultravox guitarist Robin Simon, and Lauren Duvall on vocals. A single from the album, "Shameless Fashion", was made available as a free download from the band's Facebook page, and a physical CD-single was released on 6 May 2013. The band's new album, Hearts and Knives, was released on 20 May 2013. A second single from the album, "Dreamer I Know", was released in July 2013, and a third single, "Never Enough", was released in December. Throughout the second half of 2013, the band also embarked on a series of live dates in the UK and Europe. "Hidden Sign" was the fourth single to be taken from Hearts and Knives, released in May 2014 and "She's Electric (Coming Around)" was released as the fifth and final single in August 2014. In December 2014, Visage released Orchestral, a mostly live album containing twelve Visage songs remade with a symphony orchestra. A single of the orchestral version of "Fade To Grey" was released ahead of the album in November 2014. On 12 February 2015, frontman Steve Strange died of a heart attack while on holiday in Egypt. While Strange's death ultimately meant the end of Visage, the band opted to complete the album they had already been working on with Strange prior to his death. On 2 September 2015, an organisation known as The Steve Strange Collective was announced. Run by Strange's friends and relatives, they oversaw the release of the final Visage album, Demons to Diamonds, which was released on 6 November 2015. Former members Steve Strange – lead vocals (1978–1985, 2002–2015; his death) Rusty Egan – drums, percussion (1978–1985) Midge Ure – guitar, synthesisers (1978–1982) Billy Currie – keyboards, synthesiser, violin (1978–1984) Dave Formula – keyboards, synthesiser (1978–1984) John McGeoch – guitar, saxophone (1978–1981; died 2004) Barry Adamson – bass (1978–1979) Steve Barnacle – bass (1982–1985, 2012–2015) Gary Barnacle – saxophone (1984–1985) Andy Barnett – guitar (1984–1985) Sandrine Gouriou – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2002–2010) Rosie Harris – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2002–2010) Ross Tregenza – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2004–2010) Steven Young – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2004–2010) Lauren Duvall – keyboards, synthesizer, vocals (2012–2015) Robin Simon – guitar (2012–2015) Discography Studio albums Visage (1980) The Anvil (1982) Beat Boy (1984) Hearts and Knives (2013) Demons to Diamonds (2015) References External links Artist information/discography page at CyberNoise British synth-pop new wave groups English new wave musical groups English synth-pop groups Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Musical groups reestablished in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups reestablished in 2012 Musical groups disestablished in 2015 Musical groups from London Polydor Records artists Radar Records artists	true	[ "The discography of the British new wave band Visage consists of five studio albums, six compilation albums (including an E.P.) and numerous singles. Formed in 1978, the band released their first single \"Tar\" on the short-lived Radar Records label in 1979, before signing to Polydor Records in 1980. Their second single, \"Fade To Grey\", was released soon afterwards and became an international hit. After three studio albums and several personnel changes, the group disbanded in 1985 though a new line-up emerged in the 2000s, again led by vocalist Steve Strange. In 2013, the band released a new album, Hearts and Knives, the first new Visage album for 29 years. The following year, the band released Orchestral, a partly live album featuring various classic Visage songs remade with a symphony orchestra. The band's final studio album, Demons to Diamonds, was released in November 2015 (released posthumously following Strange's death in February that year).\n\nStudio albums\n\nCompilation albums\n\nLive/Remix albums\n\nSingles\n\nFootnotes\n – \"Moon Over Moscow\" and \"Whispers\" were released as singles only in Japan.\n – A remix of \"The Anvil\" was released as the B-side of the \"Pleasure Boys\" single, but became a popular dancefloor track in 1982. A single-sided 7\" single was pressed (believed to be either a promo or a test pressing, as it had the same catalogue number as \"Pleasure Boys\" (POSP 523), and a German-language version, \"Der Amboss\", was released as a 12\" promo (POSPV 523).\n\nVideo albums\n 1986: Visage\n\nMusic videos\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Visage on AllMusic\n Visage on Discogs\n\nDiscographies of British artists\nPop music group discographies\nNew wave discographies", "Visage is an extinct town in Towns County, in the U.S. state of Georgia.\n\nHistory\nA post office called Visage was established in 1875, and remained in operation until 1913. The community most likely was named after William Visage, a pioneer settler.\n\nReferences\n\nGeography of Towns County, Georgia\nGhost towns in Georgia (U.S. state)" ]
[ "Visage (band)", "Second incarnation (2004-2010)", "When was Visage formed?", "2002," ]	C_71bbcbb7b4dd428e9c33da2c2fc99259_1	What happened in 2004?	2	What happened in 2004 to Visage band?	Visage (band)	Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction and other personal problems. He performed several Visage songs on the Here and Now Xmas Tour - a revival of 1980s pop acts. Some time after the performance, Strange decided to create a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record made slow progress. An updated version of "Fade to Grey" was produced in 2005. In 2006, Strange also collaborated with the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck and provided vocals on the track "In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The first Visage mk II track was released in 2007, entitled "Diary of a Madman". Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need. However, no further new material surfaced from this line-up. The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live. In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub. In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focused (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey". In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes were included on a new compilation album, The Face - The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Visage were a British synthpop band, formed in London in 1978. The band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their hit "Fade to Grey" which was released in late 1980. In the UK, the band achieved two Top 20 albums (Visage and The Anvil) and five Top 30 singles before the commercial failure of their third album (Beat Boy) led to their break-up in 1985. The band has seen various line-up changes over the years, all fronted by vocalist Steve Strange, who resurrected the band name in the 2000s. In 2013, the most recent line-up of the band released Hearts and Knives, the first new Visage album in 29 years. The band's fifth and final album, Demons to Diamonds, was released in 2015, nine months after Strange had died following a heart attack. History First incarnation (1978–1985) Founding members Midge Ure and Rusty Egan started working on Visage to produce music to play at the clubs Egan was DJing at. Egan alongside Steve Strange was hosting David Bowie and Roxy Music club nights at Billy's nightclub in London's Soho district at the time and Egan was eager to find new music to play, ultimately opting to create music himself with Ure. Steve Strange had briefly been in the punk/new wave bands The Moors Murderers and The Photons, and Egan was working with Midge Ure in the band The Rich Kids. Ure and Egan recorded a demo which included the original track "The Dancer" of which a version appeared on the debut Visage album and a cover of the Zager and Evans hit "In the Year 2525". Strange was then brought into the band to provide the face and voice of Visage with the line-up being completed with the addition of Ultravox keyboardist Billy Currie and three-fifths of the post-punk band Magazine – guitarist John McGeoch, keyboardist Dave Formula and bassist Barry Adamson (who left the band after playing on its debut single, but returned as a session musician). Producer Martin Rushent had heard some of the band's material at Billy's nightclub and financed further recordings with a view to signing the band to his new Genetic Records label. Visage recorded their first album at Rushent's home studio in Berkshire, but Rushent's label collapsed, and the band instead signed to Radar Records, a new independent label run by Rushent's former colleague Martin Davis (the pair had worked together at United Artists Records). Visage released their first single "Tar" on Radar in September 1979, though the single failed to chart. By this time, however, Strange and Egan had relocated their themed club nights to the Blitz club in Covent Garden and the New Romantic movement had begun in earnest. In mid-1980, David Bowie himself visited the club and asked Strange and three other regulars to appear in the video for his single "Ashes to Ashes", which helped to propel the New Romantic movement into the mainstream. Although Visage's self-titled debut album had been completed for several months, it was not released until November 1980 when the band was now signed to the major label Polydor Records. The band's second single, "Fade to Grey", was released at the same time. The single became a hit in early 1981, making the top ten in the UK Singles Chart and several other countries, and reaching no. 1 in Germany and Switzerland. The album also became a Top 20 hit in the UK and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. After further hits with the singles "Mind of a Toy" and the title track "Visage", Strange struggled to reunite the band's members again to record a second album due to their commitments with their respective bands; Ure had now joined Currie in Ultravox, Formula and Adamson with Magazine and McGeoch had joined Siouxsie and the Banshees. Nonetheless, in the autumn of 1981, Visage went into the studio and recorded The Anvil as a five-piece band without McGeoch and only limited guest work from Adamson. The album, which was named after an infamous gay nightclub in New York City, was released in March 1982 and became the band's only Top 10 hit in the UK Albums Chart, producing two top-twenty singles with "The Damned Don't Cry" and "Night Train". Like their first album, The Anvil earned a Silver disc in the UK. Following this, Ure quit from Visage to concentrate on his work with Ultravox, who were now even more successful than Visage. Creative differences with Strange and Egan were also cited as reasons for his departure at the time. Visage were now without Ure, McGeoch and Adamson, who went on to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Bassist Steve Barnacle was recruited to replace Adamson, and the remaining lineup recorded the stand-alone single "Pleasure Boys", which was released in October 1982. The single failed to prolong their string of hits and peaked just outside the UK Top 40. Although still recording, Visage then took a two-year hiatus from releasing any new material due to contractual difficulties with their management company. Polydor issued a "best of" compilation, Fade to Grey – The Singles Collection, which included all of the singles released to date and the previously unreleased "In the Year 2525". Although the album was certified Gold in the UK for pre-release sales to stores, it only peaked at No. 38 in the UK Albums Chart after its release in November 1983. In 1984, with their contractual problems resolved, Visage returned with their third album, Beat Boy. Released in October 1984, the album was a critical and commercial failure, peaking at No. 79 in the UK. Two singles from the album, "Love Glove" and "Beat Boy", also failed to make the UK top 40. By this time, Billy Currie and Dave Formula had also left the band (though they received a "special thanks" credit on the album sleeve for their input), leaving only Strange and Egan from the original line-up along with Steve Barnacle and new recruits Gary Barnacle (Steve Barnacle's brother) and Andy Barnett who also was a member of FM and ASAP. A decision to make Visage a live band instead of a strictly studio-based project also failed to meet with success and the band split in 1985. Their final release was a Visage video compilation of the band's renowned promotional videos and other footage, including Strange's 1983 trip to North Africa. The compilation does not, however, include the original video for the "Love Glove" single which was filmed at a late-night Dockland location in London in 1984. Following the demise of Visage, Strange and Barnacle then formed the short-lived band Strange Cruise, though this too proved unsuccessful. Visage returned to the charts once more when a Bassheads remix of "Fade to Grey" was a UK Top 40 hit in 1993. Second incarnation (2002–2011) Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction and other personal problems. He performed several Visage songs on the Here and Now Xmas Tour – a revival of 1980s pop acts. Some time after the performance, Strange decided to create a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record made slow progress. An updated version of "Fade to Grey" was produced in 2005. In 2006, Strange also collaborated with the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck and provided vocals on the track "In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The first Visage mk II track was released in 2007, entitled "Diary of a Madman". Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need. However, no further new material surfaced from this line-up. The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live. In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub. In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focused (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey". In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes were included on a new compilation album, The Face – The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010. Final incarnation (2012–2015) On 8 January 2013, Strange appeared as a guest on the Channel 4 News programme to discuss the forthcoming David Bowie album The Next Day. During the interview he mentioned that a new Visage album was also due for release in Spring 2013. Also on 8 January 2013, Visage launched their new website, Twitter, Facebook and Soundcloud accounts and announced their new line-up, consisting of Steve Strange, former Visage bassist Steve Barnacle, former Ultravox guitarist Robin Simon, and Lauren Duvall on vocals. A single from the album, "Shameless Fashion", was made available as a free download from the band's Facebook page, and a physical CD-single was released on 6 May 2013. The band's new album, Hearts and Knives, was released on 20 May 2013. A second single from the album, "Dreamer I Know", was released in July 2013, and a third single, "Never Enough", was released in December. Throughout the second half of 2013, the band also embarked on a series of live dates in the UK and Europe. "Hidden Sign" was the fourth single to be taken from Hearts and Knives, released in May 2014 and "She's Electric (Coming Around)" was released as the fifth and final single in August 2014. In December 2014, Visage released Orchestral, a mostly live album containing twelve Visage songs remade with a symphony orchestra. A single of the orchestral version of "Fade To Grey" was released ahead of the album in November 2014. On 12 February 2015, frontman Steve Strange died of a heart attack while on holiday in Egypt. While Strange's death ultimately meant the end of Visage, the band opted to complete the album they had already been working on with Strange prior to his death. On 2 September 2015, an organisation known as The Steve Strange Collective was announced. Run by Strange's friends and relatives, they oversaw the release of the final Visage album, Demons to Diamonds, which was released on 6 November 2015. Former members Steve Strange – lead vocals (1978–1985, 2002–2015; his death) Rusty Egan – drums, percussion (1978–1985) Midge Ure – guitar, synthesisers (1978–1982) Billy Currie – keyboards, synthesiser, violin (1978–1984) Dave Formula – keyboards, synthesiser (1978–1984) John McGeoch – guitar, saxophone (1978–1981; died 2004) Barry Adamson – bass (1978–1979) Steve Barnacle – bass (1982–1985, 2012–2015) Gary Barnacle – saxophone (1984–1985) Andy Barnett – guitar (1984–1985) Sandrine Gouriou – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2002–2010) Rosie Harris – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2002–2010) Ross Tregenza – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2004–2010) Steven Young – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2004–2010) Lauren Duvall – keyboards, synthesizer, vocals (2012–2015) Robin Simon – guitar (2012–2015) Discography Studio albums Visage (1980) The Anvil (1982) Beat Boy (1984) Hearts and Knives (2013) Demons to Diamonds (2015) References External links Artist information/discography page at CyberNoise British synth-pop new wave groups English new wave musical groups English synth-pop groups Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Musical groups reestablished in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups reestablished in 2012 Musical groups disestablished in 2015 Musical groups from London Polydor Records artists Radar Records artists	false	[ "Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books", "\"What Happened to Us\" is a song by Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy, featuring English recording artist Jay Sean. It was written by Sean, Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim and Israel Cruz. \"What Happened to Us\" was leaked online in October 2010, and was released on 10 March 2011, as the third single from Mauboy's second studio album, Get 'Em Girls (2010). The song received positive reviews from critics.\n\nA remix of \"What Happened to Us\" made by production team OFM, was released on 11 April 2011. A different version of the song which features Stan Walker, was released on 29 May 2011. \"What Happened to Us\" charted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 14 and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). An accompanying music video was directed by Mark Alston, and reminisces on a former relationship between Mauboy and Sean.\n\nProduction and release\n\n\"What Happened to Us\" was written by Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz and Jay Sean. It was produced by Skaller, Cruz, Rohaim and Bobby Bass. The song uses C, D, and B minor chords in the chorus. \"What Happened to Us\" was sent to contemporary hit radio in Australia on 14 February 2011. The cover art for the song was revealed on 22 February on Mauboy's official Facebook page. A CD release was available for purchase via her official website on 10 March, for one week only. It was released digitally the following day.\n\nReception\nMajhid Heath from ABC Online Indigenous called the song a \"Jordin Sparks-esque duet\", and wrote that it \"has a nice innocence to it that rings true to the experience of losing a first love.\" Chris Urankar from Nine to Five wrote that it as a \"mid-tempo duet ballad\" which signifies Mauboy's strength as a global player. On 21 March 2011, \"What Happened to Us\" debuted at number 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and peaked at number 14 the following week. The song was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for selling 70,000 copies. \"What Happened to Us\" spent a total of ten weeks in the ARIA top fifty.\n\nMusic video\n\nBackground\nThe music video for the song was shot in the Elizabeth Bay House in Sydney on 26 November 2010. The video was shot during Sean's visit to Australia for the Summerbeatz tour. During an interview with The Daily Telegraph while on the set of the video, Sean said \"the song is sick! ... Jessica's voice is amazing and we're shooting [the video] in this ridiculously beautiful mansion overlooking the harbour.\" The video was directed by Mark Alston, who had previously directed the video for Mauboy's single \"Let Me Be Me\" (2009). It premiered on YouTube on 10 February 2011.\n\nSynopsis and reception\nThe video begins showing Mauboy who appears to be sitting on a yellow antique couch in a mansion, wearing a purple dress. As the video progresses, scenes of memories are displayed of Mauboy and her love interest, played by Sean, spending time there previously. It then cuts to the scenes where Sean appears in the main entrance room of the mansion. The final scene shows Mauboy outdoors in a gold dress, surrounded by green grass and trees. She is later joined by Sean who appears in a black suit and a white shirt, and together they sing the chorus of the song to each other. David Lim of Feed Limmy wrote that the video is \"easily the best thing our R&B princess has committed to film – ever\" and praised the \"mansion and wondrous interior décor\". He also commended Mauboy for choosing Australian talent to direct the video instead of American directors, which she had used for her previous two music videos. Since its release, the video has received over two million views on Vevo.\n\nLive performances\nMauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" live for the first time during her YouTube Live Sessions program on 4 December 2010. She also appeared on Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight on 23 February 2011 for an interview and later performed the song. On 15 March 2011, Mauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Sunrise. She also performed the song with Stan Walker during the Australian leg of Chris Brown's F.A.M.E. Tour in April 2011. Mauboy and Walker later performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Dancing with the Stars Australia on 29 May 2011. From November 2013 to February 2014, \"What Happened to Us\" was part of the set list of the To the End of the Earth Tour, Mauboy's second headlining tour of Australia, with Nathaniel Willemse singing Sean's part.\n\nTrack listing\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Just Witness Remix) – 3:45\n\nCD single\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Album Version) – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:39\n\nDigital download – Remix\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:38\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Stan Walker – 3:20\n\nPersonnel\nSongwriting – Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz, Jay Sean\nProduction – Jeremy Skaller, Bobby Bass\nAdditional production – Israel Cruz, Khaled Rohaim\nLead vocals – Jessica Mauboy, Jay Sean\nMixing – Phil Tan\nAdditional mixing – Damien Lewis\nMastering – Tom Coyne \nSource:\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly chart\n\nYear-end chart\n\nCertification\n\nRadio dates and release history\n\nReferences\n\n2010 songs\n2011 singles\nJessica Mauboy songs\nJay Sean songs\nSongs written by Billy Steinberg\nSongs written by Jay Sean\nSongs written by Josh Alexander\nSongs written by Israel Cruz\nVocal duets\nSony Music Australia singles\nSongs written by Khaled Rohaim" ]
[ "Visage (band)", "Second incarnation (2004-2010)", "When was Visage formed?", "2002,", "What happened in 2004?", "I don't know." ]	C_71bbcbb7b4dd428e9c33da2c2fc99259_1	What can you tell me about the bands second incarnation?	3	What can you tell me about the Visage band second incarnation?	Visage (band)	Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction and other personal problems. He performed several Visage songs on the Here and Now Xmas Tour - a revival of 1980s pop acts. Some time after the performance, Strange decided to create a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record made slow progress. An updated version of "Fade to Grey" was produced in 2005. In 2006, Strange also collaborated with the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck and provided vocals on the track "In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The first Visage mk II track was released in 2007, entitled "Diary of a Madman". Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need. However, no further new material surfaced from this line-up. The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live. In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub. In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focused (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey". In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes were included on a new compilation album, The Face - The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010. CANNOTANSWER	"In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album	Visage were a British synthpop band, formed in London in 1978. The band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their hit "Fade to Grey" which was released in late 1980. In the UK, the band achieved two Top 20 albums (Visage and The Anvil) and five Top 30 singles before the commercial failure of their third album (Beat Boy) led to their break-up in 1985. The band has seen various line-up changes over the years, all fronted by vocalist Steve Strange, who resurrected the band name in the 2000s. In 2013, the most recent line-up of the band released Hearts and Knives, the first new Visage album in 29 years. The band's fifth and final album, Demons to Diamonds, was released in 2015, nine months after Strange had died following a heart attack. History First incarnation (1978–1985) Founding members Midge Ure and Rusty Egan started working on Visage to produce music to play at the clubs Egan was DJing at. Egan alongside Steve Strange was hosting David Bowie and Roxy Music club nights at Billy's nightclub in London's Soho district at the time and Egan was eager to find new music to play, ultimately opting to create music himself with Ure. Steve Strange had briefly been in the punk/new wave bands The Moors Murderers and The Photons, and Egan was working with Midge Ure in the band The Rich Kids. Ure and Egan recorded a demo which included the original track "The Dancer" of which a version appeared on the debut Visage album and a cover of the Zager and Evans hit "In the Year 2525". Strange was then brought into the band to provide the face and voice of Visage with the line-up being completed with the addition of Ultravox keyboardist Billy Currie and three-fifths of the post-punk band Magazine – guitarist John McGeoch, keyboardist Dave Formula and bassist Barry Adamson (who left the band after playing on its debut single, but returned as a session musician). Producer Martin Rushent had heard some of the band's material at Billy's nightclub and financed further recordings with a view to signing the band to his new Genetic Records label. Visage recorded their first album at Rushent's home studio in Berkshire, but Rushent's label collapsed, and the band instead signed to Radar Records, a new independent label run by Rushent's former colleague Martin Davis (the pair had worked together at United Artists Records). Visage released their first single "Tar" on Radar in September 1979, though the single failed to chart. By this time, however, Strange and Egan had relocated their themed club nights to the Blitz club in Covent Garden and the New Romantic movement had begun in earnest. In mid-1980, David Bowie himself visited the club and asked Strange and three other regulars to appear in the video for his single "Ashes to Ashes", which helped to propel the New Romantic movement into the mainstream. Although Visage's self-titled debut album had been completed for several months, it was not released until November 1980 when the band was now signed to the major label Polydor Records. The band's second single, "Fade to Grey", was released at the same time. The single became a hit in early 1981, making the top ten in the UK Singles Chart and several other countries, and reaching no. 1 in Germany and Switzerland. The album also became a Top 20 hit in the UK and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. After further hits with the singles "Mind of a Toy" and the title track "Visage", Strange struggled to reunite the band's members again to record a second album due to their commitments with their respective bands; Ure had now joined Currie in Ultravox, Formula and Adamson with Magazine and McGeoch had joined Siouxsie and the Banshees. Nonetheless, in the autumn of 1981, Visage went into the studio and recorded The Anvil as a five-piece band without McGeoch and only limited guest work from Adamson. The album, which was named after an infamous gay nightclub in New York City, was released in March 1982 and became the band's only Top 10 hit in the UK Albums Chart, producing two top-twenty singles with "The Damned Don't Cry" and "Night Train". Like their first album, The Anvil earned a Silver disc in the UK. Following this, Ure quit from Visage to concentrate on his work with Ultravox, who were now even more successful than Visage. Creative differences with Strange and Egan were also cited as reasons for his departure at the time. Visage were now without Ure, McGeoch and Adamson, who went on to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Bassist Steve Barnacle was recruited to replace Adamson, and the remaining lineup recorded the stand-alone single "Pleasure Boys", which was released in October 1982. The single failed to prolong their string of hits and peaked just outside the UK Top 40. Although still recording, Visage then took a two-year hiatus from releasing any new material due to contractual difficulties with their management company. Polydor issued a "best of" compilation, Fade to Grey – The Singles Collection, which included all of the singles released to date and the previously unreleased "In the Year 2525". Although the album was certified Gold in the UK for pre-release sales to stores, it only peaked at No. 38 in the UK Albums Chart after its release in November 1983. In 1984, with their contractual problems resolved, Visage returned with their third album, Beat Boy. Released in October 1984, the album was a critical and commercial failure, peaking at No. 79 in the UK. Two singles from the album, "Love Glove" and "Beat Boy", also failed to make the UK top 40. By this time, Billy Currie and Dave Formula had also left the band (though they received a "special thanks" credit on the album sleeve for their input), leaving only Strange and Egan from the original line-up along with Steve Barnacle and new recruits Gary Barnacle (Steve Barnacle's brother) and Andy Barnett who also was a member of FM and ASAP. A decision to make Visage a live band instead of a strictly studio-based project also failed to meet with success and the band split in 1985. Their final release was a Visage video compilation of the band's renowned promotional videos and other footage, including Strange's 1983 trip to North Africa. The compilation does not, however, include the original video for the "Love Glove" single which was filmed at a late-night Dockland location in London in 1984. Following the demise of Visage, Strange and Barnacle then formed the short-lived band Strange Cruise, though this too proved unsuccessful. Visage returned to the charts once more when a Bassheads remix of "Fade to Grey" was a UK Top 40 hit in 1993. Second incarnation (2002–2011) Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction and other personal problems. He performed several Visage songs on the Here and Now Xmas Tour – a revival of 1980s pop acts. Some time after the performance, Strange decided to create a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record made slow progress. An updated version of "Fade to Grey" was produced in 2005. In 2006, Strange also collaborated with the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck and provided vocals on the track "In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The first Visage mk II track was released in 2007, entitled "Diary of a Madman". Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need. However, no further new material surfaced from this line-up. The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live. In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub. In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focused (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey". In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes were included on a new compilation album, The Face – The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010. Final incarnation (2012–2015) On 8 January 2013, Strange appeared as a guest on the Channel 4 News programme to discuss the forthcoming David Bowie album The Next Day. During the interview he mentioned that a new Visage album was also due for release in Spring 2013. Also on 8 January 2013, Visage launched their new website, Twitter, Facebook and Soundcloud accounts and announced their new line-up, consisting of Steve Strange, former Visage bassist Steve Barnacle, former Ultravox guitarist Robin Simon, and Lauren Duvall on vocals. A single from the album, "Shameless Fashion", was made available as a free download from the band's Facebook page, and a physical CD-single was released on 6 May 2013. The band's new album, Hearts and Knives, was released on 20 May 2013. A second single from the album, "Dreamer I Know", was released in July 2013, and a third single, "Never Enough", was released in December. Throughout the second half of 2013, the band also embarked on a series of live dates in the UK and Europe. "Hidden Sign" was the fourth single to be taken from Hearts and Knives, released in May 2014 and "She's Electric (Coming Around)" was released as the fifth and final single in August 2014. In December 2014, Visage released Orchestral, a mostly live album containing twelve Visage songs remade with a symphony orchestra. A single of the orchestral version of "Fade To Grey" was released ahead of the album in November 2014. On 12 February 2015, frontman Steve Strange died of a heart attack while on holiday in Egypt. While Strange's death ultimately meant the end of Visage, the band opted to complete the album they had already been working on with Strange prior to his death. On 2 September 2015, an organisation known as The Steve Strange Collective was announced. Run by Strange's friends and relatives, they oversaw the release of the final Visage album, Demons to Diamonds, which was released on 6 November 2015. Former members Steve Strange – lead vocals (1978–1985, 2002–2015; his death) Rusty Egan – drums, percussion (1978–1985) Midge Ure – guitar, synthesisers (1978–1982) Billy Currie – keyboards, synthesiser, violin (1978–1984) Dave Formula – keyboards, synthesiser (1978–1984) John McGeoch – guitar, saxophone (1978–1981; died 2004) Barry Adamson – bass (1978–1979) Steve Barnacle – bass (1982–1985, 2012–2015) Gary Barnacle – saxophone (1984–1985) Andy Barnett – guitar (1984–1985) Sandrine Gouriou – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2002–2010) Rosie Harris – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2002–2010) Ross Tregenza – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2004–2010) Steven Young – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2004–2010) Lauren Duvall – keyboards, synthesizer, vocals (2012–2015) Robin Simon – guitar (2012–2015) Discography Studio albums Visage (1980) The Anvil (1982) Beat Boy (1984) Hearts and Knives (2013) Demons to Diamonds (2015) References External links Artist information/discography page at CyberNoise British synth-pop new wave groups English new wave musical groups English synth-pop groups Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Musical groups reestablished in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups reestablished in 2012 Musical groups disestablished in 2015 Musical groups from London Polydor Records artists Radar Records artists	true	[ "\"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", "\"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" ]
[ "Visage (band)", "Second incarnation (2004-2010)", "When was Visage formed?", "2002,", "What happened in 2004?", "I don't know.", "What can you tell me about the bands second incarnation?", "\"In the Dark\", which was included on the duo's debut double album" ]	C_71bbcbb7b4dd428e9c33da2c2fc99259_1	What was the name of the double album?	4	What was the name of the double album of Visage band?	Visage (band)	Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction and other personal problems. He performed several Visage songs on the Here and Now Xmas Tour - a revival of 1980s pop acts. Some time after the performance, Strange decided to create a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record made slow progress. An updated version of "Fade to Grey" was produced in 2005. In 2006, Strange also collaborated with the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck and provided vocals on the track "In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The first Visage mk II track was released in 2007, entitled "Diary of a Madman". Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need. However, no further new material surfaced from this line-up. The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live. In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub. In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focused (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey". In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes were included on a new compilation album, The Face - The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010. CANNOTANSWER	"In the Dark",	Visage were a British synthpop band, formed in London in 1978. The band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their hit "Fade to Grey" which was released in late 1980. In the UK, the band achieved two Top 20 albums (Visage and The Anvil) and five Top 30 singles before the commercial failure of their third album (Beat Boy) led to their break-up in 1985. The band has seen various line-up changes over the years, all fronted by vocalist Steve Strange, who resurrected the band name in the 2000s. In 2013, the most recent line-up of the band released Hearts and Knives, the first new Visage album in 29 years. The band's fifth and final album, Demons to Diamonds, was released in 2015, nine months after Strange had died following a heart attack. History First incarnation (1978–1985) Founding members Midge Ure and Rusty Egan started working on Visage to produce music to play at the clubs Egan was DJing at. Egan alongside Steve Strange was hosting David Bowie and Roxy Music club nights at Billy's nightclub in London's Soho district at the time and Egan was eager to find new music to play, ultimately opting to create music himself with Ure. Steve Strange had briefly been in the punk/new wave bands The Moors Murderers and The Photons, and Egan was working with Midge Ure in the band The Rich Kids. Ure and Egan recorded a demo which included the original track "The Dancer" of which a version appeared on the debut Visage album and a cover of the Zager and Evans hit "In the Year 2525". Strange was then brought into the band to provide the face and voice of Visage with the line-up being completed with the addition of Ultravox keyboardist Billy Currie and three-fifths of the post-punk band Magazine – guitarist John McGeoch, keyboardist Dave Formula and bassist Barry Adamson (who left the band after playing on its debut single, but returned as a session musician). Producer Martin Rushent had heard some of the band's material at Billy's nightclub and financed further recordings with a view to signing the band to his new Genetic Records label. Visage recorded their first album at Rushent's home studio in Berkshire, but Rushent's label collapsed, and the band instead signed to Radar Records, a new independent label run by Rushent's former colleague Martin Davis (the pair had worked together at United Artists Records). Visage released their first single "Tar" on Radar in September 1979, though the single failed to chart. By this time, however, Strange and Egan had relocated their themed club nights to the Blitz club in Covent Garden and the New Romantic movement had begun in earnest. In mid-1980, David Bowie himself visited the club and asked Strange and three other regulars to appear in the video for his single "Ashes to Ashes", which helped to propel the New Romantic movement into the mainstream. Although Visage's self-titled debut album had been completed for several months, it was not released until November 1980 when the band was now signed to the major label Polydor Records. The band's second single, "Fade to Grey", was released at the same time. The single became a hit in early 1981, making the top ten in the UK Singles Chart and several other countries, and reaching no. 1 in Germany and Switzerland. The album also became a Top 20 hit in the UK and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. After further hits with the singles "Mind of a Toy" and the title track "Visage", Strange struggled to reunite the band's members again to record a second album due to their commitments with their respective bands; Ure had now joined Currie in Ultravox, Formula and Adamson with Magazine and McGeoch had joined Siouxsie and the Banshees. Nonetheless, in the autumn of 1981, Visage went into the studio and recorded The Anvil as a five-piece band without McGeoch and only limited guest work from Adamson. The album, which was named after an infamous gay nightclub in New York City, was released in March 1982 and became the band's only Top 10 hit in the UK Albums Chart, producing two top-twenty singles with "The Damned Don't Cry" and "Night Train". Like their first album, The Anvil earned a Silver disc in the UK. Following this, Ure quit from Visage to concentrate on his work with Ultravox, who were now even more successful than Visage. Creative differences with Strange and Egan were also cited as reasons for his departure at the time. Visage were now without Ure, McGeoch and Adamson, who went on to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Bassist Steve Barnacle was recruited to replace Adamson, and the remaining lineup recorded the stand-alone single "Pleasure Boys", which was released in October 1982. The single failed to prolong their string of hits and peaked just outside the UK Top 40. Although still recording, Visage then took a two-year hiatus from releasing any new material due to contractual difficulties with their management company. Polydor issued a "best of" compilation, Fade to Grey – The Singles Collection, which included all of the singles released to date and the previously unreleased "In the Year 2525". Although the album was certified Gold in the UK for pre-release sales to stores, it only peaked at No. 38 in the UK Albums Chart after its release in November 1983. In 1984, with their contractual problems resolved, Visage returned with their third album, Beat Boy. Released in October 1984, the album was a critical and commercial failure, peaking at No. 79 in the UK. Two singles from the album, "Love Glove" and "Beat Boy", also failed to make the UK top 40. By this time, Billy Currie and Dave Formula had also left the band (though they received a "special thanks" credit on the album sleeve for their input), leaving only Strange and Egan from the original line-up along with Steve Barnacle and new recruits Gary Barnacle (Steve Barnacle's brother) and Andy Barnett who also was a member of FM and ASAP. A decision to make Visage a live band instead of a strictly studio-based project also failed to meet with success and the band split in 1985. Their final release was a Visage video compilation of the band's renowned promotional videos and other footage, including Strange's 1983 trip to North Africa. The compilation does not, however, include the original video for the "Love Glove" single which was filmed at a late-night Dockland location in London in 1984. Following the demise of Visage, Strange and Barnacle then formed the short-lived band Strange Cruise, though this too proved unsuccessful. Visage returned to the charts once more when a Bassheads remix of "Fade to Grey" was a UK Top 40 hit in 1993. Second incarnation (2002–2011) Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction and other personal problems. He performed several Visage songs on the Here and Now Xmas Tour – a revival of 1980s pop acts. Some time after the performance, Strange decided to create a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record made slow progress. An updated version of "Fade to Grey" was produced in 2005. In 2006, Strange also collaborated with the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck and provided vocals on the track "In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The first Visage mk II track was released in 2007, entitled "Diary of a Madman". Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need. However, no further new material surfaced from this line-up. The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live. In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub. In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focused (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey". In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes were included on a new compilation album, The Face – The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010. Final incarnation (2012–2015) On 8 January 2013, Strange appeared as a guest on the Channel 4 News programme to discuss the forthcoming David Bowie album The Next Day. During the interview he mentioned that a new Visage album was also due for release in Spring 2013. Also on 8 January 2013, Visage launched their new website, Twitter, Facebook and Soundcloud accounts and announced their new line-up, consisting of Steve Strange, former Visage bassist Steve Barnacle, former Ultravox guitarist Robin Simon, and Lauren Duvall on vocals. A single from the album, "Shameless Fashion", was made available as a free download from the band's Facebook page, and a physical CD-single was released on 6 May 2013. The band's new album, Hearts and Knives, was released on 20 May 2013. A second single from the album, "Dreamer I Know", was released in July 2013, and a third single, "Never Enough", was released in December. Throughout the second half of 2013, the band also embarked on a series of live dates in the UK and Europe. "Hidden Sign" was the fourth single to be taken from Hearts and Knives, released in May 2014 and "She's Electric (Coming Around)" was released as the fifth and final single in August 2014. In December 2014, Visage released Orchestral, a mostly live album containing twelve Visage songs remade with a symphony orchestra. A single of the orchestral version of "Fade To Grey" was released ahead of the album in November 2014. On 12 February 2015, frontman Steve Strange died of a heart attack while on holiday in Egypt. While Strange's death ultimately meant the end of Visage, the band opted to complete the album they had already been working on with Strange prior to his death. On 2 September 2015, an organisation known as The Steve Strange Collective was announced. Run by Strange's friends and relatives, they oversaw the release of the final Visage album, Demons to Diamonds, which was released on 6 November 2015. Former members Steve Strange – lead vocals (1978–1985, 2002–2015; his death) Rusty Egan – drums, percussion (1978–1985) Midge Ure – guitar, synthesisers (1978–1982) Billy Currie – keyboards, synthesiser, violin (1978–1984) Dave Formula – keyboards, synthesiser (1978–1984) John McGeoch – guitar, saxophone (1978–1981; died 2004) Barry Adamson – bass (1978–1979) Steve Barnacle – bass (1982–1985, 2012–2015) Gary Barnacle – saxophone (1984–1985) Andy Barnett – guitar (1984–1985) Sandrine Gouriou – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2002–2010) Rosie Harris – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2002–2010) Ross Tregenza – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2004–2010) Steven Young – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2004–2010) Lauren Duvall – keyboards, synthesizer, vocals (2012–2015) Robin Simon – guitar (2012–2015) Discography Studio albums Visage (1980) The Anvil (1982) Beat Boy (1984) Hearts and Knives (2013) Demons to Diamonds (2015) References External links Artist information/discography page at CyberNoise British synth-pop new wave groups English new wave musical groups English synth-pop groups Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Musical groups reestablished in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups reestablished in 2012 Musical groups disestablished in 2015 Musical groups from London Polydor Records artists Radar Records artists	true	[ "Sotiris Lagonikas (born 17 June 1970) is a Greek musician, best known for his work as co-founder and drummer of the Greek classic rock group What's The Buzz?, as well as for his SL Theory music project,\nwhere he has composed the music and written the lyrics while performing all instruments and vocals\nrecorded on his debut album which was released in 2010 under the title \"SL Theory - I\".\nTwo years later Lagonikas released his second solo album, under the title \"Progressively Dark\" and by the spring of 2013, \nalong with longtime friend and What's The Buzz? co-founder Chris Kissadjekian under the band name Double Treat, their debut album \"Wander Thirst\" was released through Sleaszy Rider label. The second album of SL Theory was released December 2014, under the title \"Different Space Different Time\" followed by 2018's live album \"Progressively Dark - A Concert For Group and String Orchestra\" which was released through Melodic Revolution Records in double-CD and DVD formats.\n\nEarly life\nSotiris Lagonikas grew up in the 1970s and was greatly influenced by the music of classic rock giants of the time, such as Grand Funk Railroad, Queen,\nKansas, Foreigner, Styx, Toto, Kiss and many others of the like. Sotiris spent most of his childhood time, trying to replicate the moves of drummers on various music video clips, on his \"imaginary drum set\".\n\nEarly musical career\nAt the age of fourteen, Lagonikas joined Four Wheel Drive, a local band of six, with whom he toured and recorded their one and only album \"Athoa\" (\"Αθώα\") in 1990.\n\nThis album contained the first song Lagonikas ever composed (1982), titled \"Isos meni kairos\" (\"Ίσως μένει καιρός\").\n\nWhat's The Buzz?\n In 1992, Sotiris joined local musicians and friends, Chris Kissadjekian (bass guitar), Takis Kalatsis (guitar) and Jane Sabanikou (vocals) in forming a heavy blues/rock band which was later given the name What's The Buzz? after the synonymous song from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Rock Opera Jesus Christ Superstar.\nWhat's The Buzz? recorded a number of demos and did many gigs all around Greece performing on stage alongside bands such as Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Spiritual Beggars, Cathedral, The Answer, and others.\n\nIn the year 2000, What's The Buzz? released their first self-titled album, however, plans for a second reunion studio album, featuring all four original band members, never came to fruition.\n\nSL Theory and solo work\nIn the spring of 2009, Lagonikas started working on his first solo album, under the project name SL Theory.\n\nIn his own words \"Each day, I would get into the studio all alone, grab my guitar, close my eyes and let my imagination fly.. Listening to my songs, now that the recordings are completed, I can't even recall much of the process\".\n\nLagonikas' SL Theory debut album \"I\" was released in 2010 and his follow up album titled \"Progressively Dark\" was released in the winter of 2012.\n\nOn 29 December 2014, the second SL Theory album, under the title \"Different Space Different Time\" was released, followed by 2018's live album \"Progressively Dark - A Concert For Group and String Orchestra\".\n\nDouble Treat\nLagonikas teamed up again with longtime friend and What's The Buzz? co-founder Chris Kissadjekian to form a classic hard rock duet under the name Double Treat. The band signed with Sleaszy Rider label, under which the band's debut album Wander Thirst was released in the spring of 2013.\n\nPersonal relationships\nSotiris Lagonikas has been married twice and has a son from his first marriage.\n\nDiscography\n Four Wheel Drive - \"Athoa\" (LP) (1990) (drums, composer)\n What's The Buzz? - s/t (CD) (2000) (drums, vocals, composer)\n SL Theory - \"I\" (CD/MP3) (2010) (composer, producer, arranger, drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, vocals)\n Sotiris Lagonikas - \"Progressively Dark\" (CD/MP3) (2012) (composer, producer, arranger, drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, vocals)\n Double Treat - \"Wander Thirst\" (CD) (2013) (composer, producer, arranger, drums, guitars, keyboards, vocals)\n SL Theory - \"Different Space Different Time\" (CD/MP3) (2014) (composer, producer, arranger, drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, vocals)\nSL Theory - \"Progressively Dark - A Concert For Group and String Orchestra\" (Double-CD/DVD) (2018) (composer, producer, arranger, drums)\n\nExternal links\nOfficial Sotiris Lagonikas website\nOfficial Double Treat website\nSleaszy Rider Records website\nMelodic Revolution Records website\n\nReferences \n\n1970 births\nRock drummers\nLiving people\n21st-century drummers", "What My Heart Wants to Say is the debut album from the runner-up of the first series of Pop Idol, Gareth Gates. The album was released on 26 October 2002, almost a year after his success on the show. The album was produced by a team of well-known producers, including Steve Mac, Jewels & Stone, Mike Peden and Cathy Dennis. The album features a range of Gates' own material, as well as covers of some of his favourite songs.\n\nFour singles were released from the album: \"Unchained Melody\", \"Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)\", \"Suspicious Minds\", and the title track, \"What My Heart Wants to Say\". In the UK, the album went on to achieve double platinum success, selling over 600,000 copies, and peaking at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart.\n\nBackground\nGates secured a record deal from Simon Cowell to his label, Sony BMG, after he became the runner-up to Will Young on the first series of talent competition Pop Idol in February 2002. Gates audition, a version of the popular Westlife track \"Flying Without Wings\", secured him entry into the show. Gates' first single, a cover of \"Unchained Melody\", entered the UK Singles Chart at number one. The single went double-platinum, and was voted 2002's The Record of the Year by viewers of ITV.\n\nThe track was followed by another number-one single, \"Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)\". His third single, a double A-side \"Suspicious Minds\" and \"The Long and Winding Road\", a duet with Young, also reached number one. His fourth single, the album's title track, \"What My Heart Wants to Say\", reached number five. The album achieved first week sales of over 100,000 copies, peaking at number two on the UK Albums Chart, and eventually earning double platinum status.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts and certifications\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\n2002 debut albums\nGareth Gates albums\n19 Recordings albums\nAlbums produced by Mike Peden" ]
[ "Visage (band)", "Second incarnation (2004-2010)", "When was Visage formed?", "2002,", "What happened in 2004?", "I don't know.", "What can you tell me about the bands second incarnation?", "\"In the Dark\", which was included on the duo's debut double album", "What was the name of the double album?", "\"In the Dark\"," ]	C_71bbcbb7b4dd428e9c33da2c2fc99259_1	Was there anything else about the second incarnation?	5	Besides the inclusion of "In the Dark", was there anything else about the second incarnation?	Visage (band)	Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction and other personal problems. He performed several Visage songs on the Here and Now Xmas Tour - a revival of 1980s pop acts. Some time after the performance, Strange decided to create a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record made slow progress. An updated version of "Fade to Grey" was produced in 2005. In 2006, Strange also collaborated with the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck and provided vocals on the track "In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The first Visage mk II track was released in 2007, entitled "Diary of a Madman". Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need. However, no further new material surfaced from this line-up. The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live. In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub. In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focused (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey". In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes were included on a new compilation album, The Face - The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010. CANNOTANSWER	entitled "Diary of a Madman".	Visage were a British synthpop band, formed in London in 1978. The band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their hit "Fade to Grey" which was released in late 1980. In the UK, the band achieved two Top 20 albums (Visage and The Anvil) and five Top 30 singles before the commercial failure of their third album (Beat Boy) led to their break-up in 1985. The band has seen various line-up changes over the years, all fronted by vocalist Steve Strange, who resurrected the band name in the 2000s. In 2013, the most recent line-up of the band released Hearts and Knives, the first new Visage album in 29 years. The band's fifth and final album, Demons to Diamonds, was released in 2015, nine months after Strange had died following a heart attack. History First incarnation (1978–1985) Founding members Midge Ure and Rusty Egan started working on Visage to produce music to play at the clubs Egan was DJing at. Egan alongside Steve Strange was hosting David Bowie and Roxy Music club nights at Billy's nightclub in London's Soho district at the time and Egan was eager to find new music to play, ultimately opting to create music himself with Ure. Steve Strange had briefly been in the punk/new wave bands The Moors Murderers and The Photons, and Egan was working with Midge Ure in the band The Rich Kids. Ure and Egan recorded a demo which included the original track "The Dancer" of which a version appeared on the debut Visage album and a cover of the Zager and Evans hit "In the Year 2525". Strange was then brought into the band to provide the face and voice of Visage with the line-up being completed with the addition of Ultravox keyboardist Billy Currie and three-fifths of the post-punk band Magazine – guitarist John McGeoch, keyboardist Dave Formula and bassist Barry Adamson (who left the band after playing on its debut single, but returned as a session musician). Producer Martin Rushent had heard some of the band's material at Billy's nightclub and financed further recordings with a view to signing the band to his new Genetic Records label. Visage recorded their first album at Rushent's home studio in Berkshire, but Rushent's label collapsed, and the band instead signed to Radar Records, a new independent label run by Rushent's former colleague Martin Davis (the pair had worked together at United Artists Records). Visage released their first single "Tar" on Radar in September 1979, though the single failed to chart. By this time, however, Strange and Egan had relocated their themed club nights to the Blitz club in Covent Garden and the New Romantic movement had begun in earnest. In mid-1980, David Bowie himself visited the club and asked Strange and three other regulars to appear in the video for his single "Ashes to Ashes", which helped to propel the New Romantic movement into the mainstream. Although Visage's self-titled debut album had been completed for several months, it was not released until November 1980 when the band was now signed to the major label Polydor Records. The band's second single, "Fade to Grey", was released at the same time. The single became a hit in early 1981, making the top ten in the UK Singles Chart and several other countries, and reaching no. 1 in Germany and Switzerland. The album also became a Top 20 hit in the UK and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. After further hits with the singles "Mind of a Toy" and the title track "Visage", Strange struggled to reunite the band's members again to record a second album due to their commitments with their respective bands; Ure had now joined Currie in Ultravox, Formula and Adamson with Magazine and McGeoch had joined Siouxsie and the Banshees. Nonetheless, in the autumn of 1981, Visage went into the studio and recorded The Anvil as a five-piece band without McGeoch and only limited guest work from Adamson. The album, which was named after an infamous gay nightclub in New York City, was released in March 1982 and became the band's only Top 10 hit in the UK Albums Chart, producing two top-twenty singles with "The Damned Don't Cry" and "Night Train". Like their first album, The Anvil earned a Silver disc in the UK. Following this, Ure quit from Visage to concentrate on his work with Ultravox, who were now even more successful than Visage. Creative differences with Strange and Egan were also cited as reasons for his departure at the time. Visage were now without Ure, McGeoch and Adamson, who went on to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Bassist Steve Barnacle was recruited to replace Adamson, and the remaining lineup recorded the stand-alone single "Pleasure Boys", which was released in October 1982. The single failed to prolong their string of hits and peaked just outside the UK Top 40. Although still recording, Visage then took a two-year hiatus from releasing any new material due to contractual difficulties with their management company. Polydor issued a "best of" compilation, Fade to Grey – The Singles Collection, which included all of the singles released to date and the previously unreleased "In the Year 2525". Although the album was certified Gold in the UK for pre-release sales to stores, it only peaked at No. 38 in the UK Albums Chart after its release in November 1983. In 1984, with their contractual problems resolved, Visage returned with their third album, Beat Boy. Released in October 1984, the album was a critical and commercial failure, peaking at No. 79 in the UK. Two singles from the album, "Love Glove" and "Beat Boy", also failed to make the UK top 40. By this time, Billy Currie and Dave Formula had also left the band (though they received a "special thanks" credit on the album sleeve for their input), leaving only Strange and Egan from the original line-up along with Steve Barnacle and new recruits Gary Barnacle (Steve Barnacle's brother) and Andy Barnett who also was a member of FM and ASAP. A decision to make Visage a live band instead of a strictly studio-based project also failed to meet with success and the band split in 1985. Their final release was a Visage video compilation of the band's renowned promotional videos and other footage, including Strange's 1983 trip to North Africa. The compilation does not, however, include the original video for the "Love Glove" single which was filmed at a late-night Dockland location in London in 1984. Following the demise of Visage, Strange and Barnacle then formed the short-lived band Strange Cruise, though this too proved unsuccessful. Visage returned to the charts once more when a Bassheads remix of "Fade to Grey" was a UK Top 40 hit in 1993. Second incarnation (2002–2011) Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction and other personal problems. He performed several Visage songs on the Here and Now Xmas Tour – a revival of 1980s pop acts. Some time after the performance, Strange decided to create a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record made slow progress. An updated version of "Fade to Grey" was produced in 2005. In 2006, Strange also collaborated with the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck and provided vocals on the track "In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The first Visage mk II track was released in 2007, entitled "Diary of a Madman". Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need. However, no further new material surfaced from this line-up. The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live. In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub. In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focused (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey". In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes were included on a new compilation album, The Face – The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010. Final incarnation (2012–2015) On 8 January 2013, Strange appeared as a guest on the Channel 4 News programme to discuss the forthcoming David Bowie album The Next Day. During the interview he mentioned that a new Visage album was also due for release in Spring 2013. Also on 8 January 2013, Visage launched their new website, Twitter, Facebook and Soundcloud accounts and announced their new line-up, consisting of Steve Strange, former Visage bassist Steve Barnacle, former Ultravox guitarist Robin Simon, and Lauren Duvall on vocals. A single from the album, "Shameless Fashion", was made available as a free download from the band's Facebook page, and a physical CD-single was released on 6 May 2013. The band's new album, Hearts and Knives, was released on 20 May 2013. A second single from the album, "Dreamer I Know", was released in July 2013, and a third single, "Never Enough", was released in December. Throughout the second half of 2013, the band also embarked on a series of live dates in the UK and Europe. "Hidden Sign" was the fourth single to be taken from Hearts and Knives, released in May 2014 and "She's Electric (Coming Around)" was released as the fifth and final single in August 2014. In December 2014, Visage released Orchestral, a mostly live album containing twelve Visage songs remade with a symphony orchestra. A single of the orchestral version of "Fade To Grey" was released ahead of the album in November 2014. On 12 February 2015, frontman Steve Strange died of a heart attack while on holiday in Egypt. While Strange's death ultimately meant the end of Visage, the band opted to complete the album they had already been working on with Strange prior to his death. On 2 September 2015, an organisation known as The Steve Strange Collective was announced. Run by Strange's friends and relatives, they oversaw the release of the final Visage album, Demons to Diamonds, which was released on 6 November 2015. Former members Steve Strange – lead vocals (1978–1985, 2002–2015; his death) Rusty Egan – drums, percussion (1978–1985) Midge Ure – guitar, synthesisers (1978–1982) Billy Currie – keyboards, synthesiser, violin (1978–1984) Dave Formula – keyboards, synthesiser (1978–1984) John McGeoch – guitar, saxophone (1978–1981; died 2004) Barry Adamson – bass (1978–1979) Steve Barnacle – bass (1982–1985, 2012–2015) Gary Barnacle – saxophone (1984–1985) Andy Barnett – guitar (1984–1985) Sandrine Gouriou – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2002–2010) Rosie Harris – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2002–2010) Ross Tregenza – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2004–2010) Steven Young – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2004–2010) Lauren Duvall – keyboards, synthesizer, vocals (2012–2015) Robin Simon – guitar (2012–2015) Discography Studio albums Visage (1980) The Anvil (1982) Beat Boy (1984) Hearts and Knives (2013) Demons to Diamonds (2015) References External links Artist information/discography page at CyberNoise British synth-pop new wave groups English new wave musical groups English synth-pop groups Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Musical groups reestablished in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups reestablished in 2012 Musical groups disestablished in 2015 Musical groups from London Polydor Records artists Radar Records artists	true	[ "The 3rd Jebtsundamba Khutughtu (1758-1773), was the third incarnation of the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, the spiritual heads of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Outer Mongolia. His personal name was Ishdambiynyam and his Tibetan ceremonial name Ye-shes-bstan-pa'i-nyi-ma.\n\nBiography \nHe came from Tibet and was chosen as the third incarnation after the death of the 2nd Jebtsundamba Khutughtu.\n\nThe second Jebtsundamba was a member of Mongolia's highest nobility and direct descendant of Genghis Khan. After Chingünjav's rebellion and the successive demise of the second Jebtsundamba Khutugtu, the Qianlong Emperor decreed in 1758 that all future reincarnations were to be found from among the population of Tibet, making the third incarnation the first one from there.\n\n1758 births\n1773 deaths\nJebtsundamba Khutuktus\nQing dynasty Tibetan Buddhists", "\"Zombie\" is a song by English singer-songwriter Jamie T. It was released as the second single from his third studio album Carry on the Grudge (2014). It peaked at 36 of the charts and was there for eleven weeks.\n\nAt the 2015 NME Awards, \"Zombie\" won two awards: Best Track and Best Video.\n\nBackground\n\"Zombie\" is an indie rock song about being Jamie T unproductive. In an interview with Time Out, Jamie said, \"[I]t can be frustrating when you don’t feel you’re writing anything new. There’s lots of different tricks you can use to get yourself writing again. The best one’s probably to read a book. Just seeing someone else say something in a different way immediately sparks you out of your own shit. On this record, I was reading a lot of Ted Hughes. Lots of Plath and Alvarez.\"\n\nCritical reception\nEd Potton of The Times called the song \"a cocktail of self-loathing and muscular poetry with a chorus that weirdly but brilliantly recalls Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire.\"\n\nMusic video\nThe music video, directed by James Slater, was inspired by the film Shaun of the Dead (2005). It features Jamie and his band performing in a near-empty pub. As the song goes on, they begin turning into zombies. Limbs fall off, but no one else in the pub pays any attention.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2014 singles\nJamie T songs" ]
[ "Visage (band)", "Second incarnation (2004-2010)", "When was Visage formed?", "2002,", "What happened in 2004?", "I don't know.", "What can you tell me about the bands second incarnation?", "\"In the Dark\", which was included on the duo's debut double album", "What was the name of the double album?", "\"In the Dark\",", "Was there anything else about the second incarnation?", "entitled \"Diary of a Madman\"." ]	C_71bbcbb7b4dd428e9c33da2c2fc99259_1	Was that an album or a single?	6	Was "Diary of a Madman" an album or a single?	Visage (band)	Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction and other personal problems. He performed several Visage songs on the Here and Now Xmas Tour - a revival of 1980s pop acts. Some time after the performance, Strange decided to create a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record made slow progress. An updated version of "Fade to Grey" was produced in 2005. In 2006, Strange also collaborated with the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck and provided vocals on the track "In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The first Visage mk II track was released in 2007, entitled "Diary of a Madman". Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need. However, no further new material surfaced from this line-up. The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live. In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub. In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focused (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey". In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes were included on a new compilation album, The Face - The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010. CANNOTANSWER	track	Visage were a British synthpop band, formed in London in 1978. The band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their hit "Fade to Grey" which was released in late 1980. In the UK, the band achieved two Top 20 albums (Visage and The Anvil) and five Top 30 singles before the commercial failure of their third album (Beat Boy) led to their break-up in 1985. The band has seen various line-up changes over the years, all fronted by vocalist Steve Strange, who resurrected the band name in the 2000s. In 2013, the most recent line-up of the band released Hearts and Knives, the first new Visage album in 29 years. The band's fifth and final album, Demons to Diamonds, was released in 2015, nine months after Strange had died following a heart attack. History First incarnation (1978–1985) Founding members Midge Ure and Rusty Egan started working on Visage to produce music to play at the clubs Egan was DJing at. Egan alongside Steve Strange was hosting David Bowie and Roxy Music club nights at Billy's nightclub in London's Soho district at the time and Egan was eager to find new music to play, ultimately opting to create music himself with Ure. Steve Strange had briefly been in the punk/new wave bands The Moors Murderers and The Photons, and Egan was working with Midge Ure in the band The Rich Kids. Ure and Egan recorded a demo which included the original track "The Dancer" of which a version appeared on the debut Visage album and a cover of the Zager and Evans hit "In the Year 2525". Strange was then brought into the band to provide the face and voice of Visage with the line-up being completed with the addition of Ultravox keyboardist Billy Currie and three-fifths of the post-punk band Magazine – guitarist John McGeoch, keyboardist Dave Formula and bassist Barry Adamson (who left the band after playing on its debut single, but returned as a session musician). Producer Martin Rushent had heard some of the band's material at Billy's nightclub and financed further recordings with a view to signing the band to his new Genetic Records label. Visage recorded their first album at Rushent's home studio in Berkshire, but Rushent's label collapsed, and the band instead signed to Radar Records, a new independent label run by Rushent's former colleague Martin Davis (the pair had worked together at United Artists Records). Visage released their first single "Tar" on Radar in September 1979, though the single failed to chart. By this time, however, Strange and Egan had relocated their themed club nights to the Blitz club in Covent Garden and the New Romantic movement had begun in earnest. In mid-1980, David Bowie himself visited the club and asked Strange and three other regulars to appear in the video for his single "Ashes to Ashes", which helped to propel the New Romantic movement into the mainstream. Although Visage's self-titled debut album had been completed for several months, it was not released until November 1980 when the band was now signed to the major label Polydor Records. The band's second single, "Fade to Grey", was released at the same time. The single became a hit in early 1981, making the top ten in the UK Singles Chart and several other countries, and reaching no. 1 in Germany and Switzerland. The album also became a Top 20 hit in the UK and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. After further hits with the singles "Mind of a Toy" and the title track "Visage", Strange struggled to reunite the band's members again to record a second album due to their commitments with their respective bands; Ure had now joined Currie in Ultravox, Formula and Adamson with Magazine and McGeoch had joined Siouxsie and the Banshees. Nonetheless, in the autumn of 1981, Visage went into the studio and recorded The Anvil as a five-piece band without McGeoch and only limited guest work from Adamson. The album, which was named after an infamous gay nightclub in New York City, was released in March 1982 and became the band's only Top 10 hit in the UK Albums Chart, producing two top-twenty singles with "The Damned Don't Cry" and "Night Train". Like their first album, The Anvil earned a Silver disc in the UK. Following this, Ure quit from Visage to concentrate on his work with Ultravox, who were now even more successful than Visage. Creative differences with Strange and Egan were also cited as reasons for his departure at the time. Visage were now without Ure, McGeoch and Adamson, who went on to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Bassist Steve Barnacle was recruited to replace Adamson, and the remaining lineup recorded the stand-alone single "Pleasure Boys", which was released in October 1982. The single failed to prolong their string of hits and peaked just outside the UK Top 40. Although still recording, Visage then took a two-year hiatus from releasing any new material due to contractual difficulties with their management company. Polydor issued a "best of" compilation, Fade to Grey – The Singles Collection, which included all of the singles released to date and the previously unreleased "In the Year 2525". Although the album was certified Gold in the UK for pre-release sales to stores, it only peaked at No. 38 in the UK Albums Chart after its release in November 1983. In 1984, with their contractual problems resolved, Visage returned with their third album, Beat Boy. Released in October 1984, the album was a critical and commercial failure, peaking at No. 79 in the UK. Two singles from the album, "Love Glove" and "Beat Boy", also failed to make the UK top 40. By this time, Billy Currie and Dave Formula had also left the band (though they received a "special thanks" credit on the album sleeve for their input), leaving only Strange and Egan from the original line-up along with Steve Barnacle and new recruits Gary Barnacle (Steve Barnacle's brother) and Andy Barnett who also was a member of FM and ASAP. A decision to make Visage a live band instead of a strictly studio-based project also failed to meet with success and the band split in 1985. Their final release was a Visage video compilation of the band's renowned promotional videos and other footage, including Strange's 1983 trip to North Africa. The compilation does not, however, include the original video for the "Love Glove" single which was filmed at a late-night Dockland location in London in 1984. Following the demise of Visage, Strange and Barnacle then formed the short-lived band Strange Cruise, though this too proved unsuccessful. Visage returned to the charts once more when a Bassheads remix of "Fade to Grey" was a UK Top 40 hit in 1993. Second incarnation (2002–2011) Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction and other personal problems. He performed several Visage songs on the Here and Now Xmas Tour – a revival of 1980s pop acts. Some time after the performance, Strange decided to create a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record made slow progress. An updated version of "Fade to Grey" was produced in 2005. In 2006, Strange also collaborated with the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck and provided vocals on the track "In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The first Visage mk II track was released in 2007, entitled "Diary of a Madman". Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need. However, no further new material surfaced from this line-up. The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live. In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub. In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focused (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey". In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes were included on a new compilation album, The Face – The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010. Final incarnation (2012–2015) On 8 January 2013, Strange appeared as a guest on the Channel 4 News programme to discuss the forthcoming David Bowie album The Next Day. During the interview he mentioned that a new Visage album was also due for release in Spring 2013. Also on 8 January 2013, Visage launched their new website, Twitter, Facebook and Soundcloud accounts and announced their new line-up, consisting of Steve Strange, former Visage bassist Steve Barnacle, former Ultravox guitarist Robin Simon, and Lauren Duvall on vocals. A single from the album, "Shameless Fashion", was made available as a free download from the band's Facebook page, and a physical CD-single was released on 6 May 2013. The band's new album, Hearts and Knives, was released on 20 May 2013. A second single from the album, "Dreamer I Know", was released in July 2013, and a third single, "Never Enough", was released in December. Throughout the second half of 2013, the band also embarked on a series of live dates in the UK and Europe. "Hidden Sign" was the fourth single to be taken from Hearts and Knives, released in May 2014 and "She's Electric (Coming Around)" was released as the fifth and final single in August 2014. In December 2014, Visage released Orchestral, a mostly live album containing twelve Visage songs remade with a symphony orchestra. A single of the orchestral version of "Fade To Grey" was released ahead of the album in November 2014. On 12 February 2015, frontman Steve Strange died of a heart attack while on holiday in Egypt. While Strange's death ultimately meant the end of Visage, the band opted to complete the album they had already been working on with Strange prior to his death. On 2 September 2015, an organisation known as The Steve Strange Collective was announced. Run by Strange's friends and relatives, they oversaw the release of the final Visage album, Demons to Diamonds, which was released on 6 November 2015. Former members Steve Strange – lead vocals (1978–1985, 2002–2015; his death) Rusty Egan – drums, percussion (1978–1985) Midge Ure – guitar, synthesisers (1978–1982) Billy Currie – keyboards, synthesiser, violin (1978–1984) Dave Formula – keyboards, synthesiser (1978–1984) John McGeoch – guitar, saxophone (1978–1981; died 2004) Barry Adamson – bass (1978–1979) Steve Barnacle – bass (1982–1985, 2012–2015) Gary Barnacle – saxophone (1984–1985) Andy Barnett – guitar (1984–1985) Sandrine Gouriou – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2002–2010) Rosie Harris – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2002–2010) Ross Tregenza – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2004–2010) Steven Young – keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (2004–2010) Lauren Duvall – keyboards, synthesizer, vocals (2012–2015) Robin Simon – guitar (2012–2015) Discography Studio albums Visage (1980) The Anvil (1982) Beat Boy (1984) Hearts and Knives (2013) Demons to Diamonds (2015) References External links Artist information/discography page at CyberNoise British synth-pop new wave groups English new wave musical groups English synth-pop groups Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Musical groups reestablished in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups reestablished in 2012 Musical groups disestablished in 2015 Musical groups from London Polydor Records artists Radar Records artists	true	[ "Mera Me Ti Mera (Greek: Μέρα με τη μέρα; ) or Opa Opa (in Scandinavia) is an album by Greek musical group Antique. The album was released in 1999 by V2 Records in Greece, and by Bonnier Music in Scandinavia.\n\nTrack listing\n\nSingles\n\"Opa Opa\"\n\"Opa Opa\" was the first CD single from the album and the debut song by Antique. It included the radio edit and an extended version along with the B-side \"Rhythmos\". \"Opa Opa\" reached gold certification in Sweden.\n\n\"Dinata Dinata\"\n\"Dinata Dinata\" was the second CD single from the album. It was a cover of Eleftheria Arvanitaki's song of the same name and was sung at the closing ceremony for the 2004 Olympics, during the fireworks after the flame was extinguished.\n\n\"Mera Me Ti Mera\"\n\"Mera Me Ti Mera\" was the third single from the album. It was released as a CD single with an extended version and a music video was made.\n\nReferences\n\n1999 albums\nAntique (band) albums\nGreek-language albums\nV2 Records albums\n\nsv:Opa Opa", "Just BLAQ is the debut Korean EP by the South Korean boy group MBLAQ. The EP was released online on October 14, 2009. The debut single, \"Oh Yeah\" was released the same day to Korean music outlets. The song \"G.O.O.D. Luv\" was released as the EP's second promotional single. The album is labeled as a single-album (single or maxi single) in Korea, however, the album falls into the category of an EP (extended play or mini album), and technically does not qualify as a single.\n\nTrack listing\n\nMusic videos and singles\n \"Oh Yeah\" was released officially on 14 October 2009. The music video was choreographed by producer and mentor, Rain. The boys performed a Japanese version of \"Oh Yeah\" during a promotional trip to Japan. The Japanese version was only sung live, and there is no word if a studio version exists or if there are any plans to release one.\n \"G.O.O.D. Luv\" is the single-album's official second single. During the film of MBLAQ's reality show \"Mnet Art of Seduction\", the boys took some time to make their \"own\" music video for the song. The video was filmed with television cameras and cam-cord cameras. An \"official\" music video for the single was released on 10 December 2009.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n MBLAQ's Official Site\n\n2009 debut EPs\nMBLAQ EPs\nKorean-language EPs" ]
[ "Drake (musician)", "2006-2009: Early mixtapes and So Far Gone" ]	C_9a9897534b1246b3aaaba0a09db98d2e_1	When was Thank Me Later released?	1	When was Drake's Thank Me Later released?	Drake (musician)	After becoming musically inspired by Jay Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da, and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." The mixtape was released for sale only, and confirmed to have sold over 6,000 copies. In 2007, he released his second mixtape, Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl", featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first ever unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video featured on BET, with "Replacement Girl" being featured on the channel's "New Joint of the Day" segment on April 30, 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston in order to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "I Want This Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". Despite the collaborations between the duo, Drake was yet to be signed by Young Money Entertainment. In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape, So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success due to the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized album entitled The Girls Love Drake, which was released on iTunes under dubious means. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage, and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He later underwent surgery on September 8, 2009. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor. Gaining recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–08), Drake pursued a career in music releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement in 2006; he subsequently released the mixtapes Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment. Drake released his debut studio album, Thank Me Later, in 2010, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. He achieved major critical success with Take Care (2011) and commercial success with Nothing Was the Same (2013) and his first commercial mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015); the latter two were certified multi-platinum in the US. Drake's fourth album, Views (2016), sat atop the Billboard 200 for 13 nonconsecutive weeks, becoming the first album by a male solo artist to do so in over a decade, and featured the chart record-setting lead single "One Dance". His second solo commercial mixtape, More Life (2017), set then-multiple streaming records, and in 2018, he released the double album Scorpion, which contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings". Leaving Young Money in 2018, Drake's third commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes was released in 2020, and featured the chart-topping "Toosie Slide". In 2021, the EP Scary Hours 2 included the number one "What's Next" and set chart records, and preceded his delayed sixth album, Certified Lover Boy (2021); the album set the record for most U.S. top-ten entries from one album, with lead single "Way 2 Sexy" becoming his tenth number one. As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012. In 2013, Drake became the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise, while owning naming rights to its practice facility. In 2016, he began collaborating with American entrepreneur Brent Hocking on the bourbon whiskey Virginia Black; it eventually broke sale records in Canada. Drake has also designed fashion, the most notable including a sub-label collaboration with Nike, alongside other business ventures. In 2018, he was reportedly responsible for 5 percent (CAD$440 million) of Toronto's CAD$8.8 billion annual tourism income. Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 170 million records sold, Drake is ranked as the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States by the RIAA. He has won four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, a record 29 Billboard Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and three Juno Awards, and holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; Drake has the most top 10 singles (54), the most charted songs (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in one week (27), the most Hot 100 debuts in one week (22), and the most continuous time on the Hot 100 (431 weeks). He additionally has the most number-one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Songs, and Rhythmic Airplay charts. Early life Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. His father, Dennis Graham, is African-American and a practicing Catholic from Memphis, Tennessee, who worked as a drummer, performing alongside country musician Jerry Lee Lewis. His mother, Sandra "Sandi" Graham ( Sher), is a Canadian of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage who worked as an English teacher and florist. Dennis Graham performed at Club Bluenote in Toronto, where he met Sandra Sher, who was in attendance. Drake is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, having American citizenship due to his American father. In his youth, he attended a Jewish day school, and became a bar mitzvah. Drake's parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, he and his mother remained in Toronto; his father returned to Memphis, where he was incarcerated for a number of years on drug-related charges. Graham's limited finances and legal issues caused him to remain in the United States until Drake's early adulthood. Prior to his arrest, however, Graham would travel to Toronto and bring Drake to Memphis every summer. His father later collaborated with Canadian music group Arkells on the music video for a song titled "Drake's Dad". Graham claimed in an interview that Drake's assertions of him being an absent father were embellishments used to sell records, which Drake vehemently denies. Drake was raised in two Toronto neighbourhoods. He lived on Weston Road in the city's working-class west end until grade six, playing minor hockey with the Weston Red Wings. He then moved to one of the city's affluent neighbourhoods, Forest Hill, in 2000. When asked about the move, Drake replied, "[We had] a half of a house we could live in. The other people had the top half, we had the bottom half. I lived in the basement, my mom lived on the first floor. It was not big, it was not luxurious. It was what we could afford." He attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he demonstrated an affinity for the arts, first acting while an active student at the school. He later attended Vaughan Road Academy in the city's multicultural Oakwood–Vaughan neighbourhood. Due to the economic status associated with the neighbourhood, Drake described the school as "not by any means the easiest school to go to." Drake was often bullied at school for his racial and religious background, and upon realizing that his busy class schedule was detrimental to his burgeoning acting career, Drake dropped out of school. He later graduated in October 2012. Career 2001–2009: Career beginnings Degrassi: The Next Generation At the age of 15, Drake, eager to begin his career as an actor, was introduced to a high school friend's father, an acting agent. The agent found Drake a role on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. Drake portrayed Jimmy Brooks, a basketball star who became physically disabled after he was shot by a classmate. Drake reportedly disliked this character arc because of its apparent tokenism (his was one of the only black characters in the series), and he also believed it could negatively influence his standing as a rapper. Longtime series writer James Hurst said that Drake threatened legal action to redo the storyline, before ultimately agreeing to it. Madeleine Robinson, the executive director of the Californian non-profit organization Wheelchair 4 Kids, praised the storyline and Drake's performance, noting "he instilled confidence and representation" to disabled youth. When asked about his early acting career, Drake replied, "My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was [from] Canadian TV." He appeared in a total of 100 episodes between 2001 and 2008. In 2010, Drake expressed interest in playing Barack Obama in a biopic, to which Obama responded to with approval in an interview in 2020. According to Degrassi series creators Stephen Stohn and Linda Schuyler, Drake regularly arrived late on set after spending nights recording music. To prevent this, Schuyler claimed Drake struck an agreement with the set's security guards to gain entry to the set after recording to be allowed to sleep in a dressing room. Early mixtapes and So Far Gone Being musically inspired by Jay-Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." Room for Improvement was released for sale only and sold roughly 6,000 copies, for which Drake received $304.04 in royalties. In 2007, he released his second mixtape Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl" featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video on BET, with "Replacement Girl" featured on their "New Joint of the Day" segment in April 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success from the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized fake album titled The Girls Love Drake released on iTunes. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster on the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He underwent surgery later that year. 2010–2012: Musical breakthrough with Thank Me Later and Take Care Drake planned to release his debut album, Thank Me Later, in late 2008, but the album's release date was postponed, first to March 2010, and then to May 25, 2010. Young Money and Universal Motown had then released a statement that the album had again been pushed back three weeks for a June 15, 2010 release. On March 9, 2010, Drake released the debut single "Over", which peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Rap Songs chart. It also received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards. His second single, "Find Your Love", became an even bigger success. It peaked at number five on the Hot 100, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The music video for the single was shot in Kingston, Jamaica, and was criticized by Jamaica's minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett. Bartlett condemned the portrayal of the island in the video, saying, "care has to be taken by all, including our creative artists, in [showcasing] images of our destination and people. Gun culture, while not unique to Jamaica, is not enhancing [the island's image]." The third single and fourth singles, "Miss Me" and "Fancy" respectively, attained moderate commercial success; however, the latter garnered Drake his second nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. On April 29, it was reportedly announced that Drake had finished Thank Me Later during a show in Kansas City, Missouri. Thank Me Later was released on June 15, 2010, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of over 447,000 copies in its first week. Upon the album's release, 25,000 fans gathered at New York City's South Street Seaport for a free concert hosted by Drake and Hanson, which was later cancelled by the police after a near-riot ensued due to overflowing crowds. The album became the top selling debut album for any artist in 2010, and featured Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Jay Z. It was soon announced that Drake would have a prominent role in the military science fiction video game, Gears of War 3. He was scheduled to play the role of Jace Stratton, but scheduling conflicts with his upcoming Away from Home Tour prevented him from accepting the role. He began the tour on September 20, 2010, in Miami, Florida, performing at 78 shows over four different legs. It concluded in Las Vegas in November 2010. Due to the success of the Away from Home Tour, Drake hosted the first OVO Festival in 2010. It would soon become a regular event during the summer, with the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto playing host to the festival on its annual cycle. Drake also had an eco-friendly college tour to support the album, beginning with Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. It concluded in Plymouth, New Hampshire on May 8, and he also performed at The Bamboozle on May 1. Beginning his second effort in fall 2010, Drake announced his intentions to allow Noah "40" Shebib to handle most of the production and record a more cohesive sound than on Thank Me Later, which featured disparate production duties by Shebib and others. In November 2010, Drake revealed the title of his next studio album will be Take Care. In comparison to his debut album, Drake revealed to Y.C Radio 1 that Thank Me Later was a rushed album, stating, "I didn't get to take the time that I wanted to on that record. I rushed a lot of the songs and sonically I didn't get to sit with the record and say, 'I should change this verse.' Once it was done, it was done. That's why my new album is called Take Care, because I get to take my time this go-round." Drake sought to expand on the low-tempo, sensuous, and dark sonic esthetic of Thank Me Later. Primarily a hip hop album, Drake also attempted to incorporate R&B and pop to create a languid, grandiose sound. In January 2011, Drake was in negotiations to join Eva Green and Susan Sarandon as a member of the cast in Nicholas Jarecki's Arbitrage, before ultimately deciding against starring in the movie to focus on the album. "Dreams Money Can Buy" and "Marvins Room" were released on Drake's October's Very Own Blog, on May 20 and June 9, respectively. Acting as promotional singles for Take Care, the former was eventually unincluded on the album's final track listing, while "Marvins Room" gained Gold certification by the RIAA, as well as peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching the top 10 of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, coupled with extensive play on contemporary urban radio. Drake would soon release the song's music video on June 28. "Headlines" was released on August 9 as the lead single for Take Care. It was met with positive critical and commercial response, reaching number thirteen on the Hot 100, as well as becoming his tenth single to reach the summit of the Billboard Hot Rap Songs, making Drake the artist with the most number-one singles on the chart, with 12. It was eventually certified Platinum in both the United States and Canada. The music video for the single was released on October 2, and foresaw Drake performing the song during the second intermission of the 59th National Hockey League All-Star Game in January 2012. "Make Me Proud" was released as the album's second single on October 16. It was the final single to be released prior to the launch of the album, and debuted at number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached number nine the following week, tying the record for the largest jump on the Billboard Hot 100 for a male artist, with 88. "Make Me Proud" soon became Drake's fourth consecutive single to receive Platinum certification by the RIAA. Prior to the album's release, Drake planned to record a collaborative album with Lil Wayne; however, it was ultimately scrapped due to the success of Watch the Throne. He also began collaborations with Rick Ross for a mixtape titled Y.O.L.O., but the duo decided against the project in favor of increased concern for their respective studio albums. Although in 2021, Ross stated that a joint album is still possible as they've casually discussed it. Take Care was released on November 15, 2011, and received generally positive reviews from music critics. John McDonnell of NME dubbed it "an affecting masterpiece" and commended its "delicate, mellifluous sound and unashamedly candid, emotive lyrics." Pitchforks Ryan Dombal found Drake's "technical abilities" to be improved and stated, "Just as his thematic concerns have become richer, so has the music backing them up." Andy Hutchins of The Village Voice called it "a carefully crafted bundle of contradictory sentiments from a conflicted rapper who explores his own neuroses in as compelling a manner as anyone not named Kanye West." Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot complimented the depth of Drake's "moral psychodramas" and stated, "the best of it affirms that Drake is shaping a pop persona with staying power." It also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, and achieved great commercial success, eventually being certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA in 2016, with sales for the album marking 2.6 million in the U.S. The album's third and fourth singles, "The Motto" and Take Care", were released on November 29, 2011 and February 21, 2012, respectively. Each song was subject to commercial success, while also having large societal impacts, with "The Motto" credited for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States. The music video for "Take Care" saw widespread acclaim, with MTV stating, "None of his contemporaries – not even the ever-obtuse Kanye [West] – make videos like this, mostly because no one else can get away with it." The video received four nominations at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Video of the Year. The song was also featured on the channel's "Pop Songs You Must Hear" list of 2011. "HYFR" was the final single to be released from the album, and became certified Gold. It also won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video in 2012, and the channel ranked him number two on their "Hottest MCs in the Game" list. On August 5, 2012, Drake released "Enough Said", performed by American recording artist Aaliyah featuring additional vocals provided by himself. Originally recorded prior to the singer's death in a plane crash in 2001, Drake later finished the track with producer "40". "Enough Said" was released by Blackground Records through their SoundCloud account on August 5, 2012. It was sent to US urban and rhythmic radio stations on August 21. The song charted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs In promotion of his second album, Drake embarked on the worldwide Club Paradise Tour. It became the most successful hip hop tour of 2012, grossing over $42 million. He then returned to acting, starring in Ice Age: Continental Drift as Ethan. 2013–2015: Nothing Was the Same and If You're Reading This It's Too Late During the European leg of the Club Paradise Tour, Drake spoke in an interview stating that he had begun working on his third studio album. Revealing his intentions to remain with 40 as the album's executive producer, Drake spoke fondly about Jamie xx, hoping to include and expand the British producer's influence over his next album. Drake had also revealed that the album would stylistically differ from Take Care, departing from the ambient production and despondent lyrics prevalent previously. In January 2013, Drake announced that he would release the first single off his third album at the end of the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Despite an initial delay, it was released in the wake of his win for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the event, and it foresaw Drake announcing Nothing Was the Same as the title of his third album. The album's second single, "Hold On, We're Going Home", was released in August 2013, becoming the most successful single off the album, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Drake sought inspiration from the 1980s television series Miami Vice during the composition of the song's music video, incorporating the dramatic elements seen in the show en route to winning his second MTV Video Music Award in 2014 for the video. Drake appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing the album's third single, "Too Much", alongside featured artist Sampha. Nothing Was the Same was released on September 24, 2013, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200, with 658,000 copies sold in its first week of release. The album debuted atop the charts in Canada, Denmark, Australia and the United Kingdom. The album also enjoyed generally favourable reviews by contemporary music critics, commending the musical shift in terms of the tone and subject matter, comparing it to the distinct change showcased in Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak. The album was also reported to have sold over 1,720,000 copies in the United States, and was further promoted by the "Would You like a Tour?" throughout late 2013 to early 2014. It became the 22nd-most successful tour of the year, grossing an estimated $46 million. Drake then returned to acting in January 2014, hosting Saturday Night Live, as well as serving as the musical guest. His versatility, acting ability and comedic timing were all praised by critics, describing it as what "kept him afloat during the tough and murky SNL waters". Drake also performed in Dubai, being one of the only artists ever to perform in the city. In late 2014, Drake announced that he began recording sessions for his fourth studio album. In 2014, Drake performed in Spanish as a featured artist on the Romeo Santos song "Odio". He also appeared on a remix of "Tuesday" by ILoveMakonnen, which peaked at number one on Billboard's Rhythmic chart and number twelve on the "Hot 100", and released "0 to 100 / The Catch Up" as a non-album single. The latter went double platinum in the United States. On February 12, 2015, Drake released If You're Reading This It's Too Late onto iTunes with no prior announcement. Despite debate on whether it was an album or a mixtape, its commercial stance quantifies it as his fourth retail project with Cash Money Records, a scheme that was rumoured to allow Drake to leave the label. However, he eventually remained with Cash Money, and If You're Reading This It's Too Late sold over 1 million units in 2015, making Drake the first artist with a platinum project in 2015, as well as his fourth overall. 2015–2017: What a Time to Be Alive, Views, and More Life On July 31, 2015, Drake released four singles: "Back to Back", "Charged Up", "Hotline Bling", and "Right Hand". On September 20, 2015, Drake released a collaborative mixtape with Future, which was recorded in Atlanta in just under a week. What a Time to Be Alive debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making Drake the first hip hop artist to have two projects reach number one in the same year since 2004. It was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales, streaming and track-sales equivalent of over 1 million units. Drake also appeared on the cover of The Fader for their 100th issue. Drake announced in January 2016 that his fourth studio album would be launched during the spring, releasing the promotional single "Summer Sixteen" later that month. The album was originally titled Views from the 6, but was later shortened to Views. "Summer Sixteen" debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, and proved controversial, with Drake comparing his standing in hip hop to more tenured artists. This move divided many contemporary music critics, describing his self-comparison as "goodly brash" or "conventionally disrespectful." It was also interpreted as a diss track towards Tory Lanez, who was unhappy at Drake for popularizing the term "The Six" when referencing Toronto. Drake also crashed a Bat Mitzvah in New York City on February 20, performing at the event. Drake soon released the album's lead singles, "Pop Style" and the dancehall-infused "One Dance", on April 5. Both debuted within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100; however, the latter proved more commercially successful, with "One Dance" becoming Drake's first number-one single in Canada and the US as a leading artist. The single also became Drake's first number one single as a lead artist in the United Kingdom, and peaked at number one in Germany, France, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands. During an episode for OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed the album's release date of April 29, and followed it up with various promotional videos. On October 15, "One Dance" became Spotify's most-streamed song ever, amassing over 882 million plays . Views was previewed in London before its premiere on Beats 1 a day later. It was released as an Apple Music and iTunes exclusive on April 29 before being made available to various other platforms later that week. Views would become Drake's most commercially successful album, sitting atop the Billboard 200 for ten nonconsecutive weeks, as well as simultaneously leading the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 for eight weeks. It also achieved double-platinum status in the U.S., and earned over 1 million album-equivalent units in the first week of its release, as well as gaining over half-billion overall streams of the album. Despite its success, critical opinion towards the album remained much divided, drawing criticism for being overlong and lacking in a cohesive theme, while also claiming Drake was not challenging himself artistically, as opposed to his contemporaries. He later released a short film titled Please Forgive Me, starring Swedish twin models Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta who are frequent collaborators with him. , Views remains Drake's best-selling album in pure sales. Drake returned to host Saturday Night Live on May 14, serving as the show's musical guest. Later, Drake was named as a member of the Forbes Five, which ranks the wealthiest artists in hip-hop, placing fifth after Birdman, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, and Diddy respectively. Drake and Future then announced the Summer Sixteen Tour to showcase their collective mixtape, as well as their respective studio albums. This marked Drake's third co-headlining tour, which began in Austin, Texas on July 20. On July 23, Drake announced that he was working on a new project, scheduled to be released in early 2017, and was later named as the headline act for the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival. The latter dates of the Summer Sixteen Tour were postponed, however, due to Drake suffering an ankle injury. During the 2016 OVO Festival, Kanye West confirmed that he and Drake had begun working on a collaborative album. Soon after, the music video for "Child's Play" was released, depicting Drake and Tyra Banks playing a couple encountering relationship issues at the Cheesecake Factory in a reference to one of the song's lyrics. On September 26, Please Forgive Me was released as an Apple Music exclusive. It ran a total of 25 minutes, and featured music from Views. At the 2016 BET Hip-Hop Awards, Drake received the most nominations, with 10, winning the awards for Album of the Year and Best Hip-Hop Video. Drake later announced the Boy Meets World Tour on October 10, with twenty-six dates announced for the course of the tour in Europe. Seven additional dates were added a day later due to overwhelming demand. Soon after, during an episode of OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed he would be releasing a project titled More Life in December. However, he later pushed the date back to the new year. The project was described as a "playlist of original music", rather than being classified as a traditional mixtape or solo album. He was later revealed to be Spotify's most streamed artist for the second consecutive year in 2016, amassing a total 4.7 billion streams for all projects on the service, which is more than double the amount of streams he had in 2015. Drake later secured his second and third Grammy Awards, winning for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song at the 59th ceremony. Despite multiple setbacks, Drake announced More Life would be released on March 18, 2017, via a series of multiple video commercials released through Instagram. Upon release, More Life received mostly positive reviews, and debuted atop the Billboard 200, earning 505,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It also set a streaming record, becoming the highest ever streamed album in 24 hours, with a total of 89.9 million streams on Apple Music alone. The album also garnered 61.3 million streams on Spotify, dethroning Ed Sheeran's ÷ as the highest opening on the service in a single day. He later won 13 awards at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards in May, which saw him breaking the record for the most wins in a single show. Billboard also reported Drake had been present on the Hot 100 chart for eight consecutive years, and has the most recorded entries by a solo artist. He later declined to submit More Life for consideration at the 2018 Grammy Awards, stemming from his displeasure at "Hotline Bling" being "pigeonholed" into the rap category. He then released the single "Signs" on June 24, as well as reuniting with Metro Boomin on a single with Offset. The singles marked his first releases since More Life, with "Signs" was initially released as a collaboration between Drake and French fashion house Louis Vuitton, as part of the "Louis Vuitton Men's Spring-Summer 2018" fashion show. The event also had a playlist exclusively from OVO Sound, curated by label co-founder Oliver El-Khatib. Drake hosted the first annual NBA Awards on June 26, and starred in multiple commercials alongside his father in promotion of Virginia Black. Drake also appeared in The Carter Effect documentary, honouring the basketball career of Vince Carter, who was the first superstar player to play for the Toronto Raptors since the franchise's inception in 1995. The documentary also featured NBA players Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, and LeBron James. 2018–2019: Scorpion and Care Package; return to television After rumours circulated of Drake possibly collaborating with various artists, including rapper Trippie Redd and producer Pi'erre Bourne, for his new studio album, multiple snippets of songs were leaked near the closing end of 2017. Two songs would later be released as members of a mini EP, titled Scary Hours, on January 20, 2018, marking Drake's first solo release since More Life, as well as his first appearance on any song after featuring on a remix of the Jay-Z song "Family Feud" with Lil Wayne, as the lead single of the latter's Dedication 6: Reloaded mixtape. Scary Hours featured the songs "Diplomatic Immunity" and "God's Plan", which both debuted within the top-ten, with the latter eventually breaking various streaming records as it debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was Drake's first song as a solo artist to reach number one, as well as his second chart topper as a lead artist. Drake earned his 70th top 40 entry after featuring on the Migos song "Walk It Talk It", which debuted at number eighteen, and peaked at number ten. He was later featured on BlocBoy JB's debut single "Look Alive", which was released on February 9, 2018. The song's entry at number six on the Hot 100 made Drake the rapper with the most top 10 hits on the Hot 100, with 23. He then featured on a remix to "Lemon", a song originally released as a collaboration between band N.E.R.D and Rihanna. On April 5, Drake announced he was finishing his fifth studio album and he was releasing a single later that night. On April 6, "Nice for What" was released, alongside a music video directed by Karena Evans, which featured several female celebrities. After "Nice For What" replaced his own "God's Plan" on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, making him the first artist to have a new number-one debut replace their former number-one debut, Drake announced the title of his fifth studio album as Scorpion, with a planned release date of June 29, 2018. He then released "I'm Upset" on May 26 as the album's third single. Scorpion was then released as a double-album, and marked Drake's longest project, with a run-time of just under 90 minutes. The album broke both the one-day global records on Spotify and Apple Music, as it gained 132.45 million and 170 million plays on each streaming service, respectively. It eventually sold 749,000 album equivalent units in its first week of sales, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. In 2018, articles by The Guardian and Rolling Stone called him "the definitive pop star of his generation" and "perhaps [the] biggest post-Justin Timberlake male pop star of the new millennium", respectively. Shortly thereafter, Drake collaborated with British hip hop promotion Link Up TV on July 7, releasing a freestyle as a part of the promotion's 'Behind Barz' segment, before releasing another freestyle a week later after featuring on Charlie Sloth's long-running Fire in the Booth program on BBC Radio 1Xtra. Drake then earned his sixth number-one hit with "In My Feelings" on July 21, which also spawned the viral "#InMyFeelingsChallenge" or "#KiKiChallenge". The success of "In My Feelings" also made Drake the record holder for most number one hits among rappers. Soon after, he released the music video for "Nonstop", which was filmed in London during his surprise performance at the Wireless Festival. He then appeared on the Travis Scott album Astroworld, featuring uncredited vocals for his song "Sicko Mode", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Drake announced in July 2018 that he planned to "take 6 months to a year" to himself to return to television and films, producing the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. He then began the Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour with co-headliners Migos on August 12. This preceded a collaboration with Bad Bunny titled "Mia", which featured Drake performing in Spanish. He subsequently received the award for Hot Ticket Performer at the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards on October 16. During a performance in Edmonton on November 7, Drake announced his intention to begin composing his next project in early 2019. In February 2019, he received his fourth Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, for "God's Plan", at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. During his speech, producers abruptly cut to a commercial break, leading viewers to speculate they were censoring his speech during which he criticized The Recording Academy. A legal representative for the academy then released a statement stating "a natural pause [led] the producers [to] assume that he was done and cut to commercial," and added the organization offered him an opportunity to return to stage, but he declined. On February 14, Drake re-released his third mixtape, So Far Gone, onto streaming services for the first time to commemorate its 10-year anniversary, and later collaborated with Summer Walker on a remix of Walker's song "Girls Need Love", marking his first release of 2019. On April 10, during a performance on the Assassination Vacation Tour, he announced he was working on a new album. On June 8, Drake appeared on Chris Brown's single "No Guidance". On June 15, Drake released two songs, "Omertà" and "Money in the Grave", on his EP The Best in the World Pack to celebrate the NBA Championship win of the Toronto Raptors. On August 2, he released the compilation album Care Package, consisting of songs released between 2010 and 2016 that were initially unavailable for purchase or commercial streaming; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. 2019–present: Dark Lane Demo Tapes, Scary Hours 2, and Certified Lover Boy Drake released the song "War" on December 24, 2019, with an accompanying music video, which was widely noted for its UK drill-inspired instrumental. The following day, in an interview with Rap Radar, it was revealed that he was in the process of completing his sixth studio album. On January 10, 2020, Drake collaborated with Future on the song "Life Is Good", which appeared on the album High Off Life. On January 31, the pair again collaborated on the song "Desires", although it was released for free after being leaked. On February 29, Drake released the songs "When to Say When" and "Chicago Freestyle" with a combined music video. On April 3, he released "Toosie Slide" with a music video, which features a dance created in collaboration with social media influencer Toosie. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Drake the first male artist to have three songs debut at number one. On May 1, 2020, Drake released the commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes, with guest appearances from Chris Brown, Future, Young Thug, Fivio Foreign, Playboi Carti, and Sosa Geek. He also announced that his sixth studio album would be released in the summer of 2020. The mixtape is a compilation of new songs and tracks that leaked on the internet. It received mixed reviews and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 223,000 album-equivalent units, and at number one on the UK Albums Chart, earning 20,000 units in its first week. On July 17, Drake was featured on DJ Khaled's singles "Greece" and "Popstar", debuting at numbers eight and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, becoming Drake's record-extending 24th and 25th debuts in the Hot 100's top 10. It also became his 39th and 40th Hot 100 top ten entries, breaking Madonna's record for most Hot 100 top ten hits. On July 20, Drake and Headie One released the drill track "Only You Freestyle", making it the third drill-inspired song he released in 2020, after "War" and "Demons", both of which appear on Dark Lane Demo Tapes. On August 14, "Laugh Now Cry Later" featuring Lil Durk was released, which was intended as the lead single from Drake's album Certified Lover Boy, but not included on the final track listing. It debuted at number two on the Hot 100, and was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. On September 3, the video for "Popstar" was released, in which Drake makes a cameo appearance. On October 2, Drake was the sole guest appearance on Bryson Tiller's album Anniversary (2020), on the song "Outta Time". He subsequently appeared on the remix to "You're Mines Still", alongside Yung Bleu on October 16; just over a week later, on his 34th birthday, Drake announced Certified Lover Boy was set to be released in January 2021. This was later pushed back to an unspecified date after he sustained a knee injury which required surgery. On December 1, he reunited with Lil Wayne on "B.B. King Freestyle", the lead single from the latter's double-disc mixtape No Ceilings 3 (2020). In January 2021, Drake became the first artist to surpass 50 billion combined streams on Spotify. He later collaborated with Drakeo the Ruler on the single "Talk to Me", which was released on February 23. On March 5, Drake released an EP titled Scary Hours 2, which includes three songs: "What's Next", "Wants and Needs" with Lil Baby, and "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" with Rick Ross. These three songs entered the charts at numbers one, two, and three, respectively, making Drake the first artist to have three songs debut in the top three on the Billboard Hot 100. He then appeared on the single "Solid" from the YSL Records compilation Slime Language 2, alongside Gunna and Young Thug. "Solid" was originally meant to appear on Certified Lover Boy, and to only feature Gunna. On May 14, Drake was featured alongside mentor Lil Wayne on former labelmate Nicki Minaj's "Seeing Green", a new song on the streaming re-release of her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. Two weeks later, he was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. On June 12, he featured on Migos' "Having Our Way", from the group's third studio album, Culture III (2021), and on July 1, collaborated with Brent Faiyaz and The Neptunes on the song "Wasting Time". On July 23, Drake appeared on "Over the Top" with Smiley, the newest signee to OVO Sound. During an appearance on Fri Yiy Friday, a radio show supported by OVO Sound, Drake revealed Certified Lover Boy "is ready. [I'm] looking forward to delivering it". He then appeared on "Betrayal", a collaboration with Trippie Redd for Trip at Knight (2021). Certified Lover Boy was then released on September 3, 2021, becoming his tenth number-one album on the Billboard 200; every song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album was the first to chart nine songs on the top 10, with "Way 2 Sexy" becoming Drake's ninth number-one single. He subsequently set the record for the fourth-most cumulative weeks (52) at number one on the Hot 100, behind Mariah Carey (84), Rihanna (60), and The Beatles (59). He received a nomination for Best Global Act at the 2021 All Africa Music Awards, and appeared on Young Thug's Punk (2021), featuring on the song "Bubbly". On October 22, Drake featured on Majid Jordan's "Stars Align", the lead single to the band's third album Wildest Dreams. Two weeks later, on November 5, Drake released a horror-themed black and white music video for "Knife Talk", the third single from Certified Lover Boy, with featured appearances by 21 Savage and Project Pat. On November 6, he debuted the song "Give It Up" on OVO Sound Radio. Certified Lover Boy was nominated for Best Rap Album and "Way 2 Sexy" was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. He was later named Billboard’s Top Artist of the Year for 2021, and was the fourth most streamed artist on Spotify for the year, and the most streamed rapper. On December 6, he withdrew his music for consideration for the Grammys, with multiple outlets noting his contentious relationship with the Recording Academy. Drake accumulated 8.6 billion on-demand streams in 2021, making him the most overall streamed artist of the year in the United States; one out of every 131 streams was a Drake song. On January 7, 2022, Drake was announced as a featured artist on Gunna's DS4Ever, but was not included until the release of the album's deluxe edition just under a week later. On January 17, Drake announced another collaboration with DJ Khaled. Artistry Influences Drake has cited several hip hop artists as influencing his rapping style, including Kanye West, Jay Z, MF Doom, and Lil Wayne, while also attributing various R&B artists as influential to the incorporation of the genre into his own music, including Aaliyah and Usher. Drake has also credited several dancehall artists for later influencing his Caribbean-inflected style, including Vybz Kartel, whom he has called one of his "biggest inspirations". Musical style Drake is considered to be a pop-rap artist. While Drake's earlier music primarily spanned hip hop and R&B, his music has delved into pop and trap in recent years. Additionally, his music has drawn influence from regional scenes, including Jamaican dancehall and UK drill. Drake is known for his egotistical lyrics, technical ability, and integration of personal backstory when dealing with relationships with women. His vocal abilities have been lauded for an audible contrast between typical hip-hop beats and melody, with sometimes abrasive rapping coupled with softer accents, delivered on technical lyricism. His songs often include audible changes in lyrical pronunciation in parallel with his upbringing in Toronto, and connections with Caribbean and Middle Eastern countries which include such phrases as "ting", "touching road", "talkin' boasy" and "gwanin' wassy". Most of his songs contain R&B and Canadian hip hop elements, and he combines rapping with singing. He credits his father with the introduction of singing into his rap mixtapes, which have become a staple in his musical repertoire. His incorporation of melody into technically complex lyrics was supported by Lil Wayne, and has subsequently been a critically acclaimed component to Drake's singles and albums. The lyrical content that Drake deploys is typically considered to be emotional or boastful. However, Drake is often revered for incorporating "degrading" themes of money, drug use, and women into newer, idealized contexts, often achieving this through his augmentation of the typical meaning of phrases in which he combines an objective and subjective perspective into one vocal delivery. His songs often maintain tension between "pause and pace, tone timbre, and volume and vocal fermata." Drake is credited with innovating what has been referred to as "hyper-reality rap", which is characterized by its focus on themes of celebrity as being distinct from the "real world." Public image A prominent figure in pop culture, Drake is widely credited for popularizing the Toronto sound to the music industry and leading the "Canadian Invasion" of the American charts. The Washington Post editor Maura Judkis credits Drake for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States with his single "The Motto", which includes, "You only live once: that's the motto, nigga, YOLO." Drake later popularized the term "The Six" in 2015 in relation to his hometown Toronto, subsequently becoming a point of reference to the city. His lyrical subject matter, which often revolves around relationships, have had widespread use on social media through photo captions to reference emotions or personal situations. However, this content has incited mixed reception from fans and critics, with some deeming him as sensitive, a trait perceived as antithetical to traditional hip hop culture. June 10 was declared "Drake Day" in Houston. In 2016, Drake visited Drake University after a show in Des Moines in response to an extensive social media campaign by students that began in 2009, advocating for his appearance. According to a report from Confused.com, Drake's Toronto home was one of the most Googled homes in the world, recording over a million annual searches in 2021; its features, such as its NBA-size indoor basketball court and Kohler Numi toilet, have also received widespread media attention. The music video for "Hotline Bling" went viral due to Drake's eccentric dance moves. The video has been remixed, memed, and was heavily commented on due to the unconventional nature on the song, causing it to gain popularity on YouTube, and spawning several parodies. Drake has also been critiqued for his expensive, product placement-heavy attire, exemplified by the video for "Hotline Bling". Drake modelled a $1,500 Moncler Puffer Jacket, a $400 Acne Studios turtleneck, and limited edition Timberland 6" Classic Boots. He was labeled by GQ magazine as "[one of] the most stylish men alive"; during promotion for Certified Lover Boy, Drake debuted a "heart haircut", which became popular and widely imitated. He is also known for his large and extravagant lifestyle, including for high-end themed birthday parties; he maintained this image in his early career by renting a Rolls-Royce Phantom, which he was eventually gifted in 2021. He later cultivated a reputation as a successful gambler; between December 2021 and February 2022, he was reported to have made bets of over $1 billion, which included winnings ranging between $354,000 and $7 million. Between 2016 and 2019, he was noted for the "Drake curse", an internet meme based on the incidents where Drake appears to be support of particular sports team or person, just for that team or person to lose, often against the odds. In 2016, Drake spoke on the shooting of Alton Sterling, publishing an open letter expressing his concern for the safety of ethnic minorities against police brutality in the United States. In 2021, he joined a group of Canadian musicians to work with the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) to lobby Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to restructure the country's copyright law to allow artists and their families to regain ownership of copyrights during their lifetime. He also campaigned for the expansion of a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise in Toronto, and headlined a benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with Kanye West on December 9, 2021, to raise clemency for Larry Hoover, although his solo performance was later removed from the Amazon Prime Video replay. In Christmas 2021, Drake gave away money to individuals in Toronto. Impact Commenting on Drake's Take Care, Elias Leight of Rolling Stone noticed in 2020 that "now nearly every singer raps, and nearly every rapper sings", as many artists "have borrowed or copied the template of [the album] that the boldness of the original is easily forgotten", according to the writer. BBC Radio 1Xtra argued that his co-signs helped push the British hip-hop scene to a wider international market, as he did with the Toronto music scene. According to CBS Music in 2019, Drake has inspired "the next wave" of artists coming out of his hometown. Aaron Williams of Uproxx added "jump-starting the sad boy rapper craze alongside Kid Cudi" and "helping to renew stateside interest in UK grime and Caribbean dancehall with Skepta, PartyNextDoor, and Rihanna" to the modern trends Drake assisted. Writing for Bloomberg, Lucas Shaw commented Drake's popularity has influenced the promotion of music, with Certified Lover Boy attaining large commercial success despite relatively minimal orthodox marketing techniques, stating "fans are consuming Drake’s [music] in a way that is different to others". He also noted the album as novel in relation to consumption, with each song having relatively equivalent streams, as opposed to a dominant single(s). The ubiquity of Drake's music has consistently seen it played during various activities or events. In 2021, a study conducted by Pour Moi found, over a kilometer, joggers ran 21 seconds slower while listening to Drake's music compared to other artists. Drake's music was also found to extend a three-mile run by 105 seconds. Beginning in 2022, Drake's music was canonized academically by Ryerson University, which began teaching courses titled "Deconstructing Drake and the Weeknd", with the pair's music used to explore themes related to the Canadian music industry, race, class, marketing and globalization. Achievements Drake is the highest-certified digital singles artist ever in the United States, having moved 142 million units based on combined sales and on-demand streams. His highest-certified single is "God's Plan" (11× Platinum), followed by "Hotline Bling", which was certified 8× Platinum. He holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; he has the most charted songs of any artist (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in a single week (27), the most debuts in a week (22), the most top 10 singles (54), the most top 10 debuts in a week (9), the most top 10 debuts (39), and the most continuous time on the chart (431 weeks). He has accumulated 9 number-one singles, a record among rappers. In 2021, Drake became second act to occupy the entire Hot 100's top five in a single week, the other act being The Beatles in 1964. He also has the most number-one singles on the Hot Rap Songs (23), Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (23), and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. He is also the only artist to have two albums log 400 weeks each on the Billboard 200. , Drake has won four Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. He has also won a record 29 Billboard Music Awards. In 2017, he surpassed Adele's record for most wins at the Billboard Music Awards in one night, winning 13 awards from 22 nominations. He was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. Billboard editor Ernest Baker stated "Drake managed to rule hip-hop in 2014", adding "the best rapper in 2014 didn't need a new album or hit single to prove his dominance". From 2015 to 2017, Drake ranked within the top-five of the Billboard year-end chart for Top Artists topping it in 2018. He was named the IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2016 and 2018. Drake was Spotify's most streamed artist of the 2010s. Pitchfork ranked Nothing Was the Same as the 41st best album of the decade "so far"—between 2010 and 2014, and ranked him fifth in the publication's list of the "Top 10 Music Artists" since 2010. Take Care was ranked at number 95 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020). He has been ranked by Complex on their "Best Rapper Alive Every Year Since 1979" list, awarding Drake the accolade in 2011, 2012, and 2015. Controversies Legal issues On May 31, 2009, Drake was robbed at gunpoint in Toronto's Little Italy district and was forced to forfeit a gold and diamond necklace, an Audemars Piguet watch, and $2,000. Soccerties Cotterell and Paul Lelutiu were initially charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, three counts of pointing a firearm and possession of stolen property; these charges were later dropped. The men pled guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, and spent six months in jail. In April 2017, Mesha Collins was arrested for criminal trespass after breaking into Drake's home in Calabasas; although no criminal charges were brought by Drake, she later filed a $4 billion lawsuit against him for defamation in June 2021, which was dismissed that December. In March 2021, an unidentified woman armed with a knife was arrested following a failed attempt to break into Drake's home in Toronto. In 2012, singer Ericka Lee filed a lawsuit against Drake for the usage of her voice on "Marvins Room". Claiming to have provided the female vocals, Lee also alleged she was owed songwriting credits and royalties. Despite Drake's legal team countering by claiming that Lee simply requested a credit in the liner notes of the album, the matter was resolved in February 2013, with both parties agreeing to an out-of-court settlement. In 2014, Drake was sued for $300,000 for sampling "Jimmy Smith Rap", a 1982 single by jazz musician Jimmy Smith. The suit was filed by Smith's estate, who said Drake never asked for permission when sampling it for the intro on "Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2", claiming Smith himself would have disagreed as he disliked hip hop. Drake would win the lawsuit in 2017, with federal judge William Pauley ruling the content used was transformative, and there was no liability for copyright infringement. Also in 2014, it emerged that Drake was sued by rapper Rappin' 4-Tay, claiming Drake misused his lyrics when collaborating with YG on the song "Who Do You Love?". He sought $100,000 for mistreatment and artistic theft, which Drake paid to the rapper later that year. In 2016, Drake caused a nightclub in Oklahoma City to close down, due to his usage of marijuana and other illegal drugs being prevalent at the club. In December 2021, Drake sued jeweler Ori Vechler and his company Gemma LTD for incorrectly using his likeness in promotional material; he also sought to return three items he purchased. In 2017, Drake was embroiled in another lawsuit, being sued by producer Detail (Noel Fisher) over an alleged assault in 2014. Fisher claimed Drake's bodyguard, Nessel "Chubbs" Beezer, punched him in the face and allegedly broke his jaw over musical and financial disputes. Fisher also said the injuries caused him to be hospitalized for days and had to undergo several surgeries, following which he sued for damages related to medical bills and physical and emotional suffering. The case, which was set to undergo trial in May 2018, was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu after Fisher failed to show up for a final status conference. Lu ruled that Beezer solely acted in self-defense. In October 2021, Drake and Chris Brown were sued by Braindon Cooper and Timothy Valentine for copyright infringement between "No Guidance" and their own song "I Love Your Dress". Cooper and Valentine lost the lawsuit quickly, also being mocked by general public on the internet. A month later, he was named as a co-defendant with Travis Scott in a multi-claimant lawsuit for inciting "a riot and violence" at the Astroworld Festival, to which he released a statement; he was later criticized for reportedly attending the Area 29 strip club in Houston the day after the incident. He also reportedly delayed the release of "Splash Brothers", a collaboration with French Montana, following the incident. Feuds Drake and Chris Brown were allegedly involved in a physical altercation in June 2012 when Drake and his entourage threw glass bottles at Brown in a SoHo nightclub in Manhattan, New York City. Chris Brown tweeted about the incident, and criticized Drake in music until 2013, including on the "R.I.P." remix. Despite no response from Drake, he and Brown both appeared in a comedic skit for the 2014 ESPY Awards, and rehearsed the skit together prior to the televised airing, virtually ending the dispute. The pair later collaborated on "No Guidance" in 2019. In December 2014, Drake was involved in another altercation, being punched by Diddy outside the LIV nightclub in Miami, Florida. The altercation was reported to be over Drake's usage of the instrumental for "0 to 100 / The Catch Up", allegedly produced by Boi-1da for Diddy, before Drake appropriated the track for his own use. Drake was later rushed to the ER after aggravating an old arm injury during the dispute. Drake was also involved in a feud with Tyga, stemming from Tyga's negative comments about him during an interview with Vibe magazine. Drake would later respond on "6 God" and "6PM in New York", which has been interpreted as directly involved in Tyga's abrupt removal from Young Money Entertainment. Further controversy arose in July 2015 when it was alleged by Meek Mill that Drake had used ghostwriters during recording sessions for "RICO", one of the lead singles off Mill's second studio album. This proceeded further allegations that Drake did not help in promotion of the album, due to Mill discovering the ghostwriter, widely believed to be Quentin Miller. Despite Miller collaborating with Drake and receiving past credits, Mill assured that Miller had written Drake's verse for "R.I.C.O." Soon after, Funkmaster Flex aired reference tracks in support of Mill's claims, notably for "R.I.C.O.", "10 Bands", and "Know Yourself". This prompted Drake to respond with two diss tracks, titled "Charged Up" and "Back to Back", in the space of four days. Mill would later respond with "Wanna Know", before removing it from SoundCloud weeks later. Following several subliminal disses from either artist, Drake further sought to denounce Funkmaster Flex while performing in New York (Flex's home state) on the Summer Sixteen Tour. Following Mill's prison sentencing for probation violation, Drake stated "Free Meek Mill" at a concert in Australia, and ended their rivalry on "Family Feud"; the pair later collaborated on "Going Bad" in 2019. Pusha T would also use the same rationale to criticize Drake on "Infrared" in 2018, leading Drake to respond with the "Duppy Freestyle" diss track on May 25. Pusha T responded with "The Story of Adidon" on May 29, which presented several claims and revealed Drake's fatherhood. The pair are considered to have been in a rivalry since 2012, resulting from Pusha T's feuds with Lil Wayne and Birdman, with Drake yet to respond to "The Story of Adidon". In 2016, Drake was embroiled in a feud with Joe Budden, stemming from Budden's derogatory comments when reviewing Views. Drake would allegedly respond to Budden through "4PM in Calabasas", prompting Budden to respond with two diss tracks in the space of five days, echoing the same sentiment Drake deployed during his feud with Meek Mill. Drake would later appear on "No Shopping" alongside French Montana, directly referencing Budden throughout the song, although, Montana claimed Drake's verse was recorded before the release of Budden's diss tracks. Despite Budden releasing two further songs in reference to Drake, he has yet to officially respond to Budden. In the same year, Drake dissed Kid Cudi on "Two Birds, One Stone" after Cudi launched an expletive-filled rant on the artist on Twitter. Cudi later checked into a rehabilitation facility following the release of the song, and continued to disparage Drake in further tweets; the pair eventually resolved their feud, and collaborated on "IMY2" in 2021. In mid-2018, Drake was embroiled in a feud with long-time collaborator Kanye West. In an appearance on The Shop, Drake recounted several meetings with West, who voiced his desire to "be Quincy Jones" and work with Drake and replicate the producer-artist relationship between Jones and Michael Jackson. West requested Drake play and inform him of upcoming releases, while he gave Drake the instrumental to "Lift Yourself". West requested the pair work in Wyoming, with Drake arriving a day after close friend 40, who said West was instead recording an album. Judging the pair to have differing release schedules, Drake traveled to Wyoming, but "only worked on [West's] music"; they explored Drake's after he played West "March 14", which addressed Drake's relationship with his newborn son and co-parent. This prompted a conversation with West regarding his personal issues, after which, news of his son would be exposed by Pusha T, which Drake concluded was revealed to him by West; West also released "Lift Yourself" as a solo song and produced "Infrared". Drake then denounced West in songs and live performances. West would retaliate in a series of tweets in late 2018, and the pair continued to respond on social media and in music as of late 2021, which included Drake leaking West's song "Life of the Party". During their feud, West also made several public attempts to reconcile with Drake, which is reported to have occurred after they co-headlined a benefit concert in December 2021. Drake has also been involved in feuds with DMX, Kendrick Lamar, Common, The Weeknd, XXXTentacion, Jay-Z, Tory Lanez, and Ludacris, although the latter five, and his feud with DMX, have been reported to be resolved. Business ventures Endorsements Prior to venturing into business, Drake garnered several endorsement deals with various companies, notably gaining one with Sprite following his mention of drinking purple drank, a concoction that contains Sprite as a key ingredient. In the aftermath of his highly publicized feud with Meek Mill, Drake was also endorsed by fast food restaurants Burger King and Whataburger. Business magazine Forbes commented his endorsement deals and business partnerships "combined heavily" for Drake's reported pre-tax earnings at $94 million between June 2016 to June 2017, being one of the highest-paid celebrities during that period. OVO Sound During the composition of Nothing Was the Same, Drake started his own record label in late 2012 with producer Noah "40" Shebib and business partner Oliver El-Khatib. Drake sought for an avenue to release his own music, as well helping in the nurturing of other artists, while Shebib and El-Khatib yearned to start a label with a distinct sound, prompting the trio to team up to form OVO Sound. The name is an abbreviation derived from the October's Very Own moniker Drake used to publish his earlier projects. The label is currently distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Drake, 40, and PartyNextDoor were the label's inaugural artists. The label houses artists including Drake, PartyNextDoor, Majid Jordan, Roy Woods, and dvsn, as well as producers including 40, Boi-1da, Nineteen85, and Future the Prince. Toronto Raptors On September 30, 2013, at a press conference with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke, Drake was announced as the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise. It was announced together with the 2016 NBA All-Star Game being awarded to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. This was also the setting where Drake was given The Key to the City. In the role, it was announced that Drake would help to promote and serve as a host of festivities, beginning with the All-Star Game. He would also provide consulting services to rebrand the team, helping to redesign its image and clothing line in commemoration of the franchise's 20th anniversary. He also collaborated with the Raptors on pre-game practice jerseys, t-shirts, and sweatsuits, and began hosting an annual "Drake Night" segment with the organization, beginning in 2013. Entertainment Apple Music Following the launch of Apple Music, a music and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc., the company announced Drake as the figurehead for the platform at their Worldwide Developers Conference in 2015, with the artist also penning an exclusivity deal with the service worth a reported $19 million. This saw all future solo releases by Drake becoming available first on Apple Music, before seeing roll out to other streaming services and music retailers. Drake had also developed the OVO Sound Radio station on Beats 1, which is utilized as the primary avenue for debuting singles and projects, with the station overseeing over 300 million unique users when it debuted More Life. Drake's partnership with Apple Music has largely been credited for the platform's sharp success, as it attained 10 million subscribers after six months, as well as giving birth to exclusivity from artists, with many independent and signed artists, such as Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, also brokering exclusivity deals with streaming services. Through signing with the company, Drake was one of the artists, alongside Pharrell and Katy Perry, to exclusively own an Apple Watch before the smartwatch saw public release. DreamCrew and investments In 2017, Drake and Adel "Future" Nur co-founded the production company DreamCrew, which functions both as a management company and entertainment group. The company has produced the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. Their debut film as producers was on the sports documentary The Carter Effect, detailing the impact of Vince Carter in Canada. In July 2021, Drake was announced as an executive producer, alongside LeBron James and Maverick Carter, for Black Ice, a documentary film charting the experiences of black and ethnic minority professional and amateur ice hockey players. It is due to be produced by Uninterrupted Canada in partnership with Drake's DreamCrew Entertainment, James' SpringHill Company, and Bell Media. DreamCrew also began production on the unscripted survival series Chillin' Island in 2021, due to air on HBO. In June 2021, Live Nation confirmed a long-standing partnership with Drake to open History, a 2,500 convertible capacity live-entertainment and general function venue in Toronto. It was in development for over three years and is situated in The Beaches. He also aided in the venue's interior design, which contains LED screens, soundproofing, quick-change rooms and a customizable staircase. Later that month, Drake signed as an investor and collaborator with Los Angeles-based sustainability and financial services startup Aspiration; he will also use the company's enterprise services to monitor and ensure personal carbon neutrality. He has also invested in robo-advisor Wealthsimple, the "livestreaming video commerce platform" NTWRK, the cannabis provider Bullrider, and several sports-related ventures, including online esports betting platform Players’ Lounge, the sportstech firm StatusPro, and online sports network Overtime. In an analysis by Brennan Doherty for Toronto Star, Drake's investment "carry all the hallmarks" typical of musicians, which is often momentum investing, and cited Jason Pereira, who described Drake's business deals as typically angel investing and private equity (often venture capital) funds. Pereira also noted his "leveraging his personal brand to generate cash". 100 Thieves In 2018, Drake purchased an ownership stake in the gaming organization 100 Thieves, joining as a co-founder and co-owner. The investment was partly funded by music executive Scooter Braun and Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert. Since the investment, the stake is estimated to be worth $125 million. Cuisine Two months prior to the release of Views, Drake announced the development of Virginia Black, a bourbon-based whiskey. This would be his second foray into selling foodstuffs, previously partnering with celebrity chef Susur Lee to open Fring's Restaurant in Toronto. The beverage was created and also distributed alongside Proximo Spirits, as well as with Brent Hocking, a spirits producer who founded DeLeón Tequila in 2008. The company described the partnership as "fruitful [as they] share a passion for style, music, and the pursuit of taste [on] a quest to redefine whiskey." In 2021, using ratings compiled from Vivino and complimentary website Distiller, Virginia Black was ranked the worst value celebrity liquor for quality and price. The product was launched in June 2016, and contained two, three and four-year old Bourbon whiskies. The company sold over 4,000 bottles in the first week domestically. The brand was also promoted and marketed through Drake's music and various tours, such as being part of the "Virginia Black VIP Lounge" additional package available for purchase during the Summer Sixteen Tour. Virginia Black shipped a further 30,000 units when rollout was extended to select international markets in late 2016. The company later aired commercials with Drake's father, Dennis Graham, which featured the tagline of "The Realest Dude Ever" (in reference toward "The Most Interesting Man in the World" tagline employed by Dos Equis) after extending the sale of the drink to Europe in 2017. In 2019, Drake began collaborating with Hocking on Mod Sélection, a luxury range of champagne, and in May 2021, formed part of a $40 million series B investment funding round led by D1 Capital Partners in Daring Foods Inc., a vegan meat analogue corporation. That September, he purchased a minority stake in Californian food chain Dave's Hot Chicken. Fashion In December 2013, Drake announced he was signing with Nike and Air Jordan, saying "growing up, I'm sure we all idolized Michael Jordan. I [am] officially inducted into the Team Jordan family." Drake also released his own collection of Air Jordans, dubbed the "Air Jordan OVOs". This foresaw collaborations between OVO and Canada Goose, in which various items of clothing were produced. In 2020, A Bathing Ape announced a collaboration with Drake, releasing an OVO x BAPE collection of clothing, while he also partnered with candle manufacturer Revolve to create "Better World Fragrance", a line of scented candles. In December 2020, Drake announced Nocta, a sub-label with Nike. In a press release, Drake said "I always felt like there was an opportunity for Nike to embrace an entertainer the same way [as] athletes," he wrote, "to be associated with the highest level possible was always my goal." The apparel line is named after Drake's "nocturnal creative process", in which Nike described as a "collection for the collective", and noted by GQ as "fashion-forward, minimal-inspired sportswear". One clothing item features an image of Drake's muses, Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta, with a poem. After the first collection sold out, another was released in February 2021, which introduced t-shirts, adjustable caps, a utility vest, and a lightweight jacket. That July, OVO released the "Weekender Collection", which includes a line of hoodies, velour sweatsuits, t-shirts, shorts, and accessories for women. OVO then released a "Winter Survival Collection" that December which included puffer jackets, vests, and parkas made with 700-fill down and Oeko-Tex certified down feathers. They followed this with limited edition Jurassic Park-themed collection and an indoor footwear collaboration with Suicoke. Personal life Health and residences Drake lives in Toronto, Ontario, in a 35,000-square-foot, $100 million estate nicknamed "The Embassy", which was built from the ground-up in 2017, and is seen in the video to his song "Toosie Slide". He also owns a home nicknamed the "YOLO Estate" in Hidden Hills, California, which he has owned since 2012, and in 2021, rented a $65 million property in Beverly Hills. He owns a condominium adjacent to the CN Tower, and a Boeing 767. Drake has a variety of tattoos, some of which are symbols associated with personal accomplishments, such as a jack-o-lantern, "October Lejonhjärta" (), owls, and a controversial Abbey Road (1969) inspired depiction of himself and The Beatles. He has portraits of Lil Wayne, Sade, Aaliyah, Jesús Malverde, Denzel Washington, 40, his parents, grandmother, maternal uncle, and son; and several related to Toronto, including the CN Tower and the number "416". On August 18, 2021, Drake revealed he contracted COVID-19 amidst the pandemic, which led to temporary hair loss. He was also one of the first celebrities to publicly test for the virus in March 2020. Family and relationships Drake's paternal uncles are guitarists and songwriters Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges. Graham was a member of Sly and the Family Stone, while Hodges contributed to songs for Al Green, including "Love and Happiness", "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)", and "Take Me to the River". Drake has a close friendship with Adele, and was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Rihanna from 2009 to 2016. He has mentioned the relationship in every one of his studio albums, and when presenting Rihanna with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2016, he said "she's a woman I've been in love with since I was 22 years old." On his relationship with her, he said on the talk show The Shop: As life takes shape and teaches you your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don't have the fairy tale [of] 'Drake started a family with Rihanna, [it's] so perfect.' It looks so good on paper [and] I wanted it too at one time. Drake is a father to one son named Adonis, who was born on October 11, 2017 to French painter and former model Sophie Brussaux. Brussaux's pregnancy was the subject of several rumours after featuring in a TMZ article in early 2017. After the nature of the pair's relationship was discussed in Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon", Drake confirmed his fatherhood on the album Scorpion in 2018, citing a desire for his child's privacy. Discography Studio albums Thank Me Later (2010) Take Care (2011) Nothing Was the Same (2013) Views (2016) Scorpion (2018) Certified Lover Boy (2021) Tours Headlining Away from Home Tour (2010) Club Paradise Tour (2012) Would You Like a Tour? (2013–2014) Jungle Tour (2015; six date promotional tour) Boy Meets World Tour (2017) Assassination Vacation Tour (2019) Co-headlining America's Most Wanted Tour (2009) Drake vs. Lil Wayne (2014) Summer Sixteen Tour (2016) Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour (2018) Filmography Film Television See also Culture of Toronto List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of Canadian musicians List of people from Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of highest-certified music artists in the United States List of best-selling music artists List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones List of most-followed Instagram accounts List of Canadian hip hop musicians List of Canadian Jews List of Black Canadians Black Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area History of the Jews in Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the Canadian Hot 100 List of Canadian Grammy Award winners and nominees List of most-streamed artists on Spotify References External links 1986 births Living people 21st-century Black Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian rappers African-American businesspeople African-American Jews African-American male rappers Black Canadian businesspeople Black Canadian male actors Black Canadian musicians Brit Award winners Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian Ashkenazi Jews Canadian contemporary R&B singers Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Canadian hip hop singers Canadian male child actors Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male rappers Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian music industry executives Canadian people of African-American descent Canadian people of American descent Canadian people of Jewish descent Canadian people of Latvian-Jewish descent Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Canadian philanthropists Canadian pop singers Canadian rhythm and blues singers Canadian songwriters Cash Money Records artists Culture of Toronto Dancehall musicians Grammy Award winners for rap music Jewish Canadian male actors Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish Canadian writers Jewish rappers Jewish singers Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year winners Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year winners Male actors from Toronto MTV Europe Music Award winners OVO Sound artists People from Hidden Hills, California People from Weston, Toronto Pop rappers Rappers from Toronto Republic Records artists Sports spectators Toronto Raptors personnel Trap musicians UK drill musicians Universal Motown Records artists Writers from Toronto Young Money Entertainment artists	false	[ "Only Love, L is the fifth studio album by German singer Lena Meyer-Landrut. It was released by Polydor Records on 5 April 2019. The album includes the singles \"Thank You\" and \"Don't Lie to Me\", with production from Beatgees, Jugglerz, and Jr Blender. It peaked at number 2 on the German Albums Chart, and entered the five in Austria. The album was re-released as More Love Edition on 6 December 2019, with the songs \"Better\" and \"It Takes Two\", as well as acoustic versions of \"Thank You\", \"Don't Lie to Me\", \"Skinny Bitch\" and \"Better\".\n\nSingles\nThe album's lead single \"Thank You\" was released on 16 November 2018. The song's music video was released on 29 November 2018 and was directed by Mario Clement. The song debuted and peaked at number 40 in Germany. \"Don't Lie to Me\" was released as the album's second single on 15 March 2019. The song's music video was released on the same day and was directed by Paul Ripke. The song debuted and peaked at number 63 in Germany.\n\n\"Sex in the Morning\" featuring Ramz was released on 29 March 2019 as the first promotional single from the album. \"Boundaries\" was used in the German campaign for the movie Dark Phoenix. The official music video was released on 17 May 2019. A music video for \"Love\" was released as an IGTV video on 28 June 2019. On 3 July 2019 the video was published on YouTube. \"Better\" with Nico Santos was released as a single on 16 August 2019. It was later included on the album's More Love Edition. \"Skinny Bitch\" was released as a single on 24 January 2020, along with a music video directed by Paul Hüttemann.\n\nTrack listing\n\nNotes\nAll track titles are stylised in all lowercase.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2019 albums\nLena Meyer-Landrut albums", "Electric Angel is the fourth album by Fiona Sit, and was released on August 11, 2006. A special edition was released on December 22, 2006.\n\nTrack listing\n\n (Tong But Lut)\n (Little Canyon 1234)\n (Fight)\n (Tree Ent)\n Dear Fiona \n (Poinciana)\n (Sleep Walk)\n (Fox, Are you Happy?)\n (Floating Snow) (Mandarin Version of Tong But Lut) \n (To Me 10 Years Later)\n (Song of the Society)\n\nExtras on the special edition:\n (Thank You Earth)\n (Little Canyon 1234 Remix)\n\n2006 albums\nFiona Sit albums" ]
[ "Drake (musician)", "2006-2009: Early mixtapes and So Far Gone", "When was Thank Me Later released?", "I don't know." ]	C_9a9897534b1246b3aaaba0a09db98d2e_1	what was his first mixtape?	2	What was Drake's first mixtape?	Drake (musician)	After becoming musically inspired by Jay Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da, and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." The mixtape was released for sale only, and confirmed to have sold over 6,000 copies. In 2007, he released his second mixtape, Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl", featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first ever unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video featured on BET, with "Replacement Girl" being featured on the channel's "New Joint of the Day" segment on April 30, 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston in order to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "I Want This Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". Despite the collaborations between the duo, Drake was yet to be signed by Young Money Entertainment. In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape, So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success due to the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized album entitled The Girls Love Drake, which was released on iTunes under dubious means. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage, and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He later underwent surgery on September 8, 2009. CANNOTANSWER	Room for Improvement,	Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor. Gaining recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–08), Drake pursued a career in music releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement in 2006; he subsequently released the mixtapes Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment. Drake released his debut studio album, Thank Me Later, in 2010, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. He achieved major critical success with Take Care (2011) and commercial success with Nothing Was the Same (2013) and his first commercial mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015); the latter two were certified multi-platinum in the US. Drake's fourth album, Views (2016), sat atop the Billboard 200 for 13 nonconsecutive weeks, becoming the first album by a male solo artist to do so in over a decade, and featured the chart record-setting lead single "One Dance". His second solo commercial mixtape, More Life (2017), set then-multiple streaming records, and in 2018, he released the double album Scorpion, which contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings". Leaving Young Money in 2018, Drake's third commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes was released in 2020, and featured the chart-topping "Toosie Slide". In 2021, the EP Scary Hours 2 included the number one "What's Next" and set chart records, and preceded his delayed sixth album, Certified Lover Boy (2021); the album set the record for most U.S. top-ten entries from one album, with lead single "Way 2 Sexy" becoming his tenth number one. As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012. In 2013, Drake became the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise, while owning naming rights to its practice facility. In 2016, he began collaborating with American entrepreneur Brent Hocking on the bourbon whiskey Virginia Black; it eventually broke sale records in Canada. Drake has also designed fashion, the most notable including a sub-label collaboration with Nike, alongside other business ventures. In 2018, he was reportedly responsible for 5 percent (CAD$440 million) of Toronto's CAD$8.8 billion annual tourism income. Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 170 million records sold, Drake is ranked as the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States by the RIAA. He has won four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, a record 29 Billboard Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and three Juno Awards, and holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; Drake has the most top 10 singles (54), the most charted songs (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in one week (27), the most Hot 100 debuts in one week (22), and the most continuous time on the Hot 100 (431 weeks). He additionally has the most number-one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Songs, and Rhythmic Airplay charts. Early life Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. His father, Dennis Graham, is African-American and a practicing Catholic from Memphis, Tennessee, who worked as a drummer, performing alongside country musician Jerry Lee Lewis. His mother, Sandra "Sandi" Graham ( Sher), is a Canadian of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage who worked as an English teacher and florist. Dennis Graham performed at Club Bluenote in Toronto, where he met Sandra Sher, who was in attendance. Drake is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, having American citizenship due to his American father. In his youth, he attended a Jewish day school, and became a bar mitzvah. Drake's parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, he and his mother remained in Toronto; his father returned to Memphis, where he was incarcerated for a number of years on drug-related charges. Graham's limited finances and legal issues caused him to remain in the United States until Drake's early adulthood. Prior to his arrest, however, Graham would travel to Toronto and bring Drake to Memphis every summer. His father later collaborated with Canadian music group Arkells on the music video for a song titled "Drake's Dad". Graham claimed in an interview that Drake's assertions of him being an absent father were embellishments used to sell records, which Drake vehemently denies. Drake was raised in two Toronto neighbourhoods. He lived on Weston Road in the city's working-class west end until grade six, playing minor hockey with the Weston Red Wings. He then moved to one of the city's affluent neighbourhoods, Forest Hill, in 2000. When asked about the move, Drake replied, "[We had] a half of a house we could live in. The other people had the top half, we had the bottom half. I lived in the basement, my mom lived on the first floor. It was not big, it was not luxurious. It was what we could afford." He attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he demonstrated an affinity for the arts, first acting while an active student at the school. He later attended Vaughan Road Academy in the city's multicultural Oakwood–Vaughan neighbourhood. Due to the economic status associated with the neighbourhood, Drake described the school as "not by any means the easiest school to go to." Drake was often bullied at school for his racial and religious background, and upon realizing that his busy class schedule was detrimental to his burgeoning acting career, Drake dropped out of school. He later graduated in October 2012. Career 2001–2009: Career beginnings Degrassi: The Next Generation At the age of 15, Drake, eager to begin his career as an actor, was introduced to a high school friend's father, an acting agent. The agent found Drake a role on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. Drake portrayed Jimmy Brooks, a basketball star who became physically disabled after he was shot by a classmate. Drake reportedly disliked this character arc because of its apparent tokenism (his was one of the only black characters in the series), and he also believed it could negatively influence his standing as a rapper. Longtime series writer James Hurst said that Drake threatened legal action to redo the storyline, before ultimately agreeing to it. Madeleine Robinson, the executive director of the Californian non-profit organization Wheelchair 4 Kids, praised the storyline and Drake's performance, noting "he instilled confidence and representation" to disabled youth. When asked about his early acting career, Drake replied, "My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was [from] Canadian TV." He appeared in a total of 100 episodes between 2001 and 2008. In 2010, Drake expressed interest in playing Barack Obama in a biopic, to which Obama responded to with approval in an interview in 2020. According to Degrassi series creators Stephen Stohn and Linda Schuyler, Drake regularly arrived late on set after spending nights recording music. To prevent this, Schuyler claimed Drake struck an agreement with the set's security guards to gain entry to the set after recording to be allowed to sleep in a dressing room. Early mixtapes and So Far Gone Being musically inspired by Jay-Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." Room for Improvement was released for sale only and sold roughly 6,000 copies, for which Drake received $304.04 in royalties. In 2007, he released his second mixtape Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl" featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video on BET, with "Replacement Girl" featured on their "New Joint of the Day" segment in April 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success from the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized fake album titled The Girls Love Drake released on iTunes. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster on the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He underwent surgery later that year. 2010–2012: Musical breakthrough with Thank Me Later and Take Care Drake planned to release his debut album, Thank Me Later, in late 2008, but the album's release date was postponed, first to March 2010, and then to May 25, 2010. Young Money and Universal Motown had then released a statement that the album had again been pushed back three weeks for a June 15, 2010 release. On March 9, 2010, Drake released the debut single "Over", which peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Rap Songs chart. It also received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards. His second single, "Find Your Love", became an even bigger success. It peaked at number five on the Hot 100, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The music video for the single was shot in Kingston, Jamaica, and was criticized by Jamaica's minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett. Bartlett condemned the portrayal of the island in the video, saying, "care has to be taken by all, including our creative artists, in [showcasing] images of our destination and people. Gun culture, while not unique to Jamaica, is not enhancing [the island's image]." The third single and fourth singles, "Miss Me" and "Fancy" respectively, attained moderate commercial success; however, the latter garnered Drake his second nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. On April 29, it was reportedly announced that Drake had finished Thank Me Later during a show in Kansas City, Missouri. Thank Me Later was released on June 15, 2010, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of over 447,000 copies in its first week. Upon the album's release, 25,000 fans gathered at New York City's South Street Seaport for a free concert hosted by Drake and Hanson, which was later cancelled by the police after a near-riot ensued due to overflowing crowds. The album became the top selling debut album for any artist in 2010, and featured Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Jay Z. It was soon announced that Drake would have a prominent role in the military science fiction video game, Gears of War 3. He was scheduled to play the role of Jace Stratton, but scheduling conflicts with his upcoming Away from Home Tour prevented him from accepting the role. He began the tour on September 20, 2010, in Miami, Florida, performing at 78 shows over four different legs. It concluded in Las Vegas in November 2010. Due to the success of the Away from Home Tour, Drake hosted the first OVO Festival in 2010. It would soon become a regular event during the summer, with the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto playing host to the festival on its annual cycle. Drake also had an eco-friendly college tour to support the album, beginning with Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. It concluded in Plymouth, New Hampshire on May 8, and he also performed at The Bamboozle on May 1. Beginning his second effort in fall 2010, Drake announced his intentions to allow Noah "40" Shebib to handle most of the production and record a more cohesive sound than on Thank Me Later, which featured disparate production duties by Shebib and others. In November 2010, Drake revealed the title of his next studio album will be Take Care. In comparison to his debut album, Drake revealed to Y.C Radio 1 that Thank Me Later was a rushed album, stating, "I didn't get to take the time that I wanted to on that record. I rushed a lot of the songs and sonically I didn't get to sit with the record and say, 'I should change this verse.' Once it was done, it was done. That's why my new album is called Take Care, because I get to take my time this go-round." Drake sought to expand on the low-tempo, sensuous, and dark sonic esthetic of Thank Me Later. Primarily a hip hop album, Drake also attempted to incorporate R&B and pop to create a languid, grandiose sound. In January 2011, Drake was in negotiations to join Eva Green and Susan Sarandon as a member of the cast in Nicholas Jarecki's Arbitrage, before ultimately deciding against starring in the movie to focus on the album. "Dreams Money Can Buy" and "Marvins Room" were released on Drake's October's Very Own Blog, on May 20 and June 9, respectively. Acting as promotional singles for Take Care, the former was eventually unincluded on the album's final track listing, while "Marvins Room" gained Gold certification by the RIAA, as well as peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching the top 10 of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, coupled with extensive play on contemporary urban radio. Drake would soon release the song's music video on June 28. "Headlines" was released on August 9 as the lead single for Take Care. It was met with positive critical and commercial response, reaching number thirteen on the Hot 100, as well as becoming his tenth single to reach the summit of the Billboard Hot Rap Songs, making Drake the artist with the most number-one singles on the chart, with 12. It was eventually certified Platinum in both the United States and Canada. The music video for the single was released on October 2, and foresaw Drake performing the song during the second intermission of the 59th National Hockey League All-Star Game in January 2012. "Make Me Proud" was released as the album's second single on October 16. It was the final single to be released prior to the launch of the album, and debuted at number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached number nine the following week, tying the record for the largest jump on the Billboard Hot 100 for a male artist, with 88. "Make Me Proud" soon became Drake's fourth consecutive single to receive Platinum certification by the RIAA. Prior to the album's release, Drake planned to record a collaborative album with Lil Wayne; however, it was ultimately scrapped due to the success of Watch the Throne. He also began collaborations with Rick Ross for a mixtape titled Y.O.L.O., but the duo decided against the project in favor of increased concern for their respective studio albums. Although in 2021, Ross stated that a joint album is still possible as they've casually discussed it. Take Care was released on November 15, 2011, and received generally positive reviews from music critics. John McDonnell of NME dubbed it "an affecting masterpiece" and commended its "delicate, mellifluous sound and unashamedly candid, emotive lyrics." Pitchforks Ryan Dombal found Drake's "technical abilities" to be improved and stated, "Just as his thematic concerns have become richer, so has the music backing them up." Andy Hutchins of The Village Voice called it "a carefully crafted bundle of contradictory sentiments from a conflicted rapper who explores his own neuroses in as compelling a manner as anyone not named Kanye West." Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot complimented the depth of Drake's "moral psychodramas" and stated, "the best of it affirms that Drake is shaping a pop persona with staying power." It also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, and achieved great commercial success, eventually being certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA in 2016, with sales for the album marking 2.6 million in the U.S. The album's third and fourth singles, "The Motto" and Take Care", were released on November 29, 2011 and February 21, 2012, respectively. Each song was subject to commercial success, while also having large societal impacts, with "The Motto" credited for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States. The music video for "Take Care" saw widespread acclaim, with MTV stating, "None of his contemporaries – not even the ever-obtuse Kanye [West] – make videos like this, mostly because no one else can get away with it." The video received four nominations at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Video of the Year. The song was also featured on the channel's "Pop Songs You Must Hear" list of 2011. "HYFR" was the final single to be released from the album, and became certified Gold. It also won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video in 2012, and the channel ranked him number two on their "Hottest MCs in the Game" list. On August 5, 2012, Drake released "Enough Said", performed by American recording artist Aaliyah featuring additional vocals provided by himself. Originally recorded prior to the singer's death in a plane crash in 2001, Drake later finished the track with producer "40". "Enough Said" was released by Blackground Records through their SoundCloud account on August 5, 2012. It was sent to US urban and rhythmic radio stations on August 21. The song charted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs In promotion of his second album, Drake embarked on the worldwide Club Paradise Tour. It became the most successful hip hop tour of 2012, grossing over $42 million. He then returned to acting, starring in Ice Age: Continental Drift as Ethan. 2013–2015: Nothing Was the Same and If You're Reading This It's Too Late During the European leg of the Club Paradise Tour, Drake spoke in an interview stating that he had begun working on his third studio album. Revealing his intentions to remain with 40 as the album's executive producer, Drake spoke fondly about Jamie xx, hoping to include and expand the British producer's influence over his next album. Drake had also revealed that the album would stylistically differ from Take Care, departing from the ambient production and despondent lyrics prevalent previously. In January 2013, Drake announced that he would release the first single off his third album at the end of the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Despite an initial delay, it was released in the wake of his win for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the event, and it foresaw Drake announcing Nothing Was the Same as the title of his third album. The album's second single, "Hold On, We're Going Home", was released in August 2013, becoming the most successful single off the album, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Drake sought inspiration from the 1980s television series Miami Vice during the composition of the song's music video, incorporating the dramatic elements seen in the show en route to winning his second MTV Video Music Award in 2014 for the video. Drake appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing the album's third single, "Too Much", alongside featured artist Sampha. Nothing Was the Same was released on September 24, 2013, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200, with 658,000 copies sold in its first week of release. The album debuted atop the charts in Canada, Denmark, Australia and the United Kingdom. The album also enjoyed generally favourable reviews by contemporary music critics, commending the musical shift in terms of the tone and subject matter, comparing it to the distinct change showcased in Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak. The album was also reported to have sold over 1,720,000 copies in the United States, and was further promoted by the "Would You like a Tour?" throughout late 2013 to early 2014. It became the 22nd-most successful tour of the year, grossing an estimated $46 million. Drake then returned to acting in January 2014, hosting Saturday Night Live, as well as serving as the musical guest. His versatility, acting ability and comedic timing were all praised by critics, describing it as what "kept him afloat during the tough and murky SNL waters". Drake also performed in Dubai, being one of the only artists ever to perform in the city. In late 2014, Drake announced that he began recording sessions for his fourth studio album. In 2014, Drake performed in Spanish as a featured artist on the Romeo Santos song "Odio". He also appeared on a remix of "Tuesday" by ILoveMakonnen, which peaked at number one on Billboard's Rhythmic chart and number twelve on the "Hot 100", and released "0 to 100 / The Catch Up" as a non-album single. The latter went double platinum in the United States. On February 12, 2015, Drake released If You're Reading This It's Too Late onto iTunes with no prior announcement. Despite debate on whether it was an album or a mixtape, its commercial stance quantifies it as his fourth retail project with Cash Money Records, a scheme that was rumoured to allow Drake to leave the label. However, he eventually remained with Cash Money, and If You're Reading This It's Too Late sold over 1 million units in 2015, making Drake the first artist with a platinum project in 2015, as well as his fourth overall. 2015–2017: What a Time to Be Alive, Views, and More Life On July 31, 2015, Drake released four singles: "Back to Back", "Charged Up", "Hotline Bling", and "Right Hand". On September 20, 2015, Drake released a collaborative mixtape with Future, which was recorded in Atlanta in just under a week. What a Time to Be Alive debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making Drake the first hip hop artist to have two projects reach number one in the same year since 2004. It was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales, streaming and track-sales equivalent of over 1 million units. Drake also appeared on the cover of The Fader for their 100th issue. Drake announced in January 2016 that his fourth studio album would be launched during the spring, releasing the promotional single "Summer Sixteen" later that month. The album was originally titled Views from the 6, but was later shortened to Views. "Summer Sixteen" debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, and proved controversial, with Drake comparing his standing in hip hop to more tenured artists. This move divided many contemporary music critics, describing his self-comparison as "goodly brash" or "conventionally disrespectful." It was also interpreted as a diss track towards Tory Lanez, who was unhappy at Drake for popularizing the term "The Six" when referencing Toronto. Drake also crashed a Bat Mitzvah in New York City on February 20, performing at the event. Drake soon released the album's lead singles, "Pop Style" and the dancehall-infused "One Dance", on April 5. Both debuted within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100; however, the latter proved more commercially successful, with "One Dance" becoming Drake's first number-one single in Canada and the US as a leading artist. The single also became Drake's first number one single as a lead artist in the United Kingdom, and peaked at number one in Germany, France, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands. During an episode for OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed the album's release date of April 29, and followed it up with various promotional videos. On October 15, "One Dance" became Spotify's most-streamed song ever, amassing over 882 million plays . Views was previewed in London before its premiere on Beats 1 a day later. It was released as an Apple Music and iTunes exclusive on April 29 before being made available to various other platforms later that week. Views would become Drake's most commercially successful album, sitting atop the Billboard 200 for ten nonconsecutive weeks, as well as simultaneously leading the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 for eight weeks. It also achieved double-platinum status in the U.S., and earned over 1 million album-equivalent units in the first week of its release, as well as gaining over half-billion overall streams of the album. Despite its success, critical opinion towards the album remained much divided, drawing criticism for being overlong and lacking in a cohesive theme, while also claiming Drake was not challenging himself artistically, as opposed to his contemporaries. He later released a short film titled Please Forgive Me, starring Swedish twin models Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta who are frequent collaborators with him. , Views remains Drake's best-selling album in pure sales. Drake returned to host Saturday Night Live on May 14, serving as the show's musical guest. Later, Drake was named as a member of the Forbes Five, which ranks the wealthiest artists in hip-hop, placing fifth after Birdman, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, and Diddy respectively. Drake and Future then announced the Summer Sixteen Tour to showcase their collective mixtape, as well as their respective studio albums. This marked Drake's third co-headlining tour, which began in Austin, Texas on July 20. On July 23, Drake announced that he was working on a new project, scheduled to be released in early 2017, and was later named as the headline act for the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival. The latter dates of the Summer Sixteen Tour were postponed, however, due to Drake suffering an ankle injury. During the 2016 OVO Festival, Kanye West confirmed that he and Drake had begun working on a collaborative album. Soon after, the music video for "Child's Play" was released, depicting Drake and Tyra Banks playing a couple encountering relationship issues at the Cheesecake Factory in a reference to one of the song's lyrics. On September 26, Please Forgive Me was released as an Apple Music exclusive. It ran a total of 25 minutes, and featured music from Views. At the 2016 BET Hip-Hop Awards, Drake received the most nominations, with 10, winning the awards for Album of the Year and Best Hip-Hop Video. Drake later announced the Boy Meets World Tour on October 10, with twenty-six dates announced for the course of the tour in Europe. Seven additional dates were added a day later due to overwhelming demand. Soon after, during an episode of OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed he would be releasing a project titled More Life in December. However, he later pushed the date back to the new year. The project was described as a "playlist of original music", rather than being classified as a traditional mixtape or solo album. He was later revealed to be Spotify's most streamed artist for the second consecutive year in 2016, amassing a total 4.7 billion streams for all projects on the service, which is more than double the amount of streams he had in 2015. Drake later secured his second and third Grammy Awards, winning for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song at the 59th ceremony. Despite multiple setbacks, Drake announced More Life would be released on March 18, 2017, via a series of multiple video commercials released through Instagram. Upon release, More Life received mostly positive reviews, and debuted atop the Billboard 200, earning 505,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It also set a streaming record, becoming the highest ever streamed album in 24 hours, with a total of 89.9 million streams on Apple Music alone. The album also garnered 61.3 million streams on Spotify, dethroning Ed Sheeran's ÷ as the highest opening on the service in a single day. He later won 13 awards at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards in May, which saw him breaking the record for the most wins in a single show. Billboard also reported Drake had been present on the Hot 100 chart for eight consecutive years, and has the most recorded entries by a solo artist. He later declined to submit More Life for consideration at the 2018 Grammy Awards, stemming from his displeasure at "Hotline Bling" being "pigeonholed" into the rap category. He then released the single "Signs" on June 24, as well as reuniting with Metro Boomin on a single with Offset. The singles marked his first releases since More Life, with "Signs" was initially released as a collaboration between Drake and French fashion house Louis Vuitton, as part of the "Louis Vuitton Men's Spring-Summer 2018" fashion show. The event also had a playlist exclusively from OVO Sound, curated by label co-founder Oliver El-Khatib. Drake hosted the first annual NBA Awards on June 26, and starred in multiple commercials alongside his father in promotion of Virginia Black. Drake also appeared in The Carter Effect documentary, honouring the basketball career of Vince Carter, who was the first superstar player to play for the Toronto Raptors since the franchise's inception in 1995. The documentary also featured NBA players Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, and LeBron James. 2018–2019: Scorpion and Care Package; return to television After rumours circulated of Drake possibly collaborating with various artists, including rapper Trippie Redd and producer Pi'erre Bourne, for his new studio album, multiple snippets of songs were leaked near the closing end of 2017. Two songs would later be released as members of a mini EP, titled Scary Hours, on January 20, 2018, marking Drake's first solo release since More Life, as well as his first appearance on any song after featuring on a remix of the Jay-Z song "Family Feud" with Lil Wayne, as the lead single of the latter's Dedication 6: Reloaded mixtape. Scary Hours featured the songs "Diplomatic Immunity" and "God's Plan", which both debuted within the top-ten, with the latter eventually breaking various streaming records as it debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was Drake's first song as a solo artist to reach number one, as well as his second chart topper as a lead artist. Drake earned his 70th top 40 entry after featuring on the Migos song "Walk It Talk It", which debuted at number eighteen, and peaked at number ten. He was later featured on BlocBoy JB's debut single "Look Alive", which was released on February 9, 2018. The song's entry at number six on the Hot 100 made Drake the rapper with the most top 10 hits on the Hot 100, with 23. He then featured on a remix to "Lemon", a song originally released as a collaboration between band N.E.R.D and Rihanna. On April 5, Drake announced he was finishing his fifth studio album and he was releasing a single later that night. On April 6, "Nice for What" was released, alongside a music video directed by Karena Evans, which featured several female celebrities. After "Nice For What" replaced his own "God's Plan" on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, making him the first artist to have a new number-one debut replace their former number-one debut, Drake announced the title of his fifth studio album as Scorpion, with a planned release date of June 29, 2018. He then released "I'm Upset" on May 26 as the album's third single. Scorpion was then released as a double-album, and marked Drake's longest project, with a run-time of just under 90 minutes. The album broke both the one-day global records on Spotify and Apple Music, as it gained 132.45 million and 170 million plays on each streaming service, respectively. It eventually sold 749,000 album equivalent units in its first week of sales, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. In 2018, articles by The Guardian and Rolling Stone called him "the definitive pop star of his generation" and "perhaps [the] biggest post-Justin Timberlake male pop star of the new millennium", respectively. Shortly thereafter, Drake collaborated with British hip hop promotion Link Up TV on July 7, releasing a freestyle as a part of the promotion's 'Behind Barz' segment, before releasing another freestyle a week later after featuring on Charlie Sloth's long-running Fire in the Booth program on BBC Radio 1Xtra. Drake then earned his sixth number-one hit with "In My Feelings" on July 21, which also spawned the viral "#InMyFeelingsChallenge" or "#KiKiChallenge". The success of "In My Feelings" also made Drake the record holder for most number one hits among rappers. Soon after, he released the music video for "Nonstop", which was filmed in London during his surprise performance at the Wireless Festival. He then appeared on the Travis Scott album Astroworld, featuring uncredited vocals for his song "Sicko Mode", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Drake announced in July 2018 that he planned to "take 6 months to a year" to himself to return to television and films, producing the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. He then began the Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour with co-headliners Migos on August 12. This preceded a collaboration with Bad Bunny titled "Mia", which featured Drake performing in Spanish. He subsequently received the award for Hot Ticket Performer at the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards on October 16. During a performance in Edmonton on November 7, Drake announced his intention to begin composing his next project in early 2019. In February 2019, he received his fourth Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, for "God's Plan", at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. During his speech, producers abruptly cut to a commercial break, leading viewers to speculate they were censoring his speech during which he criticized The Recording Academy. A legal representative for the academy then released a statement stating "a natural pause [led] the producers [to] assume that he was done and cut to commercial," and added the organization offered him an opportunity to return to stage, but he declined. On February 14, Drake re-released his third mixtape, So Far Gone, onto streaming services for the first time to commemorate its 10-year anniversary, and later collaborated with Summer Walker on a remix of Walker's song "Girls Need Love", marking his first release of 2019. On April 10, during a performance on the Assassination Vacation Tour, he announced he was working on a new album. On June 8, Drake appeared on Chris Brown's single "No Guidance". On June 15, Drake released two songs, "Omertà" and "Money in the Grave", on his EP The Best in the World Pack to celebrate the NBA Championship win of the Toronto Raptors. On August 2, he released the compilation album Care Package, consisting of songs released between 2010 and 2016 that were initially unavailable for purchase or commercial streaming; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. 2019–present: Dark Lane Demo Tapes, Scary Hours 2, and Certified Lover Boy Drake released the song "War" on December 24, 2019, with an accompanying music video, which was widely noted for its UK drill-inspired instrumental. The following day, in an interview with Rap Radar, it was revealed that he was in the process of completing his sixth studio album. On January 10, 2020, Drake collaborated with Future on the song "Life Is Good", which appeared on the album High Off Life. On January 31, the pair again collaborated on the song "Desires", although it was released for free after being leaked. On February 29, Drake released the songs "When to Say When" and "Chicago Freestyle" with a combined music video. On April 3, he released "Toosie Slide" with a music video, which features a dance created in collaboration with social media influencer Toosie. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Drake the first male artist to have three songs debut at number one. On May 1, 2020, Drake released the commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes, with guest appearances from Chris Brown, Future, Young Thug, Fivio Foreign, Playboi Carti, and Sosa Geek. He also announced that his sixth studio album would be released in the summer of 2020. The mixtape is a compilation of new songs and tracks that leaked on the internet. It received mixed reviews and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 223,000 album-equivalent units, and at number one on the UK Albums Chart, earning 20,000 units in its first week. On July 17, Drake was featured on DJ Khaled's singles "Greece" and "Popstar", debuting at numbers eight and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, becoming Drake's record-extending 24th and 25th debuts in the Hot 100's top 10. It also became his 39th and 40th Hot 100 top ten entries, breaking Madonna's record for most Hot 100 top ten hits. On July 20, Drake and Headie One released the drill track "Only You Freestyle", making it the third drill-inspired song he released in 2020, after "War" and "Demons", both of which appear on Dark Lane Demo Tapes. On August 14, "Laugh Now Cry Later" featuring Lil Durk was released, which was intended as the lead single from Drake's album Certified Lover Boy, but not included on the final track listing. It debuted at number two on the Hot 100, and was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. On September 3, the video for "Popstar" was released, in which Drake makes a cameo appearance. On October 2, Drake was the sole guest appearance on Bryson Tiller's album Anniversary (2020), on the song "Outta Time". He subsequently appeared on the remix to "You're Mines Still", alongside Yung Bleu on October 16; just over a week later, on his 34th birthday, Drake announced Certified Lover Boy was set to be released in January 2021. This was later pushed back to an unspecified date after he sustained a knee injury which required surgery. On December 1, he reunited with Lil Wayne on "B.B. King Freestyle", the lead single from the latter's double-disc mixtape No Ceilings 3 (2020). In January 2021, Drake became the first artist to surpass 50 billion combined streams on Spotify. He later collaborated with Drakeo the Ruler on the single "Talk to Me", which was released on February 23. On March 5, Drake released an EP titled Scary Hours 2, which includes three songs: "What's Next", "Wants and Needs" with Lil Baby, and "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" with Rick Ross. These three songs entered the charts at numbers one, two, and three, respectively, making Drake the first artist to have three songs debut in the top three on the Billboard Hot 100. He then appeared on the single "Solid" from the YSL Records compilation Slime Language 2, alongside Gunna and Young Thug. "Solid" was originally meant to appear on Certified Lover Boy, and to only feature Gunna. On May 14, Drake was featured alongside mentor Lil Wayne on former labelmate Nicki Minaj's "Seeing Green", a new song on the streaming re-release of her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. Two weeks later, he was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. On June 12, he featured on Migos' "Having Our Way", from the group's third studio album, Culture III (2021), and on July 1, collaborated with Brent Faiyaz and The Neptunes on the song "Wasting Time". On July 23, Drake appeared on "Over the Top" with Smiley, the newest signee to OVO Sound. During an appearance on Fri Yiy Friday, a radio show supported by OVO Sound, Drake revealed Certified Lover Boy "is ready. [I'm] looking forward to delivering it". He then appeared on "Betrayal", a collaboration with Trippie Redd for Trip at Knight (2021). Certified Lover Boy was then released on September 3, 2021, becoming his tenth number-one album on the Billboard 200; every song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album was the first to chart nine songs on the top 10, with "Way 2 Sexy" becoming Drake's ninth number-one single. He subsequently set the record for the fourth-most cumulative weeks (52) at number one on the Hot 100, behind Mariah Carey (84), Rihanna (60), and The Beatles (59). He received a nomination for Best Global Act at the 2021 All Africa Music Awards, and appeared on Young Thug's Punk (2021), featuring on the song "Bubbly". On October 22, Drake featured on Majid Jordan's "Stars Align", the lead single to the band's third album Wildest Dreams. Two weeks later, on November 5, Drake released a horror-themed black and white music video for "Knife Talk", the third single from Certified Lover Boy, with featured appearances by 21 Savage and Project Pat. On November 6, he debuted the song "Give It Up" on OVO Sound Radio. Certified Lover Boy was nominated for Best Rap Album and "Way 2 Sexy" was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. He was later named Billboard’s Top Artist of the Year for 2021, and was the fourth most streamed artist on Spotify for the year, and the most streamed rapper. On December 6, he withdrew his music for consideration for the Grammys, with multiple outlets noting his contentious relationship with the Recording Academy. Drake accumulated 8.6 billion on-demand streams in 2021, making him the most overall streamed artist of the year in the United States; one out of every 131 streams was a Drake song. On January 7, 2022, Drake was announced as a featured artist on Gunna's DS4Ever, but was not included until the release of the album's deluxe edition just under a week later. On January 17, Drake announced another collaboration with DJ Khaled. Artistry Influences Drake has cited several hip hop artists as influencing his rapping style, including Kanye West, Jay Z, MF Doom, and Lil Wayne, while also attributing various R&B artists as influential to the incorporation of the genre into his own music, including Aaliyah and Usher. Drake has also credited several dancehall artists for later influencing his Caribbean-inflected style, including Vybz Kartel, whom he has called one of his "biggest inspirations". Musical style Drake is considered to be a pop-rap artist. While Drake's earlier music primarily spanned hip hop and R&B, his music has delved into pop and trap in recent years. Additionally, his music has drawn influence from regional scenes, including Jamaican dancehall and UK drill. Drake is known for his egotistical lyrics, technical ability, and integration of personal backstory when dealing with relationships with women. His vocal abilities have been lauded for an audible contrast between typical hip-hop beats and melody, with sometimes abrasive rapping coupled with softer accents, delivered on technical lyricism. His songs often include audible changes in lyrical pronunciation in parallel with his upbringing in Toronto, and connections with Caribbean and Middle Eastern countries which include such phrases as "ting", "touching road", "talkin' boasy" and "gwanin' wassy". Most of his songs contain R&B and Canadian hip hop elements, and he combines rapping with singing. He credits his father with the introduction of singing into his rap mixtapes, which have become a staple in his musical repertoire. His incorporation of melody into technically complex lyrics was supported by Lil Wayne, and has subsequently been a critically acclaimed component to Drake's singles and albums. The lyrical content that Drake deploys is typically considered to be emotional or boastful. However, Drake is often revered for incorporating "degrading" themes of money, drug use, and women into newer, idealized contexts, often achieving this through his augmentation of the typical meaning of phrases in which he combines an objective and subjective perspective into one vocal delivery. His songs often maintain tension between "pause and pace, tone timbre, and volume and vocal fermata." Drake is credited with innovating what has been referred to as "hyper-reality rap", which is characterized by its focus on themes of celebrity as being distinct from the "real world." Public image A prominent figure in pop culture, Drake is widely credited for popularizing the Toronto sound to the music industry and leading the "Canadian Invasion" of the American charts. The Washington Post editor Maura Judkis credits Drake for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States with his single "The Motto", which includes, "You only live once: that's the motto, nigga, YOLO." Drake later popularized the term "The Six" in 2015 in relation to his hometown Toronto, subsequently becoming a point of reference to the city. His lyrical subject matter, which often revolves around relationships, have had widespread use on social media through photo captions to reference emotions or personal situations. However, this content has incited mixed reception from fans and critics, with some deeming him as sensitive, a trait perceived as antithetical to traditional hip hop culture. June 10 was declared "Drake Day" in Houston. In 2016, Drake visited Drake University after a show in Des Moines in response to an extensive social media campaign by students that began in 2009, advocating for his appearance. According to a report from Confused.com, Drake's Toronto home was one of the most Googled homes in the world, recording over a million annual searches in 2021; its features, such as its NBA-size indoor basketball court and Kohler Numi toilet, have also received widespread media attention. The music video for "Hotline Bling" went viral due to Drake's eccentric dance moves. The video has been remixed, memed, and was heavily commented on due to the unconventional nature on the song, causing it to gain popularity on YouTube, and spawning several parodies. Drake has also been critiqued for his expensive, product placement-heavy attire, exemplified by the video for "Hotline Bling". Drake modelled a $1,500 Moncler Puffer Jacket, a $400 Acne Studios turtleneck, and limited edition Timberland 6" Classic Boots. He was labeled by GQ magazine as "[one of] the most stylish men alive"; during promotion for Certified Lover Boy, Drake debuted a "heart haircut", which became popular and widely imitated. He is also known for his large and extravagant lifestyle, including for high-end themed birthday parties; he maintained this image in his early career by renting a Rolls-Royce Phantom, which he was eventually gifted in 2021. He later cultivated a reputation as a successful gambler; between December 2021 and February 2022, he was reported to have made bets of over $1 billion, which included winnings ranging between $354,000 and $7 million. Between 2016 and 2019, he was noted for the "Drake curse", an internet meme based on the incidents where Drake appears to be support of particular sports team or person, just for that team or person to lose, often against the odds. In 2016, Drake spoke on the shooting of Alton Sterling, publishing an open letter expressing his concern for the safety of ethnic minorities against police brutality in the United States. In 2021, he joined a group of Canadian musicians to work with the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) to lobby Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to restructure the country's copyright law to allow artists and their families to regain ownership of copyrights during their lifetime. He also campaigned for the expansion of a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise in Toronto, and headlined a benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with Kanye West on December 9, 2021, to raise clemency for Larry Hoover, although his solo performance was later removed from the Amazon Prime Video replay. In Christmas 2021, Drake gave away money to individuals in Toronto. Impact Commenting on Drake's Take Care, Elias Leight of Rolling Stone noticed in 2020 that "now nearly every singer raps, and nearly every rapper sings", as many artists "have borrowed or copied the template of [the album] that the boldness of the original is easily forgotten", according to the writer. BBC Radio 1Xtra argued that his co-signs helped push the British hip-hop scene to a wider international market, as he did with the Toronto music scene. According to CBS Music in 2019, Drake has inspired "the next wave" of artists coming out of his hometown. Aaron Williams of Uproxx added "jump-starting the sad boy rapper craze alongside Kid Cudi" and "helping to renew stateside interest in UK grime and Caribbean dancehall with Skepta, PartyNextDoor, and Rihanna" to the modern trends Drake assisted. Writing for Bloomberg, Lucas Shaw commented Drake's popularity has influenced the promotion of music, with Certified Lover Boy attaining large commercial success despite relatively minimal orthodox marketing techniques, stating "fans are consuming Drake’s [music] in a way that is different to others". He also noted the album as novel in relation to consumption, with each song having relatively equivalent streams, as opposed to a dominant single(s). The ubiquity of Drake's music has consistently seen it played during various activities or events. In 2021, a study conducted by Pour Moi found, over a kilometer, joggers ran 21 seconds slower while listening to Drake's music compared to other artists. Drake's music was also found to extend a three-mile run by 105 seconds. Beginning in 2022, Drake's music was canonized academically by Ryerson University, which began teaching courses titled "Deconstructing Drake and the Weeknd", with the pair's music used to explore themes related to the Canadian music industry, race, class, marketing and globalization. Achievements Drake is the highest-certified digital singles artist ever in the United States, having moved 142 million units based on combined sales and on-demand streams. His highest-certified single is "God's Plan" (11× Platinum), followed by "Hotline Bling", which was certified 8× Platinum. He holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; he has the most charted songs of any artist (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in a single week (27), the most debuts in a week (22), the most top 10 singles (54), the most top 10 debuts in a week (9), the most top 10 debuts (39), and the most continuous time on the chart (431 weeks). He has accumulated 9 number-one singles, a record among rappers. In 2021, Drake became second act to occupy the entire Hot 100's top five in a single week, the other act being The Beatles in 1964. He also has the most number-one singles on the Hot Rap Songs (23), Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (23), and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. He is also the only artist to have two albums log 400 weeks each on the Billboard 200. , Drake has won four Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. He has also won a record 29 Billboard Music Awards. In 2017, he surpassed Adele's record for most wins at the Billboard Music Awards in one night, winning 13 awards from 22 nominations. He was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. Billboard editor Ernest Baker stated "Drake managed to rule hip-hop in 2014", adding "the best rapper in 2014 didn't need a new album or hit single to prove his dominance". From 2015 to 2017, Drake ranked within the top-five of the Billboard year-end chart for Top Artists topping it in 2018. He was named the IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2016 and 2018. Drake was Spotify's most streamed artist of the 2010s. Pitchfork ranked Nothing Was the Same as the 41st best album of the decade "so far"—between 2010 and 2014, and ranked him fifth in the publication's list of the "Top 10 Music Artists" since 2010. Take Care was ranked at number 95 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020). He has been ranked by Complex on their "Best Rapper Alive Every Year Since 1979" list, awarding Drake the accolade in 2011, 2012, and 2015. Controversies Legal issues On May 31, 2009, Drake was robbed at gunpoint in Toronto's Little Italy district and was forced to forfeit a gold and diamond necklace, an Audemars Piguet watch, and $2,000. Soccerties Cotterell and Paul Lelutiu were initially charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, three counts of pointing a firearm and possession of stolen property; these charges were later dropped. The men pled guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, and spent six months in jail. In April 2017, Mesha Collins was arrested for criminal trespass after breaking into Drake's home in Calabasas; although no criminal charges were brought by Drake, she later filed a $4 billion lawsuit against him for defamation in June 2021, which was dismissed that December. In March 2021, an unidentified woman armed with a knife was arrested following a failed attempt to break into Drake's home in Toronto. In 2012, singer Ericka Lee filed a lawsuit against Drake for the usage of her voice on "Marvins Room". Claiming to have provided the female vocals, Lee also alleged she was owed songwriting credits and royalties. Despite Drake's legal team countering by claiming that Lee simply requested a credit in the liner notes of the album, the matter was resolved in February 2013, with both parties agreeing to an out-of-court settlement. In 2014, Drake was sued for $300,000 for sampling "Jimmy Smith Rap", a 1982 single by jazz musician Jimmy Smith. The suit was filed by Smith's estate, who said Drake never asked for permission when sampling it for the intro on "Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2", claiming Smith himself would have disagreed as he disliked hip hop. Drake would win the lawsuit in 2017, with federal judge William Pauley ruling the content used was transformative, and there was no liability for copyright infringement. Also in 2014, it emerged that Drake was sued by rapper Rappin' 4-Tay, claiming Drake misused his lyrics when collaborating with YG on the song "Who Do You Love?". He sought $100,000 for mistreatment and artistic theft, which Drake paid to the rapper later that year. In 2016, Drake caused a nightclub in Oklahoma City to close down, due to his usage of marijuana and other illegal drugs being prevalent at the club. In December 2021, Drake sued jeweler Ori Vechler and his company Gemma LTD for incorrectly using his likeness in promotional material; he also sought to return three items he purchased. In 2017, Drake was embroiled in another lawsuit, being sued by producer Detail (Noel Fisher) over an alleged assault in 2014. Fisher claimed Drake's bodyguard, Nessel "Chubbs" Beezer, punched him in the face and allegedly broke his jaw over musical and financial disputes. Fisher also said the injuries caused him to be hospitalized for days and had to undergo several surgeries, following which he sued for damages related to medical bills and physical and emotional suffering. The case, which was set to undergo trial in May 2018, was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu after Fisher failed to show up for a final status conference. Lu ruled that Beezer solely acted in self-defense. In October 2021, Drake and Chris Brown were sued by Braindon Cooper and Timothy Valentine for copyright infringement between "No Guidance" and their own song "I Love Your Dress". Cooper and Valentine lost the lawsuit quickly, also being mocked by general public on the internet. A month later, he was named as a co-defendant with Travis Scott in a multi-claimant lawsuit for inciting "a riot and violence" at the Astroworld Festival, to which he released a statement; he was later criticized for reportedly attending the Area 29 strip club in Houston the day after the incident. He also reportedly delayed the release of "Splash Brothers", a collaboration with French Montana, following the incident. Feuds Drake and Chris Brown were allegedly involved in a physical altercation in June 2012 when Drake and his entourage threw glass bottles at Brown in a SoHo nightclub in Manhattan, New York City. Chris Brown tweeted about the incident, and criticized Drake in music until 2013, including on the "R.I.P." remix. Despite no response from Drake, he and Brown both appeared in a comedic skit for the 2014 ESPY Awards, and rehearsed the skit together prior to the televised airing, virtually ending the dispute. The pair later collaborated on "No Guidance" in 2019. In December 2014, Drake was involved in another altercation, being punched by Diddy outside the LIV nightclub in Miami, Florida. The altercation was reported to be over Drake's usage of the instrumental for "0 to 100 / The Catch Up", allegedly produced by Boi-1da for Diddy, before Drake appropriated the track for his own use. Drake was later rushed to the ER after aggravating an old arm injury during the dispute. Drake was also involved in a feud with Tyga, stemming from Tyga's negative comments about him during an interview with Vibe magazine. Drake would later respond on "6 God" and "6PM in New York", which has been interpreted as directly involved in Tyga's abrupt removal from Young Money Entertainment. Further controversy arose in July 2015 when it was alleged by Meek Mill that Drake had used ghostwriters during recording sessions for "RICO", one of the lead singles off Mill's second studio album. This proceeded further allegations that Drake did not help in promotion of the album, due to Mill discovering the ghostwriter, widely believed to be Quentin Miller. Despite Miller collaborating with Drake and receiving past credits, Mill assured that Miller had written Drake's verse for "R.I.C.O." Soon after, Funkmaster Flex aired reference tracks in support of Mill's claims, notably for "R.I.C.O.", "10 Bands", and "Know Yourself". This prompted Drake to respond with two diss tracks, titled "Charged Up" and "Back to Back", in the space of four days. Mill would later respond with "Wanna Know", before removing it from SoundCloud weeks later. Following several subliminal disses from either artist, Drake further sought to denounce Funkmaster Flex while performing in New York (Flex's home state) on the Summer Sixteen Tour. Following Mill's prison sentencing for probation violation, Drake stated "Free Meek Mill" at a concert in Australia, and ended their rivalry on "Family Feud"; the pair later collaborated on "Going Bad" in 2019. Pusha T would also use the same rationale to criticize Drake on "Infrared" in 2018, leading Drake to respond with the "Duppy Freestyle" diss track on May 25. Pusha T responded with "The Story of Adidon" on May 29, which presented several claims and revealed Drake's fatherhood. The pair are considered to have been in a rivalry since 2012, resulting from Pusha T's feuds with Lil Wayne and Birdman, with Drake yet to respond to "The Story of Adidon". In 2016, Drake was embroiled in a feud with Joe Budden, stemming from Budden's derogatory comments when reviewing Views. Drake would allegedly respond to Budden through "4PM in Calabasas", prompting Budden to respond with two diss tracks in the space of five days, echoing the same sentiment Drake deployed during his feud with Meek Mill. Drake would later appear on "No Shopping" alongside French Montana, directly referencing Budden throughout the song, although, Montana claimed Drake's verse was recorded before the release of Budden's diss tracks. Despite Budden releasing two further songs in reference to Drake, he has yet to officially respond to Budden. In the same year, Drake dissed Kid Cudi on "Two Birds, One Stone" after Cudi launched an expletive-filled rant on the artist on Twitter. Cudi later checked into a rehabilitation facility following the release of the song, and continued to disparage Drake in further tweets; the pair eventually resolved their feud, and collaborated on "IMY2" in 2021. In mid-2018, Drake was embroiled in a feud with long-time collaborator Kanye West. In an appearance on The Shop, Drake recounted several meetings with West, who voiced his desire to "be Quincy Jones" and work with Drake and replicate the producer-artist relationship between Jones and Michael Jackson. West requested Drake play and inform him of upcoming releases, while he gave Drake the instrumental to "Lift Yourself". West requested the pair work in Wyoming, with Drake arriving a day after close friend 40, who said West was instead recording an album. Judging the pair to have differing release schedules, Drake traveled to Wyoming, but "only worked on [West's] music"; they explored Drake's after he played West "March 14", which addressed Drake's relationship with his newborn son and co-parent. This prompted a conversation with West regarding his personal issues, after which, news of his son would be exposed by Pusha T, which Drake concluded was revealed to him by West; West also released "Lift Yourself" as a solo song and produced "Infrared". Drake then denounced West in songs and live performances. West would retaliate in a series of tweets in late 2018, and the pair continued to respond on social media and in music as of late 2021, which included Drake leaking West's song "Life of the Party". During their feud, West also made several public attempts to reconcile with Drake, which is reported to have occurred after they co-headlined a benefit concert in December 2021. Drake has also been involved in feuds with DMX, Kendrick Lamar, Common, The Weeknd, XXXTentacion, Jay-Z, Tory Lanez, and Ludacris, although the latter five, and his feud with DMX, have been reported to be resolved. Business ventures Endorsements Prior to venturing into business, Drake garnered several endorsement deals with various companies, notably gaining one with Sprite following his mention of drinking purple drank, a concoction that contains Sprite as a key ingredient. In the aftermath of his highly publicized feud with Meek Mill, Drake was also endorsed by fast food restaurants Burger King and Whataburger. Business magazine Forbes commented his endorsement deals and business partnerships "combined heavily" for Drake's reported pre-tax earnings at $94 million between June 2016 to June 2017, being one of the highest-paid celebrities during that period. OVO Sound During the composition of Nothing Was the Same, Drake started his own record label in late 2012 with producer Noah "40" Shebib and business partner Oliver El-Khatib. Drake sought for an avenue to release his own music, as well helping in the nurturing of other artists, while Shebib and El-Khatib yearned to start a label with a distinct sound, prompting the trio to team up to form OVO Sound. The name is an abbreviation derived from the October's Very Own moniker Drake used to publish his earlier projects. The label is currently distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Drake, 40, and PartyNextDoor were the label's inaugural artists. The label houses artists including Drake, PartyNextDoor, Majid Jordan, Roy Woods, and dvsn, as well as producers including 40, Boi-1da, Nineteen85, and Future the Prince. Toronto Raptors On September 30, 2013, at a press conference with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke, Drake was announced as the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise. It was announced together with the 2016 NBA All-Star Game being awarded to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. This was also the setting where Drake was given The Key to the City. In the role, it was announced that Drake would help to promote and serve as a host of festivities, beginning with the All-Star Game. He would also provide consulting services to rebrand the team, helping to redesign its image and clothing line in commemoration of the franchise's 20th anniversary. He also collaborated with the Raptors on pre-game practice jerseys, t-shirts, and sweatsuits, and began hosting an annual "Drake Night" segment with the organization, beginning in 2013. Entertainment Apple Music Following the launch of Apple Music, a music and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc., the company announced Drake as the figurehead for the platform at their Worldwide Developers Conference in 2015, with the artist also penning an exclusivity deal with the service worth a reported $19 million. This saw all future solo releases by Drake becoming available first on Apple Music, before seeing roll out to other streaming services and music retailers. Drake had also developed the OVO Sound Radio station on Beats 1, which is utilized as the primary avenue for debuting singles and projects, with the station overseeing over 300 million unique users when it debuted More Life. Drake's partnership with Apple Music has largely been credited for the platform's sharp success, as it attained 10 million subscribers after six months, as well as giving birth to exclusivity from artists, with many independent and signed artists, such as Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, also brokering exclusivity deals with streaming services. Through signing with the company, Drake was one of the artists, alongside Pharrell and Katy Perry, to exclusively own an Apple Watch before the smartwatch saw public release. DreamCrew and investments In 2017, Drake and Adel "Future" Nur co-founded the production company DreamCrew, which functions both as a management company and entertainment group. The company has produced the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. Their debut film as producers was on the sports documentary The Carter Effect, detailing the impact of Vince Carter in Canada. In July 2021, Drake was announced as an executive producer, alongside LeBron James and Maverick Carter, for Black Ice, a documentary film charting the experiences of black and ethnic minority professional and amateur ice hockey players. It is due to be produced by Uninterrupted Canada in partnership with Drake's DreamCrew Entertainment, James' SpringHill Company, and Bell Media. DreamCrew also began production on the unscripted survival series Chillin' Island in 2021, due to air on HBO. In June 2021, Live Nation confirmed a long-standing partnership with Drake to open History, a 2,500 convertible capacity live-entertainment and general function venue in Toronto. It was in development for over three years and is situated in The Beaches. He also aided in the venue's interior design, which contains LED screens, soundproofing, quick-change rooms and a customizable staircase. Later that month, Drake signed as an investor and collaborator with Los Angeles-based sustainability and financial services startup Aspiration; he will also use the company's enterprise services to monitor and ensure personal carbon neutrality. He has also invested in robo-advisor Wealthsimple, the "livestreaming video commerce platform" NTWRK, the cannabis provider Bullrider, and several sports-related ventures, including online esports betting platform Players’ Lounge, the sportstech firm StatusPro, and online sports network Overtime. In an analysis by Brennan Doherty for Toronto Star, Drake's investment "carry all the hallmarks" typical of musicians, which is often momentum investing, and cited Jason Pereira, who described Drake's business deals as typically angel investing and private equity (often venture capital) funds. Pereira also noted his "leveraging his personal brand to generate cash". 100 Thieves In 2018, Drake purchased an ownership stake in the gaming organization 100 Thieves, joining as a co-founder and co-owner. The investment was partly funded by music executive Scooter Braun and Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert. Since the investment, the stake is estimated to be worth $125 million. Cuisine Two months prior to the release of Views, Drake announced the development of Virginia Black, a bourbon-based whiskey. This would be his second foray into selling foodstuffs, previously partnering with celebrity chef Susur Lee to open Fring's Restaurant in Toronto. The beverage was created and also distributed alongside Proximo Spirits, as well as with Brent Hocking, a spirits producer who founded DeLeón Tequila in 2008. The company described the partnership as "fruitful [as they] share a passion for style, music, and the pursuit of taste [on] a quest to redefine whiskey." In 2021, using ratings compiled from Vivino and complimentary website Distiller, Virginia Black was ranked the worst value celebrity liquor for quality and price. The product was launched in June 2016, and contained two, three and four-year old Bourbon whiskies. The company sold over 4,000 bottles in the first week domestically. The brand was also promoted and marketed through Drake's music and various tours, such as being part of the "Virginia Black VIP Lounge" additional package available for purchase during the Summer Sixteen Tour. Virginia Black shipped a further 30,000 units when rollout was extended to select international markets in late 2016. The company later aired commercials with Drake's father, Dennis Graham, which featured the tagline of "The Realest Dude Ever" (in reference toward "The Most Interesting Man in the World" tagline employed by Dos Equis) after extending the sale of the drink to Europe in 2017. In 2019, Drake began collaborating with Hocking on Mod Sélection, a luxury range of champagne, and in May 2021, formed part of a $40 million series B investment funding round led by D1 Capital Partners in Daring Foods Inc., a vegan meat analogue corporation. That September, he purchased a minority stake in Californian food chain Dave's Hot Chicken. Fashion In December 2013, Drake announced he was signing with Nike and Air Jordan, saying "growing up, I'm sure we all idolized Michael Jordan. I [am] officially inducted into the Team Jordan family." Drake also released his own collection of Air Jordans, dubbed the "Air Jordan OVOs". This foresaw collaborations between OVO and Canada Goose, in which various items of clothing were produced. In 2020, A Bathing Ape announced a collaboration with Drake, releasing an OVO x BAPE collection of clothing, while he also partnered with candle manufacturer Revolve to create "Better World Fragrance", a line of scented candles. In December 2020, Drake announced Nocta, a sub-label with Nike. In a press release, Drake said "I always felt like there was an opportunity for Nike to embrace an entertainer the same way [as] athletes," he wrote, "to be associated with the highest level possible was always my goal." The apparel line is named after Drake's "nocturnal creative process", in which Nike described as a "collection for the collective", and noted by GQ as "fashion-forward, minimal-inspired sportswear". One clothing item features an image of Drake's muses, Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta, with a poem. After the first collection sold out, another was released in February 2021, which introduced t-shirts, adjustable caps, a utility vest, and a lightweight jacket. That July, OVO released the "Weekender Collection", which includes a line of hoodies, velour sweatsuits, t-shirts, shorts, and accessories for women. OVO then released a "Winter Survival Collection" that December which included puffer jackets, vests, and parkas made with 700-fill down and Oeko-Tex certified down feathers. They followed this with limited edition Jurassic Park-themed collection and an indoor footwear collaboration with Suicoke. Personal life Health and residences Drake lives in Toronto, Ontario, in a 35,000-square-foot, $100 million estate nicknamed "The Embassy", which was built from the ground-up in 2017, and is seen in the video to his song "Toosie Slide". He also owns a home nicknamed the "YOLO Estate" in Hidden Hills, California, which he has owned since 2012, and in 2021, rented a $65 million property in Beverly Hills. He owns a condominium adjacent to the CN Tower, and a Boeing 767. Drake has a variety of tattoos, some of which are symbols associated with personal accomplishments, such as a jack-o-lantern, "October Lejonhjärta" (), owls, and a controversial Abbey Road (1969) inspired depiction of himself and The Beatles. He has portraits of Lil Wayne, Sade, Aaliyah, Jesús Malverde, Denzel Washington, 40, his parents, grandmother, maternal uncle, and son; and several related to Toronto, including the CN Tower and the number "416". On August 18, 2021, Drake revealed he contracted COVID-19 amidst the pandemic, which led to temporary hair loss. He was also one of the first celebrities to publicly test for the virus in March 2020. Family and relationships Drake's paternal uncles are guitarists and songwriters Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges. Graham was a member of Sly and the Family Stone, while Hodges contributed to songs for Al Green, including "Love and Happiness", "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)", and "Take Me to the River". Drake has a close friendship with Adele, and was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Rihanna from 2009 to 2016. He has mentioned the relationship in every one of his studio albums, and when presenting Rihanna with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2016, he said "she's a woman I've been in love with since I was 22 years old." On his relationship with her, he said on the talk show The Shop: As life takes shape and teaches you your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don't have the fairy tale [of] 'Drake started a family with Rihanna, [it's] so perfect.' It looks so good on paper [and] I wanted it too at one time. Drake is a father to one son named Adonis, who was born on October 11, 2017 to French painter and former model Sophie Brussaux. Brussaux's pregnancy was the subject of several rumours after featuring in a TMZ article in early 2017. After the nature of the pair's relationship was discussed in Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon", Drake confirmed his fatherhood on the album Scorpion in 2018, citing a desire for his child's privacy. Discography Studio albums Thank Me Later (2010) Take Care (2011) Nothing Was the Same (2013) Views (2016) Scorpion (2018) Certified Lover Boy (2021) Tours Headlining Away from Home Tour (2010) Club Paradise Tour (2012) Would You Like a Tour? (2013–2014) Jungle Tour (2015; six date promotional tour) Boy Meets World Tour (2017) Assassination Vacation Tour (2019) Co-headlining America's Most Wanted Tour (2009) Drake vs. Lil Wayne (2014) Summer Sixteen Tour (2016) Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour (2018) Filmography Film Television See also Culture of Toronto List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of Canadian musicians List of people from Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of highest-certified music artists in the United States List of best-selling music artists List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones List of most-followed Instagram accounts List of Canadian hip hop musicians List of Canadian Jews List of Black Canadians Black Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area History of the Jews in Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the Canadian Hot 100 List of Canadian Grammy Award winners and nominees List of most-streamed artists on Spotify References External links 1986 births Living people 21st-century Black Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian rappers African-American businesspeople African-American Jews African-American male rappers Black Canadian businesspeople Black Canadian male actors Black Canadian musicians Brit Award winners Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian Ashkenazi Jews Canadian contemporary R&B singers Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Canadian hip hop singers Canadian male child actors Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male rappers Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian music industry executives Canadian people of African-American descent Canadian people of American descent Canadian people of Jewish descent Canadian people of Latvian-Jewish descent Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Canadian philanthropists Canadian pop singers Canadian rhythm and blues singers Canadian songwriters Cash Money Records artists Culture of Toronto Dancehall musicians Grammy Award winners for rap music Jewish Canadian male actors Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish Canadian writers Jewish rappers Jewish singers Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year winners Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year winners Male actors from Toronto MTV Europe Music Award winners OVO Sound artists People from Hidden Hills, California People from Weston, Toronto Pop rappers Rappers from Toronto Republic Records artists Sports spectators Toronto Raptors personnel Trap musicians UK drill musicians Universal Motown Records artists Writers from Toronto Young Money Entertainment artists	true	[ "V.6: The Gift, the twelfth mixtape by American rapper Lloyd Banks, was released on July 24, 2012 for free download. The mixtape features confirmed guest appearances from Young Chris, Vado, Fabolous, Jadakiss and Schoolboy Q. It also includes production from Automatik, Doe Pesci, Superiors, A6, V Don, Beat Butcher, Tha Jerm and Cardiak.\n\nBackground\nThe name was inspired from his tenth mixtape, V.5 released on December 28, 2009 with DJ Whoo Kid also member of G-Unit. The first date for release of the mixtape was on his birthday April 30, 2012. However was pushed back with no release date. On July 16, 2012 the site DatPiff announced the new release date would be July 24, 2012. The site it's the same what Banks will provide the mixtape for free download.\nOn the last track, the rapper announced a new mixtape with DJ Drama of his Gangsta Grillz series. The tape was confirmed to be Failure's No Option, the first volume of the All or Nothing series, which was released on October 31, 2013. As of now, V.6 has over 250k downloads on DatPiff, certifying the mixtape platinum on that site.\n\nSingles\nOn March 29, 2012, Lloyd Banks released the first official song of the mixtape via his YouTube account. The song, Open Arms, was released later as single at iTunes on March 30, 2012. It was produced by the G-Unit's production team member Doe Pesci.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nDownload\n\n2012 mixtape albums\n2012 compilation albums\nLloyd Banks albums\nSequel albums\nAlbums produced by Cardiak", "Mixtape Messiah is a series of mixtapes by Houston rapper Chamillionaire. The Mixtape Messiah was his first in the series, which was released on February 15, 2004. Featuring 61 tracks over three CDs, this triple mixtape is the longest and most bought mixtape in Texas history. Mixtape Messiah 7 was released on August 4, 2009, and was officially confirmed to be the final mixtape in the series.\n\nHistory\n\nThe Mixtape Messiah (2004) \n\nKing Koopa: The Mixtape Messiah is the first mixtape by Houston rapper Chamillionaire, released in 2004. Featuring 61 tracks over three CDs, this triple album is the longest and most bought mixtape in Texas history.\n\nTrack listing \nDisc 1\n \"I'm Da' King\" - samples \"King of the South\" by T.I. - Instrumental from \"Show Ya Tattoos\" by Lil Boosie & Webbie\n \"Shut Up (Interlude)\"\n \"You Got Wrecked\" - Instrumental from \"Bow Down\" by Westside Connection\n \"New Name (Interlude)\"\n \"Who They Want\" - Instrumental from \"Game Over (Flip)\" by Lil' Flip\n \"I Mean that There\" - Instrumental from \"Hold Up\" by David Banner\n \"Run You out the Game\" - Instrumental from \"All I Know\" by Lil' Flip\n \"Not Friendly\" - Instrumental from \"You Don't Want Drama\" by 8Ball & MJG\n \"Roll Call\"\n \"Talk Show (Interlude)\"\n \"Gun Smoke\" - Instrumental from \"Hard Not 2 Kill\" by Three 6 Mafia\n \"Drag 'Em in the River\" (featuring Rasaq) - Instrumental from \"What U Gon' Do\" by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz\n \"What Would You Do\" - Instrumental from \"Salute U\"by G-Unit\n \"Switch Styles\" - Instrumental from \"What Y'all Wanna Do\" by Lil' Flip\n \"Body Rock\" - Instrumental from \"Lean Back\" by Fat Joe\n \"Step into My Room\" - Instrumental from \"Let's Get Away\" by T.I.\n \"Answer Machine (Interlude)\" - Instrumental from \"Is A Playa\" by \"Guerilla Maab\"\n \"I'm Busy\" - Instrumental from \"Is A Playa\" by \"Guerilla Maab\"\n \"Put It in Slow Motion\" - Instrumental from \"Slow Motion\" by Juvenile\n \"Screw Jamz\" - Instrumental from \"Slow Jamz\" by Twista\n \"I Had a Dream\" - Instrumental from \"A Dream\" by Jay-Z\n \"The Truth\" - Instrumental from \"This Can't Be Life\" by Jay-Z\n\nDisc 2\n Screwed and Chopped by OG RON C\n \"I'm da King (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"Roll Call (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"I'm a Balla (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"Who they Want (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"On Yo Azz (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"What Would You Do (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"Pimp Drill (feat. Color Changin' Click) (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"I Mean That There (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"Run You Out the Game (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"Switch Styles (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"I Had a Dream (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"O.G. Ron C Guttamix (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"Body Rock (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"We on Fire (feat. Color Changin' Click) (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"You Got Wrecked (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"Not Friendly (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"Gun Smoke (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n \"Answer Machine (Interlude) (feat. O.G. Ron C) (Screwed and Chopped)\"\n\nDisc 3\n \"Front to Back (featuring Rasaq & Yung Ro)\"\n \"Who I Be (Rasaq)\" - Instrumental from \"Look What I Got\" by T.I.\n \"Gun Smoke (featuring Yung Ro)\" - Instrumental from \"Hard Not 2 Kill\" by Gangsta Boo\n \"We Gonna Ride (featuring Rasaq)\" - Instrumental from \"Badunkadunk\" by Twista\n \"I Be Comin Down (Screwed) (Rasaq)\" - Instrumental from \"Don't Make\" by 8Ball & MJG\n \"Call Some Hoes (featuring Kanye West & Stat Quo)\"\n \"I Got Hoes (Screwed) (featuring Rasaq)\"\n \"On Yo Azz\"\n \"Texas Boys\" (Rasaq)\n \"Hey Lady\" (featuring Big Gem)\n \"Pimp Drill\"\n \"Panky Rang (Interlude) (featuring Rasaq)\"\n \"Hurtin 'em Bad\"\n \"We on Fire (featuring The Color Changin' Click)\" - Instrumental from \"On Fire\" by Lloyd Banks\n \"I'm a Balla (featuring Play-N-Skillz, Far East & Lumba)\"\n \"I Tip Down (featuring Rasaq)\" - Instrumental from \"Who Gives a Fuck Where You From\" by Three 6 Mafia\n \"Who They Want (featuring Rasaq)\" - Instrumental from \"Game Over\" by Lil' Flip\n \"Platinum Stars\" (featuring Lil' Flip & Bun B)\n \"Tippin' Slow (featuring Rasaq)\" - Instrumental from Round Here by Memphis Bleek\n \"Still Tippin' (featuring Slim Thug)\n \"Weatherman\" (featuring Paul Wall)\n\nMixtape Messiah 2 (2005-2006)\n\nMixtape Messiah 2 is the second mixtape in the Mixtape Messiah series. It was recorded in 2005, and it was released January 1, 2006.\n\nTrack listing\n Guess Who's Back (Intro) \n Hip Hop Warning \n She Gonna Already Know \n Let 'Em Know Lyrics\n Tryin' To Change Me\n Picture Me Rollin'\n Game Gonna Cost A Fee \n Ridin' Overseas\n Show Me What Ya Got\n Answer Machine 2 \n International Money \n I Run It \n Get Ya Umbrellas Out \n Man, Hold Up \n Roll Call Reloaded\n\nMixtape Messiah 3 (2006-2007)\n\nMixtape Messiah 3 is the third mixtape by southern rapper Chamillionaire. It was released as a free download on Chamillionaire's official website on July 18, 2007 at 11:00 P.M. EDT to promote his album Ultimate Victory, then scheduled for release three months later.\n\nTrack listing\n\nMixtape Messiah 4 (2007-2008)\n\nMixtape Messiah 4 is the fourth mixtape by Chamillionaire in his Mixtape Messiah series. It is a two-disc set that was released on August 27, 2008.\n\nTrack listing\nDisc 1\n\nDisc 2\n\nMixtape Messiah 5 (2008)\n\nMixtape Messiah 5 is the fifth mixtape by Chamillionaire is his Mixtape Messiah series. It was released in 2008.\n\nTrack listing\n Intro (4:15)\n Keep Hating,Pt. II (2:02)\n Swagga' Like Koopa (4:19)\n I Got (2:43)\n Internet Nerds Brother (2:50)\n Chop Chop Chop (4:05)\n The One to Hate (2:32)\n All I Got Is Pain (3:02)\n Act Right (2:34)\n Freeway (1:55)\n Car Windows (2:59)\n Car Skit (3:00)\n Really Isn't Fair (2:17)\n Ran Out of Auto-Tune (1:32)\n Can't Get Enough (3:16)\n Answering Machine Skit (1:12)\n Pimp Talk (2:14)\n Ready For Whatever (4:10)\n Do Ya Thing (2:32)\n Solo (Break) (4:37)\n Texas 4 Life (4:37)\n No Hate (2:49)\n\nMixtape Messiah 6 (2008-2009)\n\nMixtape Messiah 6 is the sixth mixtape by Chamillionaire in his Mixtape Messiah series. It was recorded in 2008, and it was later released on January 5, 2009.\n\nTrack listing\n Best Rapper Alive \n Love of Money \n Throwdest in the Game \n Mixtape Murder \n The Evaluation \n One Day \n Track Wrecka \n Everything \n Switch Styles Reloaded \n Murder They Wrote \n For The Moment \n Shine So Clean \n Judge Judy\n Shawty (Feat. Chalie Boy) Produced by @LoudNoyz\n\nMixtape Messiah 7 (2009)\n\nMixtape Messiah 7 is the seventh mixtape by southern rapper Chamillionaire. It is also the final mixtape in his Mixtape Messiah series.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nSequel albums\n2004 mixtape albums\n2005 mixtape albums\n2006 mixtape albums\n2007 mixtape albums\n2008 mixtape albums\n2009 mixtape albums\nChamillionaire albums\nChamillitary Entertainment albums" ]
[ "Drake (musician)", "2006-2009: Early mixtapes and So Far Gone", "When was Thank Me Later released?", "I don't know.", "what was his first mixtape?", "Room for Improvement," ]	C_9a9897534b1246b3aaaba0a09db98d2e_1	what was his second mixtape?	3	What was Drake's second mixtape?	Drake (musician)	After becoming musically inspired by Jay Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da, and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." The mixtape was released for sale only, and confirmed to have sold over 6,000 copies. In 2007, he released his second mixtape, Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl", featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first ever unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video featured on BET, with "Replacement Girl" being featured on the channel's "New Joint of the Day" segment on April 30, 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston in order to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "I Want This Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". Despite the collaborations between the duo, Drake was yet to be signed by Young Money Entertainment. In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape, So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success due to the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized album entitled The Girls Love Drake, which was released on iTunes under dubious means. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage, and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He later underwent surgery on September 8, 2009. CANNOTANSWER	Comeback Season.	Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor. Gaining recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–08), Drake pursued a career in music releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement in 2006; he subsequently released the mixtapes Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment. Drake released his debut studio album, Thank Me Later, in 2010, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. He achieved major critical success with Take Care (2011) and commercial success with Nothing Was the Same (2013) and his first commercial mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015); the latter two were certified multi-platinum in the US. Drake's fourth album, Views (2016), sat atop the Billboard 200 for 13 nonconsecutive weeks, becoming the first album by a male solo artist to do so in over a decade, and featured the chart record-setting lead single "One Dance". His second solo commercial mixtape, More Life (2017), set then-multiple streaming records, and in 2018, he released the double album Scorpion, which contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings". Leaving Young Money in 2018, Drake's third commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes was released in 2020, and featured the chart-topping "Toosie Slide". In 2021, the EP Scary Hours 2 included the number one "What's Next" and set chart records, and preceded his delayed sixth album, Certified Lover Boy (2021); the album set the record for most U.S. top-ten entries from one album, with lead single "Way 2 Sexy" becoming his tenth number one. As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012. In 2013, Drake became the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise, while owning naming rights to its practice facility. In 2016, he began collaborating with American entrepreneur Brent Hocking on the bourbon whiskey Virginia Black; it eventually broke sale records in Canada. Drake has also designed fashion, the most notable including a sub-label collaboration with Nike, alongside other business ventures. In 2018, he was reportedly responsible for 5 percent (CAD$440 million) of Toronto's CAD$8.8 billion annual tourism income. Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 170 million records sold, Drake is ranked as the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States by the RIAA. He has won four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, a record 29 Billboard Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and three Juno Awards, and holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; Drake has the most top 10 singles (54), the most charted songs (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in one week (27), the most Hot 100 debuts in one week (22), and the most continuous time on the Hot 100 (431 weeks). He additionally has the most number-one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Songs, and Rhythmic Airplay charts. Early life Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. His father, Dennis Graham, is African-American and a practicing Catholic from Memphis, Tennessee, who worked as a drummer, performing alongside country musician Jerry Lee Lewis. His mother, Sandra "Sandi" Graham ( Sher), is a Canadian of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage who worked as an English teacher and florist. Dennis Graham performed at Club Bluenote in Toronto, where he met Sandra Sher, who was in attendance. Drake is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, having American citizenship due to his American father. In his youth, he attended a Jewish day school, and became a bar mitzvah. Drake's parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, he and his mother remained in Toronto; his father returned to Memphis, where he was incarcerated for a number of years on drug-related charges. Graham's limited finances and legal issues caused him to remain in the United States until Drake's early adulthood. Prior to his arrest, however, Graham would travel to Toronto and bring Drake to Memphis every summer. His father later collaborated with Canadian music group Arkells on the music video for a song titled "Drake's Dad". Graham claimed in an interview that Drake's assertions of him being an absent father were embellishments used to sell records, which Drake vehemently denies. Drake was raised in two Toronto neighbourhoods. He lived on Weston Road in the city's working-class west end until grade six, playing minor hockey with the Weston Red Wings. He then moved to one of the city's affluent neighbourhoods, Forest Hill, in 2000. When asked about the move, Drake replied, "[We had] a half of a house we could live in. The other people had the top half, we had the bottom half. I lived in the basement, my mom lived on the first floor. It was not big, it was not luxurious. It was what we could afford." He attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he demonstrated an affinity for the arts, first acting while an active student at the school. He later attended Vaughan Road Academy in the city's multicultural Oakwood–Vaughan neighbourhood. Due to the economic status associated with the neighbourhood, Drake described the school as "not by any means the easiest school to go to." Drake was often bullied at school for his racial and religious background, and upon realizing that his busy class schedule was detrimental to his burgeoning acting career, Drake dropped out of school. He later graduated in October 2012. Career 2001–2009: Career beginnings Degrassi: The Next Generation At the age of 15, Drake, eager to begin his career as an actor, was introduced to a high school friend's father, an acting agent. The agent found Drake a role on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. Drake portrayed Jimmy Brooks, a basketball star who became physically disabled after he was shot by a classmate. Drake reportedly disliked this character arc because of its apparent tokenism (his was one of the only black characters in the series), and he also believed it could negatively influence his standing as a rapper. Longtime series writer James Hurst said that Drake threatened legal action to redo the storyline, before ultimately agreeing to it. Madeleine Robinson, the executive director of the Californian non-profit organization Wheelchair 4 Kids, praised the storyline and Drake's performance, noting "he instilled confidence and representation" to disabled youth. When asked about his early acting career, Drake replied, "My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was [from] Canadian TV." He appeared in a total of 100 episodes between 2001 and 2008. In 2010, Drake expressed interest in playing Barack Obama in a biopic, to which Obama responded to with approval in an interview in 2020. According to Degrassi series creators Stephen Stohn and Linda Schuyler, Drake regularly arrived late on set after spending nights recording music. To prevent this, Schuyler claimed Drake struck an agreement with the set's security guards to gain entry to the set after recording to be allowed to sleep in a dressing room. Early mixtapes and So Far Gone Being musically inspired by Jay-Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." Room for Improvement was released for sale only and sold roughly 6,000 copies, for which Drake received $304.04 in royalties. In 2007, he released his second mixtape Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl" featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video on BET, with "Replacement Girl" featured on their "New Joint of the Day" segment in April 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success from the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized fake album titled The Girls Love Drake released on iTunes. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster on the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He underwent surgery later that year. 2010–2012: Musical breakthrough with Thank Me Later and Take Care Drake planned to release his debut album, Thank Me Later, in late 2008, but the album's release date was postponed, first to March 2010, and then to May 25, 2010. Young Money and Universal Motown had then released a statement that the album had again been pushed back three weeks for a June 15, 2010 release. On March 9, 2010, Drake released the debut single "Over", which peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Rap Songs chart. It also received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards. His second single, "Find Your Love", became an even bigger success. It peaked at number five on the Hot 100, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The music video for the single was shot in Kingston, Jamaica, and was criticized by Jamaica's minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett. Bartlett condemned the portrayal of the island in the video, saying, "care has to be taken by all, including our creative artists, in [showcasing] images of our destination and people. Gun culture, while not unique to Jamaica, is not enhancing [the island's image]." The third single and fourth singles, "Miss Me" and "Fancy" respectively, attained moderate commercial success; however, the latter garnered Drake his second nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. On April 29, it was reportedly announced that Drake had finished Thank Me Later during a show in Kansas City, Missouri. Thank Me Later was released on June 15, 2010, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of over 447,000 copies in its first week. Upon the album's release, 25,000 fans gathered at New York City's South Street Seaport for a free concert hosted by Drake and Hanson, which was later cancelled by the police after a near-riot ensued due to overflowing crowds. The album became the top selling debut album for any artist in 2010, and featured Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Jay Z. It was soon announced that Drake would have a prominent role in the military science fiction video game, Gears of War 3. He was scheduled to play the role of Jace Stratton, but scheduling conflicts with his upcoming Away from Home Tour prevented him from accepting the role. He began the tour on September 20, 2010, in Miami, Florida, performing at 78 shows over four different legs. It concluded in Las Vegas in November 2010. Due to the success of the Away from Home Tour, Drake hosted the first OVO Festival in 2010. It would soon become a regular event during the summer, with the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto playing host to the festival on its annual cycle. Drake also had an eco-friendly college tour to support the album, beginning with Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. It concluded in Plymouth, New Hampshire on May 8, and he also performed at The Bamboozle on May 1. Beginning his second effort in fall 2010, Drake announced his intentions to allow Noah "40" Shebib to handle most of the production and record a more cohesive sound than on Thank Me Later, which featured disparate production duties by Shebib and others. In November 2010, Drake revealed the title of his next studio album will be Take Care. In comparison to his debut album, Drake revealed to Y.C Radio 1 that Thank Me Later was a rushed album, stating, "I didn't get to take the time that I wanted to on that record. I rushed a lot of the songs and sonically I didn't get to sit with the record and say, 'I should change this verse.' Once it was done, it was done. That's why my new album is called Take Care, because I get to take my time this go-round." Drake sought to expand on the low-tempo, sensuous, and dark sonic esthetic of Thank Me Later. Primarily a hip hop album, Drake also attempted to incorporate R&B and pop to create a languid, grandiose sound. In January 2011, Drake was in negotiations to join Eva Green and Susan Sarandon as a member of the cast in Nicholas Jarecki's Arbitrage, before ultimately deciding against starring in the movie to focus on the album. "Dreams Money Can Buy" and "Marvins Room" were released on Drake's October's Very Own Blog, on May 20 and June 9, respectively. Acting as promotional singles for Take Care, the former was eventually unincluded on the album's final track listing, while "Marvins Room" gained Gold certification by the RIAA, as well as peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching the top 10 of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, coupled with extensive play on contemporary urban radio. Drake would soon release the song's music video on June 28. "Headlines" was released on August 9 as the lead single for Take Care. It was met with positive critical and commercial response, reaching number thirteen on the Hot 100, as well as becoming his tenth single to reach the summit of the Billboard Hot Rap Songs, making Drake the artist with the most number-one singles on the chart, with 12. It was eventually certified Platinum in both the United States and Canada. The music video for the single was released on October 2, and foresaw Drake performing the song during the second intermission of the 59th National Hockey League All-Star Game in January 2012. "Make Me Proud" was released as the album's second single on October 16. It was the final single to be released prior to the launch of the album, and debuted at number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached number nine the following week, tying the record for the largest jump on the Billboard Hot 100 for a male artist, with 88. "Make Me Proud" soon became Drake's fourth consecutive single to receive Platinum certification by the RIAA. Prior to the album's release, Drake planned to record a collaborative album with Lil Wayne; however, it was ultimately scrapped due to the success of Watch the Throne. He also began collaborations with Rick Ross for a mixtape titled Y.O.L.O., but the duo decided against the project in favor of increased concern for their respective studio albums. Although in 2021, Ross stated that a joint album is still possible as they've casually discussed it. Take Care was released on November 15, 2011, and received generally positive reviews from music critics. John McDonnell of NME dubbed it "an affecting masterpiece" and commended its "delicate, mellifluous sound and unashamedly candid, emotive lyrics." Pitchforks Ryan Dombal found Drake's "technical abilities" to be improved and stated, "Just as his thematic concerns have become richer, so has the music backing them up." Andy Hutchins of The Village Voice called it "a carefully crafted bundle of contradictory sentiments from a conflicted rapper who explores his own neuroses in as compelling a manner as anyone not named Kanye West." Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot complimented the depth of Drake's "moral psychodramas" and stated, "the best of it affirms that Drake is shaping a pop persona with staying power." It also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, and achieved great commercial success, eventually being certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA in 2016, with sales for the album marking 2.6 million in the U.S. The album's third and fourth singles, "The Motto" and Take Care", were released on November 29, 2011 and February 21, 2012, respectively. Each song was subject to commercial success, while also having large societal impacts, with "The Motto" credited for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States. The music video for "Take Care" saw widespread acclaim, with MTV stating, "None of his contemporaries – not even the ever-obtuse Kanye [West] – make videos like this, mostly because no one else can get away with it." The video received four nominations at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Video of the Year. The song was also featured on the channel's "Pop Songs You Must Hear" list of 2011. "HYFR" was the final single to be released from the album, and became certified Gold. It also won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video in 2012, and the channel ranked him number two on their "Hottest MCs in the Game" list. On August 5, 2012, Drake released "Enough Said", performed by American recording artist Aaliyah featuring additional vocals provided by himself. Originally recorded prior to the singer's death in a plane crash in 2001, Drake later finished the track with producer "40". "Enough Said" was released by Blackground Records through their SoundCloud account on August 5, 2012. It was sent to US urban and rhythmic radio stations on August 21. The song charted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs In promotion of his second album, Drake embarked on the worldwide Club Paradise Tour. It became the most successful hip hop tour of 2012, grossing over $42 million. He then returned to acting, starring in Ice Age: Continental Drift as Ethan. 2013–2015: Nothing Was the Same and If You're Reading This It's Too Late During the European leg of the Club Paradise Tour, Drake spoke in an interview stating that he had begun working on his third studio album. Revealing his intentions to remain with 40 as the album's executive producer, Drake spoke fondly about Jamie xx, hoping to include and expand the British producer's influence over his next album. Drake had also revealed that the album would stylistically differ from Take Care, departing from the ambient production and despondent lyrics prevalent previously. In January 2013, Drake announced that he would release the first single off his third album at the end of the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Despite an initial delay, it was released in the wake of his win for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the event, and it foresaw Drake announcing Nothing Was the Same as the title of his third album. The album's second single, "Hold On, We're Going Home", was released in August 2013, becoming the most successful single off the album, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Drake sought inspiration from the 1980s television series Miami Vice during the composition of the song's music video, incorporating the dramatic elements seen in the show en route to winning his second MTV Video Music Award in 2014 for the video. Drake appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing the album's third single, "Too Much", alongside featured artist Sampha. Nothing Was the Same was released on September 24, 2013, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200, with 658,000 copies sold in its first week of release. The album debuted atop the charts in Canada, Denmark, Australia and the United Kingdom. The album also enjoyed generally favourable reviews by contemporary music critics, commending the musical shift in terms of the tone and subject matter, comparing it to the distinct change showcased in Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak. The album was also reported to have sold over 1,720,000 copies in the United States, and was further promoted by the "Would You like a Tour?" throughout late 2013 to early 2014. It became the 22nd-most successful tour of the year, grossing an estimated $46 million. Drake then returned to acting in January 2014, hosting Saturday Night Live, as well as serving as the musical guest. His versatility, acting ability and comedic timing were all praised by critics, describing it as what "kept him afloat during the tough and murky SNL waters". Drake also performed in Dubai, being one of the only artists ever to perform in the city. In late 2014, Drake announced that he began recording sessions for his fourth studio album. In 2014, Drake performed in Spanish as a featured artist on the Romeo Santos song "Odio". He also appeared on a remix of "Tuesday" by ILoveMakonnen, which peaked at number one on Billboard's Rhythmic chart and number twelve on the "Hot 100", and released "0 to 100 / The Catch Up" as a non-album single. The latter went double platinum in the United States. On February 12, 2015, Drake released If You're Reading This It's Too Late onto iTunes with no prior announcement. Despite debate on whether it was an album or a mixtape, its commercial stance quantifies it as his fourth retail project with Cash Money Records, a scheme that was rumoured to allow Drake to leave the label. However, he eventually remained with Cash Money, and If You're Reading This It's Too Late sold over 1 million units in 2015, making Drake the first artist with a platinum project in 2015, as well as his fourth overall. 2015–2017: What a Time to Be Alive, Views, and More Life On July 31, 2015, Drake released four singles: "Back to Back", "Charged Up", "Hotline Bling", and "Right Hand". On September 20, 2015, Drake released a collaborative mixtape with Future, which was recorded in Atlanta in just under a week. What a Time to Be Alive debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making Drake the first hip hop artist to have two projects reach number one in the same year since 2004. It was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales, streaming and track-sales equivalent of over 1 million units. Drake also appeared on the cover of The Fader for their 100th issue. Drake announced in January 2016 that his fourth studio album would be launched during the spring, releasing the promotional single "Summer Sixteen" later that month. The album was originally titled Views from the 6, but was later shortened to Views. "Summer Sixteen" debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, and proved controversial, with Drake comparing his standing in hip hop to more tenured artists. This move divided many contemporary music critics, describing his self-comparison as "goodly brash" or "conventionally disrespectful." It was also interpreted as a diss track towards Tory Lanez, who was unhappy at Drake for popularizing the term "The Six" when referencing Toronto. Drake also crashed a Bat Mitzvah in New York City on February 20, performing at the event. Drake soon released the album's lead singles, "Pop Style" and the dancehall-infused "One Dance", on April 5. Both debuted within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100; however, the latter proved more commercially successful, with "One Dance" becoming Drake's first number-one single in Canada and the US as a leading artist. The single also became Drake's first number one single as a lead artist in the United Kingdom, and peaked at number one in Germany, France, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands. During an episode for OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed the album's release date of April 29, and followed it up with various promotional videos. On October 15, "One Dance" became Spotify's most-streamed song ever, amassing over 882 million plays . Views was previewed in London before its premiere on Beats 1 a day later. It was released as an Apple Music and iTunes exclusive on April 29 before being made available to various other platforms later that week. Views would become Drake's most commercially successful album, sitting atop the Billboard 200 for ten nonconsecutive weeks, as well as simultaneously leading the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 for eight weeks. It also achieved double-platinum status in the U.S., and earned over 1 million album-equivalent units in the first week of its release, as well as gaining over half-billion overall streams of the album. Despite its success, critical opinion towards the album remained much divided, drawing criticism for being overlong and lacking in a cohesive theme, while also claiming Drake was not challenging himself artistically, as opposed to his contemporaries. He later released a short film titled Please Forgive Me, starring Swedish twin models Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta who are frequent collaborators with him. , Views remains Drake's best-selling album in pure sales. Drake returned to host Saturday Night Live on May 14, serving as the show's musical guest. Later, Drake was named as a member of the Forbes Five, which ranks the wealthiest artists in hip-hop, placing fifth after Birdman, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, and Diddy respectively. Drake and Future then announced the Summer Sixteen Tour to showcase their collective mixtape, as well as their respective studio albums. This marked Drake's third co-headlining tour, which began in Austin, Texas on July 20. On July 23, Drake announced that he was working on a new project, scheduled to be released in early 2017, and was later named as the headline act for the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival. The latter dates of the Summer Sixteen Tour were postponed, however, due to Drake suffering an ankle injury. During the 2016 OVO Festival, Kanye West confirmed that he and Drake had begun working on a collaborative album. Soon after, the music video for "Child's Play" was released, depicting Drake and Tyra Banks playing a couple encountering relationship issues at the Cheesecake Factory in a reference to one of the song's lyrics. On September 26, Please Forgive Me was released as an Apple Music exclusive. It ran a total of 25 minutes, and featured music from Views. At the 2016 BET Hip-Hop Awards, Drake received the most nominations, with 10, winning the awards for Album of the Year and Best Hip-Hop Video. Drake later announced the Boy Meets World Tour on October 10, with twenty-six dates announced for the course of the tour in Europe. Seven additional dates were added a day later due to overwhelming demand. Soon after, during an episode of OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed he would be releasing a project titled More Life in December. However, he later pushed the date back to the new year. The project was described as a "playlist of original music", rather than being classified as a traditional mixtape or solo album. He was later revealed to be Spotify's most streamed artist for the second consecutive year in 2016, amassing a total 4.7 billion streams for all projects on the service, which is more than double the amount of streams he had in 2015. Drake later secured his second and third Grammy Awards, winning for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song at the 59th ceremony. Despite multiple setbacks, Drake announced More Life would be released on March 18, 2017, via a series of multiple video commercials released through Instagram. Upon release, More Life received mostly positive reviews, and debuted atop the Billboard 200, earning 505,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It also set a streaming record, becoming the highest ever streamed album in 24 hours, with a total of 89.9 million streams on Apple Music alone. The album also garnered 61.3 million streams on Spotify, dethroning Ed Sheeran's ÷ as the highest opening on the service in a single day. He later won 13 awards at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards in May, which saw him breaking the record for the most wins in a single show. Billboard also reported Drake had been present on the Hot 100 chart for eight consecutive years, and has the most recorded entries by a solo artist. He later declined to submit More Life for consideration at the 2018 Grammy Awards, stemming from his displeasure at "Hotline Bling" being "pigeonholed" into the rap category. He then released the single "Signs" on June 24, as well as reuniting with Metro Boomin on a single with Offset. The singles marked his first releases since More Life, with "Signs" was initially released as a collaboration between Drake and French fashion house Louis Vuitton, as part of the "Louis Vuitton Men's Spring-Summer 2018" fashion show. The event also had a playlist exclusively from OVO Sound, curated by label co-founder Oliver El-Khatib. Drake hosted the first annual NBA Awards on June 26, and starred in multiple commercials alongside his father in promotion of Virginia Black. Drake also appeared in The Carter Effect documentary, honouring the basketball career of Vince Carter, who was the first superstar player to play for the Toronto Raptors since the franchise's inception in 1995. The documentary also featured NBA players Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, and LeBron James. 2018–2019: Scorpion and Care Package; return to television After rumours circulated of Drake possibly collaborating with various artists, including rapper Trippie Redd and producer Pi'erre Bourne, for his new studio album, multiple snippets of songs were leaked near the closing end of 2017. Two songs would later be released as members of a mini EP, titled Scary Hours, on January 20, 2018, marking Drake's first solo release since More Life, as well as his first appearance on any song after featuring on a remix of the Jay-Z song "Family Feud" with Lil Wayne, as the lead single of the latter's Dedication 6: Reloaded mixtape. Scary Hours featured the songs "Diplomatic Immunity" and "God's Plan", which both debuted within the top-ten, with the latter eventually breaking various streaming records as it debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was Drake's first song as a solo artist to reach number one, as well as his second chart topper as a lead artist. Drake earned his 70th top 40 entry after featuring on the Migos song "Walk It Talk It", which debuted at number eighteen, and peaked at number ten. He was later featured on BlocBoy JB's debut single "Look Alive", which was released on February 9, 2018. The song's entry at number six on the Hot 100 made Drake the rapper with the most top 10 hits on the Hot 100, with 23. He then featured on a remix to "Lemon", a song originally released as a collaboration between band N.E.R.D and Rihanna. On April 5, Drake announced he was finishing his fifth studio album and he was releasing a single later that night. On April 6, "Nice for What" was released, alongside a music video directed by Karena Evans, which featured several female celebrities. After "Nice For What" replaced his own "God's Plan" on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, making him the first artist to have a new number-one debut replace their former number-one debut, Drake announced the title of his fifth studio album as Scorpion, with a planned release date of June 29, 2018. He then released "I'm Upset" on May 26 as the album's third single. Scorpion was then released as a double-album, and marked Drake's longest project, with a run-time of just under 90 minutes. The album broke both the one-day global records on Spotify and Apple Music, as it gained 132.45 million and 170 million plays on each streaming service, respectively. It eventually sold 749,000 album equivalent units in its first week of sales, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. In 2018, articles by The Guardian and Rolling Stone called him "the definitive pop star of his generation" and "perhaps [the] biggest post-Justin Timberlake male pop star of the new millennium", respectively. Shortly thereafter, Drake collaborated with British hip hop promotion Link Up TV on July 7, releasing a freestyle as a part of the promotion's 'Behind Barz' segment, before releasing another freestyle a week later after featuring on Charlie Sloth's long-running Fire in the Booth program on BBC Radio 1Xtra. Drake then earned his sixth number-one hit with "In My Feelings" on July 21, which also spawned the viral "#InMyFeelingsChallenge" or "#KiKiChallenge". The success of "In My Feelings" also made Drake the record holder for most number one hits among rappers. Soon after, he released the music video for "Nonstop", which was filmed in London during his surprise performance at the Wireless Festival. He then appeared on the Travis Scott album Astroworld, featuring uncredited vocals for his song "Sicko Mode", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Drake announced in July 2018 that he planned to "take 6 months to a year" to himself to return to television and films, producing the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. He then began the Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour with co-headliners Migos on August 12. This preceded a collaboration with Bad Bunny titled "Mia", which featured Drake performing in Spanish. He subsequently received the award for Hot Ticket Performer at the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards on October 16. During a performance in Edmonton on November 7, Drake announced his intention to begin composing his next project in early 2019. In February 2019, he received his fourth Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, for "God's Plan", at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. During his speech, producers abruptly cut to a commercial break, leading viewers to speculate they were censoring his speech during which he criticized The Recording Academy. A legal representative for the academy then released a statement stating "a natural pause [led] the producers [to] assume that he was done and cut to commercial," and added the organization offered him an opportunity to return to stage, but he declined. On February 14, Drake re-released his third mixtape, So Far Gone, onto streaming services for the first time to commemorate its 10-year anniversary, and later collaborated with Summer Walker on a remix of Walker's song "Girls Need Love", marking his first release of 2019. On April 10, during a performance on the Assassination Vacation Tour, he announced he was working on a new album. On June 8, Drake appeared on Chris Brown's single "No Guidance". On June 15, Drake released two songs, "Omertà" and "Money in the Grave", on his EP The Best in the World Pack to celebrate the NBA Championship win of the Toronto Raptors. On August 2, he released the compilation album Care Package, consisting of songs released between 2010 and 2016 that were initially unavailable for purchase or commercial streaming; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. 2019–present: Dark Lane Demo Tapes, Scary Hours 2, and Certified Lover Boy Drake released the song "War" on December 24, 2019, with an accompanying music video, which was widely noted for its UK drill-inspired instrumental. The following day, in an interview with Rap Radar, it was revealed that he was in the process of completing his sixth studio album. On January 10, 2020, Drake collaborated with Future on the song "Life Is Good", which appeared on the album High Off Life. On January 31, the pair again collaborated on the song "Desires", although it was released for free after being leaked. On February 29, Drake released the songs "When to Say When" and "Chicago Freestyle" with a combined music video. On April 3, he released "Toosie Slide" with a music video, which features a dance created in collaboration with social media influencer Toosie. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Drake the first male artist to have three songs debut at number one. On May 1, 2020, Drake released the commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes, with guest appearances from Chris Brown, Future, Young Thug, Fivio Foreign, Playboi Carti, and Sosa Geek. He also announced that his sixth studio album would be released in the summer of 2020. The mixtape is a compilation of new songs and tracks that leaked on the internet. It received mixed reviews and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 223,000 album-equivalent units, and at number one on the UK Albums Chart, earning 20,000 units in its first week. On July 17, Drake was featured on DJ Khaled's singles "Greece" and "Popstar", debuting at numbers eight and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, becoming Drake's record-extending 24th and 25th debuts in the Hot 100's top 10. It also became his 39th and 40th Hot 100 top ten entries, breaking Madonna's record for most Hot 100 top ten hits. On July 20, Drake and Headie One released the drill track "Only You Freestyle", making it the third drill-inspired song he released in 2020, after "War" and "Demons", both of which appear on Dark Lane Demo Tapes. On August 14, "Laugh Now Cry Later" featuring Lil Durk was released, which was intended as the lead single from Drake's album Certified Lover Boy, but not included on the final track listing. It debuted at number two on the Hot 100, and was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. On September 3, the video for "Popstar" was released, in which Drake makes a cameo appearance. On October 2, Drake was the sole guest appearance on Bryson Tiller's album Anniversary (2020), on the song "Outta Time". He subsequently appeared on the remix to "You're Mines Still", alongside Yung Bleu on October 16; just over a week later, on his 34th birthday, Drake announced Certified Lover Boy was set to be released in January 2021. This was later pushed back to an unspecified date after he sustained a knee injury which required surgery. On December 1, he reunited with Lil Wayne on "B.B. King Freestyle", the lead single from the latter's double-disc mixtape No Ceilings 3 (2020). In January 2021, Drake became the first artist to surpass 50 billion combined streams on Spotify. He later collaborated with Drakeo the Ruler on the single "Talk to Me", which was released on February 23. On March 5, Drake released an EP titled Scary Hours 2, which includes three songs: "What's Next", "Wants and Needs" with Lil Baby, and "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" with Rick Ross. These three songs entered the charts at numbers one, two, and three, respectively, making Drake the first artist to have three songs debut in the top three on the Billboard Hot 100. He then appeared on the single "Solid" from the YSL Records compilation Slime Language 2, alongside Gunna and Young Thug. "Solid" was originally meant to appear on Certified Lover Boy, and to only feature Gunna. On May 14, Drake was featured alongside mentor Lil Wayne on former labelmate Nicki Minaj's "Seeing Green", a new song on the streaming re-release of her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. Two weeks later, he was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. On June 12, he featured on Migos' "Having Our Way", from the group's third studio album, Culture III (2021), and on July 1, collaborated with Brent Faiyaz and The Neptunes on the song "Wasting Time". On July 23, Drake appeared on "Over the Top" with Smiley, the newest signee to OVO Sound. During an appearance on Fri Yiy Friday, a radio show supported by OVO Sound, Drake revealed Certified Lover Boy "is ready. [I'm] looking forward to delivering it". He then appeared on "Betrayal", a collaboration with Trippie Redd for Trip at Knight (2021). Certified Lover Boy was then released on September 3, 2021, becoming his tenth number-one album on the Billboard 200; every song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album was the first to chart nine songs on the top 10, with "Way 2 Sexy" becoming Drake's ninth number-one single. He subsequently set the record for the fourth-most cumulative weeks (52) at number one on the Hot 100, behind Mariah Carey (84), Rihanna (60), and The Beatles (59). He received a nomination for Best Global Act at the 2021 All Africa Music Awards, and appeared on Young Thug's Punk (2021), featuring on the song "Bubbly". On October 22, Drake featured on Majid Jordan's "Stars Align", the lead single to the band's third album Wildest Dreams. Two weeks later, on November 5, Drake released a horror-themed black and white music video for "Knife Talk", the third single from Certified Lover Boy, with featured appearances by 21 Savage and Project Pat. On November 6, he debuted the song "Give It Up" on OVO Sound Radio. Certified Lover Boy was nominated for Best Rap Album and "Way 2 Sexy" was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. He was later named Billboard’s Top Artist of the Year for 2021, and was the fourth most streamed artist on Spotify for the year, and the most streamed rapper. On December 6, he withdrew his music for consideration for the Grammys, with multiple outlets noting his contentious relationship with the Recording Academy. Drake accumulated 8.6 billion on-demand streams in 2021, making him the most overall streamed artist of the year in the United States; one out of every 131 streams was a Drake song. On January 7, 2022, Drake was announced as a featured artist on Gunna's DS4Ever, but was not included until the release of the album's deluxe edition just under a week later. On January 17, Drake announced another collaboration with DJ Khaled. Artistry Influences Drake has cited several hip hop artists as influencing his rapping style, including Kanye West, Jay Z, MF Doom, and Lil Wayne, while also attributing various R&B artists as influential to the incorporation of the genre into his own music, including Aaliyah and Usher. Drake has also credited several dancehall artists for later influencing his Caribbean-inflected style, including Vybz Kartel, whom he has called one of his "biggest inspirations". Musical style Drake is considered to be a pop-rap artist. While Drake's earlier music primarily spanned hip hop and R&B, his music has delved into pop and trap in recent years. Additionally, his music has drawn influence from regional scenes, including Jamaican dancehall and UK drill. Drake is known for his egotistical lyrics, technical ability, and integration of personal backstory when dealing with relationships with women. His vocal abilities have been lauded for an audible contrast between typical hip-hop beats and melody, with sometimes abrasive rapping coupled with softer accents, delivered on technical lyricism. His songs often include audible changes in lyrical pronunciation in parallel with his upbringing in Toronto, and connections with Caribbean and Middle Eastern countries which include such phrases as "ting", "touching road", "talkin' boasy" and "gwanin' wassy". Most of his songs contain R&B and Canadian hip hop elements, and he combines rapping with singing. He credits his father with the introduction of singing into his rap mixtapes, which have become a staple in his musical repertoire. His incorporation of melody into technically complex lyrics was supported by Lil Wayne, and has subsequently been a critically acclaimed component to Drake's singles and albums. The lyrical content that Drake deploys is typically considered to be emotional or boastful. However, Drake is often revered for incorporating "degrading" themes of money, drug use, and women into newer, idealized contexts, often achieving this through his augmentation of the typical meaning of phrases in which he combines an objective and subjective perspective into one vocal delivery. His songs often maintain tension between "pause and pace, tone timbre, and volume and vocal fermata." Drake is credited with innovating what has been referred to as "hyper-reality rap", which is characterized by its focus on themes of celebrity as being distinct from the "real world." Public image A prominent figure in pop culture, Drake is widely credited for popularizing the Toronto sound to the music industry and leading the "Canadian Invasion" of the American charts. The Washington Post editor Maura Judkis credits Drake for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States with his single "The Motto", which includes, "You only live once: that's the motto, nigga, YOLO." Drake later popularized the term "The Six" in 2015 in relation to his hometown Toronto, subsequently becoming a point of reference to the city. His lyrical subject matter, which often revolves around relationships, have had widespread use on social media through photo captions to reference emotions or personal situations. However, this content has incited mixed reception from fans and critics, with some deeming him as sensitive, a trait perceived as antithetical to traditional hip hop culture. June 10 was declared "Drake Day" in Houston. In 2016, Drake visited Drake University after a show in Des Moines in response to an extensive social media campaign by students that began in 2009, advocating for his appearance. According to a report from Confused.com, Drake's Toronto home was one of the most Googled homes in the world, recording over a million annual searches in 2021; its features, such as its NBA-size indoor basketball court and Kohler Numi toilet, have also received widespread media attention. The music video for "Hotline Bling" went viral due to Drake's eccentric dance moves. The video has been remixed, memed, and was heavily commented on due to the unconventional nature on the song, causing it to gain popularity on YouTube, and spawning several parodies. Drake has also been critiqued for his expensive, product placement-heavy attire, exemplified by the video for "Hotline Bling". Drake modelled a $1,500 Moncler Puffer Jacket, a $400 Acne Studios turtleneck, and limited edition Timberland 6" Classic Boots. He was labeled by GQ magazine as "[one of] the most stylish men alive"; during promotion for Certified Lover Boy, Drake debuted a "heart haircut", which became popular and widely imitated. He is also known for his large and extravagant lifestyle, including for high-end themed birthday parties; he maintained this image in his early career by renting a Rolls-Royce Phantom, which he was eventually gifted in 2021. He later cultivated a reputation as a successful gambler; between December 2021 and February 2022, he was reported to have made bets of over $1 billion, which included winnings ranging between $354,000 and $7 million. Between 2016 and 2019, he was noted for the "Drake curse", an internet meme based on the incidents where Drake appears to be support of particular sports team or person, just for that team or person to lose, often against the odds. In 2016, Drake spoke on the shooting of Alton Sterling, publishing an open letter expressing his concern for the safety of ethnic minorities against police brutality in the United States. In 2021, he joined a group of Canadian musicians to work with the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) to lobby Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to restructure the country's copyright law to allow artists and their families to regain ownership of copyrights during their lifetime. He also campaigned for the expansion of a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise in Toronto, and headlined a benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with Kanye West on December 9, 2021, to raise clemency for Larry Hoover, although his solo performance was later removed from the Amazon Prime Video replay. In Christmas 2021, Drake gave away money to individuals in Toronto. Impact Commenting on Drake's Take Care, Elias Leight of Rolling Stone noticed in 2020 that "now nearly every singer raps, and nearly every rapper sings", as many artists "have borrowed or copied the template of [the album] that the boldness of the original is easily forgotten", according to the writer. BBC Radio 1Xtra argued that his co-signs helped push the British hip-hop scene to a wider international market, as he did with the Toronto music scene. According to CBS Music in 2019, Drake has inspired "the next wave" of artists coming out of his hometown. Aaron Williams of Uproxx added "jump-starting the sad boy rapper craze alongside Kid Cudi" and "helping to renew stateside interest in UK grime and Caribbean dancehall with Skepta, PartyNextDoor, and Rihanna" to the modern trends Drake assisted. Writing for Bloomberg, Lucas Shaw commented Drake's popularity has influenced the promotion of music, with Certified Lover Boy attaining large commercial success despite relatively minimal orthodox marketing techniques, stating "fans are consuming Drake’s [music] in a way that is different to others". He also noted the album as novel in relation to consumption, with each song having relatively equivalent streams, as opposed to a dominant single(s). The ubiquity of Drake's music has consistently seen it played during various activities or events. In 2021, a study conducted by Pour Moi found, over a kilometer, joggers ran 21 seconds slower while listening to Drake's music compared to other artists. Drake's music was also found to extend a three-mile run by 105 seconds. Beginning in 2022, Drake's music was canonized academically by Ryerson University, which began teaching courses titled "Deconstructing Drake and the Weeknd", with the pair's music used to explore themes related to the Canadian music industry, race, class, marketing and globalization. Achievements Drake is the highest-certified digital singles artist ever in the United States, having moved 142 million units based on combined sales and on-demand streams. His highest-certified single is "God's Plan" (11× Platinum), followed by "Hotline Bling", which was certified 8× Platinum. He holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; he has the most charted songs of any artist (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in a single week (27), the most debuts in a week (22), the most top 10 singles (54), the most top 10 debuts in a week (9), the most top 10 debuts (39), and the most continuous time on the chart (431 weeks). He has accumulated 9 number-one singles, a record among rappers. In 2021, Drake became second act to occupy the entire Hot 100's top five in a single week, the other act being The Beatles in 1964. He also has the most number-one singles on the Hot Rap Songs (23), Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (23), and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. He is also the only artist to have two albums log 400 weeks each on the Billboard 200. , Drake has won four Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. He has also won a record 29 Billboard Music Awards. In 2017, he surpassed Adele's record for most wins at the Billboard Music Awards in one night, winning 13 awards from 22 nominations. He was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. Billboard editor Ernest Baker stated "Drake managed to rule hip-hop in 2014", adding "the best rapper in 2014 didn't need a new album or hit single to prove his dominance". From 2015 to 2017, Drake ranked within the top-five of the Billboard year-end chart for Top Artists topping it in 2018. He was named the IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2016 and 2018. Drake was Spotify's most streamed artist of the 2010s. Pitchfork ranked Nothing Was the Same as the 41st best album of the decade "so far"—between 2010 and 2014, and ranked him fifth in the publication's list of the "Top 10 Music Artists" since 2010. Take Care was ranked at number 95 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020). He has been ranked by Complex on their "Best Rapper Alive Every Year Since 1979" list, awarding Drake the accolade in 2011, 2012, and 2015. Controversies Legal issues On May 31, 2009, Drake was robbed at gunpoint in Toronto's Little Italy district and was forced to forfeit a gold and diamond necklace, an Audemars Piguet watch, and $2,000. Soccerties Cotterell and Paul Lelutiu were initially charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, three counts of pointing a firearm and possession of stolen property; these charges were later dropped. The men pled guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, and spent six months in jail. In April 2017, Mesha Collins was arrested for criminal trespass after breaking into Drake's home in Calabasas; although no criminal charges were brought by Drake, she later filed a $4 billion lawsuit against him for defamation in June 2021, which was dismissed that December. In March 2021, an unidentified woman armed with a knife was arrested following a failed attempt to break into Drake's home in Toronto. In 2012, singer Ericka Lee filed a lawsuit against Drake for the usage of her voice on "Marvins Room". Claiming to have provided the female vocals, Lee also alleged she was owed songwriting credits and royalties. Despite Drake's legal team countering by claiming that Lee simply requested a credit in the liner notes of the album, the matter was resolved in February 2013, with both parties agreeing to an out-of-court settlement. In 2014, Drake was sued for $300,000 for sampling "Jimmy Smith Rap", a 1982 single by jazz musician Jimmy Smith. The suit was filed by Smith's estate, who said Drake never asked for permission when sampling it for the intro on "Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2", claiming Smith himself would have disagreed as he disliked hip hop. Drake would win the lawsuit in 2017, with federal judge William Pauley ruling the content used was transformative, and there was no liability for copyright infringement. Also in 2014, it emerged that Drake was sued by rapper Rappin' 4-Tay, claiming Drake misused his lyrics when collaborating with YG on the song "Who Do You Love?". He sought $100,000 for mistreatment and artistic theft, which Drake paid to the rapper later that year. In 2016, Drake caused a nightclub in Oklahoma City to close down, due to his usage of marijuana and other illegal drugs being prevalent at the club. In December 2021, Drake sued jeweler Ori Vechler and his company Gemma LTD for incorrectly using his likeness in promotional material; he also sought to return three items he purchased. In 2017, Drake was embroiled in another lawsuit, being sued by producer Detail (Noel Fisher) over an alleged assault in 2014. Fisher claimed Drake's bodyguard, Nessel "Chubbs" Beezer, punched him in the face and allegedly broke his jaw over musical and financial disputes. Fisher also said the injuries caused him to be hospitalized for days and had to undergo several surgeries, following which he sued for damages related to medical bills and physical and emotional suffering. The case, which was set to undergo trial in May 2018, was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu after Fisher failed to show up for a final status conference. Lu ruled that Beezer solely acted in self-defense. In October 2021, Drake and Chris Brown were sued by Braindon Cooper and Timothy Valentine for copyright infringement between "No Guidance" and their own song "I Love Your Dress". Cooper and Valentine lost the lawsuit quickly, also being mocked by general public on the internet. A month later, he was named as a co-defendant with Travis Scott in a multi-claimant lawsuit for inciting "a riot and violence" at the Astroworld Festival, to which he released a statement; he was later criticized for reportedly attending the Area 29 strip club in Houston the day after the incident. He also reportedly delayed the release of "Splash Brothers", a collaboration with French Montana, following the incident. Feuds Drake and Chris Brown were allegedly involved in a physical altercation in June 2012 when Drake and his entourage threw glass bottles at Brown in a SoHo nightclub in Manhattan, New York City. Chris Brown tweeted about the incident, and criticized Drake in music until 2013, including on the "R.I.P." remix. Despite no response from Drake, he and Brown both appeared in a comedic skit for the 2014 ESPY Awards, and rehearsed the skit together prior to the televised airing, virtually ending the dispute. The pair later collaborated on "No Guidance" in 2019. In December 2014, Drake was involved in another altercation, being punched by Diddy outside the LIV nightclub in Miami, Florida. The altercation was reported to be over Drake's usage of the instrumental for "0 to 100 / The Catch Up", allegedly produced by Boi-1da for Diddy, before Drake appropriated the track for his own use. Drake was later rushed to the ER after aggravating an old arm injury during the dispute. Drake was also involved in a feud with Tyga, stemming from Tyga's negative comments about him during an interview with Vibe magazine. Drake would later respond on "6 God" and "6PM in New York", which has been interpreted as directly involved in Tyga's abrupt removal from Young Money Entertainment. Further controversy arose in July 2015 when it was alleged by Meek Mill that Drake had used ghostwriters during recording sessions for "RICO", one of the lead singles off Mill's second studio album. This proceeded further allegations that Drake did not help in promotion of the album, due to Mill discovering the ghostwriter, widely believed to be Quentin Miller. Despite Miller collaborating with Drake and receiving past credits, Mill assured that Miller had written Drake's verse for "R.I.C.O." Soon after, Funkmaster Flex aired reference tracks in support of Mill's claims, notably for "R.I.C.O.", "10 Bands", and "Know Yourself". This prompted Drake to respond with two diss tracks, titled "Charged Up" and "Back to Back", in the space of four days. Mill would later respond with "Wanna Know", before removing it from SoundCloud weeks later. Following several subliminal disses from either artist, Drake further sought to denounce Funkmaster Flex while performing in New York (Flex's home state) on the Summer Sixteen Tour. Following Mill's prison sentencing for probation violation, Drake stated "Free Meek Mill" at a concert in Australia, and ended their rivalry on "Family Feud"; the pair later collaborated on "Going Bad" in 2019. Pusha T would also use the same rationale to criticize Drake on "Infrared" in 2018, leading Drake to respond with the "Duppy Freestyle" diss track on May 25. Pusha T responded with "The Story of Adidon" on May 29, which presented several claims and revealed Drake's fatherhood. The pair are considered to have been in a rivalry since 2012, resulting from Pusha T's feuds with Lil Wayne and Birdman, with Drake yet to respond to "The Story of Adidon". In 2016, Drake was embroiled in a feud with Joe Budden, stemming from Budden's derogatory comments when reviewing Views. Drake would allegedly respond to Budden through "4PM in Calabasas", prompting Budden to respond with two diss tracks in the space of five days, echoing the same sentiment Drake deployed during his feud with Meek Mill. Drake would later appear on "No Shopping" alongside French Montana, directly referencing Budden throughout the song, although, Montana claimed Drake's verse was recorded before the release of Budden's diss tracks. Despite Budden releasing two further songs in reference to Drake, he has yet to officially respond to Budden. In the same year, Drake dissed Kid Cudi on "Two Birds, One Stone" after Cudi launched an expletive-filled rant on the artist on Twitter. Cudi later checked into a rehabilitation facility following the release of the song, and continued to disparage Drake in further tweets; the pair eventually resolved their feud, and collaborated on "IMY2" in 2021. In mid-2018, Drake was embroiled in a feud with long-time collaborator Kanye West. In an appearance on The Shop, Drake recounted several meetings with West, who voiced his desire to "be Quincy Jones" and work with Drake and replicate the producer-artist relationship between Jones and Michael Jackson. West requested Drake play and inform him of upcoming releases, while he gave Drake the instrumental to "Lift Yourself". West requested the pair work in Wyoming, with Drake arriving a day after close friend 40, who said West was instead recording an album. Judging the pair to have differing release schedules, Drake traveled to Wyoming, but "only worked on [West's] music"; they explored Drake's after he played West "March 14", which addressed Drake's relationship with his newborn son and co-parent. This prompted a conversation with West regarding his personal issues, after which, news of his son would be exposed by Pusha T, which Drake concluded was revealed to him by West; West also released "Lift Yourself" as a solo song and produced "Infrared". Drake then denounced West in songs and live performances. West would retaliate in a series of tweets in late 2018, and the pair continued to respond on social media and in music as of late 2021, which included Drake leaking West's song "Life of the Party". During their feud, West also made several public attempts to reconcile with Drake, which is reported to have occurred after they co-headlined a benefit concert in December 2021. Drake has also been involved in feuds with DMX, Kendrick Lamar, Common, The Weeknd, XXXTentacion, Jay-Z, Tory Lanez, and Ludacris, although the latter five, and his feud with DMX, have been reported to be resolved. Business ventures Endorsements Prior to venturing into business, Drake garnered several endorsement deals with various companies, notably gaining one with Sprite following his mention of drinking purple drank, a concoction that contains Sprite as a key ingredient. In the aftermath of his highly publicized feud with Meek Mill, Drake was also endorsed by fast food restaurants Burger King and Whataburger. Business magazine Forbes commented his endorsement deals and business partnerships "combined heavily" for Drake's reported pre-tax earnings at $94 million between June 2016 to June 2017, being one of the highest-paid celebrities during that period. OVO Sound During the composition of Nothing Was the Same, Drake started his own record label in late 2012 with producer Noah "40" Shebib and business partner Oliver El-Khatib. Drake sought for an avenue to release his own music, as well helping in the nurturing of other artists, while Shebib and El-Khatib yearned to start a label with a distinct sound, prompting the trio to team up to form OVO Sound. The name is an abbreviation derived from the October's Very Own moniker Drake used to publish his earlier projects. The label is currently distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Drake, 40, and PartyNextDoor were the label's inaugural artists. The label houses artists including Drake, PartyNextDoor, Majid Jordan, Roy Woods, and dvsn, as well as producers including 40, Boi-1da, Nineteen85, and Future the Prince. Toronto Raptors On September 30, 2013, at a press conference with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke, Drake was announced as the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise. It was announced together with the 2016 NBA All-Star Game being awarded to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. This was also the setting where Drake was given The Key to the City. In the role, it was announced that Drake would help to promote and serve as a host of festivities, beginning with the All-Star Game. He would also provide consulting services to rebrand the team, helping to redesign its image and clothing line in commemoration of the franchise's 20th anniversary. He also collaborated with the Raptors on pre-game practice jerseys, t-shirts, and sweatsuits, and began hosting an annual "Drake Night" segment with the organization, beginning in 2013. Entertainment Apple Music Following the launch of Apple Music, a music and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc., the company announced Drake as the figurehead for the platform at their Worldwide Developers Conference in 2015, with the artist also penning an exclusivity deal with the service worth a reported $19 million. This saw all future solo releases by Drake becoming available first on Apple Music, before seeing roll out to other streaming services and music retailers. Drake had also developed the OVO Sound Radio station on Beats 1, which is utilized as the primary avenue for debuting singles and projects, with the station overseeing over 300 million unique users when it debuted More Life. Drake's partnership with Apple Music has largely been credited for the platform's sharp success, as it attained 10 million subscribers after six months, as well as giving birth to exclusivity from artists, with many independent and signed artists, such as Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, also brokering exclusivity deals with streaming services. Through signing with the company, Drake was one of the artists, alongside Pharrell and Katy Perry, to exclusively own an Apple Watch before the smartwatch saw public release. DreamCrew and investments In 2017, Drake and Adel "Future" Nur co-founded the production company DreamCrew, which functions both as a management company and entertainment group. The company has produced the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. Their debut film as producers was on the sports documentary The Carter Effect, detailing the impact of Vince Carter in Canada. In July 2021, Drake was announced as an executive producer, alongside LeBron James and Maverick Carter, for Black Ice, a documentary film charting the experiences of black and ethnic minority professional and amateur ice hockey players. It is due to be produced by Uninterrupted Canada in partnership with Drake's DreamCrew Entertainment, James' SpringHill Company, and Bell Media. DreamCrew also began production on the unscripted survival series Chillin' Island in 2021, due to air on HBO. In June 2021, Live Nation confirmed a long-standing partnership with Drake to open History, a 2,500 convertible capacity live-entertainment and general function venue in Toronto. It was in development for over three years and is situated in The Beaches. He also aided in the venue's interior design, which contains LED screens, soundproofing, quick-change rooms and a customizable staircase. Later that month, Drake signed as an investor and collaborator with Los Angeles-based sustainability and financial services startup Aspiration; he will also use the company's enterprise services to monitor and ensure personal carbon neutrality. He has also invested in robo-advisor Wealthsimple, the "livestreaming video commerce platform" NTWRK, the cannabis provider Bullrider, and several sports-related ventures, including online esports betting platform Players’ Lounge, the sportstech firm StatusPro, and online sports network Overtime. In an analysis by Brennan Doherty for Toronto Star, Drake's investment "carry all the hallmarks" typical of musicians, which is often momentum investing, and cited Jason Pereira, who described Drake's business deals as typically angel investing and private equity (often venture capital) funds. Pereira also noted his "leveraging his personal brand to generate cash". 100 Thieves In 2018, Drake purchased an ownership stake in the gaming organization 100 Thieves, joining as a co-founder and co-owner. The investment was partly funded by music executive Scooter Braun and Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert. Since the investment, the stake is estimated to be worth $125 million. Cuisine Two months prior to the release of Views, Drake announced the development of Virginia Black, a bourbon-based whiskey. This would be his second foray into selling foodstuffs, previously partnering with celebrity chef Susur Lee to open Fring's Restaurant in Toronto. The beverage was created and also distributed alongside Proximo Spirits, as well as with Brent Hocking, a spirits producer who founded DeLeón Tequila in 2008. The company described the partnership as "fruitful [as they] share a passion for style, music, and the pursuit of taste [on] a quest to redefine whiskey." In 2021, using ratings compiled from Vivino and complimentary website Distiller, Virginia Black was ranked the worst value celebrity liquor for quality and price. The product was launched in June 2016, and contained two, three and four-year old Bourbon whiskies. The company sold over 4,000 bottles in the first week domestically. The brand was also promoted and marketed through Drake's music and various tours, such as being part of the "Virginia Black VIP Lounge" additional package available for purchase during the Summer Sixteen Tour. Virginia Black shipped a further 30,000 units when rollout was extended to select international markets in late 2016. The company later aired commercials with Drake's father, Dennis Graham, which featured the tagline of "The Realest Dude Ever" (in reference toward "The Most Interesting Man in the World" tagline employed by Dos Equis) after extending the sale of the drink to Europe in 2017. In 2019, Drake began collaborating with Hocking on Mod Sélection, a luxury range of champagne, and in May 2021, formed part of a $40 million series B investment funding round led by D1 Capital Partners in Daring Foods Inc., a vegan meat analogue corporation. That September, he purchased a minority stake in Californian food chain Dave's Hot Chicken. Fashion In December 2013, Drake announced he was signing with Nike and Air Jordan, saying "growing up, I'm sure we all idolized Michael Jordan. I [am] officially inducted into the Team Jordan family." Drake also released his own collection of Air Jordans, dubbed the "Air Jordan OVOs". This foresaw collaborations between OVO and Canada Goose, in which various items of clothing were produced. In 2020, A Bathing Ape announced a collaboration with Drake, releasing an OVO x BAPE collection of clothing, while he also partnered with candle manufacturer Revolve to create "Better World Fragrance", a line of scented candles. In December 2020, Drake announced Nocta, a sub-label with Nike. In a press release, Drake said "I always felt like there was an opportunity for Nike to embrace an entertainer the same way [as] athletes," he wrote, "to be associated with the highest level possible was always my goal." The apparel line is named after Drake's "nocturnal creative process", in which Nike described as a "collection for the collective", and noted by GQ as "fashion-forward, minimal-inspired sportswear". One clothing item features an image of Drake's muses, Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta, with a poem. After the first collection sold out, another was released in February 2021, which introduced t-shirts, adjustable caps, a utility vest, and a lightweight jacket. That July, OVO released the "Weekender Collection", which includes a line of hoodies, velour sweatsuits, t-shirts, shorts, and accessories for women. OVO then released a "Winter Survival Collection" that December which included puffer jackets, vests, and parkas made with 700-fill down and Oeko-Tex certified down feathers. They followed this with limited edition Jurassic Park-themed collection and an indoor footwear collaboration with Suicoke. Personal life Health and residences Drake lives in Toronto, Ontario, in a 35,000-square-foot, $100 million estate nicknamed "The Embassy", which was built from the ground-up in 2017, and is seen in the video to his song "Toosie Slide". He also owns a home nicknamed the "YOLO Estate" in Hidden Hills, California, which he has owned since 2012, and in 2021, rented a $65 million property in Beverly Hills. He owns a condominium adjacent to the CN Tower, and a Boeing 767. Drake has a variety of tattoos, some of which are symbols associated with personal accomplishments, such as a jack-o-lantern, "October Lejonhjärta" (), owls, and a controversial Abbey Road (1969) inspired depiction of himself and The Beatles. He has portraits of Lil Wayne, Sade, Aaliyah, Jesús Malverde, Denzel Washington, 40, his parents, grandmother, maternal uncle, and son; and several related to Toronto, including the CN Tower and the number "416". On August 18, 2021, Drake revealed he contracted COVID-19 amidst the pandemic, which led to temporary hair loss. He was also one of the first celebrities to publicly test for the virus in March 2020. Family and relationships Drake's paternal uncles are guitarists and songwriters Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges. Graham was a member of Sly and the Family Stone, while Hodges contributed to songs for Al Green, including "Love and Happiness", "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)", and "Take Me to the River". Drake has a close friendship with Adele, and was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Rihanna from 2009 to 2016. He has mentioned the relationship in every one of his studio albums, and when presenting Rihanna with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2016, he said "she's a woman I've been in love with since I was 22 years old." On his relationship with her, he said on the talk show The Shop: As life takes shape and teaches you your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don't have the fairy tale [of] 'Drake started a family with Rihanna, [it's] so perfect.' It looks so good on paper [and] I wanted it too at one time. Drake is a father to one son named Adonis, who was born on October 11, 2017 to French painter and former model Sophie Brussaux. Brussaux's pregnancy was the subject of several rumours after featuring in a TMZ article in early 2017. After the nature of the pair's relationship was discussed in Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon", Drake confirmed his fatherhood on the album Scorpion in 2018, citing a desire for his child's privacy. Discography Studio albums Thank Me Later (2010) Take Care (2011) Nothing Was the Same (2013) Views (2016) Scorpion (2018) Certified Lover Boy (2021) Tours Headlining Away from Home Tour (2010) Club Paradise Tour (2012) Would You Like a Tour? (2013–2014) Jungle Tour (2015; six date promotional tour) Boy Meets World Tour (2017) Assassination Vacation Tour (2019) Co-headlining America's Most Wanted Tour (2009) Drake vs. Lil Wayne (2014) Summer Sixteen Tour (2016) Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour (2018) Filmography Film Television See also Culture of Toronto List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of Canadian musicians List of people from Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of highest-certified music artists in the United States List of best-selling music artists List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones List of most-followed Instagram accounts List of Canadian hip hop musicians List of Canadian Jews List of Black Canadians Black Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area History of the Jews in Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the Canadian Hot 100 List of Canadian Grammy Award winners and nominees List of most-streamed artists on Spotify References External links 1986 births Living people 21st-century Black Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian rappers African-American businesspeople African-American Jews African-American male rappers Black Canadian businesspeople Black Canadian male actors Black Canadian musicians Brit Award winners Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian Ashkenazi Jews Canadian contemporary R&B singers Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Canadian hip hop singers Canadian male child actors Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male rappers Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian music industry executives Canadian people of African-American descent Canadian people of American descent Canadian people of Jewish descent Canadian people of Latvian-Jewish descent Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Canadian philanthropists Canadian pop singers Canadian rhythm and blues singers Canadian songwriters Cash Money Records artists Culture of Toronto Dancehall musicians Grammy Award winners for rap music Jewish Canadian male actors Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish Canadian writers Jewish rappers Jewish singers Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year winners Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year winners Male actors from Toronto MTV Europe Music Award winners OVO Sound artists People from Hidden Hills, California People from Weston, Toronto Pop rappers Rappers from Toronto Republic Records artists Sports spectators Toronto Raptors personnel Trap musicians UK drill musicians Universal Motown Records artists Writers from Toronto Young Money Entertainment artists	true	[ "Electric Highway is the fifth mixtape by American rapper Rockie Fresh, it was released on January 21, 2013.\nThe mixtape features guest appearances from Lunice, Rick Ross, Nipsey Hussle, Sasha Go Hard and Currensy. The mixtape is hosted by DJ Ill Will.\n\nBackground \nAside from a handful of appearances on Rick Ross’ mixtape The Black Bar Mitzvah, Rockie Fresh was relatively quiet after signing with MMG. With Driving 88 release the Chicago rapper took this time to season his abilities, and Electric Highway was called \"a clear reflection of what Rockie sets out to achieve.\" The mixtape has been downloaded over 250,000 times on DatPiff, that making the mixtape platinum certified.\n\nMusic videos\n\nOn December 6, 2012 the music video for \"Nobody\" was released.\n\nThe second music video was released on January 21, 2013 for \"The Warnings\". It was directed by Ryan Snyder and Spiff TV.\n\nAfter the release of the mixtape. The third and last music video was released on May 13, 2013, for \"Life Long\" featuring Rick Ross and Nipsey Hussle. Dre Films directed the video. The video also features cameos from Gunplay, Stalley and Meek Mill.\n\nTrack listing\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2013 mixtape albums\nRockie Fresh albums", "By Any Means 2 is the fifteenth mixtape by American rapper Kevin Gates. It was released on September 22, 2017, by his own independent record label Bread Winners' Association and Atlantic Records.\n\nIt was released while Gates was incarcerated. Unlike his other mixtapes that were released both for free and for retail, this mixtape was strictly for retail.\n\nSingles\nThe first single is \"What If\". It was released on April 4, 2017. The music video was released on September 6, 2019.\n\nThe second single is \"No Love\", which was released on July 20, 2017.\n\nPromotional singles\nThe first song is \"Had To\", it was released on September 7, 2017. The music video was released on October 12, 2017, and features Gates' wife along with a Kevin lookalike.\n\nThe second song is \"Beautiful Scars\". It's the only song on the mixtape to have featured guest vocals, which are from PnB Rock. The song was released on September 14, 2017.\n\nThe third song is \"Imagine That\", it was released along with the mixtape on September 22, 2017. The music video was released on September 25, 2017. It features solely Gates' wife and two kids.\n\nCommercial performance\nBy Any Means 2 debuted at number 100 on the US Billboard 200. In its second week, it rose to its peak position of number 4.\n\nTrack listing\nCredits adapted from ASCAP.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n2017 mixtape albums\nKevin Gates albums\nSequel albums" ]
[ "Drake (musician)", "2006-2009: Early mixtapes and So Far Gone", "When was Thank Me Later released?", "I don't know.", "what was his first mixtape?", "Room for Improvement,", "what was his second mixtape?", "Comeback Season." ]	C_9a9897534b1246b3aaaba0a09db98d2e_1	was there a third mixtape?	4	Did Drake have a third mixtape?	Drake (musician)	After becoming musically inspired by Jay Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da, and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." The mixtape was released for sale only, and confirmed to have sold over 6,000 copies. In 2007, he released his second mixtape, Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl", featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first ever unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video featured on BET, with "Replacement Girl" being featured on the channel's "New Joint of the Day" segment on April 30, 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston in order to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "I Want This Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". Despite the collaborations between the duo, Drake was yet to be signed by Young Money Entertainment. In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape, So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success due to the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized album entitled The Girls Love Drake, which was released on iTunes under dubious means. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage, and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He later underwent surgery on September 8, 2009. CANNOTANSWER	So Far Gone.	Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor. Gaining recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–08), Drake pursued a career in music releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement in 2006; he subsequently released the mixtapes Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment. Drake released his debut studio album, Thank Me Later, in 2010, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. He achieved major critical success with Take Care (2011) and commercial success with Nothing Was the Same (2013) and his first commercial mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015); the latter two were certified multi-platinum in the US. Drake's fourth album, Views (2016), sat atop the Billboard 200 for 13 nonconsecutive weeks, becoming the first album by a male solo artist to do so in over a decade, and featured the chart record-setting lead single "One Dance". His second solo commercial mixtape, More Life (2017), set then-multiple streaming records, and in 2018, he released the double album Scorpion, which contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings". Leaving Young Money in 2018, Drake's third commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes was released in 2020, and featured the chart-topping "Toosie Slide". In 2021, the EP Scary Hours 2 included the number one "What's Next" and set chart records, and preceded his delayed sixth album, Certified Lover Boy (2021); the album set the record for most U.S. top-ten entries from one album, with lead single "Way 2 Sexy" becoming his tenth number one. As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012. In 2013, Drake became the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise, while owning naming rights to its practice facility. In 2016, he began collaborating with American entrepreneur Brent Hocking on the bourbon whiskey Virginia Black; it eventually broke sale records in Canada. Drake has also designed fashion, the most notable including a sub-label collaboration with Nike, alongside other business ventures. In 2018, he was reportedly responsible for 5 percent (CAD$440 million) of Toronto's CAD$8.8 billion annual tourism income. Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 170 million records sold, Drake is ranked as the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States by the RIAA. He has won four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, a record 29 Billboard Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and three Juno Awards, and holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; Drake has the most top 10 singles (54), the most charted songs (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in one week (27), the most Hot 100 debuts in one week (22), and the most continuous time on the Hot 100 (431 weeks). He additionally has the most number-one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Songs, and Rhythmic Airplay charts. Early life Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. His father, Dennis Graham, is African-American and a practicing Catholic from Memphis, Tennessee, who worked as a drummer, performing alongside country musician Jerry Lee Lewis. His mother, Sandra "Sandi" Graham ( Sher), is a Canadian of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage who worked as an English teacher and florist. Dennis Graham performed at Club Bluenote in Toronto, where he met Sandra Sher, who was in attendance. Drake is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, having American citizenship due to his American father. In his youth, he attended a Jewish day school, and became a bar mitzvah. Drake's parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, he and his mother remained in Toronto; his father returned to Memphis, where he was incarcerated for a number of years on drug-related charges. Graham's limited finances and legal issues caused him to remain in the United States until Drake's early adulthood. Prior to his arrest, however, Graham would travel to Toronto and bring Drake to Memphis every summer. His father later collaborated with Canadian music group Arkells on the music video for a song titled "Drake's Dad". Graham claimed in an interview that Drake's assertions of him being an absent father were embellishments used to sell records, which Drake vehemently denies. Drake was raised in two Toronto neighbourhoods. He lived on Weston Road in the city's working-class west end until grade six, playing minor hockey with the Weston Red Wings. He then moved to one of the city's affluent neighbourhoods, Forest Hill, in 2000. When asked about the move, Drake replied, "[We had] a half of a house we could live in. The other people had the top half, we had the bottom half. I lived in the basement, my mom lived on the first floor. It was not big, it was not luxurious. It was what we could afford." He attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he demonstrated an affinity for the arts, first acting while an active student at the school. He later attended Vaughan Road Academy in the city's multicultural Oakwood–Vaughan neighbourhood. Due to the economic status associated with the neighbourhood, Drake described the school as "not by any means the easiest school to go to." Drake was often bullied at school for his racial and religious background, and upon realizing that his busy class schedule was detrimental to his burgeoning acting career, Drake dropped out of school. He later graduated in October 2012. Career 2001–2009: Career beginnings Degrassi: The Next Generation At the age of 15, Drake, eager to begin his career as an actor, was introduced to a high school friend's father, an acting agent. The agent found Drake a role on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. Drake portrayed Jimmy Brooks, a basketball star who became physically disabled after he was shot by a classmate. Drake reportedly disliked this character arc because of its apparent tokenism (his was one of the only black characters in the series), and he also believed it could negatively influence his standing as a rapper. Longtime series writer James Hurst said that Drake threatened legal action to redo the storyline, before ultimately agreeing to it. Madeleine Robinson, the executive director of the Californian non-profit organization Wheelchair 4 Kids, praised the storyline and Drake's performance, noting "he instilled confidence and representation" to disabled youth. When asked about his early acting career, Drake replied, "My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was [from] Canadian TV." He appeared in a total of 100 episodes between 2001 and 2008. In 2010, Drake expressed interest in playing Barack Obama in a biopic, to which Obama responded to with approval in an interview in 2020. According to Degrassi series creators Stephen Stohn and Linda Schuyler, Drake regularly arrived late on set after spending nights recording music. To prevent this, Schuyler claimed Drake struck an agreement with the set's security guards to gain entry to the set after recording to be allowed to sleep in a dressing room. Early mixtapes and So Far Gone Being musically inspired by Jay-Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." Room for Improvement was released for sale only and sold roughly 6,000 copies, for which Drake received $304.04 in royalties. In 2007, he released his second mixtape Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl" featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video on BET, with "Replacement Girl" featured on their "New Joint of the Day" segment in April 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success from the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized fake album titled The Girls Love Drake released on iTunes. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster on the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He underwent surgery later that year. 2010–2012: Musical breakthrough with Thank Me Later and Take Care Drake planned to release his debut album, Thank Me Later, in late 2008, but the album's release date was postponed, first to March 2010, and then to May 25, 2010. Young Money and Universal Motown had then released a statement that the album had again been pushed back three weeks for a June 15, 2010 release. On March 9, 2010, Drake released the debut single "Over", which peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Rap Songs chart. It also received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards. His second single, "Find Your Love", became an even bigger success. It peaked at number five on the Hot 100, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The music video for the single was shot in Kingston, Jamaica, and was criticized by Jamaica's minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett. Bartlett condemned the portrayal of the island in the video, saying, "care has to be taken by all, including our creative artists, in [showcasing] images of our destination and people. Gun culture, while not unique to Jamaica, is not enhancing [the island's image]." The third single and fourth singles, "Miss Me" and "Fancy" respectively, attained moderate commercial success; however, the latter garnered Drake his second nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. On April 29, it was reportedly announced that Drake had finished Thank Me Later during a show in Kansas City, Missouri. Thank Me Later was released on June 15, 2010, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of over 447,000 copies in its first week. Upon the album's release, 25,000 fans gathered at New York City's South Street Seaport for a free concert hosted by Drake and Hanson, which was later cancelled by the police after a near-riot ensued due to overflowing crowds. The album became the top selling debut album for any artist in 2010, and featured Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Jay Z. It was soon announced that Drake would have a prominent role in the military science fiction video game, Gears of War 3. He was scheduled to play the role of Jace Stratton, but scheduling conflicts with his upcoming Away from Home Tour prevented him from accepting the role. He began the tour on September 20, 2010, in Miami, Florida, performing at 78 shows over four different legs. It concluded in Las Vegas in November 2010. Due to the success of the Away from Home Tour, Drake hosted the first OVO Festival in 2010. It would soon become a regular event during the summer, with the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto playing host to the festival on its annual cycle. Drake also had an eco-friendly college tour to support the album, beginning with Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. It concluded in Plymouth, New Hampshire on May 8, and he also performed at The Bamboozle on May 1. Beginning his second effort in fall 2010, Drake announced his intentions to allow Noah "40" Shebib to handle most of the production and record a more cohesive sound than on Thank Me Later, which featured disparate production duties by Shebib and others. In November 2010, Drake revealed the title of his next studio album will be Take Care. In comparison to his debut album, Drake revealed to Y.C Radio 1 that Thank Me Later was a rushed album, stating, "I didn't get to take the time that I wanted to on that record. I rushed a lot of the songs and sonically I didn't get to sit with the record and say, 'I should change this verse.' Once it was done, it was done. That's why my new album is called Take Care, because I get to take my time this go-round." Drake sought to expand on the low-tempo, sensuous, and dark sonic esthetic of Thank Me Later. Primarily a hip hop album, Drake also attempted to incorporate R&B and pop to create a languid, grandiose sound. In January 2011, Drake was in negotiations to join Eva Green and Susan Sarandon as a member of the cast in Nicholas Jarecki's Arbitrage, before ultimately deciding against starring in the movie to focus on the album. "Dreams Money Can Buy" and "Marvins Room" were released on Drake's October's Very Own Blog, on May 20 and June 9, respectively. Acting as promotional singles for Take Care, the former was eventually unincluded on the album's final track listing, while "Marvins Room" gained Gold certification by the RIAA, as well as peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching the top 10 of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, coupled with extensive play on contemporary urban radio. Drake would soon release the song's music video on June 28. "Headlines" was released on August 9 as the lead single for Take Care. It was met with positive critical and commercial response, reaching number thirteen on the Hot 100, as well as becoming his tenth single to reach the summit of the Billboard Hot Rap Songs, making Drake the artist with the most number-one singles on the chart, with 12. It was eventually certified Platinum in both the United States and Canada. The music video for the single was released on October 2, and foresaw Drake performing the song during the second intermission of the 59th National Hockey League All-Star Game in January 2012. "Make Me Proud" was released as the album's second single on October 16. It was the final single to be released prior to the launch of the album, and debuted at number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached number nine the following week, tying the record for the largest jump on the Billboard Hot 100 for a male artist, with 88. "Make Me Proud" soon became Drake's fourth consecutive single to receive Platinum certification by the RIAA. Prior to the album's release, Drake planned to record a collaborative album with Lil Wayne; however, it was ultimately scrapped due to the success of Watch the Throne. He also began collaborations with Rick Ross for a mixtape titled Y.O.L.O., but the duo decided against the project in favor of increased concern for their respective studio albums. Although in 2021, Ross stated that a joint album is still possible as they've casually discussed it. Take Care was released on November 15, 2011, and received generally positive reviews from music critics. John McDonnell of NME dubbed it "an affecting masterpiece" and commended its "delicate, mellifluous sound and unashamedly candid, emotive lyrics." Pitchforks Ryan Dombal found Drake's "technical abilities" to be improved and stated, "Just as his thematic concerns have become richer, so has the music backing them up." Andy Hutchins of The Village Voice called it "a carefully crafted bundle of contradictory sentiments from a conflicted rapper who explores his own neuroses in as compelling a manner as anyone not named Kanye West." Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot complimented the depth of Drake's "moral psychodramas" and stated, "the best of it affirms that Drake is shaping a pop persona with staying power." It also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, and achieved great commercial success, eventually being certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA in 2016, with sales for the album marking 2.6 million in the U.S. The album's third and fourth singles, "The Motto" and Take Care", were released on November 29, 2011 and February 21, 2012, respectively. Each song was subject to commercial success, while also having large societal impacts, with "The Motto" credited for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States. The music video for "Take Care" saw widespread acclaim, with MTV stating, "None of his contemporaries – not even the ever-obtuse Kanye [West] – make videos like this, mostly because no one else can get away with it." The video received four nominations at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Video of the Year. The song was also featured on the channel's "Pop Songs You Must Hear" list of 2011. "HYFR" was the final single to be released from the album, and became certified Gold. It also won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video in 2012, and the channel ranked him number two on their "Hottest MCs in the Game" list. On August 5, 2012, Drake released "Enough Said", performed by American recording artist Aaliyah featuring additional vocals provided by himself. Originally recorded prior to the singer's death in a plane crash in 2001, Drake later finished the track with producer "40". "Enough Said" was released by Blackground Records through their SoundCloud account on August 5, 2012. It was sent to US urban and rhythmic radio stations on August 21. The song charted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs In promotion of his second album, Drake embarked on the worldwide Club Paradise Tour. It became the most successful hip hop tour of 2012, grossing over $42 million. He then returned to acting, starring in Ice Age: Continental Drift as Ethan. 2013–2015: Nothing Was the Same and If You're Reading This It's Too Late During the European leg of the Club Paradise Tour, Drake spoke in an interview stating that he had begun working on his third studio album. Revealing his intentions to remain with 40 as the album's executive producer, Drake spoke fondly about Jamie xx, hoping to include and expand the British producer's influence over his next album. Drake had also revealed that the album would stylistically differ from Take Care, departing from the ambient production and despondent lyrics prevalent previously. In January 2013, Drake announced that he would release the first single off his third album at the end of the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Despite an initial delay, it was released in the wake of his win for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the event, and it foresaw Drake announcing Nothing Was the Same as the title of his third album. The album's second single, "Hold On, We're Going Home", was released in August 2013, becoming the most successful single off the album, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Drake sought inspiration from the 1980s television series Miami Vice during the composition of the song's music video, incorporating the dramatic elements seen in the show en route to winning his second MTV Video Music Award in 2014 for the video. Drake appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing the album's third single, "Too Much", alongside featured artist Sampha. Nothing Was the Same was released on September 24, 2013, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200, with 658,000 copies sold in its first week of release. The album debuted atop the charts in Canada, Denmark, Australia and the United Kingdom. The album also enjoyed generally favourable reviews by contemporary music critics, commending the musical shift in terms of the tone and subject matter, comparing it to the distinct change showcased in Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak. The album was also reported to have sold over 1,720,000 copies in the United States, and was further promoted by the "Would You like a Tour?" throughout late 2013 to early 2014. It became the 22nd-most successful tour of the year, grossing an estimated $46 million. Drake then returned to acting in January 2014, hosting Saturday Night Live, as well as serving as the musical guest. His versatility, acting ability and comedic timing were all praised by critics, describing it as what "kept him afloat during the tough and murky SNL waters". Drake also performed in Dubai, being one of the only artists ever to perform in the city. In late 2014, Drake announced that he began recording sessions for his fourth studio album. In 2014, Drake performed in Spanish as a featured artist on the Romeo Santos song "Odio". He also appeared on a remix of "Tuesday" by ILoveMakonnen, which peaked at number one on Billboard's Rhythmic chart and number twelve on the "Hot 100", and released "0 to 100 / The Catch Up" as a non-album single. The latter went double platinum in the United States. On February 12, 2015, Drake released If You're Reading This It's Too Late onto iTunes with no prior announcement. Despite debate on whether it was an album or a mixtape, its commercial stance quantifies it as his fourth retail project with Cash Money Records, a scheme that was rumoured to allow Drake to leave the label. However, he eventually remained with Cash Money, and If You're Reading This It's Too Late sold over 1 million units in 2015, making Drake the first artist with a platinum project in 2015, as well as his fourth overall. 2015–2017: What a Time to Be Alive, Views, and More Life On July 31, 2015, Drake released four singles: "Back to Back", "Charged Up", "Hotline Bling", and "Right Hand". On September 20, 2015, Drake released a collaborative mixtape with Future, which was recorded in Atlanta in just under a week. What a Time to Be Alive debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making Drake the first hip hop artist to have two projects reach number one in the same year since 2004. It was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales, streaming and track-sales equivalent of over 1 million units. Drake also appeared on the cover of The Fader for their 100th issue. Drake announced in January 2016 that his fourth studio album would be launched during the spring, releasing the promotional single "Summer Sixteen" later that month. The album was originally titled Views from the 6, but was later shortened to Views. "Summer Sixteen" debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, and proved controversial, with Drake comparing his standing in hip hop to more tenured artists. This move divided many contemporary music critics, describing his self-comparison as "goodly brash" or "conventionally disrespectful." It was also interpreted as a diss track towards Tory Lanez, who was unhappy at Drake for popularizing the term "The Six" when referencing Toronto. Drake also crashed a Bat Mitzvah in New York City on February 20, performing at the event. Drake soon released the album's lead singles, "Pop Style" and the dancehall-infused "One Dance", on April 5. Both debuted within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100; however, the latter proved more commercially successful, with "One Dance" becoming Drake's first number-one single in Canada and the US as a leading artist. The single also became Drake's first number one single as a lead artist in the United Kingdom, and peaked at number one in Germany, France, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands. During an episode for OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed the album's release date of April 29, and followed it up with various promotional videos. On October 15, "One Dance" became Spotify's most-streamed song ever, amassing over 882 million plays . Views was previewed in London before its premiere on Beats 1 a day later. It was released as an Apple Music and iTunes exclusive on April 29 before being made available to various other platforms later that week. Views would become Drake's most commercially successful album, sitting atop the Billboard 200 for ten nonconsecutive weeks, as well as simultaneously leading the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 for eight weeks. It also achieved double-platinum status in the U.S., and earned over 1 million album-equivalent units in the first week of its release, as well as gaining over half-billion overall streams of the album. Despite its success, critical opinion towards the album remained much divided, drawing criticism for being overlong and lacking in a cohesive theme, while also claiming Drake was not challenging himself artistically, as opposed to his contemporaries. He later released a short film titled Please Forgive Me, starring Swedish twin models Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta who are frequent collaborators with him. , Views remains Drake's best-selling album in pure sales. Drake returned to host Saturday Night Live on May 14, serving as the show's musical guest. Later, Drake was named as a member of the Forbes Five, which ranks the wealthiest artists in hip-hop, placing fifth after Birdman, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, and Diddy respectively. Drake and Future then announced the Summer Sixteen Tour to showcase their collective mixtape, as well as their respective studio albums. This marked Drake's third co-headlining tour, which began in Austin, Texas on July 20. On July 23, Drake announced that he was working on a new project, scheduled to be released in early 2017, and was later named as the headline act for the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival. The latter dates of the Summer Sixteen Tour were postponed, however, due to Drake suffering an ankle injury. During the 2016 OVO Festival, Kanye West confirmed that he and Drake had begun working on a collaborative album. Soon after, the music video for "Child's Play" was released, depicting Drake and Tyra Banks playing a couple encountering relationship issues at the Cheesecake Factory in a reference to one of the song's lyrics. On September 26, Please Forgive Me was released as an Apple Music exclusive. It ran a total of 25 minutes, and featured music from Views. At the 2016 BET Hip-Hop Awards, Drake received the most nominations, with 10, winning the awards for Album of the Year and Best Hip-Hop Video. Drake later announced the Boy Meets World Tour on October 10, with twenty-six dates announced for the course of the tour in Europe. Seven additional dates were added a day later due to overwhelming demand. Soon after, during an episode of OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed he would be releasing a project titled More Life in December. However, he later pushed the date back to the new year. The project was described as a "playlist of original music", rather than being classified as a traditional mixtape or solo album. He was later revealed to be Spotify's most streamed artist for the second consecutive year in 2016, amassing a total 4.7 billion streams for all projects on the service, which is more than double the amount of streams he had in 2015. Drake later secured his second and third Grammy Awards, winning for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song at the 59th ceremony. Despite multiple setbacks, Drake announced More Life would be released on March 18, 2017, via a series of multiple video commercials released through Instagram. Upon release, More Life received mostly positive reviews, and debuted atop the Billboard 200, earning 505,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It also set a streaming record, becoming the highest ever streamed album in 24 hours, with a total of 89.9 million streams on Apple Music alone. The album also garnered 61.3 million streams on Spotify, dethroning Ed Sheeran's ÷ as the highest opening on the service in a single day. He later won 13 awards at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards in May, which saw him breaking the record for the most wins in a single show. Billboard also reported Drake had been present on the Hot 100 chart for eight consecutive years, and has the most recorded entries by a solo artist. He later declined to submit More Life for consideration at the 2018 Grammy Awards, stemming from his displeasure at "Hotline Bling" being "pigeonholed" into the rap category. He then released the single "Signs" on June 24, as well as reuniting with Metro Boomin on a single with Offset. The singles marked his first releases since More Life, with "Signs" was initially released as a collaboration between Drake and French fashion house Louis Vuitton, as part of the "Louis Vuitton Men's Spring-Summer 2018" fashion show. The event also had a playlist exclusively from OVO Sound, curated by label co-founder Oliver El-Khatib. Drake hosted the first annual NBA Awards on June 26, and starred in multiple commercials alongside his father in promotion of Virginia Black. Drake also appeared in The Carter Effect documentary, honouring the basketball career of Vince Carter, who was the first superstar player to play for the Toronto Raptors since the franchise's inception in 1995. The documentary also featured NBA players Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, and LeBron James. 2018–2019: Scorpion and Care Package; return to television After rumours circulated of Drake possibly collaborating with various artists, including rapper Trippie Redd and producer Pi'erre Bourne, for his new studio album, multiple snippets of songs were leaked near the closing end of 2017. Two songs would later be released as members of a mini EP, titled Scary Hours, on January 20, 2018, marking Drake's first solo release since More Life, as well as his first appearance on any song after featuring on a remix of the Jay-Z song "Family Feud" with Lil Wayne, as the lead single of the latter's Dedication 6: Reloaded mixtape. Scary Hours featured the songs "Diplomatic Immunity" and "God's Plan", which both debuted within the top-ten, with the latter eventually breaking various streaming records as it debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was Drake's first song as a solo artist to reach number one, as well as his second chart topper as a lead artist. Drake earned his 70th top 40 entry after featuring on the Migos song "Walk It Talk It", which debuted at number eighteen, and peaked at number ten. He was later featured on BlocBoy JB's debut single "Look Alive", which was released on February 9, 2018. The song's entry at number six on the Hot 100 made Drake the rapper with the most top 10 hits on the Hot 100, with 23. He then featured on a remix to "Lemon", a song originally released as a collaboration between band N.E.R.D and Rihanna. On April 5, Drake announced he was finishing his fifth studio album and he was releasing a single later that night. On April 6, "Nice for What" was released, alongside a music video directed by Karena Evans, which featured several female celebrities. After "Nice For What" replaced his own "God's Plan" on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, making him the first artist to have a new number-one debut replace their former number-one debut, Drake announced the title of his fifth studio album as Scorpion, with a planned release date of June 29, 2018. He then released "I'm Upset" on May 26 as the album's third single. Scorpion was then released as a double-album, and marked Drake's longest project, with a run-time of just under 90 minutes. The album broke both the one-day global records on Spotify and Apple Music, as it gained 132.45 million and 170 million plays on each streaming service, respectively. It eventually sold 749,000 album equivalent units in its first week of sales, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. In 2018, articles by The Guardian and Rolling Stone called him "the definitive pop star of his generation" and "perhaps [the] biggest post-Justin Timberlake male pop star of the new millennium", respectively. Shortly thereafter, Drake collaborated with British hip hop promotion Link Up TV on July 7, releasing a freestyle as a part of the promotion's 'Behind Barz' segment, before releasing another freestyle a week later after featuring on Charlie Sloth's long-running Fire in the Booth program on BBC Radio 1Xtra. Drake then earned his sixth number-one hit with "In My Feelings" on July 21, which also spawned the viral "#InMyFeelingsChallenge" or "#KiKiChallenge". The success of "In My Feelings" also made Drake the record holder for most number one hits among rappers. Soon after, he released the music video for "Nonstop", which was filmed in London during his surprise performance at the Wireless Festival. He then appeared on the Travis Scott album Astroworld, featuring uncredited vocals for his song "Sicko Mode", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Drake announced in July 2018 that he planned to "take 6 months to a year" to himself to return to television and films, producing the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. He then began the Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour with co-headliners Migos on August 12. This preceded a collaboration with Bad Bunny titled "Mia", which featured Drake performing in Spanish. He subsequently received the award for Hot Ticket Performer at the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards on October 16. During a performance in Edmonton on November 7, Drake announced his intention to begin composing his next project in early 2019. In February 2019, he received his fourth Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, for "God's Plan", at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. During his speech, producers abruptly cut to a commercial break, leading viewers to speculate they were censoring his speech during which he criticized The Recording Academy. A legal representative for the academy then released a statement stating "a natural pause [led] the producers [to] assume that he was done and cut to commercial," and added the organization offered him an opportunity to return to stage, but he declined. On February 14, Drake re-released his third mixtape, So Far Gone, onto streaming services for the first time to commemorate its 10-year anniversary, and later collaborated with Summer Walker on a remix of Walker's song "Girls Need Love", marking his first release of 2019. On April 10, during a performance on the Assassination Vacation Tour, he announced he was working on a new album. On June 8, Drake appeared on Chris Brown's single "No Guidance". On June 15, Drake released two songs, "Omertà" and "Money in the Grave", on his EP The Best in the World Pack to celebrate the NBA Championship win of the Toronto Raptors. On August 2, he released the compilation album Care Package, consisting of songs released between 2010 and 2016 that were initially unavailable for purchase or commercial streaming; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. 2019–present: Dark Lane Demo Tapes, Scary Hours 2, and Certified Lover Boy Drake released the song "War" on December 24, 2019, with an accompanying music video, which was widely noted for its UK drill-inspired instrumental. The following day, in an interview with Rap Radar, it was revealed that he was in the process of completing his sixth studio album. On January 10, 2020, Drake collaborated with Future on the song "Life Is Good", which appeared on the album High Off Life. On January 31, the pair again collaborated on the song "Desires", although it was released for free after being leaked. On February 29, Drake released the songs "When to Say When" and "Chicago Freestyle" with a combined music video. On April 3, he released "Toosie Slide" with a music video, which features a dance created in collaboration with social media influencer Toosie. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Drake the first male artist to have three songs debut at number one. On May 1, 2020, Drake released the commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes, with guest appearances from Chris Brown, Future, Young Thug, Fivio Foreign, Playboi Carti, and Sosa Geek. He also announced that his sixth studio album would be released in the summer of 2020. The mixtape is a compilation of new songs and tracks that leaked on the internet. It received mixed reviews and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 223,000 album-equivalent units, and at number one on the UK Albums Chart, earning 20,000 units in its first week. On July 17, Drake was featured on DJ Khaled's singles "Greece" and "Popstar", debuting at numbers eight and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, becoming Drake's record-extending 24th and 25th debuts in the Hot 100's top 10. It also became his 39th and 40th Hot 100 top ten entries, breaking Madonna's record for most Hot 100 top ten hits. On July 20, Drake and Headie One released the drill track "Only You Freestyle", making it the third drill-inspired song he released in 2020, after "War" and "Demons", both of which appear on Dark Lane Demo Tapes. On August 14, "Laugh Now Cry Later" featuring Lil Durk was released, which was intended as the lead single from Drake's album Certified Lover Boy, but not included on the final track listing. It debuted at number two on the Hot 100, and was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. On September 3, the video for "Popstar" was released, in which Drake makes a cameo appearance. On October 2, Drake was the sole guest appearance on Bryson Tiller's album Anniversary (2020), on the song "Outta Time". He subsequently appeared on the remix to "You're Mines Still", alongside Yung Bleu on October 16; just over a week later, on his 34th birthday, Drake announced Certified Lover Boy was set to be released in January 2021. This was later pushed back to an unspecified date after he sustained a knee injury which required surgery. On December 1, he reunited with Lil Wayne on "B.B. King Freestyle", the lead single from the latter's double-disc mixtape No Ceilings 3 (2020). In January 2021, Drake became the first artist to surpass 50 billion combined streams on Spotify. He later collaborated with Drakeo the Ruler on the single "Talk to Me", which was released on February 23. On March 5, Drake released an EP titled Scary Hours 2, which includes three songs: "What's Next", "Wants and Needs" with Lil Baby, and "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" with Rick Ross. These three songs entered the charts at numbers one, two, and three, respectively, making Drake the first artist to have three songs debut in the top three on the Billboard Hot 100. He then appeared on the single "Solid" from the YSL Records compilation Slime Language 2, alongside Gunna and Young Thug. "Solid" was originally meant to appear on Certified Lover Boy, and to only feature Gunna. On May 14, Drake was featured alongside mentor Lil Wayne on former labelmate Nicki Minaj's "Seeing Green", a new song on the streaming re-release of her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. Two weeks later, he was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. On June 12, he featured on Migos' "Having Our Way", from the group's third studio album, Culture III (2021), and on July 1, collaborated with Brent Faiyaz and The Neptunes on the song "Wasting Time". On July 23, Drake appeared on "Over the Top" with Smiley, the newest signee to OVO Sound. During an appearance on Fri Yiy Friday, a radio show supported by OVO Sound, Drake revealed Certified Lover Boy "is ready. [I'm] looking forward to delivering it". He then appeared on "Betrayal", a collaboration with Trippie Redd for Trip at Knight (2021). Certified Lover Boy was then released on September 3, 2021, becoming his tenth number-one album on the Billboard 200; every song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album was the first to chart nine songs on the top 10, with "Way 2 Sexy" becoming Drake's ninth number-one single. He subsequently set the record for the fourth-most cumulative weeks (52) at number one on the Hot 100, behind Mariah Carey (84), Rihanna (60), and The Beatles (59). He received a nomination for Best Global Act at the 2021 All Africa Music Awards, and appeared on Young Thug's Punk (2021), featuring on the song "Bubbly". On October 22, Drake featured on Majid Jordan's "Stars Align", the lead single to the band's third album Wildest Dreams. Two weeks later, on November 5, Drake released a horror-themed black and white music video for "Knife Talk", the third single from Certified Lover Boy, with featured appearances by 21 Savage and Project Pat. On November 6, he debuted the song "Give It Up" on OVO Sound Radio. Certified Lover Boy was nominated for Best Rap Album and "Way 2 Sexy" was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. He was later named Billboard’s Top Artist of the Year for 2021, and was the fourth most streamed artist on Spotify for the year, and the most streamed rapper. On December 6, he withdrew his music for consideration for the Grammys, with multiple outlets noting his contentious relationship with the Recording Academy. Drake accumulated 8.6 billion on-demand streams in 2021, making him the most overall streamed artist of the year in the United States; one out of every 131 streams was a Drake song. On January 7, 2022, Drake was announced as a featured artist on Gunna's DS4Ever, but was not included until the release of the album's deluxe edition just under a week later. On January 17, Drake announced another collaboration with DJ Khaled. Artistry Influences Drake has cited several hip hop artists as influencing his rapping style, including Kanye West, Jay Z, MF Doom, and Lil Wayne, while also attributing various R&B artists as influential to the incorporation of the genre into his own music, including Aaliyah and Usher. Drake has also credited several dancehall artists for later influencing his Caribbean-inflected style, including Vybz Kartel, whom he has called one of his "biggest inspirations". Musical style Drake is considered to be a pop-rap artist. While Drake's earlier music primarily spanned hip hop and R&B, his music has delved into pop and trap in recent years. Additionally, his music has drawn influence from regional scenes, including Jamaican dancehall and UK drill. Drake is known for his egotistical lyrics, technical ability, and integration of personal backstory when dealing with relationships with women. His vocal abilities have been lauded for an audible contrast between typical hip-hop beats and melody, with sometimes abrasive rapping coupled with softer accents, delivered on technical lyricism. His songs often include audible changes in lyrical pronunciation in parallel with his upbringing in Toronto, and connections with Caribbean and Middle Eastern countries which include such phrases as "ting", "touching road", "talkin' boasy" and "gwanin' wassy". Most of his songs contain R&B and Canadian hip hop elements, and he combines rapping with singing. He credits his father with the introduction of singing into his rap mixtapes, which have become a staple in his musical repertoire. His incorporation of melody into technically complex lyrics was supported by Lil Wayne, and has subsequently been a critically acclaimed component to Drake's singles and albums. The lyrical content that Drake deploys is typically considered to be emotional or boastful. However, Drake is often revered for incorporating "degrading" themes of money, drug use, and women into newer, idealized contexts, often achieving this through his augmentation of the typical meaning of phrases in which he combines an objective and subjective perspective into one vocal delivery. His songs often maintain tension between "pause and pace, tone timbre, and volume and vocal fermata." Drake is credited with innovating what has been referred to as "hyper-reality rap", which is characterized by its focus on themes of celebrity as being distinct from the "real world." Public image A prominent figure in pop culture, Drake is widely credited for popularizing the Toronto sound to the music industry and leading the "Canadian Invasion" of the American charts. The Washington Post editor Maura Judkis credits Drake for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States with his single "The Motto", which includes, "You only live once: that's the motto, nigga, YOLO." Drake later popularized the term "The Six" in 2015 in relation to his hometown Toronto, subsequently becoming a point of reference to the city. His lyrical subject matter, which often revolves around relationships, have had widespread use on social media through photo captions to reference emotions or personal situations. However, this content has incited mixed reception from fans and critics, with some deeming him as sensitive, a trait perceived as antithetical to traditional hip hop culture. June 10 was declared "Drake Day" in Houston. In 2016, Drake visited Drake University after a show in Des Moines in response to an extensive social media campaign by students that began in 2009, advocating for his appearance. According to a report from Confused.com, Drake's Toronto home was one of the most Googled homes in the world, recording over a million annual searches in 2021; its features, such as its NBA-size indoor basketball court and Kohler Numi toilet, have also received widespread media attention. The music video for "Hotline Bling" went viral due to Drake's eccentric dance moves. The video has been remixed, memed, and was heavily commented on due to the unconventional nature on the song, causing it to gain popularity on YouTube, and spawning several parodies. Drake has also been critiqued for his expensive, product placement-heavy attire, exemplified by the video for "Hotline Bling". Drake modelled a $1,500 Moncler Puffer Jacket, a $400 Acne Studios turtleneck, and limited edition Timberland 6" Classic Boots. He was labeled by GQ magazine as "[one of] the most stylish men alive"; during promotion for Certified Lover Boy, Drake debuted a "heart haircut", which became popular and widely imitated. He is also known for his large and extravagant lifestyle, including for high-end themed birthday parties; he maintained this image in his early career by renting a Rolls-Royce Phantom, which he was eventually gifted in 2021. He later cultivated a reputation as a successful gambler; between December 2021 and February 2022, he was reported to have made bets of over $1 billion, which included winnings ranging between $354,000 and $7 million. Between 2016 and 2019, he was noted for the "Drake curse", an internet meme based on the incidents where Drake appears to be support of particular sports team or person, just for that team or person to lose, often against the odds. In 2016, Drake spoke on the shooting of Alton Sterling, publishing an open letter expressing his concern for the safety of ethnic minorities against police brutality in the United States. In 2021, he joined a group of Canadian musicians to work with the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) to lobby Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to restructure the country's copyright law to allow artists and their families to regain ownership of copyrights during their lifetime. He also campaigned for the expansion of a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise in Toronto, and headlined a benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with Kanye West on December 9, 2021, to raise clemency for Larry Hoover, although his solo performance was later removed from the Amazon Prime Video replay. In Christmas 2021, Drake gave away money to individuals in Toronto. Impact Commenting on Drake's Take Care, Elias Leight of Rolling Stone noticed in 2020 that "now nearly every singer raps, and nearly every rapper sings", as many artists "have borrowed or copied the template of [the album] that the boldness of the original is easily forgotten", according to the writer. BBC Radio 1Xtra argued that his co-signs helped push the British hip-hop scene to a wider international market, as he did with the Toronto music scene. According to CBS Music in 2019, Drake has inspired "the next wave" of artists coming out of his hometown. Aaron Williams of Uproxx added "jump-starting the sad boy rapper craze alongside Kid Cudi" and "helping to renew stateside interest in UK grime and Caribbean dancehall with Skepta, PartyNextDoor, and Rihanna" to the modern trends Drake assisted. Writing for Bloomberg, Lucas Shaw commented Drake's popularity has influenced the promotion of music, with Certified Lover Boy attaining large commercial success despite relatively minimal orthodox marketing techniques, stating "fans are consuming Drake’s [music] in a way that is different to others". He also noted the album as novel in relation to consumption, with each song having relatively equivalent streams, as opposed to a dominant single(s). The ubiquity of Drake's music has consistently seen it played during various activities or events. In 2021, a study conducted by Pour Moi found, over a kilometer, joggers ran 21 seconds slower while listening to Drake's music compared to other artists. Drake's music was also found to extend a three-mile run by 105 seconds. Beginning in 2022, Drake's music was canonized academically by Ryerson University, which began teaching courses titled "Deconstructing Drake and the Weeknd", with the pair's music used to explore themes related to the Canadian music industry, race, class, marketing and globalization. Achievements Drake is the highest-certified digital singles artist ever in the United States, having moved 142 million units based on combined sales and on-demand streams. His highest-certified single is "God's Plan" (11× Platinum), followed by "Hotline Bling", which was certified 8× Platinum. He holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; he has the most charted songs of any artist (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in a single week (27), the most debuts in a week (22), the most top 10 singles (54), the most top 10 debuts in a week (9), the most top 10 debuts (39), and the most continuous time on the chart (431 weeks). He has accumulated 9 number-one singles, a record among rappers. In 2021, Drake became second act to occupy the entire Hot 100's top five in a single week, the other act being The Beatles in 1964. He also has the most number-one singles on the Hot Rap Songs (23), Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (23), and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. He is also the only artist to have two albums log 400 weeks each on the Billboard 200. , Drake has won four Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. He has also won a record 29 Billboard Music Awards. In 2017, he surpassed Adele's record for most wins at the Billboard Music Awards in one night, winning 13 awards from 22 nominations. He was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. Billboard editor Ernest Baker stated "Drake managed to rule hip-hop in 2014", adding "the best rapper in 2014 didn't need a new album or hit single to prove his dominance". From 2015 to 2017, Drake ranked within the top-five of the Billboard year-end chart for Top Artists topping it in 2018. He was named the IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2016 and 2018. Drake was Spotify's most streamed artist of the 2010s. Pitchfork ranked Nothing Was the Same as the 41st best album of the decade "so far"—between 2010 and 2014, and ranked him fifth in the publication's list of the "Top 10 Music Artists" since 2010. Take Care was ranked at number 95 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020). He has been ranked by Complex on their "Best Rapper Alive Every Year Since 1979" list, awarding Drake the accolade in 2011, 2012, and 2015. Controversies Legal issues On May 31, 2009, Drake was robbed at gunpoint in Toronto's Little Italy district and was forced to forfeit a gold and diamond necklace, an Audemars Piguet watch, and $2,000. Soccerties Cotterell and Paul Lelutiu were initially charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, three counts of pointing a firearm and possession of stolen property; these charges were later dropped. The men pled guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, and spent six months in jail. In April 2017, Mesha Collins was arrested for criminal trespass after breaking into Drake's home in Calabasas; although no criminal charges were brought by Drake, she later filed a $4 billion lawsuit against him for defamation in June 2021, which was dismissed that December. In March 2021, an unidentified woman armed with a knife was arrested following a failed attempt to break into Drake's home in Toronto. In 2012, singer Ericka Lee filed a lawsuit against Drake for the usage of her voice on "Marvins Room". Claiming to have provided the female vocals, Lee also alleged she was owed songwriting credits and royalties. Despite Drake's legal team countering by claiming that Lee simply requested a credit in the liner notes of the album, the matter was resolved in February 2013, with both parties agreeing to an out-of-court settlement. In 2014, Drake was sued for $300,000 for sampling "Jimmy Smith Rap", a 1982 single by jazz musician Jimmy Smith. The suit was filed by Smith's estate, who said Drake never asked for permission when sampling it for the intro on "Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2", claiming Smith himself would have disagreed as he disliked hip hop. Drake would win the lawsuit in 2017, with federal judge William Pauley ruling the content used was transformative, and there was no liability for copyright infringement. Also in 2014, it emerged that Drake was sued by rapper Rappin' 4-Tay, claiming Drake misused his lyrics when collaborating with YG on the song "Who Do You Love?". He sought $100,000 for mistreatment and artistic theft, which Drake paid to the rapper later that year. In 2016, Drake caused a nightclub in Oklahoma City to close down, due to his usage of marijuana and other illegal drugs being prevalent at the club. In December 2021, Drake sued jeweler Ori Vechler and his company Gemma LTD for incorrectly using his likeness in promotional material; he also sought to return three items he purchased. In 2017, Drake was embroiled in another lawsuit, being sued by producer Detail (Noel Fisher) over an alleged assault in 2014. Fisher claimed Drake's bodyguard, Nessel "Chubbs" Beezer, punched him in the face and allegedly broke his jaw over musical and financial disputes. Fisher also said the injuries caused him to be hospitalized for days and had to undergo several surgeries, following which he sued for damages related to medical bills and physical and emotional suffering. The case, which was set to undergo trial in May 2018, was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu after Fisher failed to show up for a final status conference. Lu ruled that Beezer solely acted in self-defense. In October 2021, Drake and Chris Brown were sued by Braindon Cooper and Timothy Valentine for copyright infringement between "No Guidance" and their own song "I Love Your Dress". Cooper and Valentine lost the lawsuit quickly, also being mocked by general public on the internet. A month later, he was named as a co-defendant with Travis Scott in a multi-claimant lawsuit for inciting "a riot and violence" at the Astroworld Festival, to which he released a statement; he was later criticized for reportedly attending the Area 29 strip club in Houston the day after the incident. He also reportedly delayed the release of "Splash Brothers", a collaboration with French Montana, following the incident. Feuds Drake and Chris Brown were allegedly involved in a physical altercation in June 2012 when Drake and his entourage threw glass bottles at Brown in a SoHo nightclub in Manhattan, New York City. Chris Brown tweeted about the incident, and criticized Drake in music until 2013, including on the "R.I.P." remix. Despite no response from Drake, he and Brown both appeared in a comedic skit for the 2014 ESPY Awards, and rehearsed the skit together prior to the televised airing, virtually ending the dispute. The pair later collaborated on "No Guidance" in 2019. In December 2014, Drake was involved in another altercation, being punched by Diddy outside the LIV nightclub in Miami, Florida. The altercation was reported to be over Drake's usage of the instrumental for "0 to 100 / The Catch Up", allegedly produced by Boi-1da for Diddy, before Drake appropriated the track for his own use. Drake was later rushed to the ER after aggravating an old arm injury during the dispute. Drake was also involved in a feud with Tyga, stemming from Tyga's negative comments about him during an interview with Vibe magazine. Drake would later respond on "6 God" and "6PM in New York", which has been interpreted as directly involved in Tyga's abrupt removal from Young Money Entertainment. Further controversy arose in July 2015 when it was alleged by Meek Mill that Drake had used ghostwriters during recording sessions for "RICO", one of the lead singles off Mill's second studio album. This proceeded further allegations that Drake did not help in promotion of the album, due to Mill discovering the ghostwriter, widely believed to be Quentin Miller. Despite Miller collaborating with Drake and receiving past credits, Mill assured that Miller had written Drake's verse for "R.I.C.O." Soon after, Funkmaster Flex aired reference tracks in support of Mill's claims, notably for "R.I.C.O.", "10 Bands", and "Know Yourself". This prompted Drake to respond with two diss tracks, titled "Charged Up" and "Back to Back", in the space of four days. Mill would later respond with "Wanna Know", before removing it from SoundCloud weeks later. Following several subliminal disses from either artist, Drake further sought to denounce Funkmaster Flex while performing in New York (Flex's home state) on the Summer Sixteen Tour. Following Mill's prison sentencing for probation violation, Drake stated "Free Meek Mill" at a concert in Australia, and ended their rivalry on "Family Feud"; the pair later collaborated on "Going Bad" in 2019. Pusha T would also use the same rationale to criticize Drake on "Infrared" in 2018, leading Drake to respond with the "Duppy Freestyle" diss track on May 25. Pusha T responded with "The Story of Adidon" on May 29, which presented several claims and revealed Drake's fatherhood. The pair are considered to have been in a rivalry since 2012, resulting from Pusha T's feuds with Lil Wayne and Birdman, with Drake yet to respond to "The Story of Adidon". In 2016, Drake was embroiled in a feud with Joe Budden, stemming from Budden's derogatory comments when reviewing Views. Drake would allegedly respond to Budden through "4PM in Calabasas", prompting Budden to respond with two diss tracks in the space of five days, echoing the same sentiment Drake deployed during his feud with Meek Mill. Drake would later appear on "No Shopping" alongside French Montana, directly referencing Budden throughout the song, although, Montana claimed Drake's verse was recorded before the release of Budden's diss tracks. Despite Budden releasing two further songs in reference to Drake, he has yet to officially respond to Budden. In the same year, Drake dissed Kid Cudi on "Two Birds, One Stone" after Cudi launched an expletive-filled rant on the artist on Twitter. Cudi later checked into a rehabilitation facility following the release of the song, and continued to disparage Drake in further tweets; the pair eventually resolved their feud, and collaborated on "IMY2" in 2021. In mid-2018, Drake was embroiled in a feud with long-time collaborator Kanye West. In an appearance on The Shop, Drake recounted several meetings with West, who voiced his desire to "be Quincy Jones" and work with Drake and replicate the producer-artist relationship between Jones and Michael Jackson. West requested Drake play and inform him of upcoming releases, while he gave Drake the instrumental to "Lift Yourself". West requested the pair work in Wyoming, with Drake arriving a day after close friend 40, who said West was instead recording an album. Judging the pair to have differing release schedules, Drake traveled to Wyoming, but "only worked on [West's] music"; they explored Drake's after he played West "March 14", which addressed Drake's relationship with his newborn son and co-parent. This prompted a conversation with West regarding his personal issues, after which, news of his son would be exposed by Pusha T, which Drake concluded was revealed to him by West; West also released "Lift Yourself" as a solo song and produced "Infrared". Drake then denounced West in songs and live performances. West would retaliate in a series of tweets in late 2018, and the pair continued to respond on social media and in music as of late 2021, which included Drake leaking West's song "Life of the Party". During their feud, West also made several public attempts to reconcile with Drake, which is reported to have occurred after they co-headlined a benefit concert in December 2021. Drake has also been involved in feuds with DMX, Kendrick Lamar, Common, The Weeknd, XXXTentacion, Jay-Z, Tory Lanez, and Ludacris, although the latter five, and his feud with DMX, have been reported to be resolved. Business ventures Endorsements Prior to venturing into business, Drake garnered several endorsement deals with various companies, notably gaining one with Sprite following his mention of drinking purple drank, a concoction that contains Sprite as a key ingredient. In the aftermath of his highly publicized feud with Meek Mill, Drake was also endorsed by fast food restaurants Burger King and Whataburger. Business magazine Forbes commented his endorsement deals and business partnerships "combined heavily" for Drake's reported pre-tax earnings at $94 million between June 2016 to June 2017, being one of the highest-paid celebrities during that period. OVO Sound During the composition of Nothing Was the Same, Drake started his own record label in late 2012 with producer Noah "40" Shebib and business partner Oliver El-Khatib. Drake sought for an avenue to release his own music, as well helping in the nurturing of other artists, while Shebib and El-Khatib yearned to start a label with a distinct sound, prompting the trio to team up to form OVO Sound. The name is an abbreviation derived from the October's Very Own moniker Drake used to publish his earlier projects. The label is currently distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Drake, 40, and PartyNextDoor were the label's inaugural artists. The label houses artists including Drake, PartyNextDoor, Majid Jordan, Roy Woods, and dvsn, as well as producers including 40, Boi-1da, Nineteen85, and Future the Prince. Toronto Raptors On September 30, 2013, at a press conference with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke, Drake was announced as the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise. It was announced together with the 2016 NBA All-Star Game being awarded to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. This was also the setting where Drake was given The Key to the City. In the role, it was announced that Drake would help to promote and serve as a host of festivities, beginning with the All-Star Game. He would also provide consulting services to rebrand the team, helping to redesign its image and clothing line in commemoration of the franchise's 20th anniversary. He also collaborated with the Raptors on pre-game practice jerseys, t-shirts, and sweatsuits, and began hosting an annual "Drake Night" segment with the organization, beginning in 2013. Entertainment Apple Music Following the launch of Apple Music, a music and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc., the company announced Drake as the figurehead for the platform at their Worldwide Developers Conference in 2015, with the artist also penning an exclusivity deal with the service worth a reported $19 million. This saw all future solo releases by Drake becoming available first on Apple Music, before seeing roll out to other streaming services and music retailers. Drake had also developed the OVO Sound Radio station on Beats 1, which is utilized as the primary avenue for debuting singles and projects, with the station overseeing over 300 million unique users when it debuted More Life. Drake's partnership with Apple Music has largely been credited for the platform's sharp success, as it attained 10 million subscribers after six months, as well as giving birth to exclusivity from artists, with many independent and signed artists, such as Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, also brokering exclusivity deals with streaming services. Through signing with the company, Drake was one of the artists, alongside Pharrell and Katy Perry, to exclusively own an Apple Watch before the smartwatch saw public release. DreamCrew and investments In 2017, Drake and Adel "Future" Nur co-founded the production company DreamCrew, which functions both as a management company and entertainment group. The company has produced the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. Their debut film as producers was on the sports documentary The Carter Effect, detailing the impact of Vince Carter in Canada. In July 2021, Drake was announced as an executive producer, alongside LeBron James and Maverick Carter, for Black Ice, a documentary film charting the experiences of black and ethnic minority professional and amateur ice hockey players. It is due to be produced by Uninterrupted Canada in partnership with Drake's DreamCrew Entertainment, James' SpringHill Company, and Bell Media. DreamCrew also began production on the unscripted survival series Chillin' Island in 2021, due to air on HBO. In June 2021, Live Nation confirmed a long-standing partnership with Drake to open History, a 2,500 convertible capacity live-entertainment and general function venue in Toronto. It was in development for over three years and is situated in The Beaches. He also aided in the venue's interior design, which contains LED screens, soundproofing, quick-change rooms and a customizable staircase. Later that month, Drake signed as an investor and collaborator with Los Angeles-based sustainability and financial services startup Aspiration; he will also use the company's enterprise services to monitor and ensure personal carbon neutrality. He has also invested in robo-advisor Wealthsimple, the "livestreaming video commerce platform" NTWRK, the cannabis provider Bullrider, and several sports-related ventures, including online esports betting platform Players’ Lounge, the sportstech firm StatusPro, and online sports network Overtime. In an analysis by Brennan Doherty for Toronto Star, Drake's investment "carry all the hallmarks" typical of musicians, which is often momentum investing, and cited Jason Pereira, who described Drake's business deals as typically angel investing and private equity (often venture capital) funds. Pereira also noted his "leveraging his personal brand to generate cash". 100 Thieves In 2018, Drake purchased an ownership stake in the gaming organization 100 Thieves, joining as a co-founder and co-owner. The investment was partly funded by music executive Scooter Braun and Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert. Since the investment, the stake is estimated to be worth $125 million. Cuisine Two months prior to the release of Views, Drake announced the development of Virginia Black, a bourbon-based whiskey. This would be his second foray into selling foodstuffs, previously partnering with celebrity chef Susur Lee to open Fring's Restaurant in Toronto. The beverage was created and also distributed alongside Proximo Spirits, as well as with Brent Hocking, a spirits producer who founded DeLeón Tequila in 2008. The company described the partnership as "fruitful [as they] share a passion for style, music, and the pursuit of taste [on] a quest to redefine whiskey." In 2021, using ratings compiled from Vivino and complimentary website Distiller, Virginia Black was ranked the worst value celebrity liquor for quality and price. The product was launched in June 2016, and contained two, three and four-year old Bourbon whiskies. The company sold over 4,000 bottles in the first week domestically. The brand was also promoted and marketed through Drake's music and various tours, such as being part of the "Virginia Black VIP Lounge" additional package available for purchase during the Summer Sixteen Tour. Virginia Black shipped a further 30,000 units when rollout was extended to select international markets in late 2016. The company later aired commercials with Drake's father, Dennis Graham, which featured the tagline of "The Realest Dude Ever" (in reference toward "The Most Interesting Man in the World" tagline employed by Dos Equis) after extending the sale of the drink to Europe in 2017. In 2019, Drake began collaborating with Hocking on Mod Sélection, a luxury range of champagne, and in May 2021, formed part of a $40 million series B investment funding round led by D1 Capital Partners in Daring Foods Inc., a vegan meat analogue corporation. That September, he purchased a minority stake in Californian food chain Dave's Hot Chicken. Fashion In December 2013, Drake announced he was signing with Nike and Air Jordan, saying "growing up, I'm sure we all idolized Michael Jordan. I [am] officially inducted into the Team Jordan family." Drake also released his own collection of Air Jordans, dubbed the "Air Jordan OVOs". This foresaw collaborations between OVO and Canada Goose, in which various items of clothing were produced. In 2020, A Bathing Ape announced a collaboration with Drake, releasing an OVO x BAPE collection of clothing, while he also partnered with candle manufacturer Revolve to create "Better World Fragrance", a line of scented candles. In December 2020, Drake announced Nocta, a sub-label with Nike. In a press release, Drake said "I always felt like there was an opportunity for Nike to embrace an entertainer the same way [as] athletes," he wrote, "to be associated with the highest level possible was always my goal." The apparel line is named after Drake's "nocturnal creative process", in which Nike described as a "collection for the collective", and noted by GQ as "fashion-forward, minimal-inspired sportswear". One clothing item features an image of Drake's muses, Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta, with a poem. After the first collection sold out, another was released in February 2021, which introduced t-shirts, adjustable caps, a utility vest, and a lightweight jacket. That July, OVO released the "Weekender Collection", which includes a line of hoodies, velour sweatsuits, t-shirts, shorts, and accessories for women. OVO then released a "Winter Survival Collection" that December which included puffer jackets, vests, and parkas made with 700-fill down and Oeko-Tex certified down feathers. They followed this with limited edition Jurassic Park-themed collection and an indoor footwear collaboration with Suicoke. Personal life Health and residences Drake lives in Toronto, Ontario, in a 35,000-square-foot, $100 million estate nicknamed "The Embassy", which was built from the ground-up in 2017, and is seen in the video to his song "Toosie Slide". He also owns a home nicknamed the "YOLO Estate" in Hidden Hills, California, which he has owned since 2012, and in 2021, rented a $65 million property in Beverly Hills. He owns a condominium adjacent to the CN Tower, and a Boeing 767. Drake has a variety of tattoos, some of which are symbols associated with personal accomplishments, such as a jack-o-lantern, "October Lejonhjärta" (), owls, and a controversial Abbey Road (1969) inspired depiction of himself and The Beatles. He has portraits of Lil Wayne, Sade, Aaliyah, Jesús Malverde, Denzel Washington, 40, his parents, grandmother, maternal uncle, and son; and several related to Toronto, including the CN Tower and the number "416". On August 18, 2021, Drake revealed he contracted COVID-19 amidst the pandemic, which led to temporary hair loss. He was also one of the first celebrities to publicly test for the virus in March 2020. Family and relationships Drake's paternal uncles are guitarists and songwriters Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges. Graham was a member of Sly and the Family Stone, while Hodges contributed to songs for Al Green, including "Love and Happiness", "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)", and "Take Me to the River". Drake has a close friendship with Adele, and was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Rihanna from 2009 to 2016. He has mentioned the relationship in every one of his studio albums, and when presenting Rihanna with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2016, he said "she's a woman I've been in love with since I was 22 years old." On his relationship with her, he said on the talk show The Shop: As life takes shape and teaches you your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don't have the fairy tale [of] 'Drake started a family with Rihanna, [it's] so perfect.' It looks so good on paper [and] I wanted it too at one time. Drake is a father to one son named Adonis, who was born on October 11, 2017 to French painter and former model Sophie Brussaux. Brussaux's pregnancy was the subject of several rumours after featuring in a TMZ article in early 2017. After the nature of the pair's relationship was discussed in Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon", Drake confirmed his fatherhood on the album Scorpion in 2018, citing a desire for his child's privacy. Discography Studio albums Thank Me Later (2010) Take Care (2011) Nothing Was the Same (2013) Views (2016) Scorpion (2018) Certified Lover Boy (2021) Tours Headlining Away from Home Tour (2010) Club Paradise Tour (2012) Would You Like a Tour? (2013–2014) Jungle Tour (2015; six date promotional tour) Boy Meets World Tour (2017) Assassination Vacation Tour (2019) Co-headlining America's Most Wanted Tour (2009) Drake vs. Lil Wayne (2014) Summer Sixteen Tour (2016) Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour (2018) Filmography Film Television See also Culture of Toronto List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of Canadian musicians List of people from Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of highest-certified music artists in the United States List of best-selling music artists List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones List of most-followed Instagram accounts List of Canadian hip hop musicians List of Canadian Jews List of Black Canadians Black Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area History of the Jews in Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the Canadian Hot 100 List of Canadian Grammy Award winners and nominees List of most-streamed artists on Spotify References External links 1986 births Living people 21st-century Black Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian rappers African-American businesspeople African-American Jews African-American male rappers Black Canadian businesspeople Black Canadian male actors Black Canadian musicians Brit Award winners Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian Ashkenazi Jews Canadian contemporary R&B singers Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Canadian hip hop singers Canadian male child actors Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male rappers Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian music industry executives Canadian people of African-American descent Canadian people of American descent Canadian people of Jewish descent Canadian people of Latvian-Jewish descent Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Canadian philanthropists Canadian pop singers Canadian rhythm and blues singers Canadian songwriters Cash Money Records artists Culture of Toronto Dancehall musicians Grammy Award winners for rap music Jewish Canadian male actors Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish Canadian writers Jewish rappers Jewish singers Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year winners Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year winners Male actors from Toronto MTV Europe Music Award winners OVO Sound artists People from Hidden Hills, California People from Weston, Toronto Pop rappers Rappers from Toronto Republic Records artists Sports spectators Toronto Raptors personnel Trap musicians UK drill musicians Universal Motown Records artists Writers from Toronto Young Money Entertainment artists	true	[ "The Cool Cafe (full name: The Cool Cafe: Cool Tape Vol. 1) is the debut mixtape by American rapper Jaden Smith. It was released as a free download on DatPiff on October 1, 2012. The mixtape is a part of Smith's Cool Tape series which was followed up by CTV2, The Sunset Tapes: A Cool Tape Story, and CTV3: Cool Tape Vol. 3. Since its release, the mixtape has been downloaded over 100,000 times on DatPiff.\n\nBackground\nThe mixtape focuses on Jaden's skate lifestyle, his clothing/lifestyle brand MSFTSRep and supposedly some songs feature references of his former relationship with Vanessa Hudgens' younger sister, Stella Hudgens.\n\nPromotion \nThe mixtape was promoted through various music videos with, \"Pumped Up Kicks (Like Me)\" (A remix to Pumped Up Kicks), was released on August 6, 2012. The music video was directed by Mike Vargas.\n\nThe mixtape's second music video, \"The Coolest\", was released on September 24, 2012. The music video was directed by Mike Vargas.\n\nThe mixtape's third music video, \"Find You Somewhere\", was released on September 17, 2012, and features vocals from AcE and Willow Smith. The music video was directed by Jada Pinkett Smith.\n\nThe mixtape's fourth music video, \"Hello\", was released on March 26, 2013, and was directed by Moises Arias.\n\nTrack listing \nCredits adapted from DatPiff.\n\nReferences\n\n2012 mixtape albums\nJaden Smith albums", "The Cutting Room Floor 3 is the sixth mixtape by American hip hop producer and recording artist The Alchemist. It was released on December 25, 2013, through his own record label, ALC Records. It serves as the third instalment of The Cutting Room Floor mixtape series, following up the original 2003 mixtape and its 2008 sequel.\n\nTrack listing\n\nNotes\n \"Too Late\" was originally released as a Bravehearts song titled \"Never Too Late\", which Nas' verse was initially featured on. This version appeared on the DJ Clue? mixtape Hev E. Components, Part 1 in 2001.\n \"Jolly Ranchers\" was originally released in April 2010, and later appeared as part of Raekwon's Cocainism, Vol. 2 mixtape under the title \"Big Beat\".\n \"Perfectionist\" was originally released in early 2011, with its music video releasing shortly after the release of the Maybach Music Group compilation Self Made, Vol. 1.\n \"Mechanic\" was originally released on the G-Unit mixtape Return of the Body Snatchers in 2008.\n \"Doo Wop\" was originally released on the Blu mixtape jesus in 2011, under the title \"doowhop\".\n \"The Myth\" was originally released on the Styles P mixtape The Diamond Life Project in 2012.\n\nReferences\n\n2013 albums\nThe Alchemist (musician) albums\nAlbums produced by the Alchemist (musician)" ]
[ "Drake (musician)", "2006-2009: Early mixtapes and So Far Gone", "When was Thank Me Later released?", "I don't know.", "what was his first mixtape?", "Room for Improvement,", "what was his second mixtape?", "Comeback Season.", "was there a third mixtape?", "So Far Gone." ]	C_9a9897534b1246b3aaaba0a09db98d2e_1	Was So Far Gone successful?	5	Was Drake's third mixtape, So Far Gone, successful?	Drake (musician)	After becoming musically inspired by Jay Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da, and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." The mixtape was released for sale only, and confirmed to have sold over 6,000 copies. In 2007, he released his second mixtape, Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl", featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first ever unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video featured on BET, with "Replacement Girl" being featured on the channel's "New Joint of the Day" segment on April 30, 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston in order to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "I Want This Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". Despite the collaborations between the duo, Drake was yet to be signed by Young Money Entertainment. In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape, So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success due to the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized album entitled The Girls Love Drake, which was released on iTunes under dubious means. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage, and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He later underwent surgery on September 8, 2009. CANNOTANSWER	It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success	Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor. Gaining recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–08), Drake pursued a career in music releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement in 2006; he subsequently released the mixtapes Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment. Drake released his debut studio album, Thank Me Later, in 2010, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. He achieved major critical success with Take Care (2011) and commercial success with Nothing Was the Same (2013) and his first commercial mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015); the latter two were certified multi-platinum in the US. Drake's fourth album, Views (2016), sat atop the Billboard 200 for 13 nonconsecutive weeks, becoming the first album by a male solo artist to do so in over a decade, and featured the chart record-setting lead single "One Dance". His second solo commercial mixtape, More Life (2017), set then-multiple streaming records, and in 2018, he released the double album Scorpion, which contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings". Leaving Young Money in 2018, Drake's third commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes was released in 2020, and featured the chart-topping "Toosie Slide". In 2021, the EP Scary Hours 2 included the number one "What's Next" and set chart records, and preceded his delayed sixth album, Certified Lover Boy (2021); the album set the record for most U.S. top-ten entries from one album, with lead single "Way 2 Sexy" becoming his tenth number one. As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012. In 2013, Drake became the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise, while owning naming rights to its practice facility. In 2016, he began collaborating with American entrepreneur Brent Hocking on the bourbon whiskey Virginia Black; it eventually broke sale records in Canada. Drake has also designed fashion, the most notable including a sub-label collaboration with Nike, alongside other business ventures. In 2018, he was reportedly responsible for 5 percent (CAD$440 million) of Toronto's CAD$8.8 billion annual tourism income. Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 170 million records sold, Drake is ranked as the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States by the RIAA. He has won four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, a record 29 Billboard Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and three Juno Awards, and holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; Drake has the most top 10 singles (54), the most charted songs (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in one week (27), the most Hot 100 debuts in one week (22), and the most continuous time on the Hot 100 (431 weeks). He additionally has the most number-one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Songs, and Rhythmic Airplay charts. Early life Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. His father, Dennis Graham, is African-American and a practicing Catholic from Memphis, Tennessee, who worked as a drummer, performing alongside country musician Jerry Lee Lewis. His mother, Sandra "Sandi" Graham ( Sher), is a Canadian of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage who worked as an English teacher and florist. Dennis Graham performed at Club Bluenote in Toronto, where he met Sandra Sher, who was in attendance. Drake is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, having American citizenship due to his American father. In his youth, he attended a Jewish day school, and became a bar mitzvah. Drake's parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, he and his mother remained in Toronto; his father returned to Memphis, where he was incarcerated for a number of years on drug-related charges. Graham's limited finances and legal issues caused him to remain in the United States until Drake's early adulthood. Prior to his arrest, however, Graham would travel to Toronto and bring Drake to Memphis every summer. His father later collaborated with Canadian music group Arkells on the music video for a song titled "Drake's Dad". Graham claimed in an interview that Drake's assertions of him being an absent father were embellishments used to sell records, which Drake vehemently denies. Drake was raised in two Toronto neighbourhoods. He lived on Weston Road in the city's working-class west end until grade six, playing minor hockey with the Weston Red Wings. He then moved to one of the city's affluent neighbourhoods, Forest Hill, in 2000. When asked about the move, Drake replied, "[We had] a half of a house we could live in. The other people had the top half, we had the bottom half. I lived in the basement, my mom lived on the first floor. It was not big, it was not luxurious. It was what we could afford." He attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he demonstrated an affinity for the arts, first acting while an active student at the school. He later attended Vaughan Road Academy in the city's multicultural Oakwood–Vaughan neighbourhood. Due to the economic status associated with the neighbourhood, Drake described the school as "not by any means the easiest school to go to." Drake was often bullied at school for his racial and religious background, and upon realizing that his busy class schedule was detrimental to his burgeoning acting career, Drake dropped out of school. He later graduated in October 2012. Career 2001–2009: Career beginnings Degrassi: The Next Generation At the age of 15, Drake, eager to begin his career as an actor, was introduced to a high school friend's father, an acting agent. The agent found Drake a role on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. Drake portrayed Jimmy Brooks, a basketball star who became physically disabled after he was shot by a classmate. Drake reportedly disliked this character arc because of its apparent tokenism (his was one of the only black characters in the series), and he also believed it could negatively influence his standing as a rapper. Longtime series writer James Hurst said that Drake threatened legal action to redo the storyline, before ultimately agreeing to it. Madeleine Robinson, the executive director of the Californian non-profit organization Wheelchair 4 Kids, praised the storyline and Drake's performance, noting "he instilled confidence and representation" to disabled youth. When asked about his early acting career, Drake replied, "My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was [from] Canadian TV." He appeared in a total of 100 episodes between 2001 and 2008. In 2010, Drake expressed interest in playing Barack Obama in a biopic, to which Obama responded to with approval in an interview in 2020. According to Degrassi series creators Stephen Stohn and Linda Schuyler, Drake regularly arrived late on set after spending nights recording music. To prevent this, Schuyler claimed Drake struck an agreement with the set's security guards to gain entry to the set after recording to be allowed to sleep in a dressing room. Early mixtapes and So Far Gone Being musically inspired by Jay-Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." Room for Improvement was released for sale only and sold roughly 6,000 copies, for which Drake received $304.04 in royalties. In 2007, he released his second mixtape Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl" featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video on BET, with "Replacement Girl" featured on their "New Joint of the Day" segment in April 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success from the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized fake album titled The Girls Love Drake released on iTunes. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster on the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He underwent surgery later that year. 2010–2012: Musical breakthrough with Thank Me Later and Take Care Drake planned to release his debut album, Thank Me Later, in late 2008, but the album's release date was postponed, first to March 2010, and then to May 25, 2010. Young Money and Universal Motown had then released a statement that the album had again been pushed back three weeks for a June 15, 2010 release. On March 9, 2010, Drake released the debut single "Over", which peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Rap Songs chart. It also received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards. His second single, "Find Your Love", became an even bigger success. It peaked at number five on the Hot 100, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The music video for the single was shot in Kingston, Jamaica, and was criticized by Jamaica's minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett. Bartlett condemned the portrayal of the island in the video, saying, "care has to be taken by all, including our creative artists, in [showcasing] images of our destination and people. Gun culture, while not unique to Jamaica, is not enhancing [the island's image]." The third single and fourth singles, "Miss Me" and "Fancy" respectively, attained moderate commercial success; however, the latter garnered Drake his second nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. On April 29, it was reportedly announced that Drake had finished Thank Me Later during a show in Kansas City, Missouri. Thank Me Later was released on June 15, 2010, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of over 447,000 copies in its first week. Upon the album's release, 25,000 fans gathered at New York City's South Street Seaport for a free concert hosted by Drake and Hanson, which was later cancelled by the police after a near-riot ensued due to overflowing crowds. The album became the top selling debut album for any artist in 2010, and featured Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Jay Z. It was soon announced that Drake would have a prominent role in the military science fiction video game, Gears of War 3. He was scheduled to play the role of Jace Stratton, but scheduling conflicts with his upcoming Away from Home Tour prevented him from accepting the role. He began the tour on September 20, 2010, in Miami, Florida, performing at 78 shows over four different legs. It concluded in Las Vegas in November 2010. Due to the success of the Away from Home Tour, Drake hosted the first OVO Festival in 2010. It would soon become a regular event during the summer, with the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto playing host to the festival on its annual cycle. Drake also had an eco-friendly college tour to support the album, beginning with Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. It concluded in Plymouth, New Hampshire on May 8, and he also performed at The Bamboozle on May 1. Beginning his second effort in fall 2010, Drake announced his intentions to allow Noah "40" Shebib to handle most of the production and record a more cohesive sound than on Thank Me Later, which featured disparate production duties by Shebib and others. In November 2010, Drake revealed the title of his next studio album will be Take Care. In comparison to his debut album, Drake revealed to Y.C Radio 1 that Thank Me Later was a rushed album, stating, "I didn't get to take the time that I wanted to on that record. I rushed a lot of the songs and sonically I didn't get to sit with the record and say, 'I should change this verse.' Once it was done, it was done. That's why my new album is called Take Care, because I get to take my time this go-round." Drake sought to expand on the low-tempo, sensuous, and dark sonic esthetic of Thank Me Later. Primarily a hip hop album, Drake also attempted to incorporate R&B and pop to create a languid, grandiose sound. In January 2011, Drake was in negotiations to join Eva Green and Susan Sarandon as a member of the cast in Nicholas Jarecki's Arbitrage, before ultimately deciding against starring in the movie to focus on the album. "Dreams Money Can Buy" and "Marvins Room" were released on Drake's October's Very Own Blog, on May 20 and June 9, respectively. Acting as promotional singles for Take Care, the former was eventually unincluded on the album's final track listing, while "Marvins Room" gained Gold certification by the RIAA, as well as peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching the top 10 of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, coupled with extensive play on contemporary urban radio. Drake would soon release the song's music video on June 28. "Headlines" was released on August 9 as the lead single for Take Care. It was met with positive critical and commercial response, reaching number thirteen on the Hot 100, as well as becoming his tenth single to reach the summit of the Billboard Hot Rap Songs, making Drake the artist with the most number-one singles on the chart, with 12. It was eventually certified Platinum in both the United States and Canada. The music video for the single was released on October 2, and foresaw Drake performing the song during the second intermission of the 59th National Hockey League All-Star Game in January 2012. "Make Me Proud" was released as the album's second single on October 16. It was the final single to be released prior to the launch of the album, and debuted at number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached number nine the following week, tying the record for the largest jump on the Billboard Hot 100 for a male artist, with 88. "Make Me Proud" soon became Drake's fourth consecutive single to receive Platinum certification by the RIAA. Prior to the album's release, Drake planned to record a collaborative album with Lil Wayne; however, it was ultimately scrapped due to the success of Watch the Throne. He also began collaborations with Rick Ross for a mixtape titled Y.O.L.O., but the duo decided against the project in favor of increased concern for their respective studio albums. Although in 2021, Ross stated that a joint album is still possible as they've casually discussed it. Take Care was released on November 15, 2011, and received generally positive reviews from music critics. John McDonnell of NME dubbed it "an affecting masterpiece" and commended its "delicate, mellifluous sound and unashamedly candid, emotive lyrics." Pitchforks Ryan Dombal found Drake's "technical abilities" to be improved and stated, "Just as his thematic concerns have become richer, so has the music backing them up." Andy Hutchins of The Village Voice called it "a carefully crafted bundle of contradictory sentiments from a conflicted rapper who explores his own neuroses in as compelling a manner as anyone not named Kanye West." Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot complimented the depth of Drake's "moral psychodramas" and stated, "the best of it affirms that Drake is shaping a pop persona with staying power." It also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, and achieved great commercial success, eventually being certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA in 2016, with sales for the album marking 2.6 million in the U.S. The album's third and fourth singles, "The Motto" and Take Care", were released on November 29, 2011 and February 21, 2012, respectively. Each song was subject to commercial success, while also having large societal impacts, with "The Motto" credited for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States. The music video for "Take Care" saw widespread acclaim, with MTV stating, "None of his contemporaries – not even the ever-obtuse Kanye [West] – make videos like this, mostly because no one else can get away with it." The video received four nominations at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Video of the Year. The song was also featured on the channel's "Pop Songs You Must Hear" list of 2011. "HYFR" was the final single to be released from the album, and became certified Gold. It also won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video in 2012, and the channel ranked him number two on their "Hottest MCs in the Game" list. On August 5, 2012, Drake released "Enough Said", performed by American recording artist Aaliyah featuring additional vocals provided by himself. Originally recorded prior to the singer's death in a plane crash in 2001, Drake later finished the track with producer "40". "Enough Said" was released by Blackground Records through their SoundCloud account on August 5, 2012. It was sent to US urban and rhythmic radio stations on August 21. The song charted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs In promotion of his second album, Drake embarked on the worldwide Club Paradise Tour. It became the most successful hip hop tour of 2012, grossing over $42 million. He then returned to acting, starring in Ice Age: Continental Drift as Ethan. 2013–2015: Nothing Was the Same and If You're Reading This It's Too Late During the European leg of the Club Paradise Tour, Drake spoke in an interview stating that he had begun working on his third studio album. Revealing his intentions to remain with 40 as the album's executive producer, Drake spoke fondly about Jamie xx, hoping to include and expand the British producer's influence over his next album. Drake had also revealed that the album would stylistically differ from Take Care, departing from the ambient production and despondent lyrics prevalent previously. In January 2013, Drake announced that he would release the first single off his third album at the end of the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Despite an initial delay, it was released in the wake of his win for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the event, and it foresaw Drake announcing Nothing Was the Same as the title of his third album. The album's second single, "Hold On, We're Going Home", was released in August 2013, becoming the most successful single off the album, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Drake sought inspiration from the 1980s television series Miami Vice during the composition of the song's music video, incorporating the dramatic elements seen in the show en route to winning his second MTV Video Music Award in 2014 for the video. Drake appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing the album's third single, "Too Much", alongside featured artist Sampha. Nothing Was the Same was released on September 24, 2013, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200, with 658,000 copies sold in its first week of release. The album debuted atop the charts in Canada, Denmark, Australia and the United Kingdom. The album also enjoyed generally favourable reviews by contemporary music critics, commending the musical shift in terms of the tone and subject matter, comparing it to the distinct change showcased in Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak. The album was also reported to have sold over 1,720,000 copies in the United States, and was further promoted by the "Would You like a Tour?" throughout late 2013 to early 2014. It became the 22nd-most successful tour of the year, grossing an estimated $46 million. Drake then returned to acting in January 2014, hosting Saturday Night Live, as well as serving as the musical guest. His versatility, acting ability and comedic timing were all praised by critics, describing it as what "kept him afloat during the tough and murky SNL waters". Drake also performed in Dubai, being one of the only artists ever to perform in the city. In late 2014, Drake announced that he began recording sessions for his fourth studio album. In 2014, Drake performed in Spanish as a featured artist on the Romeo Santos song "Odio". He also appeared on a remix of "Tuesday" by ILoveMakonnen, which peaked at number one on Billboard's Rhythmic chart and number twelve on the "Hot 100", and released "0 to 100 / The Catch Up" as a non-album single. The latter went double platinum in the United States. On February 12, 2015, Drake released If You're Reading This It's Too Late onto iTunes with no prior announcement. Despite debate on whether it was an album or a mixtape, its commercial stance quantifies it as his fourth retail project with Cash Money Records, a scheme that was rumoured to allow Drake to leave the label. However, he eventually remained with Cash Money, and If You're Reading This It's Too Late sold over 1 million units in 2015, making Drake the first artist with a platinum project in 2015, as well as his fourth overall. 2015–2017: What a Time to Be Alive, Views, and More Life On July 31, 2015, Drake released four singles: "Back to Back", "Charged Up", "Hotline Bling", and "Right Hand". On September 20, 2015, Drake released a collaborative mixtape with Future, which was recorded in Atlanta in just under a week. What a Time to Be Alive debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making Drake the first hip hop artist to have two projects reach number one in the same year since 2004. It was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales, streaming and track-sales equivalent of over 1 million units. Drake also appeared on the cover of The Fader for their 100th issue. Drake announced in January 2016 that his fourth studio album would be launched during the spring, releasing the promotional single "Summer Sixteen" later that month. The album was originally titled Views from the 6, but was later shortened to Views. "Summer Sixteen" debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, and proved controversial, with Drake comparing his standing in hip hop to more tenured artists. This move divided many contemporary music critics, describing his self-comparison as "goodly brash" or "conventionally disrespectful." It was also interpreted as a diss track towards Tory Lanez, who was unhappy at Drake for popularizing the term "The Six" when referencing Toronto. Drake also crashed a Bat Mitzvah in New York City on February 20, performing at the event. Drake soon released the album's lead singles, "Pop Style" and the dancehall-infused "One Dance", on April 5. Both debuted within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100; however, the latter proved more commercially successful, with "One Dance" becoming Drake's first number-one single in Canada and the US as a leading artist. The single also became Drake's first number one single as a lead artist in the United Kingdom, and peaked at number one in Germany, France, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands. During an episode for OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed the album's release date of April 29, and followed it up with various promotional videos. On October 15, "One Dance" became Spotify's most-streamed song ever, amassing over 882 million plays . Views was previewed in London before its premiere on Beats 1 a day later. It was released as an Apple Music and iTunes exclusive on April 29 before being made available to various other platforms later that week. Views would become Drake's most commercially successful album, sitting atop the Billboard 200 for ten nonconsecutive weeks, as well as simultaneously leading the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 for eight weeks. It also achieved double-platinum status in the U.S., and earned over 1 million album-equivalent units in the first week of its release, as well as gaining over half-billion overall streams of the album. Despite its success, critical opinion towards the album remained much divided, drawing criticism for being overlong and lacking in a cohesive theme, while also claiming Drake was not challenging himself artistically, as opposed to his contemporaries. He later released a short film titled Please Forgive Me, starring Swedish twin models Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta who are frequent collaborators with him. , Views remains Drake's best-selling album in pure sales. Drake returned to host Saturday Night Live on May 14, serving as the show's musical guest. Later, Drake was named as a member of the Forbes Five, which ranks the wealthiest artists in hip-hop, placing fifth after Birdman, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, and Diddy respectively. Drake and Future then announced the Summer Sixteen Tour to showcase their collective mixtape, as well as their respective studio albums. This marked Drake's third co-headlining tour, which began in Austin, Texas on July 20. On July 23, Drake announced that he was working on a new project, scheduled to be released in early 2017, and was later named as the headline act for the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival. The latter dates of the Summer Sixteen Tour were postponed, however, due to Drake suffering an ankle injury. During the 2016 OVO Festival, Kanye West confirmed that he and Drake had begun working on a collaborative album. Soon after, the music video for "Child's Play" was released, depicting Drake and Tyra Banks playing a couple encountering relationship issues at the Cheesecake Factory in a reference to one of the song's lyrics. On September 26, Please Forgive Me was released as an Apple Music exclusive. It ran a total of 25 minutes, and featured music from Views. At the 2016 BET Hip-Hop Awards, Drake received the most nominations, with 10, winning the awards for Album of the Year and Best Hip-Hop Video. Drake later announced the Boy Meets World Tour on October 10, with twenty-six dates announced for the course of the tour in Europe. Seven additional dates were added a day later due to overwhelming demand. Soon after, during an episode of OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed he would be releasing a project titled More Life in December. However, he later pushed the date back to the new year. The project was described as a "playlist of original music", rather than being classified as a traditional mixtape or solo album. He was later revealed to be Spotify's most streamed artist for the second consecutive year in 2016, amassing a total 4.7 billion streams for all projects on the service, which is more than double the amount of streams he had in 2015. Drake later secured his second and third Grammy Awards, winning for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song at the 59th ceremony. Despite multiple setbacks, Drake announced More Life would be released on March 18, 2017, via a series of multiple video commercials released through Instagram. Upon release, More Life received mostly positive reviews, and debuted atop the Billboard 200, earning 505,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It also set a streaming record, becoming the highest ever streamed album in 24 hours, with a total of 89.9 million streams on Apple Music alone. The album also garnered 61.3 million streams on Spotify, dethroning Ed Sheeran's ÷ as the highest opening on the service in a single day. He later won 13 awards at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards in May, which saw him breaking the record for the most wins in a single show. Billboard also reported Drake had been present on the Hot 100 chart for eight consecutive years, and has the most recorded entries by a solo artist. He later declined to submit More Life for consideration at the 2018 Grammy Awards, stemming from his displeasure at "Hotline Bling" being "pigeonholed" into the rap category. He then released the single "Signs" on June 24, as well as reuniting with Metro Boomin on a single with Offset. The singles marked his first releases since More Life, with "Signs" was initially released as a collaboration between Drake and French fashion house Louis Vuitton, as part of the "Louis Vuitton Men's Spring-Summer 2018" fashion show. The event also had a playlist exclusively from OVO Sound, curated by label co-founder Oliver El-Khatib. Drake hosted the first annual NBA Awards on June 26, and starred in multiple commercials alongside his father in promotion of Virginia Black. Drake also appeared in The Carter Effect documentary, honouring the basketball career of Vince Carter, who was the first superstar player to play for the Toronto Raptors since the franchise's inception in 1995. The documentary also featured NBA players Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, and LeBron James. 2018–2019: Scorpion and Care Package; return to television After rumours circulated of Drake possibly collaborating with various artists, including rapper Trippie Redd and producer Pi'erre Bourne, for his new studio album, multiple snippets of songs were leaked near the closing end of 2017. Two songs would later be released as members of a mini EP, titled Scary Hours, on January 20, 2018, marking Drake's first solo release since More Life, as well as his first appearance on any song after featuring on a remix of the Jay-Z song "Family Feud" with Lil Wayne, as the lead single of the latter's Dedication 6: Reloaded mixtape. Scary Hours featured the songs "Diplomatic Immunity" and "God's Plan", which both debuted within the top-ten, with the latter eventually breaking various streaming records as it debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was Drake's first song as a solo artist to reach number one, as well as his second chart topper as a lead artist. Drake earned his 70th top 40 entry after featuring on the Migos song "Walk It Talk It", which debuted at number eighteen, and peaked at number ten. He was later featured on BlocBoy JB's debut single "Look Alive", which was released on February 9, 2018. The song's entry at number six on the Hot 100 made Drake the rapper with the most top 10 hits on the Hot 100, with 23. He then featured on a remix to "Lemon", a song originally released as a collaboration between band N.E.R.D and Rihanna. On April 5, Drake announced he was finishing his fifth studio album and he was releasing a single later that night. On April 6, "Nice for What" was released, alongside a music video directed by Karena Evans, which featured several female celebrities. After "Nice For What" replaced his own "God's Plan" on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, making him the first artist to have a new number-one debut replace their former number-one debut, Drake announced the title of his fifth studio album as Scorpion, with a planned release date of June 29, 2018. He then released "I'm Upset" on May 26 as the album's third single. Scorpion was then released as a double-album, and marked Drake's longest project, with a run-time of just under 90 minutes. The album broke both the one-day global records on Spotify and Apple Music, as it gained 132.45 million and 170 million plays on each streaming service, respectively. It eventually sold 749,000 album equivalent units in its first week of sales, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. In 2018, articles by The Guardian and Rolling Stone called him "the definitive pop star of his generation" and "perhaps [the] biggest post-Justin Timberlake male pop star of the new millennium", respectively. Shortly thereafter, Drake collaborated with British hip hop promotion Link Up TV on July 7, releasing a freestyle as a part of the promotion's 'Behind Barz' segment, before releasing another freestyle a week later after featuring on Charlie Sloth's long-running Fire in the Booth program on BBC Radio 1Xtra. Drake then earned his sixth number-one hit with "In My Feelings" on July 21, which also spawned the viral "#InMyFeelingsChallenge" or "#KiKiChallenge". The success of "In My Feelings" also made Drake the record holder for most number one hits among rappers. Soon after, he released the music video for "Nonstop", which was filmed in London during his surprise performance at the Wireless Festival. He then appeared on the Travis Scott album Astroworld, featuring uncredited vocals for his song "Sicko Mode", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Drake announced in July 2018 that he planned to "take 6 months to a year" to himself to return to television and films, producing the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. He then began the Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour with co-headliners Migos on August 12. This preceded a collaboration with Bad Bunny titled "Mia", which featured Drake performing in Spanish. He subsequently received the award for Hot Ticket Performer at the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards on October 16. During a performance in Edmonton on November 7, Drake announced his intention to begin composing his next project in early 2019. In February 2019, he received his fourth Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, for "God's Plan", at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. During his speech, producers abruptly cut to a commercial break, leading viewers to speculate they were censoring his speech during which he criticized The Recording Academy. A legal representative for the academy then released a statement stating "a natural pause [led] the producers [to] assume that he was done and cut to commercial," and added the organization offered him an opportunity to return to stage, but he declined. On February 14, Drake re-released his third mixtape, So Far Gone, onto streaming services for the first time to commemorate its 10-year anniversary, and later collaborated with Summer Walker on a remix of Walker's song "Girls Need Love", marking his first release of 2019. On April 10, during a performance on the Assassination Vacation Tour, he announced he was working on a new album. On June 8, Drake appeared on Chris Brown's single "No Guidance". On June 15, Drake released two songs, "Omertà" and "Money in the Grave", on his EP The Best in the World Pack to celebrate the NBA Championship win of the Toronto Raptors. On August 2, he released the compilation album Care Package, consisting of songs released between 2010 and 2016 that were initially unavailable for purchase or commercial streaming; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. 2019–present: Dark Lane Demo Tapes, Scary Hours 2, and Certified Lover Boy Drake released the song "War" on December 24, 2019, with an accompanying music video, which was widely noted for its UK drill-inspired instrumental. The following day, in an interview with Rap Radar, it was revealed that he was in the process of completing his sixth studio album. On January 10, 2020, Drake collaborated with Future on the song "Life Is Good", which appeared on the album High Off Life. On January 31, the pair again collaborated on the song "Desires", although it was released for free after being leaked. On February 29, Drake released the songs "When to Say When" and "Chicago Freestyle" with a combined music video. On April 3, he released "Toosie Slide" with a music video, which features a dance created in collaboration with social media influencer Toosie. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Drake the first male artist to have three songs debut at number one. On May 1, 2020, Drake released the commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes, with guest appearances from Chris Brown, Future, Young Thug, Fivio Foreign, Playboi Carti, and Sosa Geek. He also announced that his sixth studio album would be released in the summer of 2020. The mixtape is a compilation of new songs and tracks that leaked on the internet. It received mixed reviews and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 223,000 album-equivalent units, and at number one on the UK Albums Chart, earning 20,000 units in its first week. On July 17, Drake was featured on DJ Khaled's singles "Greece" and "Popstar", debuting at numbers eight and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, becoming Drake's record-extending 24th and 25th debuts in the Hot 100's top 10. It also became his 39th and 40th Hot 100 top ten entries, breaking Madonna's record for most Hot 100 top ten hits. On July 20, Drake and Headie One released the drill track "Only You Freestyle", making it the third drill-inspired song he released in 2020, after "War" and "Demons", both of which appear on Dark Lane Demo Tapes. On August 14, "Laugh Now Cry Later" featuring Lil Durk was released, which was intended as the lead single from Drake's album Certified Lover Boy, but not included on the final track listing. It debuted at number two on the Hot 100, and was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. On September 3, the video for "Popstar" was released, in which Drake makes a cameo appearance. On October 2, Drake was the sole guest appearance on Bryson Tiller's album Anniversary (2020), on the song "Outta Time". He subsequently appeared on the remix to "You're Mines Still", alongside Yung Bleu on October 16; just over a week later, on his 34th birthday, Drake announced Certified Lover Boy was set to be released in January 2021. This was later pushed back to an unspecified date after he sustained a knee injury which required surgery. On December 1, he reunited with Lil Wayne on "B.B. King Freestyle", the lead single from the latter's double-disc mixtape No Ceilings 3 (2020). In January 2021, Drake became the first artist to surpass 50 billion combined streams on Spotify. He later collaborated with Drakeo the Ruler on the single "Talk to Me", which was released on February 23. On March 5, Drake released an EP titled Scary Hours 2, which includes three songs: "What's Next", "Wants and Needs" with Lil Baby, and "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" with Rick Ross. These three songs entered the charts at numbers one, two, and three, respectively, making Drake the first artist to have three songs debut in the top three on the Billboard Hot 100. He then appeared on the single "Solid" from the YSL Records compilation Slime Language 2, alongside Gunna and Young Thug. "Solid" was originally meant to appear on Certified Lover Boy, and to only feature Gunna. On May 14, Drake was featured alongside mentor Lil Wayne on former labelmate Nicki Minaj's "Seeing Green", a new song on the streaming re-release of her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. Two weeks later, he was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. On June 12, he featured on Migos' "Having Our Way", from the group's third studio album, Culture III (2021), and on July 1, collaborated with Brent Faiyaz and The Neptunes on the song "Wasting Time". On July 23, Drake appeared on "Over the Top" with Smiley, the newest signee to OVO Sound. During an appearance on Fri Yiy Friday, a radio show supported by OVO Sound, Drake revealed Certified Lover Boy "is ready. [I'm] looking forward to delivering it". He then appeared on "Betrayal", a collaboration with Trippie Redd for Trip at Knight (2021). Certified Lover Boy was then released on September 3, 2021, becoming his tenth number-one album on the Billboard 200; every song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album was the first to chart nine songs on the top 10, with "Way 2 Sexy" becoming Drake's ninth number-one single. He subsequently set the record for the fourth-most cumulative weeks (52) at number one on the Hot 100, behind Mariah Carey (84), Rihanna (60), and The Beatles (59). He received a nomination for Best Global Act at the 2021 All Africa Music Awards, and appeared on Young Thug's Punk (2021), featuring on the song "Bubbly". On October 22, Drake featured on Majid Jordan's "Stars Align", the lead single to the band's third album Wildest Dreams. Two weeks later, on November 5, Drake released a horror-themed black and white music video for "Knife Talk", the third single from Certified Lover Boy, with featured appearances by 21 Savage and Project Pat. On November 6, he debuted the song "Give It Up" on OVO Sound Radio. Certified Lover Boy was nominated for Best Rap Album and "Way 2 Sexy" was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. He was later named Billboard’s Top Artist of the Year for 2021, and was the fourth most streamed artist on Spotify for the year, and the most streamed rapper. On December 6, he withdrew his music for consideration for the Grammys, with multiple outlets noting his contentious relationship with the Recording Academy. Drake accumulated 8.6 billion on-demand streams in 2021, making him the most overall streamed artist of the year in the United States; one out of every 131 streams was a Drake song. On January 7, 2022, Drake was announced as a featured artist on Gunna's DS4Ever, but was not included until the release of the album's deluxe edition just under a week later. On January 17, Drake announced another collaboration with DJ Khaled. Artistry Influences Drake has cited several hip hop artists as influencing his rapping style, including Kanye West, Jay Z, MF Doom, and Lil Wayne, while also attributing various R&B artists as influential to the incorporation of the genre into his own music, including Aaliyah and Usher. Drake has also credited several dancehall artists for later influencing his Caribbean-inflected style, including Vybz Kartel, whom he has called one of his "biggest inspirations". Musical style Drake is considered to be a pop-rap artist. While Drake's earlier music primarily spanned hip hop and R&B, his music has delved into pop and trap in recent years. Additionally, his music has drawn influence from regional scenes, including Jamaican dancehall and UK drill. Drake is known for his egotistical lyrics, technical ability, and integration of personal backstory when dealing with relationships with women. His vocal abilities have been lauded for an audible contrast between typical hip-hop beats and melody, with sometimes abrasive rapping coupled with softer accents, delivered on technical lyricism. His songs often include audible changes in lyrical pronunciation in parallel with his upbringing in Toronto, and connections with Caribbean and Middle Eastern countries which include such phrases as "ting", "touching road", "talkin' boasy" and "gwanin' wassy". Most of his songs contain R&B and Canadian hip hop elements, and he combines rapping with singing. He credits his father with the introduction of singing into his rap mixtapes, which have become a staple in his musical repertoire. His incorporation of melody into technically complex lyrics was supported by Lil Wayne, and has subsequently been a critically acclaimed component to Drake's singles and albums. The lyrical content that Drake deploys is typically considered to be emotional or boastful. However, Drake is often revered for incorporating "degrading" themes of money, drug use, and women into newer, idealized contexts, often achieving this through his augmentation of the typical meaning of phrases in which he combines an objective and subjective perspective into one vocal delivery. His songs often maintain tension between "pause and pace, tone timbre, and volume and vocal fermata." Drake is credited with innovating what has been referred to as "hyper-reality rap", which is characterized by its focus on themes of celebrity as being distinct from the "real world." Public image A prominent figure in pop culture, Drake is widely credited for popularizing the Toronto sound to the music industry and leading the "Canadian Invasion" of the American charts. The Washington Post editor Maura Judkis credits Drake for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States with his single "The Motto", which includes, "You only live once: that's the motto, nigga, YOLO." Drake later popularized the term "The Six" in 2015 in relation to his hometown Toronto, subsequently becoming a point of reference to the city. His lyrical subject matter, which often revolves around relationships, have had widespread use on social media through photo captions to reference emotions or personal situations. However, this content has incited mixed reception from fans and critics, with some deeming him as sensitive, a trait perceived as antithetical to traditional hip hop culture. June 10 was declared "Drake Day" in Houston. In 2016, Drake visited Drake University after a show in Des Moines in response to an extensive social media campaign by students that began in 2009, advocating for his appearance. According to a report from Confused.com, Drake's Toronto home was one of the most Googled homes in the world, recording over a million annual searches in 2021; its features, such as its NBA-size indoor basketball court and Kohler Numi toilet, have also received widespread media attention. The music video for "Hotline Bling" went viral due to Drake's eccentric dance moves. The video has been remixed, memed, and was heavily commented on due to the unconventional nature on the song, causing it to gain popularity on YouTube, and spawning several parodies. Drake has also been critiqued for his expensive, product placement-heavy attire, exemplified by the video for "Hotline Bling". Drake modelled a $1,500 Moncler Puffer Jacket, a $400 Acne Studios turtleneck, and limited edition Timberland 6" Classic Boots. He was labeled by GQ magazine as "[one of] the most stylish men alive"; during promotion for Certified Lover Boy, Drake debuted a "heart haircut", which became popular and widely imitated. He is also known for his large and extravagant lifestyle, including for high-end themed birthday parties; he maintained this image in his early career by renting a Rolls-Royce Phantom, which he was eventually gifted in 2021. He later cultivated a reputation as a successful gambler; between December 2021 and February 2022, he was reported to have made bets of over $1 billion, which included winnings ranging between $354,000 and $7 million. Between 2016 and 2019, he was noted for the "Drake curse", an internet meme based on the incidents where Drake appears to be support of particular sports team or person, just for that team or person to lose, often against the odds. In 2016, Drake spoke on the shooting of Alton Sterling, publishing an open letter expressing his concern for the safety of ethnic minorities against police brutality in the United States. In 2021, he joined a group of Canadian musicians to work with the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) to lobby Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to restructure the country's copyright law to allow artists and their families to regain ownership of copyrights during their lifetime. He also campaigned for the expansion of a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise in Toronto, and headlined a benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with Kanye West on December 9, 2021, to raise clemency for Larry Hoover, although his solo performance was later removed from the Amazon Prime Video replay. In Christmas 2021, Drake gave away money to individuals in Toronto. Impact Commenting on Drake's Take Care, Elias Leight of Rolling Stone noticed in 2020 that "now nearly every singer raps, and nearly every rapper sings", as many artists "have borrowed or copied the template of [the album] that the boldness of the original is easily forgotten", according to the writer. BBC Radio 1Xtra argued that his co-signs helped push the British hip-hop scene to a wider international market, as he did with the Toronto music scene. According to CBS Music in 2019, Drake has inspired "the next wave" of artists coming out of his hometown. Aaron Williams of Uproxx added "jump-starting the sad boy rapper craze alongside Kid Cudi" and "helping to renew stateside interest in UK grime and Caribbean dancehall with Skepta, PartyNextDoor, and Rihanna" to the modern trends Drake assisted. Writing for Bloomberg, Lucas Shaw commented Drake's popularity has influenced the promotion of music, with Certified Lover Boy attaining large commercial success despite relatively minimal orthodox marketing techniques, stating "fans are consuming Drake’s [music] in a way that is different to others". He also noted the album as novel in relation to consumption, with each song having relatively equivalent streams, as opposed to a dominant single(s). The ubiquity of Drake's music has consistently seen it played during various activities or events. In 2021, a study conducted by Pour Moi found, over a kilometer, joggers ran 21 seconds slower while listening to Drake's music compared to other artists. Drake's music was also found to extend a three-mile run by 105 seconds. Beginning in 2022, Drake's music was canonized academically by Ryerson University, which began teaching courses titled "Deconstructing Drake and the Weeknd", with the pair's music used to explore themes related to the Canadian music industry, race, class, marketing and globalization. Achievements Drake is the highest-certified digital singles artist ever in the United States, having moved 142 million units based on combined sales and on-demand streams. His highest-certified single is "God's Plan" (11× Platinum), followed by "Hotline Bling", which was certified 8× Platinum. He holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; he has the most charted songs of any artist (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in a single week (27), the most debuts in a week (22), the most top 10 singles (54), the most top 10 debuts in a week (9), the most top 10 debuts (39), and the most continuous time on the chart (431 weeks). He has accumulated 9 number-one singles, a record among rappers. In 2021, Drake became second act to occupy the entire Hot 100's top five in a single week, the other act being The Beatles in 1964. He also has the most number-one singles on the Hot Rap Songs (23), Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (23), and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. He is also the only artist to have two albums log 400 weeks each on the Billboard 200. , Drake has won four Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. He has also won a record 29 Billboard Music Awards. In 2017, he surpassed Adele's record for most wins at the Billboard Music Awards in one night, winning 13 awards from 22 nominations. He was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. Billboard editor Ernest Baker stated "Drake managed to rule hip-hop in 2014", adding "the best rapper in 2014 didn't need a new album or hit single to prove his dominance". From 2015 to 2017, Drake ranked within the top-five of the Billboard year-end chart for Top Artists topping it in 2018. He was named the IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2016 and 2018. Drake was Spotify's most streamed artist of the 2010s. Pitchfork ranked Nothing Was the Same as the 41st best album of the decade "so far"—between 2010 and 2014, and ranked him fifth in the publication's list of the "Top 10 Music Artists" since 2010. Take Care was ranked at number 95 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020). He has been ranked by Complex on their "Best Rapper Alive Every Year Since 1979" list, awarding Drake the accolade in 2011, 2012, and 2015. Controversies Legal issues On May 31, 2009, Drake was robbed at gunpoint in Toronto's Little Italy district and was forced to forfeit a gold and diamond necklace, an Audemars Piguet watch, and $2,000. Soccerties Cotterell and Paul Lelutiu were initially charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, three counts of pointing a firearm and possession of stolen property; these charges were later dropped. The men pled guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, and spent six months in jail. In April 2017, Mesha Collins was arrested for criminal trespass after breaking into Drake's home in Calabasas; although no criminal charges were brought by Drake, she later filed a $4 billion lawsuit against him for defamation in June 2021, which was dismissed that December. In March 2021, an unidentified woman armed with a knife was arrested following a failed attempt to break into Drake's home in Toronto. In 2012, singer Ericka Lee filed a lawsuit against Drake for the usage of her voice on "Marvins Room". Claiming to have provided the female vocals, Lee also alleged she was owed songwriting credits and royalties. Despite Drake's legal team countering by claiming that Lee simply requested a credit in the liner notes of the album, the matter was resolved in February 2013, with both parties agreeing to an out-of-court settlement. In 2014, Drake was sued for $300,000 for sampling "Jimmy Smith Rap", a 1982 single by jazz musician Jimmy Smith. The suit was filed by Smith's estate, who said Drake never asked for permission when sampling it for the intro on "Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2", claiming Smith himself would have disagreed as he disliked hip hop. Drake would win the lawsuit in 2017, with federal judge William Pauley ruling the content used was transformative, and there was no liability for copyright infringement. Also in 2014, it emerged that Drake was sued by rapper Rappin' 4-Tay, claiming Drake misused his lyrics when collaborating with YG on the song "Who Do You Love?". He sought $100,000 for mistreatment and artistic theft, which Drake paid to the rapper later that year. In 2016, Drake caused a nightclub in Oklahoma City to close down, due to his usage of marijuana and other illegal drugs being prevalent at the club. In December 2021, Drake sued jeweler Ori Vechler and his company Gemma LTD for incorrectly using his likeness in promotional material; he also sought to return three items he purchased. In 2017, Drake was embroiled in another lawsuit, being sued by producer Detail (Noel Fisher) over an alleged assault in 2014. Fisher claimed Drake's bodyguard, Nessel "Chubbs" Beezer, punched him in the face and allegedly broke his jaw over musical and financial disputes. Fisher also said the injuries caused him to be hospitalized for days and had to undergo several surgeries, following which he sued for damages related to medical bills and physical and emotional suffering. The case, which was set to undergo trial in May 2018, was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu after Fisher failed to show up for a final status conference. Lu ruled that Beezer solely acted in self-defense. In October 2021, Drake and Chris Brown were sued by Braindon Cooper and Timothy Valentine for copyright infringement between "No Guidance" and their own song "I Love Your Dress". Cooper and Valentine lost the lawsuit quickly, also being mocked by general public on the internet. A month later, he was named as a co-defendant with Travis Scott in a multi-claimant lawsuit for inciting "a riot and violence" at the Astroworld Festival, to which he released a statement; he was later criticized for reportedly attending the Area 29 strip club in Houston the day after the incident. He also reportedly delayed the release of "Splash Brothers", a collaboration with French Montana, following the incident. Feuds Drake and Chris Brown were allegedly involved in a physical altercation in June 2012 when Drake and his entourage threw glass bottles at Brown in a SoHo nightclub in Manhattan, New York City. Chris Brown tweeted about the incident, and criticized Drake in music until 2013, including on the "R.I.P." remix. Despite no response from Drake, he and Brown both appeared in a comedic skit for the 2014 ESPY Awards, and rehearsed the skit together prior to the televised airing, virtually ending the dispute. The pair later collaborated on "No Guidance" in 2019. In December 2014, Drake was involved in another altercation, being punched by Diddy outside the LIV nightclub in Miami, Florida. The altercation was reported to be over Drake's usage of the instrumental for "0 to 100 / The Catch Up", allegedly produced by Boi-1da for Diddy, before Drake appropriated the track for his own use. Drake was later rushed to the ER after aggravating an old arm injury during the dispute. Drake was also involved in a feud with Tyga, stemming from Tyga's negative comments about him during an interview with Vibe magazine. Drake would later respond on "6 God" and "6PM in New York", which has been interpreted as directly involved in Tyga's abrupt removal from Young Money Entertainment. Further controversy arose in July 2015 when it was alleged by Meek Mill that Drake had used ghostwriters during recording sessions for "RICO", one of the lead singles off Mill's second studio album. This proceeded further allegations that Drake did not help in promotion of the album, due to Mill discovering the ghostwriter, widely believed to be Quentin Miller. Despite Miller collaborating with Drake and receiving past credits, Mill assured that Miller had written Drake's verse for "R.I.C.O." Soon after, Funkmaster Flex aired reference tracks in support of Mill's claims, notably for "R.I.C.O.", "10 Bands", and "Know Yourself". This prompted Drake to respond with two diss tracks, titled "Charged Up" and "Back to Back", in the space of four days. Mill would later respond with "Wanna Know", before removing it from SoundCloud weeks later. Following several subliminal disses from either artist, Drake further sought to denounce Funkmaster Flex while performing in New York (Flex's home state) on the Summer Sixteen Tour. Following Mill's prison sentencing for probation violation, Drake stated "Free Meek Mill" at a concert in Australia, and ended their rivalry on "Family Feud"; the pair later collaborated on "Going Bad" in 2019. Pusha T would also use the same rationale to criticize Drake on "Infrared" in 2018, leading Drake to respond with the "Duppy Freestyle" diss track on May 25. Pusha T responded with "The Story of Adidon" on May 29, which presented several claims and revealed Drake's fatherhood. The pair are considered to have been in a rivalry since 2012, resulting from Pusha T's feuds with Lil Wayne and Birdman, with Drake yet to respond to "The Story of Adidon". In 2016, Drake was embroiled in a feud with Joe Budden, stemming from Budden's derogatory comments when reviewing Views. Drake would allegedly respond to Budden through "4PM in Calabasas", prompting Budden to respond with two diss tracks in the space of five days, echoing the same sentiment Drake deployed during his feud with Meek Mill. Drake would later appear on "No Shopping" alongside French Montana, directly referencing Budden throughout the song, although, Montana claimed Drake's verse was recorded before the release of Budden's diss tracks. Despite Budden releasing two further songs in reference to Drake, he has yet to officially respond to Budden. In the same year, Drake dissed Kid Cudi on "Two Birds, One Stone" after Cudi launched an expletive-filled rant on the artist on Twitter. Cudi later checked into a rehabilitation facility following the release of the song, and continued to disparage Drake in further tweets; the pair eventually resolved their feud, and collaborated on "IMY2" in 2021. In mid-2018, Drake was embroiled in a feud with long-time collaborator Kanye West. In an appearance on The Shop, Drake recounted several meetings with West, who voiced his desire to "be Quincy Jones" and work with Drake and replicate the producer-artist relationship between Jones and Michael Jackson. West requested Drake play and inform him of upcoming releases, while he gave Drake the instrumental to "Lift Yourself". West requested the pair work in Wyoming, with Drake arriving a day after close friend 40, who said West was instead recording an album. Judging the pair to have differing release schedules, Drake traveled to Wyoming, but "only worked on [West's] music"; they explored Drake's after he played West "March 14", which addressed Drake's relationship with his newborn son and co-parent. This prompted a conversation with West regarding his personal issues, after which, news of his son would be exposed by Pusha T, which Drake concluded was revealed to him by West; West also released "Lift Yourself" as a solo song and produced "Infrared". Drake then denounced West in songs and live performances. West would retaliate in a series of tweets in late 2018, and the pair continued to respond on social media and in music as of late 2021, which included Drake leaking West's song "Life of the Party". During their feud, West also made several public attempts to reconcile with Drake, which is reported to have occurred after they co-headlined a benefit concert in December 2021. Drake has also been involved in feuds with DMX, Kendrick Lamar, Common, The Weeknd, XXXTentacion, Jay-Z, Tory Lanez, and Ludacris, although the latter five, and his feud with DMX, have been reported to be resolved. Business ventures Endorsements Prior to venturing into business, Drake garnered several endorsement deals with various companies, notably gaining one with Sprite following his mention of drinking purple drank, a concoction that contains Sprite as a key ingredient. In the aftermath of his highly publicized feud with Meek Mill, Drake was also endorsed by fast food restaurants Burger King and Whataburger. Business magazine Forbes commented his endorsement deals and business partnerships "combined heavily" for Drake's reported pre-tax earnings at $94 million between June 2016 to June 2017, being one of the highest-paid celebrities during that period. OVO Sound During the composition of Nothing Was the Same, Drake started his own record label in late 2012 with producer Noah "40" Shebib and business partner Oliver El-Khatib. Drake sought for an avenue to release his own music, as well helping in the nurturing of other artists, while Shebib and El-Khatib yearned to start a label with a distinct sound, prompting the trio to team up to form OVO Sound. The name is an abbreviation derived from the October's Very Own moniker Drake used to publish his earlier projects. The label is currently distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Drake, 40, and PartyNextDoor were the label's inaugural artists. The label houses artists including Drake, PartyNextDoor, Majid Jordan, Roy Woods, and dvsn, as well as producers including 40, Boi-1da, Nineteen85, and Future the Prince. Toronto Raptors On September 30, 2013, at a press conference with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke, Drake was announced as the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise. It was announced together with the 2016 NBA All-Star Game being awarded to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. This was also the setting where Drake was given The Key to the City. In the role, it was announced that Drake would help to promote and serve as a host of festivities, beginning with the All-Star Game. He would also provide consulting services to rebrand the team, helping to redesign its image and clothing line in commemoration of the franchise's 20th anniversary. He also collaborated with the Raptors on pre-game practice jerseys, t-shirts, and sweatsuits, and began hosting an annual "Drake Night" segment with the organization, beginning in 2013. Entertainment Apple Music Following the launch of Apple Music, a music and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc., the company announced Drake as the figurehead for the platform at their Worldwide Developers Conference in 2015, with the artist also penning an exclusivity deal with the service worth a reported $19 million. This saw all future solo releases by Drake becoming available first on Apple Music, before seeing roll out to other streaming services and music retailers. Drake had also developed the OVO Sound Radio station on Beats 1, which is utilized as the primary avenue for debuting singles and projects, with the station overseeing over 300 million unique users when it debuted More Life. Drake's partnership with Apple Music has largely been credited for the platform's sharp success, as it attained 10 million subscribers after six months, as well as giving birth to exclusivity from artists, with many independent and signed artists, such as Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, also brokering exclusivity deals with streaming services. Through signing with the company, Drake was one of the artists, alongside Pharrell and Katy Perry, to exclusively own an Apple Watch before the smartwatch saw public release. DreamCrew and investments In 2017, Drake and Adel "Future" Nur co-founded the production company DreamCrew, which functions both as a management company and entertainment group. The company has produced the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. Their debut film as producers was on the sports documentary The Carter Effect, detailing the impact of Vince Carter in Canada. In July 2021, Drake was announced as an executive producer, alongside LeBron James and Maverick Carter, for Black Ice, a documentary film charting the experiences of black and ethnic minority professional and amateur ice hockey players. It is due to be produced by Uninterrupted Canada in partnership with Drake's DreamCrew Entertainment, James' SpringHill Company, and Bell Media. DreamCrew also began production on the unscripted survival series Chillin' Island in 2021, due to air on HBO. In June 2021, Live Nation confirmed a long-standing partnership with Drake to open History, a 2,500 convertible capacity live-entertainment and general function venue in Toronto. It was in development for over three years and is situated in The Beaches. He also aided in the venue's interior design, which contains LED screens, soundproofing, quick-change rooms and a customizable staircase. Later that month, Drake signed as an investor and collaborator with Los Angeles-based sustainability and financial services startup Aspiration; he will also use the company's enterprise services to monitor and ensure personal carbon neutrality. He has also invested in robo-advisor Wealthsimple, the "livestreaming video commerce platform" NTWRK, the cannabis provider Bullrider, and several sports-related ventures, including online esports betting platform Players’ Lounge, the sportstech firm StatusPro, and online sports network Overtime. In an analysis by Brennan Doherty for Toronto Star, Drake's investment "carry all the hallmarks" typical of musicians, which is often momentum investing, and cited Jason Pereira, who described Drake's business deals as typically angel investing and private equity (often venture capital) funds. Pereira also noted his "leveraging his personal brand to generate cash". 100 Thieves In 2018, Drake purchased an ownership stake in the gaming organization 100 Thieves, joining as a co-founder and co-owner. The investment was partly funded by music executive Scooter Braun and Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert. Since the investment, the stake is estimated to be worth $125 million. Cuisine Two months prior to the release of Views, Drake announced the development of Virginia Black, a bourbon-based whiskey. This would be his second foray into selling foodstuffs, previously partnering with celebrity chef Susur Lee to open Fring's Restaurant in Toronto. The beverage was created and also distributed alongside Proximo Spirits, as well as with Brent Hocking, a spirits producer who founded DeLeón Tequila in 2008. The company described the partnership as "fruitful [as they] share a passion for style, music, and the pursuit of taste [on] a quest to redefine whiskey." In 2021, using ratings compiled from Vivino and complimentary website Distiller, Virginia Black was ranked the worst value celebrity liquor for quality and price. The product was launched in June 2016, and contained two, three and four-year old Bourbon whiskies. The company sold over 4,000 bottles in the first week domestically. The brand was also promoted and marketed through Drake's music and various tours, such as being part of the "Virginia Black VIP Lounge" additional package available for purchase during the Summer Sixteen Tour. Virginia Black shipped a further 30,000 units when rollout was extended to select international markets in late 2016. The company later aired commercials with Drake's father, Dennis Graham, which featured the tagline of "The Realest Dude Ever" (in reference toward "The Most Interesting Man in the World" tagline employed by Dos Equis) after extending the sale of the drink to Europe in 2017. In 2019, Drake began collaborating with Hocking on Mod Sélection, a luxury range of champagne, and in May 2021, formed part of a $40 million series B investment funding round led by D1 Capital Partners in Daring Foods Inc., a vegan meat analogue corporation. That September, he purchased a minority stake in Californian food chain Dave's Hot Chicken. Fashion In December 2013, Drake announced he was signing with Nike and Air Jordan, saying "growing up, I'm sure we all idolized Michael Jordan. I [am] officially inducted into the Team Jordan family." Drake also released his own collection of Air Jordans, dubbed the "Air Jordan OVOs". This foresaw collaborations between OVO and Canada Goose, in which various items of clothing were produced. In 2020, A Bathing Ape announced a collaboration with Drake, releasing an OVO x BAPE collection of clothing, while he also partnered with candle manufacturer Revolve to create "Better World Fragrance", a line of scented candles. In December 2020, Drake announced Nocta, a sub-label with Nike. In a press release, Drake said "I always felt like there was an opportunity for Nike to embrace an entertainer the same way [as] athletes," he wrote, "to be associated with the highest level possible was always my goal." The apparel line is named after Drake's "nocturnal creative process", in which Nike described as a "collection for the collective", and noted by GQ as "fashion-forward, minimal-inspired sportswear". One clothing item features an image of Drake's muses, Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta, with a poem. After the first collection sold out, another was released in February 2021, which introduced t-shirts, adjustable caps, a utility vest, and a lightweight jacket. That July, OVO released the "Weekender Collection", which includes a line of hoodies, velour sweatsuits, t-shirts, shorts, and accessories for women. OVO then released a "Winter Survival Collection" that December which included puffer jackets, vests, and parkas made with 700-fill down and Oeko-Tex certified down feathers. They followed this with limited edition Jurassic Park-themed collection and an indoor footwear collaboration with Suicoke. Personal life Health and residences Drake lives in Toronto, Ontario, in a 35,000-square-foot, $100 million estate nicknamed "The Embassy", which was built from the ground-up in 2017, and is seen in the video to his song "Toosie Slide". He also owns a home nicknamed the "YOLO Estate" in Hidden Hills, California, which he has owned since 2012, and in 2021, rented a $65 million property in Beverly Hills. He owns a condominium adjacent to the CN Tower, and a Boeing 767. Drake has a variety of tattoos, some of which are symbols associated with personal accomplishments, such as a jack-o-lantern, "October Lejonhjärta" (), owls, and a controversial Abbey Road (1969) inspired depiction of himself and The Beatles. He has portraits of Lil Wayne, Sade, Aaliyah, Jesús Malverde, Denzel Washington, 40, his parents, grandmother, maternal uncle, and son; and several related to Toronto, including the CN Tower and the number "416". On August 18, 2021, Drake revealed he contracted COVID-19 amidst the pandemic, which led to temporary hair loss. He was also one of the first celebrities to publicly test for the virus in March 2020. Family and relationships Drake's paternal uncles are guitarists and songwriters Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges. Graham was a member of Sly and the Family Stone, while Hodges contributed to songs for Al Green, including "Love and Happiness", "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)", and "Take Me to the River". Drake has a close friendship with Adele, and was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Rihanna from 2009 to 2016. He has mentioned the relationship in every one of his studio albums, and when presenting Rihanna with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2016, he said "she's a woman I've been in love with since I was 22 years old." On his relationship with her, he said on the talk show The Shop: As life takes shape and teaches you your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don't have the fairy tale [of] 'Drake started a family with Rihanna, [it's] so perfect.' It looks so good on paper [and] I wanted it too at one time. Drake is a father to one son named Adonis, who was born on October 11, 2017 to French painter and former model Sophie Brussaux. Brussaux's pregnancy was the subject of several rumours after featuring in a TMZ article in early 2017. After the nature of the pair's relationship was discussed in Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon", Drake confirmed his fatherhood on the album Scorpion in 2018, citing a desire for his child's privacy. Discography Studio albums Thank Me Later (2010) Take Care (2011) Nothing Was the Same (2013) Views (2016) Scorpion (2018) Certified Lover Boy (2021) Tours Headlining Away from Home Tour (2010) Club Paradise Tour (2012) Would You Like a Tour? (2013–2014) Jungle Tour (2015; six date promotional tour) Boy Meets World Tour (2017) Assassination Vacation Tour (2019) Co-headlining America's Most Wanted Tour (2009) Drake vs. Lil Wayne (2014) Summer Sixteen Tour (2016) Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour (2018) Filmography Film Television See also Culture of Toronto List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of Canadian musicians List of people from Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of highest-certified music artists in the United States List of best-selling music artists List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones List of most-followed Instagram accounts List of Canadian hip hop musicians List of Canadian Jews List of Black Canadians Black Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area History of the Jews in Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the Canadian Hot 100 List of Canadian Grammy Award winners and nominees List of most-streamed artists on Spotify References External links 1986 births Living people 21st-century Black Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian rappers African-American businesspeople African-American Jews African-American male rappers Black Canadian businesspeople Black Canadian male actors Black Canadian musicians Brit Award winners Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian Ashkenazi Jews Canadian contemporary R&B singers Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Canadian hip hop singers Canadian male child actors Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male rappers Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian music industry executives Canadian people of African-American descent Canadian people of American descent Canadian people of Jewish descent Canadian people of Latvian-Jewish descent Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Canadian philanthropists Canadian pop singers Canadian rhythm and blues singers Canadian songwriters Cash Money Records artists Culture of Toronto Dancehall musicians Grammy Award winners for rap music Jewish Canadian male actors Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish Canadian writers Jewish rappers Jewish singers Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year winners Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year winners Male actors from Toronto MTV Europe Music Award winners OVO Sound artists People from Hidden Hills, California People from Weston, Toronto Pop rappers Rappers from Toronto Republic Records artists Sports spectators Toronto Raptors personnel Trap musicians UK drill musicians Universal Motown Records artists Writers from Toronto Young Money Entertainment artists	true	[ "So Far Gone is the debut extended play by Canadian rapper and singer Drake. It was released on September 15, 2009 by Cash Money Records, Universal Motown Records and Young Money Entertainment. This is his reissued project from his third mixtape that was released earlier on February 13, 2009. This EP features five tracks from the mixtape, with the inclusions of two new songs. The EP features guest appearances from Trey Songz, Lil Wayne, Bun B and Young Jeezy. The EP was supported by three singles: \"Best I Ever Had\", \"Successful\" featuring Trey Songz and Lil Wayne, and \"I'm Goin' In\" featuring Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy. In April 2010, the EP won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards.\n\nBackground\nSo Far Gone was the reissued project from Drake's third mixtape that was released earlier, on February 13, 2009, and as a result of the mixtape's success, he created an EP that was re-released later, on September 15, 2009. The final track listing, however, cuts the seventeen-track mixtape to contain seven tracks for this reissued EP. The track from the EP titled \"Fear\" was the only new song to be included to this project. \"Fear\" serves as the transition song between So Far Gone and his debut studio album Thank Me Later (2010). Drake described the song in an interview with MTV as \"eerie\", and mentioned that \"the last line of the third verse is gonna be the first line on my album [Thank Me Later]\".\n\nSingles\n\"Best I Ever Had\" was released as the first single, which released seven months prior to the release of the EP as a digital download from his mixtape to the same name. The song was released as an official single on June 16, 2009. The single became one of Drake's most successful songs to date, and charted for 24 weeks, while peaking at number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The single also managed to peak at number one on both the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and the Top Rap Songs charts, thus becoming Drake's first number one hit on both of these charts. The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), indicating the sales of 1,000,000 copies in the United States.\n\n\"Successful\" was released as the second single from So Far Gone. The single managed to peak at number 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and spent a total of 18 weeks on the chart. The song also reached the top five on both the Top R&B/Hip-Hop and Top Rap Songs charts, peaking at number 3 and number 2 respectively. This single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), indicating the sales of 500,000 copies in the United States.\n\n\"I'm Goin' In\" charted and peaked at number 40 the week after the EP was released, and was later sent to urban radio as the album's third single on October 27, 2009. It managed to remain on the US Billboard Hot 100 for seventeen weeks. The single was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), indicating the sales of 1,000,000 copies in the United States.\n\nCritical response\n\nOverall the EP has received generally positive reviews from music critics. On Metacritic, the album has received an average score of 76 which indicates \"generally favorable reviews\". RapReviews.com reviewed the album positively and commented on the EP by saying \"The songs that were already previously available on \"So Far Gone\" are a winner and the new songs don't bring Drake down off the high cloud he's already on\". All Music Guide also reviewed the EP positively and said \"So Far Gone shows that Drake is for real, and works as a tantalizing teaser for his first full-length record.\" Entertainment Weekly gave So Far Gone a positive review, and commented on the EP by saying \"For those unfamiliar with Drake's ambidextrous style - crooning Auto-Tune love songs one moment, spitting clever bars the next - it's a handy primer. Everyone else can put the neurosis-exploring new cut Fear on repeat and continue anticipating\". However, PopMatters gave the album a mixed review and pointed out that musically, \"I'm Goin' In\" was the \"weak link\" in the EP.\n\nCommercial performance\nThe EP debuted at number 30 on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 73,000 copies in the United States. It dropped in the second week to number 80, with the sales of 36,000, totalling 109,000 copies sold. It was Drake's lowest-selling project. On June 30, 2010, the EP was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States. As of August 2016, the album has sold 785,000 copies in the United States.\n\nTrack listing\n\nSample credits\n\"Best I Ever Had\" samples \"Fallin' in Love\" by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds.\n \"Uptown\" samples \"Uptown Girl\" by Billy Joel.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\n2009 debut EPs\nDrake (musician) EPs\nAlbums produced by Boi-1da\nAlbums produced by DJ Khalil\nAlbums produced by Needlz\nAlbums produced by Noah \"40\" Shebib\nCash Money Records EPs\nHip hop EPs\nJuno Award for Rap Recording of the Year recordings", "\"Too Far Gone\" is a song by Welsh singer-songwriter Lisa Scott-Lee. It was released on 8 September 2003 by Fontana Records as her second single release. It was written by Scott-Lee, Paul Newton, Daniel Sherman, Phillip Dyson and Peter Day, who also produced it. \"Too Far Gone\" debuted and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart.\n\nMusic video\n\nThe video for \"Too Far Gone\" features Scott-Lee performing in front of blue, pink and red backdrops with her coloured dancers.\n\nTrack listings\nUK CD1 \n \"Too Far Gone\"\n \"Too Far Gone\" (Illicit Pop Mix)\n \"That's That\"\n \"Too Far Gone\" (video)\n\nUK CD2 and European CD single \n \"Too Far Gone\"\n \"Too Far Gone\" (Almighty Mix)\n \"Too Far Gone\" (Bimbo Jones Mix)\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2003 singles\n2003 songs\nFontana Records singles\nLisa Scott-Lee songs" ]
[ "Drake (musician)", "2006-2009: Early mixtapes and So Far Gone", "When was Thank Me Later released?", "I don't know.", "what was his first mixtape?", "Room for Improvement,", "what was his second mixtape?", "Comeback Season.", "was there a third mixtape?", "So Far Gone.", "Was So Far Gone successful?", "It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success" ]	C_9a9897534b1246b3aaaba0a09db98d2e_1	did it win any awards?	6	Did Drake's mixtape, So Far Gone, win any awards?	Drake (musician)	After becoming musically inspired by Jay Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da, and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." The mixtape was released for sale only, and confirmed to have sold over 6,000 copies. In 2007, he released his second mixtape, Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl", featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first ever unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video featured on BET, with "Replacement Girl" being featured on the channel's "New Joint of the Day" segment on April 30, 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston in order to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "I Want This Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". Despite the collaborations between the duo, Drake was yet to be signed by Young Money Entertainment. In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape, So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success due to the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized album entitled The Girls Love Drake, which was released on iTunes under dubious means. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage, and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He later underwent surgery on September 8, 2009. CANNOTANSWER	gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),	Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor. Gaining recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–08), Drake pursued a career in music releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement in 2006; he subsequently released the mixtapes Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment. Drake released his debut studio album, Thank Me Later, in 2010, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. He achieved major critical success with Take Care (2011) and commercial success with Nothing Was the Same (2013) and his first commercial mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015); the latter two were certified multi-platinum in the US. Drake's fourth album, Views (2016), sat atop the Billboard 200 for 13 nonconsecutive weeks, becoming the first album by a male solo artist to do so in over a decade, and featured the chart record-setting lead single "One Dance". His second solo commercial mixtape, More Life (2017), set then-multiple streaming records, and in 2018, he released the double album Scorpion, which contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings". Leaving Young Money in 2018, Drake's third commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes was released in 2020, and featured the chart-topping "Toosie Slide". In 2021, the EP Scary Hours 2 included the number one "What's Next" and set chart records, and preceded his delayed sixth album, Certified Lover Boy (2021); the album set the record for most U.S. top-ten entries from one album, with lead single "Way 2 Sexy" becoming his tenth number one. As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012. In 2013, Drake became the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise, while owning naming rights to its practice facility. In 2016, he began collaborating with American entrepreneur Brent Hocking on the bourbon whiskey Virginia Black; it eventually broke sale records in Canada. Drake has also designed fashion, the most notable including a sub-label collaboration with Nike, alongside other business ventures. In 2018, he was reportedly responsible for 5 percent (CAD$440 million) of Toronto's CAD$8.8 billion annual tourism income. Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 170 million records sold, Drake is ranked as the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States by the RIAA. He has won four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, a record 29 Billboard Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and three Juno Awards, and holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; Drake has the most top 10 singles (54), the most charted songs (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in one week (27), the most Hot 100 debuts in one week (22), and the most continuous time on the Hot 100 (431 weeks). He additionally has the most number-one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Songs, and Rhythmic Airplay charts. Early life Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. His father, Dennis Graham, is African-American and a practicing Catholic from Memphis, Tennessee, who worked as a drummer, performing alongside country musician Jerry Lee Lewis. His mother, Sandra "Sandi" Graham ( Sher), is a Canadian of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage who worked as an English teacher and florist. Dennis Graham performed at Club Bluenote in Toronto, where he met Sandra Sher, who was in attendance. Drake is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, having American citizenship due to his American father. In his youth, he attended a Jewish day school, and became a bar mitzvah. Drake's parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, he and his mother remained in Toronto; his father returned to Memphis, where he was incarcerated for a number of years on drug-related charges. Graham's limited finances and legal issues caused him to remain in the United States until Drake's early adulthood. Prior to his arrest, however, Graham would travel to Toronto and bring Drake to Memphis every summer. His father later collaborated with Canadian music group Arkells on the music video for a song titled "Drake's Dad". Graham claimed in an interview that Drake's assertions of him being an absent father were embellishments used to sell records, which Drake vehemently denies. Drake was raised in two Toronto neighbourhoods. He lived on Weston Road in the city's working-class west end until grade six, playing minor hockey with the Weston Red Wings. He then moved to one of the city's affluent neighbourhoods, Forest Hill, in 2000. When asked about the move, Drake replied, "[We had] a half of a house we could live in. The other people had the top half, we had the bottom half. I lived in the basement, my mom lived on the first floor. It was not big, it was not luxurious. It was what we could afford." He attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he demonstrated an affinity for the arts, first acting while an active student at the school. He later attended Vaughan Road Academy in the city's multicultural Oakwood–Vaughan neighbourhood. Due to the economic status associated with the neighbourhood, Drake described the school as "not by any means the easiest school to go to." Drake was often bullied at school for his racial and religious background, and upon realizing that his busy class schedule was detrimental to his burgeoning acting career, Drake dropped out of school. He later graduated in October 2012. Career 2001–2009: Career beginnings Degrassi: The Next Generation At the age of 15, Drake, eager to begin his career as an actor, was introduced to a high school friend's father, an acting agent. The agent found Drake a role on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. Drake portrayed Jimmy Brooks, a basketball star who became physically disabled after he was shot by a classmate. Drake reportedly disliked this character arc because of its apparent tokenism (his was one of the only black characters in the series), and he also believed it could negatively influence his standing as a rapper. Longtime series writer James Hurst said that Drake threatened legal action to redo the storyline, before ultimately agreeing to it. Madeleine Robinson, the executive director of the Californian non-profit organization Wheelchair 4 Kids, praised the storyline and Drake's performance, noting "he instilled confidence and representation" to disabled youth. When asked about his early acting career, Drake replied, "My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was [from] Canadian TV." He appeared in a total of 100 episodes between 2001 and 2008. In 2010, Drake expressed interest in playing Barack Obama in a biopic, to which Obama responded to with approval in an interview in 2020. According to Degrassi series creators Stephen Stohn and Linda Schuyler, Drake regularly arrived late on set after spending nights recording music. To prevent this, Schuyler claimed Drake struck an agreement with the set's security guards to gain entry to the set after recording to be allowed to sleep in a dressing room. Early mixtapes and So Far Gone Being musically inspired by Jay-Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." Room for Improvement was released for sale only and sold roughly 6,000 copies, for which Drake received $304.04 in royalties. In 2007, he released his second mixtape Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl" featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video on BET, with "Replacement Girl" featured on their "New Joint of the Day" segment in April 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success from the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized fake album titled The Girls Love Drake released on iTunes. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster on the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He underwent surgery later that year. 2010–2012: Musical breakthrough with Thank Me Later and Take Care Drake planned to release his debut album, Thank Me Later, in late 2008, but the album's release date was postponed, first to March 2010, and then to May 25, 2010. Young Money and Universal Motown had then released a statement that the album had again been pushed back three weeks for a June 15, 2010 release. On March 9, 2010, Drake released the debut single "Over", which peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Rap Songs chart. It also received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards. His second single, "Find Your Love", became an even bigger success. It peaked at number five on the Hot 100, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The music video for the single was shot in Kingston, Jamaica, and was criticized by Jamaica's minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett. Bartlett condemned the portrayal of the island in the video, saying, "care has to be taken by all, including our creative artists, in [showcasing] images of our destination and people. Gun culture, while not unique to Jamaica, is not enhancing [the island's image]." The third single and fourth singles, "Miss Me" and "Fancy" respectively, attained moderate commercial success; however, the latter garnered Drake his second nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. On April 29, it was reportedly announced that Drake had finished Thank Me Later during a show in Kansas City, Missouri. Thank Me Later was released on June 15, 2010, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of over 447,000 copies in its first week. Upon the album's release, 25,000 fans gathered at New York City's South Street Seaport for a free concert hosted by Drake and Hanson, which was later cancelled by the police after a near-riot ensued due to overflowing crowds. The album became the top selling debut album for any artist in 2010, and featured Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Jay Z. It was soon announced that Drake would have a prominent role in the military science fiction video game, Gears of War 3. He was scheduled to play the role of Jace Stratton, but scheduling conflicts with his upcoming Away from Home Tour prevented him from accepting the role. He began the tour on September 20, 2010, in Miami, Florida, performing at 78 shows over four different legs. It concluded in Las Vegas in November 2010. Due to the success of the Away from Home Tour, Drake hosted the first OVO Festival in 2010. It would soon become a regular event during the summer, with the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto playing host to the festival on its annual cycle. Drake also had an eco-friendly college tour to support the album, beginning with Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. It concluded in Plymouth, New Hampshire on May 8, and he also performed at The Bamboozle on May 1. Beginning his second effort in fall 2010, Drake announced his intentions to allow Noah "40" Shebib to handle most of the production and record a more cohesive sound than on Thank Me Later, which featured disparate production duties by Shebib and others. In November 2010, Drake revealed the title of his next studio album will be Take Care. In comparison to his debut album, Drake revealed to Y.C Radio 1 that Thank Me Later was a rushed album, stating, "I didn't get to take the time that I wanted to on that record. I rushed a lot of the songs and sonically I didn't get to sit with the record and say, 'I should change this verse.' Once it was done, it was done. That's why my new album is called Take Care, because I get to take my time this go-round." Drake sought to expand on the low-tempo, sensuous, and dark sonic esthetic of Thank Me Later. Primarily a hip hop album, Drake also attempted to incorporate R&B and pop to create a languid, grandiose sound. In January 2011, Drake was in negotiations to join Eva Green and Susan Sarandon as a member of the cast in Nicholas Jarecki's Arbitrage, before ultimately deciding against starring in the movie to focus on the album. "Dreams Money Can Buy" and "Marvins Room" were released on Drake's October's Very Own Blog, on May 20 and June 9, respectively. Acting as promotional singles for Take Care, the former was eventually unincluded on the album's final track listing, while "Marvins Room" gained Gold certification by the RIAA, as well as peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching the top 10 of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, coupled with extensive play on contemporary urban radio. Drake would soon release the song's music video on June 28. "Headlines" was released on August 9 as the lead single for Take Care. It was met with positive critical and commercial response, reaching number thirteen on the Hot 100, as well as becoming his tenth single to reach the summit of the Billboard Hot Rap Songs, making Drake the artist with the most number-one singles on the chart, with 12. It was eventually certified Platinum in both the United States and Canada. The music video for the single was released on October 2, and foresaw Drake performing the song during the second intermission of the 59th National Hockey League All-Star Game in January 2012. "Make Me Proud" was released as the album's second single on October 16. It was the final single to be released prior to the launch of the album, and debuted at number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached number nine the following week, tying the record for the largest jump on the Billboard Hot 100 for a male artist, with 88. "Make Me Proud" soon became Drake's fourth consecutive single to receive Platinum certification by the RIAA. Prior to the album's release, Drake planned to record a collaborative album with Lil Wayne; however, it was ultimately scrapped due to the success of Watch the Throne. He also began collaborations with Rick Ross for a mixtape titled Y.O.L.O., but the duo decided against the project in favor of increased concern for their respective studio albums. Although in 2021, Ross stated that a joint album is still possible as they've casually discussed it. Take Care was released on November 15, 2011, and received generally positive reviews from music critics. John McDonnell of NME dubbed it "an affecting masterpiece" and commended its "delicate, mellifluous sound and unashamedly candid, emotive lyrics." Pitchforks Ryan Dombal found Drake's "technical abilities" to be improved and stated, "Just as his thematic concerns have become richer, so has the music backing them up." Andy Hutchins of The Village Voice called it "a carefully crafted bundle of contradictory sentiments from a conflicted rapper who explores his own neuroses in as compelling a manner as anyone not named Kanye West." Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot complimented the depth of Drake's "moral psychodramas" and stated, "the best of it affirms that Drake is shaping a pop persona with staying power." It also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, and achieved great commercial success, eventually being certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA in 2016, with sales for the album marking 2.6 million in the U.S. The album's third and fourth singles, "The Motto" and Take Care", were released on November 29, 2011 and February 21, 2012, respectively. Each song was subject to commercial success, while also having large societal impacts, with "The Motto" credited for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States. The music video for "Take Care" saw widespread acclaim, with MTV stating, "None of his contemporaries – not even the ever-obtuse Kanye [West] – make videos like this, mostly because no one else can get away with it." The video received four nominations at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Video of the Year. The song was also featured on the channel's "Pop Songs You Must Hear" list of 2011. "HYFR" was the final single to be released from the album, and became certified Gold. It also won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video in 2012, and the channel ranked him number two on their "Hottest MCs in the Game" list. On August 5, 2012, Drake released "Enough Said", performed by American recording artist Aaliyah featuring additional vocals provided by himself. Originally recorded prior to the singer's death in a plane crash in 2001, Drake later finished the track with producer "40". "Enough Said" was released by Blackground Records through their SoundCloud account on August 5, 2012. It was sent to US urban and rhythmic radio stations on August 21. The song charted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs In promotion of his second album, Drake embarked on the worldwide Club Paradise Tour. It became the most successful hip hop tour of 2012, grossing over $42 million. He then returned to acting, starring in Ice Age: Continental Drift as Ethan. 2013–2015: Nothing Was the Same and If You're Reading This It's Too Late During the European leg of the Club Paradise Tour, Drake spoke in an interview stating that he had begun working on his third studio album. Revealing his intentions to remain with 40 as the album's executive producer, Drake spoke fondly about Jamie xx, hoping to include and expand the British producer's influence over his next album. Drake had also revealed that the album would stylistically differ from Take Care, departing from the ambient production and despondent lyrics prevalent previously. In January 2013, Drake announced that he would release the first single off his third album at the end of the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Despite an initial delay, it was released in the wake of his win for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the event, and it foresaw Drake announcing Nothing Was the Same as the title of his third album. The album's second single, "Hold On, We're Going Home", was released in August 2013, becoming the most successful single off the album, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Drake sought inspiration from the 1980s television series Miami Vice during the composition of the song's music video, incorporating the dramatic elements seen in the show en route to winning his second MTV Video Music Award in 2014 for the video. Drake appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing the album's third single, "Too Much", alongside featured artist Sampha. Nothing Was the Same was released on September 24, 2013, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200, with 658,000 copies sold in its first week of release. The album debuted atop the charts in Canada, Denmark, Australia and the United Kingdom. The album also enjoyed generally favourable reviews by contemporary music critics, commending the musical shift in terms of the tone and subject matter, comparing it to the distinct change showcased in Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak. The album was also reported to have sold over 1,720,000 copies in the United States, and was further promoted by the "Would You like a Tour?" throughout late 2013 to early 2014. It became the 22nd-most successful tour of the year, grossing an estimated $46 million. Drake then returned to acting in January 2014, hosting Saturday Night Live, as well as serving as the musical guest. His versatility, acting ability and comedic timing were all praised by critics, describing it as what "kept him afloat during the tough and murky SNL waters". Drake also performed in Dubai, being one of the only artists ever to perform in the city. In late 2014, Drake announced that he began recording sessions for his fourth studio album. In 2014, Drake performed in Spanish as a featured artist on the Romeo Santos song "Odio". He also appeared on a remix of "Tuesday" by ILoveMakonnen, which peaked at number one on Billboard's Rhythmic chart and number twelve on the "Hot 100", and released "0 to 100 / The Catch Up" as a non-album single. The latter went double platinum in the United States. On February 12, 2015, Drake released If You're Reading This It's Too Late onto iTunes with no prior announcement. Despite debate on whether it was an album or a mixtape, its commercial stance quantifies it as his fourth retail project with Cash Money Records, a scheme that was rumoured to allow Drake to leave the label. However, he eventually remained with Cash Money, and If You're Reading This It's Too Late sold over 1 million units in 2015, making Drake the first artist with a platinum project in 2015, as well as his fourth overall. 2015–2017: What a Time to Be Alive, Views, and More Life On July 31, 2015, Drake released four singles: "Back to Back", "Charged Up", "Hotline Bling", and "Right Hand". On September 20, 2015, Drake released a collaborative mixtape with Future, which was recorded in Atlanta in just under a week. What a Time to Be Alive debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making Drake the first hip hop artist to have two projects reach number one in the same year since 2004. It was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales, streaming and track-sales equivalent of over 1 million units. Drake also appeared on the cover of The Fader for their 100th issue. Drake announced in January 2016 that his fourth studio album would be launched during the spring, releasing the promotional single "Summer Sixteen" later that month. The album was originally titled Views from the 6, but was later shortened to Views. "Summer Sixteen" debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, and proved controversial, with Drake comparing his standing in hip hop to more tenured artists. This move divided many contemporary music critics, describing his self-comparison as "goodly brash" or "conventionally disrespectful." It was also interpreted as a diss track towards Tory Lanez, who was unhappy at Drake for popularizing the term "The Six" when referencing Toronto. Drake also crashed a Bat Mitzvah in New York City on February 20, performing at the event. Drake soon released the album's lead singles, "Pop Style" and the dancehall-infused "One Dance", on April 5. Both debuted within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100; however, the latter proved more commercially successful, with "One Dance" becoming Drake's first number-one single in Canada and the US as a leading artist. The single also became Drake's first number one single as a lead artist in the United Kingdom, and peaked at number one in Germany, France, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands. During an episode for OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed the album's release date of April 29, and followed it up with various promotional videos. On October 15, "One Dance" became Spotify's most-streamed song ever, amassing over 882 million plays . Views was previewed in London before its premiere on Beats 1 a day later. It was released as an Apple Music and iTunes exclusive on April 29 before being made available to various other platforms later that week. Views would become Drake's most commercially successful album, sitting atop the Billboard 200 for ten nonconsecutive weeks, as well as simultaneously leading the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 for eight weeks. It also achieved double-platinum status in the U.S., and earned over 1 million album-equivalent units in the first week of its release, as well as gaining over half-billion overall streams of the album. Despite its success, critical opinion towards the album remained much divided, drawing criticism for being overlong and lacking in a cohesive theme, while also claiming Drake was not challenging himself artistically, as opposed to his contemporaries. He later released a short film titled Please Forgive Me, starring Swedish twin models Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta who are frequent collaborators with him. , Views remains Drake's best-selling album in pure sales. Drake returned to host Saturday Night Live on May 14, serving as the show's musical guest. Later, Drake was named as a member of the Forbes Five, which ranks the wealthiest artists in hip-hop, placing fifth after Birdman, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, and Diddy respectively. Drake and Future then announced the Summer Sixteen Tour to showcase their collective mixtape, as well as their respective studio albums. This marked Drake's third co-headlining tour, which began in Austin, Texas on July 20. On July 23, Drake announced that he was working on a new project, scheduled to be released in early 2017, and was later named as the headline act for the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival. The latter dates of the Summer Sixteen Tour were postponed, however, due to Drake suffering an ankle injury. During the 2016 OVO Festival, Kanye West confirmed that he and Drake had begun working on a collaborative album. Soon after, the music video for "Child's Play" was released, depicting Drake and Tyra Banks playing a couple encountering relationship issues at the Cheesecake Factory in a reference to one of the song's lyrics. On September 26, Please Forgive Me was released as an Apple Music exclusive. It ran a total of 25 minutes, and featured music from Views. At the 2016 BET Hip-Hop Awards, Drake received the most nominations, with 10, winning the awards for Album of the Year and Best Hip-Hop Video. Drake later announced the Boy Meets World Tour on October 10, with twenty-six dates announced for the course of the tour in Europe. Seven additional dates were added a day later due to overwhelming demand. Soon after, during an episode of OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed he would be releasing a project titled More Life in December. However, he later pushed the date back to the new year. The project was described as a "playlist of original music", rather than being classified as a traditional mixtape or solo album. He was later revealed to be Spotify's most streamed artist for the second consecutive year in 2016, amassing a total 4.7 billion streams for all projects on the service, which is more than double the amount of streams he had in 2015. Drake later secured his second and third Grammy Awards, winning for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song at the 59th ceremony. Despite multiple setbacks, Drake announced More Life would be released on March 18, 2017, via a series of multiple video commercials released through Instagram. Upon release, More Life received mostly positive reviews, and debuted atop the Billboard 200, earning 505,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It also set a streaming record, becoming the highest ever streamed album in 24 hours, with a total of 89.9 million streams on Apple Music alone. The album also garnered 61.3 million streams on Spotify, dethroning Ed Sheeran's ÷ as the highest opening on the service in a single day. He later won 13 awards at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards in May, which saw him breaking the record for the most wins in a single show. Billboard also reported Drake had been present on the Hot 100 chart for eight consecutive years, and has the most recorded entries by a solo artist. He later declined to submit More Life for consideration at the 2018 Grammy Awards, stemming from his displeasure at "Hotline Bling" being "pigeonholed" into the rap category. He then released the single "Signs" on June 24, as well as reuniting with Metro Boomin on a single with Offset. The singles marked his first releases since More Life, with "Signs" was initially released as a collaboration between Drake and French fashion house Louis Vuitton, as part of the "Louis Vuitton Men's Spring-Summer 2018" fashion show. The event also had a playlist exclusively from OVO Sound, curated by label co-founder Oliver El-Khatib. Drake hosted the first annual NBA Awards on June 26, and starred in multiple commercials alongside his father in promotion of Virginia Black. Drake also appeared in The Carter Effect documentary, honouring the basketball career of Vince Carter, who was the first superstar player to play for the Toronto Raptors since the franchise's inception in 1995. The documentary also featured NBA players Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, and LeBron James. 2018–2019: Scorpion and Care Package; return to television After rumours circulated of Drake possibly collaborating with various artists, including rapper Trippie Redd and producer Pi'erre Bourne, for his new studio album, multiple snippets of songs were leaked near the closing end of 2017. Two songs would later be released as members of a mini EP, titled Scary Hours, on January 20, 2018, marking Drake's first solo release since More Life, as well as his first appearance on any song after featuring on a remix of the Jay-Z song "Family Feud" with Lil Wayne, as the lead single of the latter's Dedication 6: Reloaded mixtape. Scary Hours featured the songs "Diplomatic Immunity" and "God's Plan", which both debuted within the top-ten, with the latter eventually breaking various streaming records as it debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was Drake's first song as a solo artist to reach number one, as well as his second chart topper as a lead artist. Drake earned his 70th top 40 entry after featuring on the Migos song "Walk It Talk It", which debuted at number eighteen, and peaked at number ten. He was later featured on BlocBoy JB's debut single "Look Alive", which was released on February 9, 2018. The song's entry at number six on the Hot 100 made Drake the rapper with the most top 10 hits on the Hot 100, with 23. He then featured on a remix to "Lemon", a song originally released as a collaboration between band N.E.R.D and Rihanna. On April 5, Drake announced he was finishing his fifth studio album and he was releasing a single later that night. On April 6, "Nice for What" was released, alongside a music video directed by Karena Evans, which featured several female celebrities. After "Nice For What" replaced his own "God's Plan" on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, making him the first artist to have a new number-one debut replace their former number-one debut, Drake announced the title of his fifth studio album as Scorpion, with a planned release date of June 29, 2018. He then released "I'm Upset" on May 26 as the album's third single. Scorpion was then released as a double-album, and marked Drake's longest project, with a run-time of just under 90 minutes. The album broke both the one-day global records on Spotify and Apple Music, as it gained 132.45 million and 170 million plays on each streaming service, respectively. It eventually sold 749,000 album equivalent units in its first week of sales, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. In 2018, articles by The Guardian and Rolling Stone called him "the definitive pop star of his generation" and "perhaps [the] biggest post-Justin Timberlake male pop star of the new millennium", respectively. Shortly thereafter, Drake collaborated with British hip hop promotion Link Up TV on July 7, releasing a freestyle as a part of the promotion's 'Behind Barz' segment, before releasing another freestyle a week later after featuring on Charlie Sloth's long-running Fire in the Booth program on BBC Radio 1Xtra. Drake then earned his sixth number-one hit with "In My Feelings" on July 21, which also spawned the viral "#InMyFeelingsChallenge" or "#KiKiChallenge". The success of "In My Feelings" also made Drake the record holder for most number one hits among rappers. Soon after, he released the music video for "Nonstop", which was filmed in London during his surprise performance at the Wireless Festival. He then appeared on the Travis Scott album Astroworld, featuring uncredited vocals for his song "Sicko Mode", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Drake announced in July 2018 that he planned to "take 6 months to a year" to himself to return to television and films, producing the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. He then began the Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour with co-headliners Migos on August 12. This preceded a collaboration with Bad Bunny titled "Mia", which featured Drake performing in Spanish. He subsequently received the award for Hot Ticket Performer at the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards on October 16. During a performance in Edmonton on November 7, Drake announced his intention to begin composing his next project in early 2019. In February 2019, he received his fourth Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, for "God's Plan", at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. During his speech, producers abruptly cut to a commercial break, leading viewers to speculate they were censoring his speech during which he criticized The Recording Academy. A legal representative for the academy then released a statement stating "a natural pause [led] the producers [to] assume that he was done and cut to commercial," and added the organization offered him an opportunity to return to stage, but he declined. On February 14, Drake re-released his third mixtape, So Far Gone, onto streaming services for the first time to commemorate its 10-year anniversary, and later collaborated with Summer Walker on a remix of Walker's song "Girls Need Love", marking his first release of 2019. On April 10, during a performance on the Assassination Vacation Tour, he announced he was working on a new album. On June 8, Drake appeared on Chris Brown's single "No Guidance". On June 15, Drake released two songs, "Omertà" and "Money in the Grave", on his EP The Best in the World Pack to celebrate the NBA Championship win of the Toronto Raptors. On August 2, he released the compilation album Care Package, consisting of songs released between 2010 and 2016 that were initially unavailable for purchase or commercial streaming; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. 2019–present: Dark Lane Demo Tapes, Scary Hours 2, and Certified Lover Boy Drake released the song "War" on December 24, 2019, with an accompanying music video, which was widely noted for its UK drill-inspired instrumental. The following day, in an interview with Rap Radar, it was revealed that he was in the process of completing his sixth studio album. On January 10, 2020, Drake collaborated with Future on the song "Life Is Good", which appeared on the album High Off Life. On January 31, the pair again collaborated on the song "Desires", although it was released for free after being leaked. On February 29, Drake released the songs "When to Say When" and "Chicago Freestyle" with a combined music video. On April 3, he released "Toosie Slide" with a music video, which features a dance created in collaboration with social media influencer Toosie. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Drake the first male artist to have three songs debut at number one. On May 1, 2020, Drake released the commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes, with guest appearances from Chris Brown, Future, Young Thug, Fivio Foreign, Playboi Carti, and Sosa Geek. He also announced that his sixth studio album would be released in the summer of 2020. The mixtape is a compilation of new songs and tracks that leaked on the internet. It received mixed reviews and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 223,000 album-equivalent units, and at number one on the UK Albums Chart, earning 20,000 units in its first week. On July 17, Drake was featured on DJ Khaled's singles "Greece" and "Popstar", debuting at numbers eight and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, becoming Drake's record-extending 24th and 25th debuts in the Hot 100's top 10. It also became his 39th and 40th Hot 100 top ten entries, breaking Madonna's record for most Hot 100 top ten hits. On July 20, Drake and Headie One released the drill track "Only You Freestyle", making it the third drill-inspired song he released in 2020, after "War" and "Demons", both of which appear on Dark Lane Demo Tapes. On August 14, "Laugh Now Cry Later" featuring Lil Durk was released, which was intended as the lead single from Drake's album Certified Lover Boy, but not included on the final track listing. It debuted at number two on the Hot 100, and was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. On September 3, the video for "Popstar" was released, in which Drake makes a cameo appearance. On October 2, Drake was the sole guest appearance on Bryson Tiller's album Anniversary (2020), on the song "Outta Time". He subsequently appeared on the remix to "You're Mines Still", alongside Yung Bleu on October 16; just over a week later, on his 34th birthday, Drake announced Certified Lover Boy was set to be released in January 2021. This was later pushed back to an unspecified date after he sustained a knee injury which required surgery. On December 1, he reunited with Lil Wayne on "B.B. King Freestyle", the lead single from the latter's double-disc mixtape No Ceilings 3 (2020). In January 2021, Drake became the first artist to surpass 50 billion combined streams on Spotify. He later collaborated with Drakeo the Ruler on the single "Talk to Me", which was released on February 23. On March 5, Drake released an EP titled Scary Hours 2, which includes three songs: "What's Next", "Wants and Needs" with Lil Baby, and "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" with Rick Ross. These three songs entered the charts at numbers one, two, and three, respectively, making Drake the first artist to have three songs debut in the top three on the Billboard Hot 100. He then appeared on the single "Solid" from the YSL Records compilation Slime Language 2, alongside Gunna and Young Thug. "Solid" was originally meant to appear on Certified Lover Boy, and to only feature Gunna. On May 14, Drake was featured alongside mentor Lil Wayne on former labelmate Nicki Minaj's "Seeing Green", a new song on the streaming re-release of her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. Two weeks later, he was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. On June 12, he featured on Migos' "Having Our Way", from the group's third studio album, Culture III (2021), and on July 1, collaborated with Brent Faiyaz and The Neptunes on the song "Wasting Time". On July 23, Drake appeared on "Over the Top" with Smiley, the newest signee to OVO Sound. During an appearance on Fri Yiy Friday, a radio show supported by OVO Sound, Drake revealed Certified Lover Boy "is ready. [I'm] looking forward to delivering it". He then appeared on "Betrayal", a collaboration with Trippie Redd for Trip at Knight (2021). Certified Lover Boy was then released on September 3, 2021, becoming his tenth number-one album on the Billboard 200; every song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album was the first to chart nine songs on the top 10, with "Way 2 Sexy" becoming Drake's ninth number-one single. He subsequently set the record for the fourth-most cumulative weeks (52) at number one on the Hot 100, behind Mariah Carey (84), Rihanna (60), and The Beatles (59). He received a nomination for Best Global Act at the 2021 All Africa Music Awards, and appeared on Young Thug's Punk (2021), featuring on the song "Bubbly". On October 22, Drake featured on Majid Jordan's "Stars Align", the lead single to the band's third album Wildest Dreams. Two weeks later, on November 5, Drake released a horror-themed black and white music video for "Knife Talk", the third single from Certified Lover Boy, with featured appearances by 21 Savage and Project Pat. On November 6, he debuted the song "Give It Up" on OVO Sound Radio. Certified Lover Boy was nominated for Best Rap Album and "Way 2 Sexy" was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. He was later named Billboard’s Top Artist of the Year for 2021, and was the fourth most streamed artist on Spotify for the year, and the most streamed rapper. On December 6, he withdrew his music for consideration for the Grammys, with multiple outlets noting his contentious relationship with the Recording Academy. Drake accumulated 8.6 billion on-demand streams in 2021, making him the most overall streamed artist of the year in the United States; one out of every 131 streams was a Drake song. On January 7, 2022, Drake was announced as a featured artist on Gunna's DS4Ever, but was not included until the release of the album's deluxe edition just under a week later. On January 17, Drake announced another collaboration with DJ Khaled. Artistry Influences Drake has cited several hip hop artists as influencing his rapping style, including Kanye West, Jay Z, MF Doom, and Lil Wayne, while also attributing various R&B artists as influential to the incorporation of the genre into his own music, including Aaliyah and Usher. Drake has also credited several dancehall artists for later influencing his Caribbean-inflected style, including Vybz Kartel, whom he has called one of his "biggest inspirations". Musical style Drake is considered to be a pop-rap artist. While Drake's earlier music primarily spanned hip hop and R&B, his music has delved into pop and trap in recent years. Additionally, his music has drawn influence from regional scenes, including Jamaican dancehall and UK drill. Drake is known for his egotistical lyrics, technical ability, and integration of personal backstory when dealing with relationships with women. His vocal abilities have been lauded for an audible contrast between typical hip-hop beats and melody, with sometimes abrasive rapping coupled with softer accents, delivered on technical lyricism. His songs often include audible changes in lyrical pronunciation in parallel with his upbringing in Toronto, and connections with Caribbean and Middle Eastern countries which include such phrases as "ting", "touching road", "talkin' boasy" and "gwanin' wassy". Most of his songs contain R&B and Canadian hip hop elements, and he combines rapping with singing. He credits his father with the introduction of singing into his rap mixtapes, which have become a staple in his musical repertoire. His incorporation of melody into technically complex lyrics was supported by Lil Wayne, and has subsequently been a critically acclaimed component to Drake's singles and albums. The lyrical content that Drake deploys is typically considered to be emotional or boastful. However, Drake is often revered for incorporating "degrading" themes of money, drug use, and women into newer, idealized contexts, often achieving this through his augmentation of the typical meaning of phrases in which he combines an objective and subjective perspective into one vocal delivery. His songs often maintain tension between "pause and pace, tone timbre, and volume and vocal fermata." Drake is credited with innovating what has been referred to as "hyper-reality rap", which is characterized by its focus on themes of celebrity as being distinct from the "real world." Public image A prominent figure in pop culture, Drake is widely credited for popularizing the Toronto sound to the music industry and leading the "Canadian Invasion" of the American charts. The Washington Post editor Maura Judkis credits Drake for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States with his single "The Motto", which includes, "You only live once: that's the motto, nigga, YOLO." Drake later popularized the term "The Six" in 2015 in relation to his hometown Toronto, subsequently becoming a point of reference to the city. His lyrical subject matter, which often revolves around relationships, have had widespread use on social media through photo captions to reference emotions or personal situations. However, this content has incited mixed reception from fans and critics, with some deeming him as sensitive, a trait perceived as antithetical to traditional hip hop culture. June 10 was declared "Drake Day" in Houston. In 2016, Drake visited Drake University after a show in Des Moines in response to an extensive social media campaign by students that began in 2009, advocating for his appearance. According to a report from Confused.com, Drake's Toronto home was one of the most Googled homes in the world, recording over a million annual searches in 2021; its features, such as its NBA-size indoor basketball court and Kohler Numi toilet, have also received widespread media attention. The music video for "Hotline Bling" went viral due to Drake's eccentric dance moves. The video has been remixed, memed, and was heavily commented on due to the unconventional nature on the song, causing it to gain popularity on YouTube, and spawning several parodies. Drake has also been critiqued for his expensive, product placement-heavy attire, exemplified by the video for "Hotline Bling". Drake modelled a $1,500 Moncler Puffer Jacket, a $400 Acne Studios turtleneck, and limited edition Timberland 6" Classic Boots. He was labeled by GQ magazine as "[one of] the most stylish men alive"; during promotion for Certified Lover Boy, Drake debuted a "heart haircut", which became popular and widely imitated. He is also known for his large and extravagant lifestyle, including for high-end themed birthday parties; he maintained this image in his early career by renting a Rolls-Royce Phantom, which he was eventually gifted in 2021. He later cultivated a reputation as a successful gambler; between December 2021 and February 2022, he was reported to have made bets of over $1 billion, which included winnings ranging between $354,000 and $7 million. Between 2016 and 2019, he was noted for the "Drake curse", an internet meme based on the incidents where Drake appears to be support of particular sports team or person, just for that team or person to lose, often against the odds. In 2016, Drake spoke on the shooting of Alton Sterling, publishing an open letter expressing his concern for the safety of ethnic minorities against police brutality in the United States. In 2021, he joined a group of Canadian musicians to work with the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) to lobby Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to restructure the country's copyright law to allow artists and their families to regain ownership of copyrights during their lifetime. He also campaigned for the expansion of a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise in Toronto, and headlined a benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with Kanye West on December 9, 2021, to raise clemency for Larry Hoover, although his solo performance was later removed from the Amazon Prime Video replay. In Christmas 2021, Drake gave away money to individuals in Toronto. Impact Commenting on Drake's Take Care, Elias Leight of Rolling Stone noticed in 2020 that "now nearly every singer raps, and nearly every rapper sings", as many artists "have borrowed or copied the template of [the album] that the boldness of the original is easily forgotten", according to the writer. BBC Radio 1Xtra argued that his co-signs helped push the British hip-hop scene to a wider international market, as he did with the Toronto music scene. According to CBS Music in 2019, Drake has inspired "the next wave" of artists coming out of his hometown. Aaron Williams of Uproxx added "jump-starting the sad boy rapper craze alongside Kid Cudi" and "helping to renew stateside interest in UK grime and Caribbean dancehall with Skepta, PartyNextDoor, and Rihanna" to the modern trends Drake assisted. Writing for Bloomberg, Lucas Shaw commented Drake's popularity has influenced the promotion of music, with Certified Lover Boy attaining large commercial success despite relatively minimal orthodox marketing techniques, stating "fans are consuming Drake’s [music] in a way that is different to others". He also noted the album as novel in relation to consumption, with each song having relatively equivalent streams, as opposed to a dominant single(s). The ubiquity of Drake's music has consistently seen it played during various activities or events. In 2021, a study conducted by Pour Moi found, over a kilometer, joggers ran 21 seconds slower while listening to Drake's music compared to other artists. Drake's music was also found to extend a three-mile run by 105 seconds. Beginning in 2022, Drake's music was canonized academically by Ryerson University, which began teaching courses titled "Deconstructing Drake and the Weeknd", with the pair's music used to explore themes related to the Canadian music industry, race, class, marketing and globalization. Achievements Drake is the highest-certified digital singles artist ever in the United States, having moved 142 million units based on combined sales and on-demand streams. His highest-certified single is "God's Plan" (11× Platinum), followed by "Hotline Bling", which was certified 8× Platinum. He holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; he has the most charted songs of any artist (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in a single week (27), the most debuts in a week (22), the most top 10 singles (54), the most top 10 debuts in a week (9), the most top 10 debuts (39), and the most continuous time on the chart (431 weeks). He has accumulated 9 number-one singles, a record among rappers. In 2021, Drake became second act to occupy the entire Hot 100's top five in a single week, the other act being The Beatles in 1964. He also has the most number-one singles on the Hot Rap Songs (23), Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (23), and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. He is also the only artist to have two albums log 400 weeks each on the Billboard 200. , Drake has won four Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. He has also won a record 29 Billboard Music Awards. In 2017, he surpassed Adele's record for most wins at the Billboard Music Awards in one night, winning 13 awards from 22 nominations. He was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. Billboard editor Ernest Baker stated "Drake managed to rule hip-hop in 2014", adding "the best rapper in 2014 didn't need a new album or hit single to prove his dominance". From 2015 to 2017, Drake ranked within the top-five of the Billboard year-end chart for Top Artists topping it in 2018. He was named the IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2016 and 2018. Drake was Spotify's most streamed artist of the 2010s. Pitchfork ranked Nothing Was the Same as the 41st best album of the decade "so far"—between 2010 and 2014, and ranked him fifth in the publication's list of the "Top 10 Music Artists" since 2010. Take Care was ranked at number 95 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020). He has been ranked by Complex on their "Best Rapper Alive Every Year Since 1979" list, awarding Drake the accolade in 2011, 2012, and 2015. Controversies Legal issues On May 31, 2009, Drake was robbed at gunpoint in Toronto's Little Italy district and was forced to forfeit a gold and diamond necklace, an Audemars Piguet watch, and $2,000. Soccerties Cotterell and Paul Lelutiu were initially charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, three counts of pointing a firearm and possession of stolen property; these charges were later dropped. The men pled guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, and spent six months in jail. In April 2017, Mesha Collins was arrested for criminal trespass after breaking into Drake's home in Calabasas; although no criminal charges were brought by Drake, she later filed a $4 billion lawsuit against him for defamation in June 2021, which was dismissed that December. In March 2021, an unidentified woman armed with a knife was arrested following a failed attempt to break into Drake's home in Toronto. In 2012, singer Ericka Lee filed a lawsuit against Drake for the usage of her voice on "Marvins Room". Claiming to have provided the female vocals, Lee also alleged she was owed songwriting credits and royalties. Despite Drake's legal team countering by claiming that Lee simply requested a credit in the liner notes of the album, the matter was resolved in February 2013, with both parties agreeing to an out-of-court settlement. In 2014, Drake was sued for $300,000 for sampling "Jimmy Smith Rap", a 1982 single by jazz musician Jimmy Smith. The suit was filed by Smith's estate, who said Drake never asked for permission when sampling it for the intro on "Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2", claiming Smith himself would have disagreed as he disliked hip hop. Drake would win the lawsuit in 2017, with federal judge William Pauley ruling the content used was transformative, and there was no liability for copyright infringement. Also in 2014, it emerged that Drake was sued by rapper Rappin' 4-Tay, claiming Drake misused his lyrics when collaborating with YG on the song "Who Do You Love?". He sought $100,000 for mistreatment and artistic theft, which Drake paid to the rapper later that year. In 2016, Drake caused a nightclub in Oklahoma City to close down, due to his usage of marijuana and other illegal drugs being prevalent at the club. In December 2021, Drake sued jeweler Ori Vechler and his company Gemma LTD for incorrectly using his likeness in promotional material; he also sought to return three items he purchased. In 2017, Drake was embroiled in another lawsuit, being sued by producer Detail (Noel Fisher) over an alleged assault in 2014. Fisher claimed Drake's bodyguard, Nessel "Chubbs" Beezer, punched him in the face and allegedly broke his jaw over musical and financial disputes. Fisher also said the injuries caused him to be hospitalized for days and had to undergo several surgeries, following which he sued for damages related to medical bills and physical and emotional suffering. The case, which was set to undergo trial in May 2018, was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu after Fisher failed to show up for a final status conference. Lu ruled that Beezer solely acted in self-defense. In October 2021, Drake and Chris Brown were sued by Braindon Cooper and Timothy Valentine for copyright infringement between "No Guidance" and their own song "I Love Your Dress". Cooper and Valentine lost the lawsuit quickly, also being mocked by general public on the internet. A month later, he was named as a co-defendant with Travis Scott in a multi-claimant lawsuit for inciting "a riot and violence" at the Astroworld Festival, to which he released a statement; he was later criticized for reportedly attending the Area 29 strip club in Houston the day after the incident. He also reportedly delayed the release of "Splash Brothers", a collaboration with French Montana, following the incident. Feuds Drake and Chris Brown were allegedly involved in a physical altercation in June 2012 when Drake and his entourage threw glass bottles at Brown in a SoHo nightclub in Manhattan, New York City. Chris Brown tweeted about the incident, and criticized Drake in music until 2013, including on the "R.I.P." remix. Despite no response from Drake, he and Brown both appeared in a comedic skit for the 2014 ESPY Awards, and rehearsed the skit together prior to the televised airing, virtually ending the dispute. The pair later collaborated on "No Guidance" in 2019. In December 2014, Drake was involved in another altercation, being punched by Diddy outside the LIV nightclub in Miami, Florida. The altercation was reported to be over Drake's usage of the instrumental for "0 to 100 / The Catch Up", allegedly produced by Boi-1da for Diddy, before Drake appropriated the track for his own use. Drake was later rushed to the ER after aggravating an old arm injury during the dispute. Drake was also involved in a feud with Tyga, stemming from Tyga's negative comments about him during an interview with Vibe magazine. Drake would later respond on "6 God" and "6PM in New York", which has been interpreted as directly involved in Tyga's abrupt removal from Young Money Entertainment. Further controversy arose in July 2015 when it was alleged by Meek Mill that Drake had used ghostwriters during recording sessions for "RICO", one of the lead singles off Mill's second studio album. This proceeded further allegations that Drake did not help in promotion of the album, due to Mill discovering the ghostwriter, widely believed to be Quentin Miller. Despite Miller collaborating with Drake and receiving past credits, Mill assured that Miller had written Drake's verse for "R.I.C.O." Soon after, Funkmaster Flex aired reference tracks in support of Mill's claims, notably for "R.I.C.O.", "10 Bands", and "Know Yourself". This prompted Drake to respond with two diss tracks, titled "Charged Up" and "Back to Back", in the space of four days. Mill would later respond with "Wanna Know", before removing it from SoundCloud weeks later. Following several subliminal disses from either artist, Drake further sought to denounce Funkmaster Flex while performing in New York (Flex's home state) on the Summer Sixteen Tour. Following Mill's prison sentencing for probation violation, Drake stated "Free Meek Mill" at a concert in Australia, and ended their rivalry on "Family Feud"; the pair later collaborated on "Going Bad" in 2019. Pusha T would also use the same rationale to criticize Drake on "Infrared" in 2018, leading Drake to respond with the "Duppy Freestyle" diss track on May 25. Pusha T responded with "The Story of Adidon" on May 29, which presented several claims and revealed Drake's fatherhood. The pair are considered to have been in a rivalry since 2012, resulting from Pusha T's feuds with Lil Wayne and Birdman, with Drake yet to respond to "The Story of Adidon". In 2016, Drake was embroiled in a feud with Joe Budden, stemming from Budden's derogatory comments when reviewing Views. Drake would allegedly respond to Budden through "4PM in Calabasas", prompting Budden to respond with two diss tracks in the space of five days, echoing the same sentiment Drake deployed during his feud with Meek Mill. Drake would later appear on "No Shopping" alongside French Montana, directly referencing Budden throughout the song, although, Montana claimed Drake's verse was recorded before the release of Budden's diss tracks. Despite Budden releasing two further songs in reference to Drake, he has yet to officially respond to Budden. In the same year, Drake dissed Kid Cudi on "Two Birds, One Stone" after Cudi launched an expletive-filled rant on the artist on Twitter. Cudi later checked into a rehabilitation facility following the release of the song, and continued to disparage Drake in further tweets; the pair eventually resolved their feud, and collaborated on "IMY2" in 2021. In mid-2018, Drake was embroiled in a feud with long-time collaborator Kanye West. In an appearance on The Shop, Drake recounted several meetings with West, who voiced his desire to "be Quincy Jones" and work with Drake and replicate the producer-artist relationship between Jones and Michael Jackson. West requested Drake play and inform him of upcoming releases, while he gave Drake the instrumental to "Lift Yourself". West requested the pair work in Wyoming, with Drake arriving a day after close friend 40, who said West was instead recording an album. Judging the pair to have differing release schedules, Drake traveled to Wyoming, but "only worked on [West's] music"; they explored Drake's after he played West "March 14", which addressed Drake's relationship with his newborn son and co-parent. This prompted a conversation with West regarding his personal issues, after which, news of his son would be exposed by Pusha T, which Drake concluded was revealed to him by West; West also released "Lift Yourself" as a solo song and produced "Infrared". Drake then denounced West in songs and live performances. West would retaliate in a series of tweets in late 2018, and the pair continued to respond on social media and in music as of late 2021, which included Drake leaking West's song "Life of the Party". During their feud, West also made several public attempts to reconcile with Drake, which is reported to have occurred after they co-headlined a benefit concert in December 2021. Drake has also been involved in feuds with DMX, Kendrick Lamar, Common, The Weeknd, XXXTentacion, Jay-Z, Tory Lanez, and Ludacris, although the latter five, and his feud with DMX, have been reported to be resolved. Business ventures Endorsements Prior to venturing into business, Drake garnered several endorsement deals with various companies, notably gaining one with Sprite following his mention of drinking purple drank, a concoction that contains Sprite as a key ingredient. In the aftermath of his highly publicized feud with Meek Mill, Drake was also endorsed by fast food restaurants Burger King and Whataburger. Business magazine Forbes commented his endorsement deals and business partnerships "combined heavily" for Drake's reported pre-tax earnings at $94 million between June 2016 to June 2017, being one of the highest-paid celebrities during that period. OVO Sound During the composition of Nothing Was the Same, Drake started his own record label in late 2012 with producer Noah "40" Shebib and business partner Oliver El-Khatib. Drake sought for an avenue to release his own music, as well helping in the nurturing of other artists, while Shebib and El-Khatib yearned to start a label with a distinct sound, prompting the trio to team up to form OVO Sound. The name is an abbreviation derived from the October's Very Own moniker Drake used to publish his earlier projects. The label is currently distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Drake, 40, and PartyNextDoor were the label's inaugural artists. The label houses artists including Drake, PartyNextDoor, Majid Jordan, Roy Woods, and dvsn, as well as producers including 40, Boi-1da, Nineteen85, and Future the Prince. Toronto Raptors On September 30, 2013, at a press conference with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke, Drake was announced as the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise. It was announced together with the 2016 NBA All-Star Game being awarded to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. This was also the setting where Drake was given The Key to the City. In the role, it was announced that Drake would help to promote and serve as a host of festivities, beginning with the All-Star Game. He would also provide consulting services to rebrand the team, helping to redesign its image and clothing line in commemoration of the franchise's 20th anniversary. He also collaborated with the Raptors on pre-game practice jerseys, t-shirts, and sweatsuits, and began hosting an annual "Drake Night" segment with the organization, beginning in 2013. Entertainment Apple Music Following the launch of Apple Music, a music and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc., the company announced Drake as the figurehead for the platform at their Worldwide Developers Conference in 2015, with the artist also penning an exclusivity deal with the service worth a reported $19 million. This saw all future solo releases by Drake becoming available first on Apple Music, before seeing roll out to other streaming services and music retailers. Drake had also developed the OVO Sound Radio station on Beats 1, which is utilized as the primary avenue for debuting singles and projects, with the station overseeing over 300 million unique users when it debuted More Life. Drake's partnership with Apple Music has largely been credited for the platform's sharp success, as it attained 10 million subscribers after six months, as well as giving birth to exclusivity from artists, with many independent and signed artists, such as Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, also brokering exclusivity deals with streaming services. Through signing with the company, Drake was one of the artists, alongside Pharrell and Katy Perry, to exclusively own an Apple Watch before the smartwatch saw public release. DreamCrew and investments In 2017, Drake and Adel "Future" Nur co-founded the production company DreamCrew, which functions both as a management company and entertainment group. The company has produced the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. Their debut film as producers was on the sports documentary The Carter Effect, detailing the impact of Vince Carter in Canada. In July 2021, Drake was announced as an executive producer, alongside LeBron James and Maverick Carter, for Black Ice, a documentary film charting the experiences of black and ethnic minority professional and amateur ice hockey players. It is due to be produced by Uninterrupted Canada in partnership with Drake's DreamCrew Entertainment, James' SpringHill Company, and Bell Media. DreamCrew also began production on the unscripted survival series Chillin' Island in 2021, due to air on HBO. In June 2021, Live Nation confirmed a long-standing partnership with Drake to open History, a 2,500 convertible capacity live-entertainment and general function venue in Toronto. It was in development for over three years and is situated in The Beaches. He also aided in the venue's interior design, which contains LED screens, soundproofing, quick-change rooms and a customizable staircase. Later that month, Drake signed as an investor and collaborator with Los Angeles-based sustainability and financial services startup Aspiration; he will also use the company's enterprise services to monitor and ensure personal carbon neutrality. He has also invested in robo-advisor Wealthsimple, the "livestreaming video commerce platform" NTWRK, the cannabis provider Bullrider, and several sports-related ventures, including online esports betting platform Players’ Lounge, the sportstech firm StatusPro, and online sports network Overtime. In an analysis by Brennan Doherty for Toronto Star, Drake's investment "carry all the hallmarks" typical of musicians, which is often momentum investing, and cited Jason Pereira, who described Drake's business deals as typically angel investing and private equity (often venture capital) funds. Pereira also noted his "leveraging his personal brand to generate cash". 100 Thieves In 2018, Drake purchased an ownership stake in the gaming organization 100 Thieves, joining as a co-founder and co-owner. The investment was partly funded by music executive Scooter Braun and Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert. Since the investment, the stake is estimated to be worth $125 million. Cuisine Two months prior to the release of Views, Drake announced the development of Virginia Black, a bourbon-based whiskey. This would be his second foray into selling foodstuffs, previously partnering with celebrity chef Susur Lee to open Fring's Restaurant in Toronto. The beverage was created and also distributed alongside Proximo Spirits, as well as with Brent Hocking, a spirits producer who founded DeLeón Tequila in 2008. The company described the partnership as "fruitful [as they] share a passion for style, music, and the pursuit of taste [on] a quest to redefine whiskey." In 2021, using ratings compiled from Vivino and complimentary website Distiller, Virginia Black was ranked the worst value celebrity liquor for quality and price. The product was launched in June 2016, and contained two, three and four-year old Bourbon whiskies. The company sold over 4,000 bottles in the first week domestically. The brand was also promoted and marketed through Drake's music and various tours, such as being part of the "Virginia Black VIP Lounge" additional package available for purchase during the Summer Sixteen Tour. Virginia Black shipped a further 30,000 units when rollout was extended to select international markets in late 2016. The company later aired commercials with Drake's father, Dennis Graham, which featured the tagline of "The Realest Dude Ever" (in reference toward "The Most Interesting Man in the World" tagline employed by Dos Equis) after extending the sale of the drink to Europe in 2017. In 2019, Drake began collaborating with Hocking on Mod Sélection, a luxury range of champagne, and in May 2021, formed part of a $40 million series B investment funding round led by D1 Capital Partners in Daring Foods Inc., a vegan meat analogue corporation. That September, he purchased a minority stake in Californian food chain Dave's Hot Chicken. Fashion In December 2013, Drake announced he was signing with Nike and Air Jordan, saying "growing up, I'm sure we all idolized Michael Jordan. I [am] officially inducted into the Team Jordan family." Drake also released his own collection of Air Jordans, dubbed the "Air Jordan OVOs". This foresaw collaborations between OVO and Canada Goose, in which various items of clothing were produced. In 2020, A Bathing Ape announced a collaboration with Drake, releasing an OVO x BAPE collection of clothing, while he also partnered with candle manufacturer Revolve to create "Better World Fragrance", a line of scented candles. In December 2020, Drake announced Nocta, a sub-label with Nike. In a press release, Drake said "I always felt like there was an opportunity for Nike to embrace an entertainer the same way [as] athletes," he wrote, "to be associated with the highest level possible was always my goal." The apparel line is named after Drake's "nocturnal creative process", in which Nike described as a "collection for the collective", and noted by GQ as "fashion-forward, minimal-inspired sportswear". One clothing item features an image of Drake's muses, Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta, with a poem. After the first collection sold out, another was released in February 2021, which introduced t-shirts, adjustable caps, a utility vest, and a lightweight jacket. That July, OVO released the "Weekender Collection", which includes a line of hoodies, velour sweatsuits, t-shirts, shorts, and accessories for women. OVO then released a "Winter Survival Collection" that December which included puffer jackets, vests, and parkas made with 700-fill down and Oeko-Tex certified down feathers. They followed this with limited edition Jurassic Park-themed collection and an indoor footwear collaboration with Suicoke. Personal life Health and residences Drake lives in Toronto, Ontario, in a 35,000-square-foot, $100 million estate nicknamed "The Embassy", which was built from the ground-up in 2017, and is seen in the video to his song "Toosie Slide". He also owns a home nicknamed the "YOLO Estate" in Hidden Hills, California, which he has owned since 2012, and in 2021, rented a $65 million property in Beverly Hills. He owns a condominium adjacent to the CN Tower, and a Boeing 767. Drake has a variety of tattoos, some of which are symbols associated with personal accomplishments, such as a jack-o-lantern, "October Lejonhjärta" (), owls, and a controversial Abbey Road (1969) inspired depiction of himself and The Beatles. He has portraits of Lil Wayne, Sade, Aaliyah, Jesús Malverde, Denzel Washington, 40, his parents, grandmother, maternal uncle, and son; and several related to Toronto, including the CN Tower and the number "416". On August 18, 2021, Drake revealed he contracted COVID-19 amidst the pandemic, which led to temporary hair loss. He was also one of the first celebrities to publicly test for the virus in March 2020. Family and relationships Drake's paternal uncles are guitarists and songwriters Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges. Graham was a member of Sly and the Family Stone, while Hodges contributed to songs for Al Green, including "Love and Happiness", "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)", and "Take Me to the River". Drake has a close friendship with Adele, and was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Rihanna from 2009 to 2016. He has mentioned the relationship in every one of his studio albums, and when presenting Rihanna with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2016, he said "she's a woman I've been in love with since I was 22 years old." On his relationship with her, he said on the talk show The Shop: As life takes shape and teaches you your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don't have the fairy tale [of] 'Drake started a family with Rihanna, [it's] so perfect.' It looks so good on paper [and] I wanted it too at one time. Drake is a father to one son named Adonis, who was born on October 11, 2017 to French painter and former model Sophie Brussaux. Brussaux's pregnancy was the subject of several rumours after featuring in a TMZ article in early 2017. After the nature of the pair's relationship was discussed in Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon", Drake confirmed his fatherhood on the album Scorpion in 2018, citing a desire for his child's privacy. Discography Studio albums Thank Me Later (2010) Take Care (2011) Nothing Was the Same (2013) Views (2016) Scorpion (2018) Certified Lover Boy (2021) Tours Headlining Away from Home Tour (2010) Club Paradise Tour (2012) Would You Like a Tour? (2013–2014) Jungle Tour (2015; six date promotional tour) Boy Meets World Tour (2017) Assassination Vacation Tour (2019) Co-headlining America's Most Wanted Tour (2009) Drake vs. Lil Wayne (2014) Summer Sixteen Tour (2016) Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour (2018) Filmography Film Television See also Culture of Toronto List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of Canadian musicians List of people from Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of highest-certified music artists in the United States List of best-selling music artists List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones List of most-followed Instagram accounts List of Canadian hip hop musicians List of Canadian Jews List of Black Canadians Black Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area History of the Jews in Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the Canadian Hot 100 List of Canadian Grammy Award winners and nominees List of most-streamed artists on Spotify References External links 1986 births Living people 21st-century Black Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian rappers African-American businesspeople African-American Jews African-American male rappers Black Canadian businesspeople Black Canadian male actors Black Canadian musicians Brit Award winners Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian Ashkenazi Jews Canadian contemporary R&B singers Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Canadian hip hop singers Canadian male child actors Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male rappers Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian music industry executives Canadian people of African-American descent Canadian people of American descent Canadian people of Jewish descent Canadian people of Latvian-Jewish descent Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Canadian philanthropists Canadian pop singers Canadian rhythm and blues singers Canadian songwriters Cash Money Records artists Culture of Toronto Dancehall musicians Grammy Award winners for rap music Jewish Canadian male actors Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish Canadian writers Jewish rappers Jewish singers Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year winners Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year winners Male actors from Toronto MTV Europe Music Award winners OVO Sound artists People from Hidden Hills, California People from Weston, Toronto Pop rappers Rappers from Toronto Republic Records artists Sports spectators Toronto Raptors personnel Trap musicians UK drill musicians Universal Motown Records artists Writers from Toronto Young Money Entertainment artists	true	[ "Le Cousin is a 1997 French film directed by Alain Corneau.\n\nPlot \nThe film deals with the relationship of the police and an informant in the drug scene.\n\nAwards and nominations\nLe Cousin was nominated for 5 César Awards but did not win in any category.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1997 films\n1997 crime films\nFilms about drugs\nFilms directed by Alain Corneau\nFrench crime films\nFrench films\nFrench-language films", "The 23rd Fangoria Chainsaw Awards is an award ceremony presented for horror films that were released in 2020. The nominees were announced on January 20, 2021. The film The Invisible Man won five of its five nominations, including Best Wide Release, as well as the write-in poll of Best Kill. Color Out Of Space and Possessor each took two awards. His House did not win any of its seven nominations. The ceremony was exclusively livestreamed for the first time on the SHUDDER horror streaming service.\n\nWinners and nominees\n\nReferences\n\nFangoria Chainsaw Awards" ]
[ "Drake (musician)", "2006-2009: Early mixtapes and So Far Gone", "When was Thank Me Later released?", "I don't know.", "what was his first mixtape?", "Room for Improvement,", "what was his second mixtape?", "Comeback Season.", "was there a third mixtape?", "So Far Gone.", "Was So Far Gone successful?", "It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success", "did it win any awards?", "gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)," ]	C_9a9897534b1246b3aaaba0a09db98d2e_1	what were some of the singles on So Far Gone?	7	what were some of the singles on So Far Gone?	Drake (musician)	After becoming musically inspired by Jay Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da, and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." The mixtape was released for sale only, and confirmed to have sold over 6,000 copies. In 2007, he released his second mixtape, Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl", featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first ever unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video featured on BET, with "Replacement Girl" being featured on the channel's "New Joint of the Day" segment on April 30, 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston in order to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "I Want This Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". Despite the collaborations between the duo, Drake was yet to be signed by Young Money Entertainment. In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape, So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success due to the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized album entitled The Girls Love Drake, which was released on iTunes under dubious means. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage, and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He later underwent surgery on September 8, 2009. CANNOTANSWER	"Best I Ever Had" and "Successful",	Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor. Gaining recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–08), Drake pursued a career in music releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement in 2006; he subsequently released the mixtapes Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment. Drake released his debut studio album, Thank Me Later, in 2010, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. He achieved major critical success with Take Care (2011) and commercial success with Nothing Was the Same (2013) and his first commercial mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015); the latter two were certified multi-platinum in the US. Drake's fourth album, Views (2016), sat atop the Billboard 200 for 13 nonconsecutive weeks, becoming the first album by a male solo artist to do so in over a decade, and featured the chart record-setting lead single "One Dance". His second solo commercial mixtape, More Life (2017), set then-multiple streaming records, and in 2018, he released the double album Scorpion, which contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings". Leaving Young Money in 2018, Drake's third commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes was released in 2020, and featured the chart-topping "Toosie Slide". In 2021, the EP Scary Hours 2 included the number one "What's Next" and set chart records, and preceded his delayed sixth album, Certified Lover Boy (2021); the album set the record for most U.S. top-ten entries from one album, with lead single "Way 2 Sexy" becoming his tenth number one. As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012. In 2013, Drake became the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise, while owning naming rights to its practice facility. In 2016, he began collaborating with American entrepreneur Brent Hocking on the bourbon whiskey Virginia Black; it eventually broke sale records in Canada. Drake has also designed fashion, the most notable including a sub-label collaboration with Nike, alongside other business ventures. In 2018, he was reportedly responsible for 5 percent (CAD$440 million) of Toronto's CAD$8.8 billion annual tourism income. Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 170 million records sold, Drake is ranked as the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States by the RIAA. He has won four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, a record 29 Billboard Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and three Juno Awards, and holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; Drake has the most top 10 singles (54), the most charted songs (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in one week (27), the most Hot 100 debuts in one week (22), and the most continuous time on the Hot 100 (431 weeks). He additionally has the most number-one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Songs, and Rhythmic Airplay charts. Early life Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. His father, Dennis Graham, is African-American and a practicing Catholic from Memphis, Tennessee, who worked as a drummer, performing alongside country musician Jerry Lee Lewis. His mother, Sandra "Sandi" Graham ( Sher), is a Canadian of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage who worked as an English teacher and florist. Dennis Graham performed at Club Bluenote in Toronto, where he met Sandra Sher, who was in attendance. Drake is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, having American citizenship due to his American father. In his youth, he attended a Jewish day school, and became a bar mitzvah. Drake's parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, he and his mother remained in Toronto; his father returned to Memphis, where he was incarcerated for a number of years on drug-related charges. Graham's limited finances and legal issues caused him to remain in the United States until Drake's early adulthood. Prior to his arrest, however, Graham would travel to Toronto and bring Drake to Memphis every summer. His father later collaborated with Canadian music group Arkells on the music video for a song titled "Drake's Dad". Graham claimed in an interview that Drake's assertions of him being an absent father were embellishments used to sell records, which Drake vehemently denies. Drake was raised in two Toronto neighbourhoods. He lived on Weston Road in the city's working-class west end until grade six, playing minor hockey with the Weston Red Wings. He then moved to one of the city's affluent neighbourhoods, Forest Hill, in 2000. When asked about the move, Drake replied, "[We had] a half of a house we could live in. The other people had the top half, we had the bottom half. I lived in the basement, my mom lived on the first floor. It was not big, it was not luxurious. It was what we could afford." He attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he demonstrated an affinity for the arts, first acting while an active student at the school. He later attended Vaughan Road Academy in the city's multicultural Oakwood–Vaughan neighbourhood. Due to the economic status associated with the neighbourhood, Drake described the school as "not by any means the easiest school to go to." Drake was often bullied at school for his racial and religious background, and upon realizing that his busy class schedule was detrimental to his burgeoning acting career, Drake dropped out of school. He later graduated in October 2012. Career 2001–2009: Career beginnings Degrassi: The Next Generation At the age of 15, Drake, eager to begin his career as an actor, was introduced to a high school friend's father, an acting agent. The agent found Drake a role on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. Drake portrayed Jimmy Brooks, a basketball star who became physically disabled after he was shot by a classmate. Drake reportedly disliked this character arc because of its apparent tokenism (his was one of the only black characters in the series), and he also believed it could negatively influence his standing as a rapper. Longtime series writer James Hurst said that Drake threatened legal action to redo the storyline, before ultimately agreeing to it. Madeleine Robinson, the executive director of the Californian non-profit organization Wheelchair 4 Kids, praised the storyline and Drake's performance, noting "he instilled confidence and representation" to disabled youth. When asked about his early acting career, Drake replied, "My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was [from] Canadian TV." He appeared in a total of 100 episodes between 2001 and 2008. In 2010, Drake expressed interest in playing Barack Obama in a biopic, to which Obama responded to with approval in an interview in 2020. According to Degrassi series creators Stephen Stohn and Linda Schuyler, Drake regularly arrived late on set after spending nights recording music. To prevent this, Schuyler claimed Drake struck an agreement with the set's security guards to gain entry to the set after recording to be allowed to sleep in a dressing room. Early mixtapes and So Far Gone Being musically inspired by Jay-Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." Room for Improvement was released for sale only and sold roughly 6,000 copies, for which Drake received $304.04 in royalties. In 2007, he released his second mixtape Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl" featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video on BET, with "Replacement Girl" featured on their "New Joint of the Day" segment in April 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success from the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized fake album titled The Girls Love Drake released on iTunes. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster on the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He underwent surgery later that year. 2010–2012: Musical breakthrough with Thank Me Later and Take Care Drake planned to release his debut album, Thank Me Later, in late 2008, but the album's release date was postponed, first to March 2010, and then to May 25, 2010. Young Money and Universal Motown had then released a statement that the album had again been pushed back three weeks for a June 15, 2010 release. On March 9, 2010, Drake released the debut single "Over", which peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Rap Songs chart. It also received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards. His second single, "Find Your Love", became an even bigger success. It peaked at number five on the Hot 100, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The music video for the single was shot in Kingston, Jamaica, and was criticized by Jamaica's minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett. Bartlett condemned the portrayal of the island in the video, saying, "care has to be taken by all, including our creative artists, in [showcasing] images of our destination and people. Gun culture, while not unique to Jamaica, is not enhancing [the island's image]." The third single and fourth singles, "Miss Me" and "Fancy" respectively, attained moderate commercial success; however, the latter garnered Drake his second nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. On April 29, it was reportedly announced that Drake had finished Thank Me Later during a show in Kansas City, Missouri. Thank Me Later was released on June 15, 2010, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of over 447,000 copies in its first week. Upon the album's release, 25,000 fans gathered at New York City's South Street Seaport for a free concert hosted by Drake and Hanson, which was later cancelled by the police after a near-riot ensued due to overflowing crowds. The album became the top selling debut album for any artist in 2010, and featured Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Jay Z. It was soon announced that Drake would have a prominent role in the military science fiction video game, Gears of War 3. He was scheduled to play the role of Jace Stratton, but scheduling conflicts with his upcoming Away from Home Tour prevented him from accepting the role. He began the tour on September 20, 2010, in Miami, Florida, performing at 78 shows over four different legs. It concluded in Las Vegas in November 2010. Due to the success of the Away from Home Tour, Drake hosted the first OVO Festival in 2010. It would soon become a regular event during the summer, with the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto playing host to the festival on its annual cycle. Drake also had an eco-friendly college tour to support the album, beginning with Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. It concluded in Plymouth, New Hampshire on May 8, and he also performed at The Bamboozle on May 1. Beginning his second effort in fall 2010, Drake announced his intentions to allow Noah "40" Shebib to handle most of the production and record a more cohesive sound than on Thank Me Later, which featured disparate production duties by Shebib and others. In November 2010, Drake revealed the title of his next studio album will be Take Care. In comparison to his debut album, Drake revealed to Y.C Radio 1 that Thank Me Later was a rushed album, stating, "I didn't get to take the time that I wanted to on that record. I rushed a lot of the songs and sonically I didn't get to sit with the record and say, 'I should change this verse.' Once it was done, it was done. That's why my new album is called Take Care, because I get to take my time this go-round." Drake sought to expand on the low-tempo, sensuous, and dark sonic esthetic of Thank Me Later. Primarily a hip hop album, Drake also attempted to incorporate R&B and pop to create a languid, grandiose sound. In January 2011, Drake was in negotiations to join Eva Green and Susan Sarandon as a member of the cast in Nicholas Jarecki's Arbitrage, before ultimately deciding against starring in the movie to focus on the album. "Dreams Money Can Buy" and "Marvins Room" were released on Drake's October's Very Own Blog, on May 20 and June 9, respectively. Acting as promotional singles for Take Care, the former was eventually unincluded on the album's final track listing, while "Marvins Room" gained Gold certification by the RIAA, as well as peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching the top 10 of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, coupled with extensive play on contemporary urban radio. Drake would soon release the song's music video on June 28. "Headlines" was released on August 9 as the lead single for Take Care. It was met with positive critical and commercial response, reaching number thirteen on the Hot 100, as well as becoming his tenth single to reach the summit of the Billboard Hot Rap Songs, making Drake the artist with the most number-one singles on the chart, with 12. It was eventually certified Platinum in both the United States and Canada. The music video for the single was released on October 2, and foresaw Drake performing the song during the second intermission of the 59th National Hockey League All-Star Game in January 2012. "Make Me Proud" was released as the album's second single on October 16. It was the final single to be released prior to the launch of the album, and debuted at number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached number nine the following week, tying the record for the largest jump on the Billboard Hot 100 for a male artist, with 88. "Make Me Proud" soon became Drake's fourth consecutive single to receive Platinum certification by the RIAA. Prior to the album's release, Drake planned to record a collaborative album with Lil Wayne; however, it was ultimately scrapped due to the success of Watch the Throne. He also began collaborations with Rick Ross for a mixtape titled Y.O.L.O., but the duo decided against the project in favor of increased concern for their respective studio albums. Although in 2021, Ross stated that a joint album is still possible as they've casually discussed it. Take Care was released on November 15, 2011, and received generally positive reviews from music critics. John McDonnell of NME dubbed it "an affecting masterpiece" and commended its "delicate, mellifluous sound and unashamedly candid, emotive lyrics." Pitchforks Ryan Dombal found Drake's "technical abilities" to be improved and stated, "Just as his thematic concerns have become richer, so has the music backing them up." Andy Hutchins of The Village Voice called it "a carefully crafted bundle of contradictory sentiments from a conflicted rapper who explores his own neuroses in as compelling a manner as anyone not named Kanye West." Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot complimented the depth of Drake's "moral psychodramas" and stated, "the best of it affirms that Drake is shaping a pop persona with staying power." It also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, and achieved great commercial success, eventually being certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA in 2016, with sales for the album marking 2.6 million in the U.S. The album's third and fourth singles, "The Motto" and Take Care", were released on November 29, 2011 and February 21, 2012, respectively. Each song was subject to commercial success, while also having large societal impacts, with "The Motto" credited for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States. The music video for "Take Care" saw widespread acclaim, with MTV stating, "None of his contemporaries – not even the ever-obtuse Kanye [West] – make videos like this, mostly because no one else can get away with it." The video received four nominations at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Video of the Year. The song was also featured on the channel's "Pop Songs You Must Hear" list of 2011. "HYFR" was the final single to be released from the album, and became certified Gold. It also won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video in 2012, and the channel ranked him number two on their "Hottest MCs in the Game" list. On August 5, 2012, Drake released "Enough Said", performed by American recording artist Aaliyah featuring additional vocals provided by himself. Originally recorded prior to the singer's death in a plane crash in 2001, Drake later finished the track with producer "40". "Enough Said" was released by Blackground Records through their SoundCloud account on August 5, 2012. It was sent to US urban and rhythmic radio stations on August 21. The song charted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs In promotion of his second album, Drake embarked on the worldwide Club Paradise Tour. It became the most successful hip hop tour of 2012, grossing over $42 million. He then returned to acting, starring in Ice Age: Continental Drift as Ethan. 2013–2015: Nothing Was the Same and If You're Reading This It's Too Late During the European leg of the Club Paradise Tour, Drake spoke in an interview stating that he had begun working on his third studio album. Revealing his intentions to remain with 40 as the album's executive producer, Drake spoke fondly about Jamie xx, hoping to include and expand the British producer's influence over his next album. Drake had also revealed that the album would stylistically differ from Take Care, departing from the ambient production and despondent lyrics prevalent previously. In January 2013, Drake announced that he would release the first single off his third album at the end of the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Despite an initial delay, it was released in the wake of his win for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the event, and it foresaw Drake announcing Nothing Was the Same as the title of his third album. The album's second single, "Hold On, We're Going Home", was released in August 2013, becoming the most successful single off the album, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Drake sought inspiration from the 1980s television series Miami Vice during the composition of the song's music video, incorporating the dramatic elements seen in the show en route to winning his second MTV Video Music Award in 2014 for the video. Drake appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing the album's third single, "Too Much", alongside featured artist Sampha. Nothing Was the Same was released on September 24, 2013, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200, with 658,000 copies sold in its first week of release. The album debuted atop the charts in Canada, Denmark, Australia and the United Kingdom. The album also enjoyed generally favourable reviews by contemporary music critics, commending the musical shift in terms of the tone and subject matter, comparing it to the distinct change showcased in Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak. The album was also reported to have sold over 1,720,000 copies in the United States, and was further promoted by the "Would You like a Tour?" throughout late 2013 to early 2014. It became the 22nd-most successful tour of the year, grossing an estimated $46 million. Drake then returned to acting in January 2014, hosting Saturday Night Live, as well as serving as the musical guest. His versatility, acting ability and comedic timing were all praised by critics, describing it as what "kept him afloat during the tough and murky SNL waters". Drake also performed in Dubai, being one of the only artists ever to perform in the city. In late 2014, Drake announced that he began recording sessions for his fourth studio album. In 2014, Drake performed in Spanish as a featured artist on the Romeo Santos song "Odio". He also appeared on a remix of "Tuesday" by ILoveMakonnen, which peaked at number one on Billboard's Rhythmic chart and number twelve on the "Hot 100", and released "0 to 100 / The Catch Up" as a non-album single. The latter went double platinum in the United States. On February 12, 2015, Drake released If You're Reading This It's Too Late onto iTunes with no prior announcement. Despite debate on whether it was an album or a mixtape, its commercial stance quantifies it as his fourth retail project with Cash Money Records, a scheme that was rumoured to allow Drake to leave the label. However, he eventually remained with Cash Money, and If You're Reading This It's Too Late sold over 1 million units in 2015, making Drake the first artist with a platinum project in 2015, as well as his fourth overall. 2015–2017: What a Time to Be Alive, Views, and More Life On July 31, 2015, Drake released four singles: "Back to Back", "Charged Up", "Hotline Bling", and "Right Hand". On September 20, 2015, Drake released a collaborative mixtape with Future, which was recorded in Atlanta in just under a week. What a Time to Be Alive debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making Drake the first hip hop artist to have two projects reach number one in the same year since 2004. It was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales, streaming and track-sales equivalent of over 1 million units. Drake also appeared on the cover of The Fader for their 100th issue. Drake announced in January 2016 that his fourth studio album would be launched during the spring, releasing the promotional single "Summer Sixteen" later that month. The album was originally titled Views from the 6, but was later shortened to Views. "Summer Sixteen" debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, and proved controversial, with Drake comparing his standing in hip hop to more tenured artists. This move divided many contemporary music critics, describing his self-comparison as "goodly brash" or "conventionally disrespectful." It was also interpreted as a diss track towards Tory Lanez, who was unhappy at Drake for popularizing the term "The Six" when referencing Toronto. Drake also crashed a Bat Mitzvah in New York City on February 20, performing at the event. Drake soon released the album's lead singles, "Pop Style" and the dancehall-infused "One Dance", on April 5. Both debuted within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100; however, the latter proved more commercially successful, with "One Dance" becoming Drake's first number-one single in Canada and the US as a leading artist. The single also became Drake's first number one single as a lead artist in the United Kingdom, and peaked at number one in Germany, France, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands. During an episode for OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed the album's release date of April 29, and followed it up with various promotional videos. On October 15, "One Dance" became Spotify's most-streamed song ever, amassing over 882 million plays . Views was previewed in London before its premiere on Beats 1 a day later. It was released as an Apple Music and iTunes exclusive on April 29 before being made available to various other platforms later that week. Views would become Drake's most commercially successful album, sitting atop the Billboard 200 for ten nonconsecutive weeks, as well as simultaneously leading the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 for eight weeks. It also achieved double-platinum status in the U.S., and earned over 1 million album-equivalent units in the first week of its release, as well as gaining over half-billion overall streams of the album. Despite its success, critical opinion towards the album remained much divided, drawing criticism for being overlong and lacking in a cohesive theme, while also claiming Drake was not challenging himself artistically, as opposed to his contemporaries. He later released a short film titled Please Forgive Me, starring Swedish twin models Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta who are frequent collaborators with him. , Views remains Drake's best-selling album in pure sales. Drake returned to host Saturday Night Live on May 14, serving as the show's musical guest. Later, Drake was named as a member of the Forbes Five, which ranks the wealthiest artists in hip-hop, placing fifth after Birdman, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, and Diddy respectively. Drake and Future then announced the Summer Sixteen Tour to showcase their collective mixtape, as well as their respective studio albums. This marked Drake's third co-headlining tour, which began in Austin, Texas on July 20. On July 23, Drake announced that he was working on a new project, scheduled to be released in early 2017, and was later named as the headline act for the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival. The latter dates of the Summer Sixteen Tour were postponed, however, due to Drake suffering an ankle injury. During the 2016 OVO Festival, Kanye West confirmed that he and Drake had begun working on a collaborative album. Soon after, the music video for "Child's Play" was released, depicting Drake and Tyra Banks playing a couple encountering relationship issues at the Cheesecake Factory in a reference to one of the song's lyrics. On September 26, Please Forgive Me was released as an Apple Music exclusive. It ran a total of 25 minutes, and featured music from Views. At the 2016 BET Hip-Hop Awards, Drake received the most nominations, with 10, winning the awards for Album of the Year and Best Hip-Hop Video. Drake later announced the Boy Meets World Tour on October 10, with twenty-six dates announced for the course of the tour in Europe. Seven additional dates were added a day later due to overwhelming demand. Soon after, during an episode of OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed he would be releasing a project titled More Life in December. However, he later pushed the date back to the new year. The project was described as a "playlist of original music", rather than being classified as a traditional mixtape or solo album. He was later revealed to be Spotify's most streamed artist for the second consecutive year in 2016, amassing a total 4.7 billion streams for all projects on the service, which is more than double the amount of streams he had in 2015. Drake later secured his second and third Grammy Awards, winning for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song at the 59th ceremony. Despite multiple setbacks, Drake announced More Life would be released on March 18, 2017, via a series of multiple video commercials released through Instagram. Upon release, More Life received mostly positive reviews, and debuted atop the Billboard 200, earning 505,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It also set a streaming record, becoming the highest ever streamed album in 24 hours, with a total of 89.9 million streams on Apple Music alone. The album also garnered 61.3 million streams on Spotify, dethroning Ed Sheeran's ÷ as the highest opening on the service in a single day. He later won 13 awards at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards in May, which saw him breaking the record for the most wins in a single show. Billboard also reported Drake had been present on the Hot 100 chart for eight consecutive years, and has the most recorded entries by a solo artist. He later declined to submit More Life for consideration at the 2018 Grammy Awards, stemming from his displeasure at "Hotline Bling" being "pigeonholed" into the rap category. He then released the single "Signs" on June 24, as well as reuniting with Metro Boomin on a single with Offset. The singles marked his first releases since More Life, with "Signs" was initially released as a collaboration between Drake and French fashion house Louis Vuitton, as part of the "Louis Vuitton Men's Spring-Summer 2018" fashion show. The event also had a playlist exclusively from OVO Sound, curated by label co-founder Oliver El-Khatib. Drake hosted the first annual NBA Awards on June 26, and starred in multiple commercials alongside his father in promotion of Virginia Black. Drake also appeared in The Carter Effect documentary, honouring the basketball career of Vince Carter, who was the first superstar player to play for the Toronto Raptors since the franchise's inception in 1995. The documentary also featured NBA players Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, and LeBron James. 2018–2019: Scorpion and Care Package; return to television After rumours circulated of Drake possibly collaborating with various artists, including rapper Trippie Redd and producer Pi'erre Bourne, for his new studio album, multiple snippets of songs were leaked near the closing end of 2017. Two songs would later be released as members of a mini EP, titled Scary Hours, on January 20, 2018, marking Drake's first solo release since More Life, as well as his first appearance on any song after featuring on a remix of the Jay-Z song "Family Feud" with Lil Wayne, as the lead single of the latter's Dedication 6: Reloaded mixtape. Scary Hours featured the songs "Diplomatic Immunity" and "God's Plan", which both debuted within the top-ten, with the latter eventually breaking various streaming records as it debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was Drake's first song as a solo artist to reach number one, as well as his second chart topper as a lead artist. Drake earned his 70th top 40 entry after featuring on the Migos song "Walk It Talk It", which debuted at number eighteen, and peaked at number ten. He was later featured on BlocBoy JB's debut single "Look Alive", which was released on February 9, 2018. The song's entry at number six on the Hot 100 made Drake the rapper with the most top 10 hits on the Hot 100, with 23. He then featured on a remix to "Lemon", a song originally released as a collaboration between band N.E.R.D and Rihanna. On April 5, Drake announced he was finishing his fifth studio album and he was releasing a single later that night. On April 6, "Nice for What" was released, alongside a music video directed by Karena Evans, which featured several female celebrities. After "Nice For What" replaced his own "God's Plan" on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, making him the first artist to have a new number-one debut replace their former number-one debut, Drake announced the title of his fifth studio album as Scorpion, with a planned release date of June 29, 2018. He then released "I'm Upset" on May 26 as the album's third single. Scorpion was then released as a double-album, and marked Drake's longest project, with a run-time of just under 90 minutes. The album broke both the one-day global records on Spotify and Apple Music, as it gained 132.45 million and 170 million plays on each streaming service, respectively. It eventually sold 749,000 album equivalent units in its first week of sales, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. In 2018, articles by The Guardian and Rolling Stone called him "the definitive pop star of his generation" and "perhaps [the] biggest post-Justin Timberlake male pop star of the new millennium", respectively. Shortly thereafter, Drake collaborated with British hip hop promotion Link Up TV on July 7, releasing a freestyle as a part of the promotion's 'Behind Barz' segment, before releasing another freestyle a week later after featuring on Charlie Sloth's long-running Fire in the Booth program on BBC Radio 1Xtra. Drake then earned his sixth number-one hit with "In My Feelings" on July 21, which also spawned the viral "#InMyFeelingsChallenge" or "#KiKiChallenge". The success of "In My Feelings" also made Drake the record holder for most number one hits among rappers. Soon after, he released the music video for "Nonstop", which was filmed in London during his surprise performance at the Wireless Festival. He then appeared on the Travis Scott album Astroworld, featuring uncredited vocals for his song "Sicko Mode", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Drake announced in July 2018 that he planned to "take 6 months to a year" to himself to return to television and films, producing the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. He then began the Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour with co-headliners Migos on August 12. This preceded a collaboration with Bad Bunny titled "Mia", which featured Drake performing in Spanish. He subsequently received the award for Hot Ticket Performer at the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards on October 16. During a performance in Edmonton on November 7, Drake announced his intention to begin composing his next project in early 2019. In February 2019, he received his fourth Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, for "God's Plan", at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. During his speech, producers abruptly cut to a commercial break, leading viewers to speculate they were censoring his speech during which he criticized The Recording Academy. A legal representative for the academy then released a statement stating "a natural pause [led] the producers [to] assume that he was done and cut to commercial," and added the organization offered him an opportunity to return to stage, but he declined. On February 14, Drake re-released his third mixtape, So Far Gone, onto streaming services for the first time to commemorate its 10-year anniversary, and later collaborated with Summer Walker on a remix of Walker's song "Girls Need Love", marking his first release of 2019. On April 10, during a performance on the Assassination Vacation Tour, he announced he was working on a new album. On June 8, Drake appeared on Chris Brown's single "No Guidance". On June 15, Drake released two songs, "Omertà" and "Money in the Grave", on his EP The Best in the World Pack to celebrate the NBA Championship win of the Toronto Raptors. On August 2, he released the compilation album Care Package, consisting of songs released between 2010 and 2016 that were initially unavailable for purchase or commercial streaming; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. 2019–present: Dark Lane Demo Tapes, Scary Hours 2, and Certified Lover Boy Drake released the song "War" on December 24, 2019, with an accompanying music video, which was widely noted for its UK drill-inspired instrumental. The following day, in an interview with Rap Radar, it was revealed that he was in the process of completing his sixth studio album. On January 10, 2020, Drake collaborated with Future on the song "Life Is Good", which appeared on the album High Off Life. On January 31, the pair again collaborated on the song "Desires", although it was released for free after being leaked. On February 29, Drake released the songs "When to Say When" and "Chicago Freestyle" with a combined music video. On April 3, he released "Toosie Slide" with a music video, which features a dance created in collaboration with social media influencer Toosie. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Drake the first male artist to have three songs debut at number one. On May 1, 2020, Drake released the commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes, with guest appearances from Chris Brown, Future, Young Thug, Fivio Foreign, Playboi Carti, and Sosa Geek. He also announced that his sixth studio album would be released in the summer of 2020. The mixtape is a compilation of new songs and tracks that leaked on the internet. It received mixed reviews and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 223,000 album-equivalent units, and at number one on the UK Albums Chart, earning 20,000 units in its first week. On July 17, Drake was featured on DJ Khaled's singles "Greece" and "Popstar", debuting at numbers eight and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, becoming Drake's record-extending 24th and 25th debuts in the Hot 100's top 10. It also became his 39th and 40th Hot 100 top ten entries, breaking Madonna's record for most Hot 100 top ten hits. On July 20, Drake and Headie One released the drill track "Only You Freestyle", making it the third drill-inspired song he released in 2020, after "War" and "Demons", both of which appear on Dark Lane Demo Tapes. On August 14, "Laugh Now Cry Later" featuring Lil Durk was released, which was intended as the lead single from Drake's album Certified Lover Boy, but not included on the final track listing. It debuted at number two on the Hot 100, and was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. On September 3, the video for "Popstar" was released, in which Drake makes a cameo appearance. On October 2, Drake was the sole guest appearance on Bryson Tiller's album Anniversary (2020), on the song "Outta Time". He subsequently appeared on the remix to "You're Mines Still", alongside Yung Bleu on October 16; just over a week later, on his 34th birthday, Drake announced Certified Lover Boy was set to be released in January 2021. This was later pushed back to an unspecified date after he sustained a knee injury which required surgery. On December 1, he reunited with Lil Wayne on "B.B. King Freestyle", the lead single from the latter's double-disc mixtape No Ceilings 3 (2020). In January 2021, Drake became the first artist to surpass 50 billion combined streams on Spotify. He later collaborated with Drakeo the Ruler on the single "Talk to Me", which was released on February 23. On March 5, Drake released an EP titled Scary Hours 2, which includes three songs: "What's Next", "Wants and Needs" with Lil Baby, and "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" with Rick Ross. These three songs entered the charts at numbers one, two, and three, respectively, making Drake the first artist to have three songs debut in the top three on the Billboard Hot 100. He then appeared on the single "Solid" from the YSL Records compilation Slime Language 2, alongside Gunna and Young Thug. "Solid" was originally meant to appear on Certified Lover Boy, and to only feature Gunna. On May 14, Drake was featured alongside mentor Lil Wayne on former labelmate Nicki Minaj's "Seeing Green", a new song on the streaming re-release of her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. Two weeks later, he was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. On June 12, he featured on Migos' "Having Our Way", from the group's third studio album, Culture III (2021), and on July 1, collaborated with Brent Faiyaz and The Neptunes on the song "Wasting Time". On July 23, Drake appeared on "Over the Top" with Smiley, the newest signee to OVO Sound. During an appearance on Fri Yiy Friday, a radio show supported by OVO Sound, Drake revealed Certified Lover Boy "is ready. [I'm] looking forward to delivering it". He then appeared on "Betrayal", a collaboration with Trippie Redd for Trip at Knight (2021). Certified Lover Boy was then released on September 3, 2021, becoming his tenth number-one album on the Billboard 200; every song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album was the first to chart nine songs on the top 10, with "Way 2 Sexy" becoming Drake's ninth number-one single. He subsequently set the record for the fourth-most cumulative weeks (52) at number one on the Hot 100, behind Mariah Carey (84), Rihanna (60), and The Beatles (59). He received a nomination for Best Global Act at the 2021 All Africa Music Awards, and appeared on Young Thug's Punk (2021), featuring on the song "Bubbly". On October 22, Drake featured on Majid Jordan's "Stars Align", the lead single to the band's third album Wildest Dreams. Two weeks later, on November 5, Drake released a horror-themed black and white music video for "Knife Talk", the third single from Certified Lover Boy, with featured appearances by 21 Savage and Project Pat. On November 6, he debuted the song "Give It Up" on OVO Sound Radio. Certified Lover Boy was nominated for Best Rap Album and "Way 2 Sexy" was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. He was later named Billboard’s Top Artist of the Year for 2021, and was the fourth most streamed artist on Spotify for the year, and the most streamed rapper. On December 6, he withdrew his music for consideration for the Grammys, with multiple outlets noting his contentious relationship with the Recording Academy. Drake accumulated 8.6 billion on-demand streams in 2021, making him the most overall streamed artist of the year in the United States; one out of every 131 streams was a Drake song. On January 7, 2022, Drake was announced as a featured artist on Gunna's DS4Ever, but was not included until the release of the album's deluxe edition just under a week later. On January 17, Drake announced another collaboration with DJ Khaled. Artistry Influences Drake has cited several hip hop artists as influencing his rapping style, including Kanye West, Jay Z, MF Doom, and Lil Wayne, while also attributing various R&B artists as influential to the incorporation of the genre into his own music, including Aaliyah and Usher. Drake has also credited several dancehall artists for later influencing his Caribbean-inflected style, including Vybz Kartel, whom he has called one of his "biggest inspirations". Musical style Drake is considered to be a pop-rap artist. While Drake's earlier music primarily spanned hip hop and R&B, his music has delved into pop and trap in recent years. Additionally, his music has drawn influence from regional scenes, including Jamaican dancehall and UK drill. Drake is known for his egotistical lyrics, technical ability, and integration of personal backstory when dealing with relationships with women. His vocal abilities have been lauded for an audible contrast between typical hip-hop beats and melody, with sometimes abrasive rapping coupled with softer accents, delivered on technical lyricism. His songs often include audible changes in lyrical pronunciation in parallel with his upbringing in Toronto, and connections with Caribbean and Middle Eastern countries which include such phrases as "ting", "touching road", "talkin' boasy" and "gwanin' wassy". Most of his songs contain R&B and Canadian hip hop elements, and he combines rapping with singing. He credits his father with the introduction of singing into his rap mixtapes, which have become a staple in his musical repertoire. His incorporation of melody into technically complex lyrics was supported by Lil Wayne, and has subsequently been a critically acclaimed component to Drake's singles and albums. The lyrical content that Drake deploys is typically considered to be emotional or boastful. However, Drake is often revered for incorporating "degrading" themes of money, drug use, and women into newer, idealized contexts, often achieving this through his augmentation of the typical meaning of phrases in which he combines an objective and subjective perspective into one vocal delivery. His songs often maintain tension between "pause and pace, tone timbre, and volume and vocal fermata." Drake is credited with innovating what has been referred to as "hyper-reality rap", which is characterized by its focus on themes of celebrity as being distinct from the "real world." Public image A prominent figure in pop culture, Drake is widely credited for popularizing the Toronto sound to the music industry and leading the "Canadian Invasion" of the American charts. The Washington Post editor Maura Judkis credits Drake for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States with his single "The Motto", which includes, "You only live once: that's the motto, nigga, YOLO." Drake later popularized the term "The Six" in 2015 in relation to his hometown Toronto, subsequently becoming a point of reference to the city. His lyrical subject matter, which often revolves around relationships, have had widespread use on social media through photo captions to reference emotions or personal situations. However, this content has incited mixed reception from fans and critics, with some deeming him as sensitive, a trait perceived as antithetical to traditional hip hop culture. June 10 was declared "Drake Day" in Houston. In 2016, Drake visited Drake University after a show in Des Moines in response to an extensive social media campaign by students that began in 2009, advocating for his appearance. According to a report from Confused.com, Drake's Toronto home was one of the most Googled homes in the world, recording over a million annual searches in 2021; its features, such as its NBA-size indoor basketball court and Kohler Numi toilet, have also received widespread media attention. The music video for "Hotline Bling" went viral due to Drake's eccentric dance moves. The video has been remixed, memed, and was heavily commented on due to the unconventional nature on the song, causing it to gain popularity on YouTube, and spawning several parodies. Drake has also been critiqued for his expensive, product placement-heavy attire, exemplified by the video for "Hotline Bling". Drake modelled a $1,500 Moncler Puffer Jacket, a $400 Acne Studios turtleneck, and limited edition Timberland 6" Classic Boots. He was labeled by GQ magazine as "[one of] the most stylish men alive"; during promotion for Certified Lover Boy, Drake debuted a "heart haircut", which became popular and widely imitated. He is also known for his large and extravagant lifestyle, including for high-end themed birthday parties; he maintained this image in his early career by renting a Rolls-Royce Phantom, which he was eventually gifted in 2021. He later cultivated a reputation as a successful gambler; between December 2021 and February 2022, he was reported to have made bets of over $1 billion, which included winnings ranging between $354,000 and $7 million. Between 2016 and 2019, he was noted for the "Drake curse", an internet meme based on the incidents where Drake appears to be support of particular sports team or person, just for that team or person to lose, often against the odds. In 2016, Drake spoke on the shooting of Alton Sterling, publishing an open letter expressing his concern for the safety of ethnic minorities against police brutality in the United States. In 2021, he joined a group of Canadian musicians to work with the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) to lobby Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to restructure the country's copyright law to allow artists and their families to regain ownership of copyrights during their lifetime. He also campaigned for the expansion of a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise in Toronto, and headlined a benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with Kanye West on December 9, 2021, to raise clemency for Larry Hoover, although his solo performance was later removed from the Amazon Prime Video replay. In Christmas 2021, Drake gave away money to individuals in Toronto. Impact Commenting on Drake's Take Care, Elias Leight of Rolling Stone noticed in 2020 that "now nearly every singer raps, and nearly every rapper sings", as many artists "have borrowed or copied the template of [the album] that the boldness of the original is easily forgotten", according to the writer. BBC Radio 1Xtra argued that his co-signs helped push the British hip-hop scene to a wider international market, as he did with the Toronto music scene. According to CBS Music in 2019, Drake has inspired "the next wave" of artists coming out of his hometown. Aaron Williams of Uproxx added "jump-starting the sad boy rapper craze alongside Kid Cudi" and "helping to renew stateside interest in UK grime and Caribbean dancehall with Skepta, PartyNextDoor, and Rihanna" to the modern trends Drake assisted. Writing for Bloomberg, Lucas Shaw commented Drake's popularity has influenced the promotion of music, with Certified Lover Boy attaining large commercial success despite relatively minimal orthodox marketing techniques, stating "fans are consuming Drake’s [music] in a way that is different to others". He also noted the album as novel in relation to consumption, with each song having relatively equivalent streams, as opposed to a dominant single(s). The ubiquity of Drake's music has consistently seen it played during various activities or events. In 2021, a study conducted by Pour Moi found, over a kilometer, joggers ran 21 seconds slower while listening to Drake's music compared to other artists. Drake's music was also found to extend a three-mile run by 105 seconds. Beginning in 2022, Drake's music was canonized academically by Ryerson University, which began teaching courses titled "Deconstructing Drake and the Weeknd", with the pair's music used to explore themes related to the Canadian music industry, race, class, marketing and globalization. Achievements Drake is the highest-certified digital singles artist ever in the United States, having moved 142 million units based on combined sales and on-demand streams. His highest-certified single is "God's Plan" (11× Platinum), followed by "Hotline Bling", which was certified 8× Platinum. He holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; he has the most charted songs of any artist (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in a single week (27), the most debuts in a week (22), the most top 10 singles (54), the most top 10 debuts in a week (9), the most top 10 debuts (39), and the most continuous time on the chart (431 weeks). He has accumulated 9 number-one singles, a record among rappers. In 2021, Drake became second act to occupy the entire Hot 100's top five in a single week, the other act being The Beatles in 1964. He also has the most number-one singles on the Hot Rap Songs (23), Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (23), and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. He is also the only artist to have two albums log 400 weeks each on the Billboard 200. , Drake has won four Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. He has also won a record 29 Billboard Music Awards. In 2017, he surpassed Adele's record for most wins at the Billboard Music Awards in one night, winning 13 awards from 22 nominations. He was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. Billboard editor Ernest Baker stated "Drake managed to rule hip-hop in 2014", adding "the best rapper in 2014 didn't need a new album or hit single to prove his dominance". From 2015 to 2017, Drake ranked within the top-five of the Billboard year-end chart for Top Artists topping it in 2018. He was named the IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2016 and 2018. Drake was Spotify's most streamed artist of the 2010s. Pitchfork ranked Nothing Was the Same as the 41st best album of the decade "so far"—between 2010 and 2014, and ranked him fifth in the publication's list of the "Top 10 Music Artists" since 2010. Take Care was ranked at number 95 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020). He has been ranked by Complex on their "Best Rapper Alive Every Year Since 1979" list, awarding Drake the accolade in 2011, 2012, and 2015. Controversies Legal issues On May 31, 2009, Drake was robbed at gunpoint in Toronto's Little Italy district and was forced to forfeit a gold and diamond necklace, an Audemars Piguet watch, and $2,000. Soccerties Cotterell and Paul Lelutiu were initially charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, three counts of pointing a firearm and possession of stolen property; these charges were later dropped. The men pled guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, and spent six months in jail. In April 2017, Mesha Collins was arrested for criminal trespass after breaking into Drake's home in Calabasas; although no criminal charges were brought by Drake, she later filed a $4 billion lawsuit against him for defamation in June 2021, which was dismissed that December. In March 2021, an unidentified woman armed with a knife was arrested following a failed attempt to break into Drake's home in Toronto. In 2012, singer Ericka Lee filed a lawsuit against Drake for the usage of her voice on "Marvins Room". Claiming to have provided the female vocals, Lee also alleged she was owed songwriting credits and royalties. Despite Drake's legal team countering by claiming that Lee simply requested a credit in the liner notes of the album, the matter was resolved in February 2013, with both parties agreeing to an out-of-court settlement. In 2014, Drake was sued for $300,000 for sampling "Jimmy Smith Rap", a 1982 single by jazz musician Jimmy Smith. The suit was filed by Smith's estate, who said Drake never asked for permission when sampling it for the intro on "Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2", claiming Smith himself would have disagreed as he disliked hip hop. Drake would win the lawsuit in 2017, with federal judge William Pauley ruling the content used was transformative, and there was no liability for copyright infringement. Also in 2014, it emerged that Drake was sued by rapper Rappin' 4-Tay, claiming Drake misused his lyrics when collaborating with YG on the song "Who Do You Love?". He sought $100,000 for mistreatment and artistic theft, which Drake paid to the rapper later that year. In 2016, Drake caused a nightclub in Oklahoma City to close down, due to his usage of marijuana and other illegal drugs being prevalent at the club. In December 2021, Drake sued jeweler Ori Vechler and his company Gemma LTD for incorrectly using his likeness in promotional material; he also sought to return three items he purchased. In 2017, Drake was embroiled in another lawsuit, being sued by producer Detail (Noel Fisher) over an alleged assault in 2014. Fisher claimed Drake's bodyguard, Nessel "Chubbs" Beezer, punched him in the face and allegedly broke his jaw over musical and financial disputes. Fisher also said the injuries caused him to be hospitalized for days and had to undergo several surgeries, following which he sued for damages related to medical bills and physical and emotional suffering. The case, which was set to undergo trial in May 2018, was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu after Fisher failed to show up for a final status conference. Lu ruled that Beezer solely acted in self-defense. In October 2021, Drake and Chris Brown were sued by Braindon Cooper and Timothy Valentine for copyright infringement between "No Guidance" and their own song "I Love Your Dress". Cooper and Valentine lost the lawsuit quickly, also being mocked by general public on the internet. A month later, he was named as a co-defendant with Travis Scott in a multi-claimant lawsuit for inciting "a riot and violence" at the Astroworld Festival, to which he released a statement; he was later criticized for reportedly attending the Area 29 strip club in Houston the day after the incident. He also reportedly delayed the release of "Splash Brothers", a collaboration with French Montana, following the incident. Feuds Drake and Chris Brown were allegedly involved in a physical altercation in June 2012 when Drake and his entourage threw glass bottles at Brown in a SoHo nightclub in Manhattan, New York City. Chris Brown tweeted about the incident, and criticized Drake in music until 2013, including on the "R.I.P." remix. Despite no response from Drake, he and Brown both appeared in a comedic skit for the 2014 ESPY Awards, and rehearsed the skit together prior to the televised airing, virtually ending the dispute. The pair later collaborated on "No Guidance" in 2019. In December 2014, Drake was involved in another altercation, being punched by Diddy outside the LIV nightclub in Miami, Florida. The altercation was reported to be over Drake's usage of the instrumental for "0 to 100 / The Catch Up", allegedly produced by Boi-1da for Diddy, before Drake appropriated the track for his own use. Drake was later rushed to the ER after aggravating an old arm injury during the dispute. Drake was also involved in a feud with Tyga, stemming from Tyga's negative comments about him during an interview with Vibe magazine. Drake would later respond on "6 God" and "6PM in New York", which has been interpreted as directly involved in Tyga's abrupt removal from Young Money Entertainment. Further controversy arose in July 2015 when it was alleged by Meek Mill that Drake had used ghostwriters during recording sessions for "RICO", one of the lead singles off Mill's second studio album. This proceeded further allegations that Drake did not help in promotion of the album, due to Mill discovering the ghostwriter, widely believed to be Quentin Miller. Despite Miller collaborating with Drake and receiving past credits, Mill assured that Miller had written Drake's verse for "R.I.C.O." Soon after, Funkmaster Flex aired reference tracks in support of Mill's claims, notably for "R.I.C.O.", "10 Bands", and "Know Yourself". This prompted Drake to respond with two diss tracks, titled "Charged Up" and "Back to Back", in the space of four days. Mill would later respond with "Wanna Know", before removing it from SoundCloud weeks later. Following several subliminal disses from either artist, Drake further sought to denounce Funkmaster Flex while performing in New York (Flex's home state) on the Summer Sixteen Tour. Following Mill's prison sentencing for probation violation, Drake stated "Free Meek Mill" at a concert in Australia, and ended their rivalry on "Family Feud"; the pair later collaborated on "Going Bad" in 2019. Pusha T would also use the same rationale to criticize Drake on "Infrared" in 2018, leading Drake to respond with the "Duppy Freestyle" diss track on May 25. Pusha T responded with "The Story of Adidon" on May 29, which presented several claims and revealed Drake's fatherhood. The pair are considered to have been in a rivalry since 2012, resulting from Pusha T's feuds with Lil Wayne and Birdman, with Drake yet to respond to "The Story of Adidon". In 2016, Drake was embroiled in a feud with Joe Budden, stemming from Budden's derogatory comments when reviewing Views. Drake would allegedly respond to Budden through "4PM in Calabasas", prompting Budden to respond with two diss tracks in the space of five days, echoing the same sentiment Drake deployed during his feud with Meek Mill. Drake would later appear on "No Shopping" alongside French Montana, directly referencing Budden throughout the song, although, Montana claimed Drake's verse was recorded before the release of Budden's diss tracks. Despite Budden releasing two further songs in reference to Drake, he has yet to officially respond to Budden. In the same year, Drake dissed Kid Cudi on "Two Birds, One Stone" after Cudi launched an expletive-filled rant on the artist on Twitter. Cudi later checked into a rehabilitation facility following the release of the song, and continued to disparage Drake in further tweets; the pair eventually resolved their feud, and collaborated on "IMY2" in 2021. In mid-2018, Drake was embroiled in a feud with long-time collaborator Kanye West. In an appearance on The Shop, Drake recounted several meetings with West, who voiced his desire to "be Quincy Jones" and work with Drake and replicate the producer-artist relationship between Jones and Michael Jackson. West requested Drake play and inform him of upcoming releases, while he gave Drake the instrumental to "Lift Yourself". West requested the pair work in Wyoming, with Drake arriving a day after close friend 40, who said West was instead recording an album. Judging the pair to have differing release schedules, Drake traveled to Wyoming, but "only worked on [West's] music"; they explored Drake's after he played West "March 14", which addressed Drake's relationship with his newborn son and co-parent. This prompted a conversation with West regarding his personal issues, after which, news of his son would be exposed by Pusha T, which Drake concluded was revealed to him by West; West also released "Lift Yourself" as a solo song and produced "Infrared". Drake then denounced West in songs and live performances. West would retaliate in a series of tweets in late 2018, and the pair continued to respond on social media and in music as of late 2021, which included Drake leaking West's song "Life of the Party". During their feud, West also made several public attempts to reconcile with Drake, which is reported to have occurred after they co-headlined a benefit concert in December 2021. Drake has also been involved in feuds with DMX, Kendrick Lamar, Common, The Weeknd, XXXTentacion, Jay-Z, Tory Lanez, and Ludacris, although the latter five, and his feud with DMX, have been reported to be resolved. Business ventures Endorsements Prior to venturing into business, Drake garnered several endorsement deals with various companies, notably gaining one with Sprite following his mention of drinking purple drank, a concoction that contains Sprite as a key ingredient. In the aftermath of his highly publicized feud with Meek Mill, Drake was also endorsed by fast food restaurants Burger King and Whataburger. Business magazine Forbes commented his endorsement deals and business partnerships "combined heavily" for Drake's reported pre-tax earnings at $94 million between June 2016 to June 2017, being one of the highest-paid celebrities during that period. OVO Sound During the composition of Nothing Was the Same, Drake started his own record label in late 2012 with producer Noah "40" Shebib and business partner Oliver El-Khatib. Drake sought for an avenue to release his own music, as well helping in the nurturing of other artists, while Shebib and El-Khatib yearned to start a label with a distinct sound, prompting the trio to team up to form OVO Sound. The name is an abbreviation derived from the October's Very Own moniker Drake used to publish his earlier projects. The label is currently distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Drake, 40, and PartyNextDoor were the label's inaugural artists. The label houses artists including Drake, PartyNextDoor, Majid Jordan, Roy Woods, and dvsn, as well as producers including 40, Boi-1da, Nineteen85, and Future the Prince. Toronto Raptors On September 30, 2013, at a press conference with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke, Drake was announced as the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise. It was announced together with the 2016 NBA All-Star Game being awarded to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. This was also the setting where Drake was given The Key to the City. In the role, it was announced that Drake would help to promote and serve as a host of festivities, beginning with the All-Star Game. He would also provide consulting services to rebrand the team, helping to redesign its image and clothing line in commemoration of the franchise's 20th anniversary. He also collaborated with the Raptors on pre-game practice jerseys, t-shirts, and sweatsuits, and began hosting an annual "Drake Night" segment with the organization, beginning in 2013. Entertainment Apple Music Following the launch of Apple Music, a music and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc., the company announced Drake as the figurehead for the platform at their Worldwide Developers Conference in 2015, with the artist also penning an exclusivity deal with the service worth a reported $19 million. This saw all future solo releases by Drake becoming available first on Apple Music, before seeing roll out to other streaming services and music retailers. Drake had also developed the OVO Sound Radio station on Beats 1, which is utilized as the primary avenue for debuting singles and projects, with the station overseeing over 300 million unique users when it debuted More Life. Drake's partnership with Apple Music has largely been credited for the platform's sharp success, as it attained 10 million subscribers after six months, as well as giving birth to exclusivity from artists, with many independent and signed artists, such as Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, also brokering exclusivity deals with streaming services. Through signing with the company, Drake was one of the artists, alongside Pharrell and Katy Perry, to exclusively own an Apple Watch before the smartwatch saw public release. DreamCrew and investments In 2017, Drake and Adel "Future" Nur co-founded the production company DreamCrew, which functions both as a management company and entertainment group. The company has produced the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. Their debut film as producers was on the sports documentary The Carter Effect, detailing the impact of Vince Carter in Canada. In July 2021, Drake was announced as an executive producer, alongside LeBron James and Maverick Carter, for Black Ice, a documentary film charting the experiences of black and ethnic minority professional and amateur ice hockey players. It is due to be produced by Uninterrupted Canada in partnership with Drake's DreamCrew Entertainment, James' SpringHill Company, and Bell Media. DreamCrew also began production on the unscripted survival series Chillin' Island in 2021, due to air on HBO. In June 2021, Live Nation confirmed a long-standing partnership with Drake to open History, a 2,500 convertible capacity live-entertainment and general function venue in Toronto. It was in development for over three years and is situated in The Beaches. He also aided in the venue's interior design, which contains LED screens, soundproofing, quick-change rooms and a customizable staircase. Later that month, Drake signed as an investor and collaborator with Los Angeles-based sustainability and financial services startup Aspiration; he will also use the company's enterprise services to monitor and ensure personal carbon neutrality. He has also invested in robo-advisor Wealthsimple, the "livestreaming video commerce platform" NTWRK, the cannabis provider Bullrider, and several sports-related ventures, including online esports betting platform Players’ Lounge, the sportstech firm StatusPro, and online sports network Overtime. In an analysis by Brennan Doherty for Toronto Star, Drake's investment "carry all the hallmarks" typical of musicians, which is often momentum investing, and cited Jason Pereira, who described Drake's business deals as typically angel investing and private equity (often venture capital) funds. Pereira also noted his "leveraging his personal brand to generate cash". 100 Thieves In 2018, Drake purchased an ownership stake in the gaming organization 100 Thieves, joining as a co-founder and co-owner. The investment was partly funded by music executive Scooter Braun and Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert. Since the investment, the stake is estimated to be worth $125 million. Cuisine Two months prior to the release of Views, Drake announced the development of Virginia Black, a bourbon-based whiskey. This would be his second foray into selling foodstuffs, previously partnering with celebrity chef Susur Lee to open Fring's Restaurant in Toronto. The beverage was created and also distributed alongside Proximo Spirits, as well as with Brent Hocking, a spirits producer who founded DeLeón Tequila in 2008. The company described the partnership as "fruitful [as they] share a passion for style, music, and the pursuit of taste [on] a quest to redefine whiskey." In 2021, using ratings compiled from Vivino and complimentary website Distiller, Virginia Black was ranked the worst value celebrity liquor for quality and price. The product was launched in June 2016, and contained two, three and four-year old Bourbon whiskies. The company sold over 4,000 bottles in the first week domestically. The brand was also promoted and marketed through Drake's music and various tours, such as being part of the "Virginia Black VIP Lounge" additional package available for purchase during the Summer Sixteen Tour. Virginia Black shipped a further 30,000 units when rollout was extended to select international markets in late 2016. The company later aired commercials with Drake's father, Dennis Graham, which featured the tagline of "The Realest Dude Ever" (in reference toward "The Most Interesting Man in the World" tagline employed by Dos Equis) after extending the sale of the drink to Europe in 2017. In 2019, Drake began collaborating with Hocking on Mod Sélection, a luxury range of champagne, and in May 2021, formed part of a $40 million series B investment funding round led by D1 Capital Partners in Daring Foods Inc., a vegan meat analogue corporation. That September, he purchased a minority stake in Californian food chain Dave's Hot Chicken. Fashion In December 2013, Drake announced he was signing with Nike and Air Jordan, saying "growing up, I'm sure we all idolized Michael Jordan. I [am] officially inducted into the Team Jordan family." Drake also released his own collection of Air Jordans, dubbed the "Air Jordan OVOs". This foresaw collaborations between OVO and Canada Goose, in which various items of clothing were produced. In 2020, A Bathing Ape announced a collaboration with Drake, releasing an OVO x BAPE collection of clothing, while he also partnered with candle manufacturer Revolve to create "Better World Fragrance", a line of scented candles. In December 2020, Drake announced Nocta, a sub-label with Nike. In a press release, Drake said "I always felt like there was an opportunity for Nike to embrace an entertainer the same way [as] athletes," he wrote, "to be associated with the highest level possible was always my goal." The apparel line is named after Drake's "nocturnal creative process", in which Nike described as a "collection for the collective", and noted by GQ as "fashion-forward, minimal-inspired sportswear". One clothing item features an image of Drake's muses, Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta, with a poem. After the first collection sold out, another was released in February 2021, which introduced t-shirts, adjustable caps, a utility vest, and a lightweight jacket. That July, OVO released the "Weekender Collection", which includes a line of hoodies, velour sweatsuits, t-shirts, shorts, and accessories for women. OVO then released a "Winter Survival Collection" that December which included puffer jackets, vests, and parkas made with 700-fill down and Oeko-Tex certified down feathers. They followed this with limited edition Jurassic Park-themed collection and an indoor footwear collaboration with Suicoke. Personal life Health and residences Drake lives in Toronto, Ontario, in a 35,000-square-foot, $100 million estate nicknamed "The Embassy", which was built from the ground-up in 2017, and is seen in the video to his song "Toosie Slide". He also owns a home nicknamed the "YOLO Estate" in Hidden Hills, California, which he has owned since 2012, and in 2021, rented a $65 million property in Beverly Hills. He owns a condominium adjacent to the CN Tower, and a Boeing 767. Drake has a variety of tattoos, some of which are symbols associated with personal accomplishments, such as a jack-o-lantern, "October Lejonhjärta" (), owls, and a controversial Abbey Road (1969) inspired depiction of himself and The Beatles. He has portraits of Lil Wayne, Sade, Aaliyah, Jesús Malverde, Denzel Washington, 40, his parents, grandmother, maternal uncle, and son; and several related to Toronto, including the CN Tower and the number "416". On August 18, 2021, Drake revealed he contracted COVID-19 amidst the pandemic, which led to temporary hair loss. He was also one of the first celebrities to publicly test for the virus in March 2020. Family and relationships Drake's paternal uncles are guitarists and songwriters Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges. Graham was a member of Sly and the Family Stone, while Hodges contributed to songs for Al Green, including "Love and Happiness", "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)", and "Take Me to the River". Drake has a close friendship with Adele, and was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Rihanna from 2009 to 2016. He has mentioned the relationship in every one of his studio albums, and when presenting Rihanna with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2016, he said "she's a woman I've been in love with since I was 22 years old." On his relationship with her, he said on the talk show The Shop: As life takes shape and teaches you your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don't have the fairy tale [of] 'Drake started a family with Rihanna, [it's] so perfect.' It looks so good on paper [and] I wanted it too at one time. Drake is a father to one son named Adonis, who was born on October 11, 2017 to French painter and former model Sophie Brussaux. Brussaux's pregnancy was the subject of several rumours after featuring in a TMZ article in early 2017. After the nature of the pair's relationship was discussed in Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon", Drake confirmed his fatherhood on the album Scorpion in 2018, citing a desire for his child's privacy. Discography Studio albums Thank Me Later (2010) Take Care (2011) Nothing Was the Same (2013) Views (2016) Scorpion (2018) Certified Lover Boy (2021) Tours Headlining Away from Home Tour (2010) Club Paradise Tour (2012) Would You Like a Tour? (2013–2014) Jungle Tour (2015; six date promotional tour) Boy Meets World Tour (2017) Assassination Vacation Tour (2019) Co-headlining America's Most Wanted Tour (2009) Drake vs. Lil Wayne (2014) Summer Sixteen Tour (2016) Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour (2018) Filmography Film Television See also Culture of Toronto List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of Canadian musicians List of people from Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of highest-certified music artists in the United States List of best-selling music artists List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones List of most-followed Instagram accounts List of Canadian hip hop musicians List of Canadian Jews List of Black Canadians Black Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area History of the Jews in Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the Canadian Hot 100 List of Canadian Grammy Award winners and nominees List of most-streamed artists on Spotify References External links 1986 births Living people 21st-century Black Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian rappers African-American businesspeople African-American Jews African-American male rappers Black Canadian businesspeople Black Canadian male actors Black Canadian musicians Brit Award winners Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian Ashkenazi Jews Canadian contemporary R&B singers Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Canadian hip hop singers Canadian male child actors Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male rappers Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian music industry executives Canadian people of African-American descent Canadian people of American descent Canadian people of Jewish descent Canadian people of Latvian-Jewish descent Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Canadian philanthropists Canadian pop singers Canadian rhythm and blues singers Canadian songwriters Cash Money Records artists Culture of Toronto Dancehall musicians Grammy Award winners for rap music Jewish Canadian male actors Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish Canadian writers Jewish rappers Jewish singers Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year winners Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year winners Male actors from Toronto MTV Europe Music Award winners OVO Sound artists People from Hidden Hills, California People from Weston, Toronto Pop rappers Rappers from Toronto Republic Records artists Sports spectators Toronto Raptors personnel Trap musicians UK drill musicians Universal Motown Records artists Writers from Toronto Young Money Entertainment artists	true	[ "\"So Far Gone\" is the second single from English singer-songwriter James Blunt's third studio album, Some Kind of Trouble. The single was released as a digital download single release exclusively in the United Kingdom on 3 January 2011. A live version of the song, recorded at Metropolis Studios, was included on the OpenDisc feature of Some Kind of Trouble. Blunt performed the song live for the first time on Comedy Rocks with Jason Manford on 28 January 2011. Australian radio stations have picked up the song and are beginning to give it airplay as of March 2011.\n\nMusic video\nThe video, directed by Marc Klasfeld, for the track premiered on Blunt's official YouTube account on 13 December 2010.\n\nReception\nMatthew Horton from BBC Music said that: \"Best Laid Plans teems with cliché and some David Gilmour-lite guitar noodles that also rear up on So Far Gone.\" March Hirsh from Boston Globe said: \"A few songs – midtempo anthem \"So Far Gone,’’ quavery failed-romance ballad \"Best Laid Plans'’ — fill up the earphones well enough but don't bother pushing an inch deeper to engage the head.\"\n\nTrack listing\n \"So Far Gone\" - 3:34\n\nChart performance\nThe single became the first UK-released single by Blunt that did not enter the UK Singles Chart (top 100). In Belgium it entered the charts in both the Flanders and Wallonia regions. On 5 February, the song entered the Tipparade (Bubbling Under Chart) of the Dutch Top 40, and climbed to number 4. In Switzerland the song charted on the Airplay Top 30 Chart, peaking at number 6.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2011 singles\nSongs written by James Blunt\nJames Blunt songs\nSongs written by Steve Robson\n2010s ballads\nMusic videos directed by Marc Klasfeld\n2010 songs\nCustard Records singles\nAtlantic Records singles\nSongs written by Ryan Tedder", "So Far Gone is the third mixtape by Canadian rapper Drake. It was released on February 13, 2009, under his October's Very Own label. The mixtape proved to be a major catalyst in the launching of Drake's career on an international scale, and was universally well received by professional critics and hip-hop fans alike.\n\nThe tracks \"Best I Ever Had\" and \"Successful\" were released as singles from the mixtape, and attained unexpected success on the US Billboard Hot 100. The mixtape was promoted with a release party in Toronto with Drake and LeBron James. Artists including Omarion, Lloyd, Lykke Li, Lil Wayne and Bun B provided guest vocals on the release. The mixtape helped launch the careers of producers 40 and Boi-1da, whose contributions to the musical direction of the mixtape were applauded by critics.\n\nOn February 15, 2019, the mixtape was released on commercial streaming services for the first time, commemorating its tenth anniversary.\n\nBackground\nIn an interview with Complex, Drake explains: \"The whole tape extends from one of my closest friends Oliver. One night we were having a discussion about women and the way we were talking about them, it was so brazen and so disrespectful. He texted me right after we got off the phone and he was like, 'Are we becoming the men that our mothers divorced?' That's really where the cover comes from, too. It's just this kid in pursuit of love and money. We're good guys, I'm friends with some real good people and for him to even text me after we got off the phone it just showed we have a conscience. But sometimes you just get so far gone, you get wrapped up in this shit. The title has a lot of meanings—as the way we carry ourselves, the way we dress, the way people view us, not to sound cocky, it's just that feeling that we're just distanced in a good way. You’re just elevating past the bullshit and past all the shit that you used to be a part of and you're not that proud of, you're just so far gone.\"\n\nComposition\n\nMusic\n\nThe mixtape's music was characterized by atmospheric keyboards, minor keys, snare drum, synth lead, smooth piano, live instruments, down tempo and mid tempo tracks, sparse and minimalist beats, and atmospheric chords. In a Complex interview, Drake's primary producer, Noah \"40\" Shebib, said that 808s & Heartbreak was an influence on the mixtape's atmospheric sounds.\n\nLyrics\nTypically, lyrics in So Far Gone address his relationships with women, gaining fame, past struggles, and creates metaphors for the struggles of others (\"Houstatlantavegas\", a stripper, \"November 18th\", the city of Houston etc.) Many of the more upbeat songs also include themes of braggadociosness, ego, wealth, the music industry, confidence around women and sexual experiences.\n\nSingles\n\"Best I Ever Had\" was released as the first single, in 7 months prior to the release of the EP as a digital download from the So Far Gone mixtape. The song was eventually released as an official single on June 16, 2009. The single charted for 24 weeks while eventually peaking at number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The single also managed to peak at number one on both the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart and the Billboard Rap Songs Chart, thus becoming Drake's first number one hit on both of these charts. The song was certified 2x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) indicating sales of over 2,000,000 copies in the United States.\n\n\"Successful\" was released as the second single from So Far Gone. The single managed to peak at number 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and spent a total of 18 weeks on the chart. The song also reached the Top 5 on both the R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap charts peaking at number 3 and number 2 respectively. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) indicating sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States.\n\nReception\n\nThe mixtape was well received. It currently holds a score of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating \"universal acclaim.\" RapReviews.com gave a positive review of the mixtape and commented on it by saying \"So Far Gone is unquestionably one of the most cohesive, atmospheric hip hop records in recent memory--which is almost the antithesis of what one expects from a mixtape.\" The Boston Globe gave the mixtape a positive score and commented by saying \"His materialism threads throughout So Far Gone (champagne flutes, girls, BlackBerrys, more girls), but he chases that with soft touches of humor and honesty.\" Pitchfork reviewed the mixtape positively and said \"So Far Gone still scans as one of the most compulsively listenable mixtapes of a great year for mixtapes.\" Slant Magazine gave the mixtape a mixed review, but commended Drake's effort, \"For a beginner, even one whose big-time endorsements seem to have cemented a promising start, So Far Gone is a pretty brave effort, and Drake's ability to juggle standard bling-and-bluster narratives with intelligent narratives bodes well for his future\".\n\nAccolades\n MTV's Hottest Mixtape of The Year\n Complexs No. 3 Best Albums of 2009\n Complexs No. 5 Best Mixtape Album of The Decade\n\nCommercial performance \nSo Far Gone debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, with 45,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending February 21, 2019, ten years after its release.\n\nTrack listing\nCredits adapted from Tidal and EP liner notes.\n\nNotes\n signifies an uncredited writer, due to sampling royalties\n signifies an additional producer\n\nSample credits\n \"Lust for Life\" contains a sample of \"Ideas As Opiates\", written by Roland Orzabal, and performed by Tears for Fears.\n \"Let's Call It Off\" contains a sample \"Let's Call It Off\", written by Peter Morén, John Eriksson and Björn Yttling, and performed by Peter Bjorn and John.\n \"November 18th\" contains a sample of DJ Screw's chopped-and-screwed version of \"Da Streets Ain't Right\", written by Robert Davis, Christopher Wallace, Burt Bacharach, Hal David and Osten Harvey, and performed by Kris Kross.\n \"Ignant Shit\" and \"A Night Off\" contains samples of \"Ignorant Shit\", written by Shawn Carter, Justin Smith, Dwight Grant, Marvin Isley, O'Kelly Isley, Ernie Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley and Chris Jasper, and performed by Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel.\n \"Say What's Real\" contains a sample of \"Say You Will\", written by Kanye West and Jeff Bhasker, and performed by Kanye West.\n \"Little Bit\" contains a sample of \"Little Bit\", written by Li Zachrisson and Björn Yttling, and performed by Lykke Li.\n \"Best I Ever Had\" contains a sample of \"Fallin' In Love (Again)\", written by Dan Hamilton, and performed by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds; and portions of \"Do It for the Boy\", written in part by Nakia Coleman.\n \"Unstoppable\" contains a sample of \"Unstoppable\", written by John Hill, Thomas Pentz and Santi White, and performed by Santigold.\n \"Uptown\" contains a sample of \"Uptown Girl\", written by Billy Joel.\n \"Bria's Interlude\" contains a sample of \"Friendly Skies\", written by Timothy Mosley, Missy Elliott, Maurice White and Verdine White, and performed by Missy Elliott.\n \"Outro\" contains a sample of \"The Tourist\", written and performed by Jason \"Chilly Gonzales\" Beck.\n \"Congratulations\" contains a sample of \"Viva La Vida\", written by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin, and performed by Coldplay.\n\nPersonnel\nCredits adapted from Tidal and EP liner notes.\n\n Noah \"40\" Shebib – mixing , recording engineering , remixing , vocal engineering \n The Peresian Gangster – remixing \n Finis \"KY\" White – additional vocal engineering \n Cory Mo – additional vocal engineering\n\nCharts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nAlbums produced by Boi-1da\nAlbums produced by Diplo\nAlbums produced by Just Blaze\nAlbums produced by Kanye West\nAlbums produced by Noah \"40\" Shebib\nDrake (musician) albums\n2009 mixtape albums" ]
[ "Drake (musician)", "2006-2009: Early mixtapes and So Far Gone", "When was Thank Me Later released?", "I don't know.", "what was his first mixtape?", "Room for Improvement,", "what was his second mixtape?", "Comeback Season.", "was there a third mixtape?", "So Far Gone.", "Was So Far Gone successful?", "It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success", "did it win any awards?", "gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),", "what were some of the singles on So Far Gone?", "\"Best I Ever Had\" and \"Successful\"," ]	C_9a9897534b1246b3aaaba0a09db98d2e_1	What else is interesting about this time period on his career?	8	What else is interesting besides Drake's mixtape at the time when So Far Gone was released?	Drake (musician)	After becoming musically inspired by Jay Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da, and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." The mixtape was released for sale only, and confirmed to have sold over 6,000 copies. In 2007, he released his second mixtape, Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl", featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first ever unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video featured on BET, with "Replacement Girl" being featured on the channel's "New Joint of the Day" segment on April 30, 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston in order to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "I Want This Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". Despite the collaborations between the duo, Drake was yet to be signed by Young Money Entertainment. In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape, So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success due to the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized album entitled The Girls Love Drake, which was released on iTunes under dubious means. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage, and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He later underwent surgery on September 8, 2009. CANNOTANSWER	Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels,	Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor. Gaining recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–08), Drake pursued a career in music releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement in 2006; he subsequently released the mixtapes Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment. Drake released his debut studio album, Thank Me Later, in 2010, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. He achieved major critical success with Take Care (2011) and commercial success with Nothing Was the Same (2013) and his first commercial mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015); the latter two were certified multi-platinum in the US. Drake's fourth album, Views (2016), sat atop the Billboard 200 for 13 nonconsecutive weeks, becoming the first album by a male solo artist to do so in over a decade, and featured the chart record-setting lead single "One Dance". His second solo commercial mixtape, More Life (2017), set then-multiple streaming records, and in 2018, he released the double album Scorpion, which contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings". Leaving Young Money in 2018, Drake's third commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes was released in 2020, and featured the chart-topping "Toosie Slide". In 2021, the EP Scary Hours 2 included the number one "What's Next" and set chart records, and preceded his delayed sixth album, Certified Lover Boy (2021); the album set the record for most U.S. top-ten entries from one album, with lead single "Way 2 Sexy" becoming his tenth number one. As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012. In 2013, Drake became the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise, while owning naming rights to its practice facility. In 2016, he began collaborating with American entrepreneur Brent Hocking on the bourbon whiskey Virginia Black; it eventually broke sale records in Canada. Drake has also designed fashion, the most notable including a sub-label collaboration with Nike, alongside other business ventures. In 2018, he was reportedly responsible for 5 percent (CAD$440 million) of Toronto's CAD$8.8 billion annual tourism income. Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 170 million records sold, Drake is ranked as the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States by the RIAA. He has won four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, a record 29 Billboard Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and three Juno Awards, and holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; Drake has the most top 10 singles (54), the most charted songs (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in one week (27), the most Hot 100 debuts in one week (22), and the most continuous time on the Hot 100 (431 weeks). He additionally has the most number-one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Songs, and Rhythmic Airplay charts. Early life Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. His father, Dennis Graham, is African-American and a practicing Catholic from Memphis, Tennessee, who worked as a drummer, performing alongside country musician Jerry Lee Lewis. His mother, Sandra "Sandi" Graham ( Sher), is a Canadian of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage who worked as an English teacher and florist. Dennis Graham performed at Club Bluenote in Toronto, where he met Sandra Sher, who was in attendance. Drake is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, having American citizenship due to his American father. In his youth, he attended a Jewish day school, and became a bar mitzvah. Drake's parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, he and his mother remained in Toronto; his father returned to Memphis, where he was incarcerated for a number of years on drug-related charges. Graham's limited finances and legal issues caused him to remain in the United States until Drake's early adulthood. Prior to his arrest, however, Graham would travel to Toronto and bring Drake to Memphis every summer. His father later collaborated with Canadian music group Arkells on the music video for a song titled "Drake's Dad". Graham claimed in an interview that Drake's assertions of him being an absent father were embellishments used to sell records, which Drake vehemently denies. Drake was raised in two Toronto neighbourhoods. He lived on Weston Road in the city's working-class west end until grade six, playing minor hockey with the Weston Red Wings. He then moved to one of the city's affluent neighbourhoods, Forest Hill, in 2000. When asked about the move, Drake replied, "[We had] a half of a house we could live in. The other people had the top half, we had the bottom half. I lived in the basement, my mom lived on the first floor. It was not big, it was not luxurious. It was what we could afford." He attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he demonstrated an affinity for the arts, first acting while an active student at the school. He later attended Vaughan Road Academy in the city's multicultural Oakwood–Vaughan neighbourhood. Due to the economic status associated with the neighbourhood, Drake described the school as "not by any means the easiest school to go to." Drake was often bullied at school for his racial and religious background, and upon realizing that his busy class schedule was detrimental to his burgeoning acting career, Drake dropped out of school. He later graduated in October 2012. Career 2001–2009: Career beginnings Degrassi: The Next Generation At the age of 15, Drake, eager to begin his career as an actor, was introduced to a high school friend's father, an acting agent. The agent found Drake a role on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. Drake portrayed Jimmy Brooks, a basketball star who became physically disabled after he was shot by a classmate. Drake reportedly disliked this character arc because of its apparent tokenism (his was one of the only black characters in the series), and he also believed it could negatively influence his standing as a rapper. Longtime series writer James Hurst said that Drake threatened legal action to redo the storyline, before ultimately agreeing to it. Madeleine Robinson, the executive director of the Californian non-profit organization Wheelchair 4 Kids, praised the storyline and Drake's performance, noting "he instilled confidence and representation" to disabled youth. When asked about his early acting career, Drake replied, "My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was [from] Canadian TV." He appeared in a total of 100 episodes between 2001 and 2008. In 2010, Drake expressed interest in playing Barack Obama in a biopic, to which Obama responded to with approval in an interview in 2020. According to Degrassi series creators Stephen Stohn and Linda Schuyler, Drake regularly arrived late on set after spending nights recording music. To prevent this, Schuyler claimed Drake struck an agreement with the set's security guards to gain entry to the set after recording to be allowed to sleep in a dressing room. Early mixtapes and So Far Gone Being musically inspired by Jay-Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." Room for Improvement was released for sale only and sold roughly 6,000 copies, for which Drake received $304.04 in royalties. In 2007, he released his second mixtape Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl" featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video on BET, with "Replacement Girl" featured on their "New Joint of the Day" segment in April 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success from the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized fake album titled The Girls Love Drake released on iTunes. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster on the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He underwent surgery later that year. 2010–2012: Musical breakthrough with Thank Me Later and Take Care Drake planned to release his debut album, Thank Me Later, in late 2008, but the album's release date was postponed, first to March 2010, and then to May 25, 2010. Young Money and Universal Motown had then released a statement that the album had again been pushed back three weeks for a June 15, 2010 release. On March 9, 2010, Drake released the debut single "Over", which peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Rap Songs chart. It also received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards. His second single, "Find Your Love", became an even bigger success. It peaked at number five on the Hot 100, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The music video for the single was shot in Kingston, Jamaica, and was criticized by Jamaica's minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett. Bartlett condemned the portrayal of the island in the video, saying, "care has to be taken by all, including our creative artists, in [showcasing] images of our destination and people. Gun culture, while not unique to Jamaica, is not enhancing [the island's image]." The third single and fourth singles, "Miss Me" and "Fancy" respectively, attained moderate commercial success; however, the latter garnered Drake his second nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. On April 29, it was reportedly announced that Drake had finished Thank Me Later during a show in Kansas City, Missouri. Thank Me Later was released on June 15, 2010, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of over 447,000 copies in its first week. Upon the album's release, 25,000 fans gathered at New York City's South Street Seaport for a free concert hosted by Drake and Hanson, which was later cancelled by the police after a near-riot ensued due to overflowing crowds. The album became the top selling debut album for any artist in 2010, and featured Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Jay Z. It was soon announced that Drake would have a prominent role in the military science fiction video game, Gears of War 3. He was scheduled to play the role of Jace Stratton, but scheduling conflicts with his upcoming Away from Home Tour prevented him from accepting the role. He began the tour on September 20, 2010, in Miami, Florida, performing at 78 shows over four different legs. It concluded in Las Vegas in November 2010. Due to the success of the Away from Home Tour, Drake hosted the first OVO Festival in 2010. It would soon become a regular event during the summer, with the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto playing host to the festival on its annual cycle. Drake also had an eco-friendly college tour to support the album, beginning with Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. It concluded in Plymouth, New Hampshire on May 8, and he also performed at The Bamboozle on May 1. Beginning his second effort in fall 2010, Drake announced his intentions to allow Noah "40" Shebib to handle most of the production and record a more cohesive sound than on Thank Me Later, which featured disparate production duties by Shebib and others. In November 2010, Drake revealed the title of his next studio album will be Take Care. In comparison to his debut album, Drake revealed to Y.C Radio 1 that Thank Me Later was a rushed album, stating, "I didn't get to take the time that I wanted to on that record. I rushed a lot of the songs and sonically I didn't get to sit with the record and say, 'I should change this verse.' Once it was done, it was done. That's why my new album is called Take Care, because I get to take my time this go-round." Drake sought to expand on the low-tempo, sensuous, and dark sonic esthetic of Thank Me Later. Primarily a hip hop album, Drake also attempted to incorporate R&B and pop to create a languid, grandiose sound. In January 2011, Drake was in negotiations to join Eva Green and Susan Sarandon as a member of the cast in Nicholas Jarecki's Arbitrage, before ultimately deciding against starring in the movie to focus on the album. "Dreams Money Can Buy" and "Marvins Room" were released on Drake's October's Very Own Blog, on May 20 and June 9, respectively. Acting as promotional singles for Take Care, the former was eventually unincluded on the album's final track listing, while "Marvins Room" gained Gold certification by the RIAA, as well as peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching the top 10 of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, coupled with extensive play on contemporary urban radio. Drake would soon release the song's music video on June 28. "Headlines" was released on August 9 as the lead single for Take Care. It was met with positive critical and commercial response, reaching number thirteen on the Hot 100, as well as becoming his tenth single to reach the summit of the Billboard Hot Rap Songs, making Drake the artist with the most number-one singles on the chart, with 12. It was eventually certified Platinum in both the United States and Canada. The music video for the single was released on October 2, and foresaw Drake performing the song during the second intermission of the 59th National Hockey League All-Star Game in January 2012. "Make Me Proud" was released as the album's second single on October 16. It was the final single to be released prior to the launch of the album, and debuted at number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached number nine the following week, tying the record for the largest jump on the Billboard Hot 100 for a male artist, with 88. "Make Me Proud" soon became Drake's fourth consecutive single to receive Platinum certification by the RIAA. Prior to the album's release, Drake planned to record a collaborative album with Lil Wayne; however, it was ultimately scrapped due to the success of Watch the Throne. He also began collaborations with Rick Ross for a mixtape titled Y.O.L.O., but the duo decided against the project in favor of increased concern for their respective studio albums. Although in 2021, Ross stated that a joint album is still possible as they've casually discussed it. Take Care was released on November 15, 2011, and received generally positive reviews from music critics. John McDonnell of NME dubbed it "an affecting masterpiece" and commended its "delicate, mellifluous sound and unashamedly candid, emotive lyrics." Pitchforks Ryan Dombal found Drake's "technical abilities" to be improved and stated, "Just as his thematic concerns have become richer, so has the music backing them up." Andy Hutchins of The Village Voice called it "a carefully crafted bundle of contradictory sentiments from a conflicted rapper who explores his own neuroses in as compelling a manner as anyone not named Kanye West." Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot complimented the depth of Drake's "moral psychodramas" and stated, "the best of it affirms that Drake is shaping a pop persona with staying power." It also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, and achieved great commercial success, eventually being certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA in 2016, with sales for the album marking 2.6 million in the U.S. The album's third and fourth singles, "The Motto" and Take Care", were released on November 29, 2011 and February 21, 2012, respectively. Each song was subject to commercial success, while also having large societal impacts, with "The Motto" credited for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States. The music video for "Take Care" saw widespread acclaim, with MTV stating, "None of his contemporaries – not even the ever-obtuse Kanye [West] – make videos like this, mostly because no one else can get away with it." The video received four nominations at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Video of the Year. The song was also featured on the channel's "Pop Songs You Must Hear" list of 2011. "HYFR" was the final single to be released from the album, and became certified Gold. It also won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video in 2012, and the channel ranked him number two on their "Hottest MCs in the Game" list. On August 5, 2012, Drake released "Enough Said", performed by American recording artist Aaliyah featuring additional vocals provided by himself. Originally recorded prior to the singer's death in a plane crash in 2001, Drake later finished the track with producer "40". "Enough Said" was released by Blackground Records through their SoundCloud account on August 5, 2012. It was sent to US urban and rhythmic radio stations on August 21. The song charted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs In promotion of his second album, Drake embarked on the worldwide Club Paradise Tour. It became the most successful hip hop tour of 2012, grossing over $42 million. He then returned to acting, starring in Ice Age: Continental Drift as Ethan. 2013–2015: Nothing Was the Same and If You're Reading This It's Too Late During the European leg of the Club Paradise Tour, Drake spoke in an interview stating that he had begun working on his third studio album. Revealing his intentions to remain with 40 as the album's executive producer, Drake spoke fondly about Jamie xx, hoping to include and expand the British producer's influence over his next album. Drake had also revealed that the album would stylistically differ from Take Care, departing from the ambient production and despondent lyrics prevalent previously. In January 2013, Drake announced that he would release the first single off his third album at the end of the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Despite an initial delay, it was released in the wake of his win for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the event, and it foresaw Drake announcing Nothing Was the Same as the title of his third album. The album's second single, "Hold On, We're Going Home", was released in August 2013, becoming the most successful single off the album, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Drake sought inspiration from the 1980s television series Miami Vice during the composition of the song's music video, incorporating the dramatic elements seen in the show en route to winning his second MTV Video Music Award in 2014 for the video. Drake appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing the album's third single, "Too Much", alongside featured artist Sampha. Nothing Was the Same was released on September 24, 2013, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200, with 658,000 copies sold in its first week of release. The album debuted atop the charts in Canada, Denmark, Australia and the United Kingdom. The album also enjoyed generally favourable reviews by contemporary music critics, commending the musical shift in terms of the tone and subject matter, comparing it to the distinct change showcased in Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak. The album was also reported to have sold over 1,720,000 copies in the United States, and was further promoted by the "Would You like a Tour?" throughout late 2013 to early 2014. It became the 22nd-most successful tour of the year, grossing an estimated $46 million. Drake then returned to acting in January 2014, hosting Saturday Night Live, as well as serving as the musical guest. His versatility, acting ability and comedic timing were all praised by critics, describing it as what "kept him afloat during the tough and murky SNL waters". Drake also performed in Dubai, being one of the only artists ever to perform in the city. In late 2014, Drake announced that he began recording sessions for his fourth studio album. In 2014, Drake performed in Spanish as a featured artist on the Romeo Santos song "Odio". He also appeared on a remix of "Tuesday" by ILoveMakonnen, which peaked at number one on Billboard's Rhythmic chart and number twelve on the "Hot 100", and released "0 to 100 / The Catch Up" as a non-album single. The latter went double platinum in the United States. On February 12, 2015, Drake released If You're Reading This It's Too Late onto iTunes with no prior announcement. Despite debate on whether it was an album or a mixtape, its commercial stance quantifies it as his fourth retail project with Cash Money Records, a scheme that was rumoured to allow Drake to leave the label. However, he eventually remained with Cash Money, and If You're Reading This It's Too Late sold over 1 million units in 2015, making Drake the first artist with a platinum project in 2015, as well as his fourth overall. 2015–2017: What a Time to Be Alive, Views, and More Life On July 31, 2015, Drake released four singles: "Back to Back", "Charged Up", "Hotline Bling", and "Right Hand". On September 20, 2015, Drake released a collaborative mixtape with Future, which was recorded in Atlanta in just under a week. What a Time to Be Alive debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making Drake the first hip hop artist to have two projects reach number one in the same year since 2004. It was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales, streaming and track-sales equivalent of over 1 million units. Drake also appeared on the cover of The Fader for their 100th issue. Drake announced in January 2016 that his fourth studio album would be launched during the spring, releasing the promotional single "Summer Sixteen" later that month. The album was originally titled Views from the 6, but was later shortened to Views. "Summer Sixteen" debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, and proved controversial, with Drake comparing his standing in hip hop to more tenured artists. This move divided many contemporary music critics, describing his self-comparison as "goodly brash" or "conventionally disrespectful." It was also interpreted as a diss track towards Tory Lanez, who was unhappy at Drake for popularizing the term "The Six" when referencing Toronto. Drake also crashed a Bat Mitzvah in New York City on February 20, performing at the event. Drake soon released the album's lead singles, "Pop Style" and the dancehall-infused "One Dance", on April 5. Both debuted within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100; however, the latter proved more commercially successful, with "One Dance" becoming Drake's first number-one single in Canada and the US as a leading artist. The single also became Drake's first number one single as a lead artist in the United Kingdom, and peaked at number one in Germany, France, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands. During an episode for OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed the album's release date of April 29, and followed it up with various promotional videos. On October 15, "One Dance" became Spotify's most-streamed song ever, amassing over 882 million plays . Views was previewed in London before its premiere on Beats 1 a day later. It was released as an Apple Music and iTunes exclusive on April 29 before being made available to various other platforms later that week. Views would become Drake's most commercially successful album, sitting atop the Billboard 200 for ten nonconsecutive weeks, as well as simultaneously leading the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 for eight weeks. It also achieved double-platinum status in the U.S., and earned over 1 million album-equivalent units in the first week of its release, as well as gaining over half-billion overall streams of the album. Despite its success, critical opinion towards the album remained much divided, drawing criticism for being overlong and lacking in a cohesive theme, while also claiming Drake was not challenging himself artistically, as opposed to his contemporaries. He later released a short film titled Please Forgive Me, starring Swedish twin models Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta who are frequent collaborators with him. , Views remains Drake's best-selling album in pure sales. Drake returned to host Saturday Night Live on May 14, serving as the show's musical guest. Later, Drake was named as a member of the Forbes Five, which ranks the wealthiest artists in hip-hop, placing fifth after Birdman, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, and Diddy respectively. Drake and Future then announced the Summer Sixteen Tour to showcase their collective mixtape, as well as their respective studio albums. This marked Drake's third co-headlining tour, which began in Austin, Texas on July 20. On July 23, Drake announced that he was working on a new project, scheduled to be released in early 2017, and was later named as the headline act for the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival. The latter dates of the Summer Sixteen Tour were postponed, however, due to Drake suffering an ankle injury. During the 2016 OVO Festival, Kanye West confirmed that he and Drake had begun working on a collaborative album. Soon after, the music video for "Child's Play" was released, depicting Drake and Tyra Banks playing a couple encountering relationship issues at the Cheesecake Factory in a reference to one of the song's lyrics. On September 26, Please Forgive Me was released as an Apple Music exclusive. It ran a total of 25 minutes, and featured music from Views. At the 2016 BET Hip-Hop Awards, Drake received the most nominations, with 10, winning the awards for Album of the Year and Best Hip-Hop Video. Drake later announced the Boy Meets World Tour on October 10, with twenty-six dates announced for the course of the tour in Europe. Seven additional dates were added a day later due to overwhelming demand. Soon after, during an episode of OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed he would be releasing a project titled More Life in December. However, he later pushed the date back to the new year. The project was described as a "playlist of original music", rather than being classified as a traditional mixtape or solo album. He was later revealed to be Spotify's most streamed artist for the second consecutive year in 2016, amassing a total 4.7 billion streams for all projects on the service, which is more than double the amount of streams he had in 2015. Drake later secured his second and third Grammy Awards, winning for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song at the 59th ceremony. Despite multiple setbacks, Drake announced More Life would be released on March 18, 2017, via a series of multiple video commercials released through Instagram. Upon release, More Life received mostly positive reviews, and debuted atop the Billboard 200, earning 505,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It also set a streaming record, becoming the highest ever streamed album in 24 hours, with a total of 89.9 million streams on Apple Music alone. The album also garnered 61.3 million streams on Spotify, dethroning Ed Sheeran's ÷ as the highest opening on the service in a single day. He later won 13 awards at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards in May, which saw him breaking the record for the most wins in a single show. Billboard also reported Drake had been present on the Hot 100 chart for eight consecutive years, and has the most recorded entries by a solo artist. He later declined to submit More Life for consideration at the 2018 Grammy Awards, stemming from his displeasure at "Hotline Bling" being "pigeonholed" into the rap category. He then released the single "Signs" on June 24, as well as reuniting with Metro Boomin on a single with Offset. The singles marked his first releases since More Life, with "Signs" was initially released as a collaboration between Drake and French fashion house Louis Vuitton, as part of the "Louis Vuitton Men's Spring-Summer 2018" fashion show. The event also had a playlist exclusively from OVO Sound, curated by label co-founder Oliver El-Khatib. Drake hosted the first annual NBA Awards on June 26, and starred in multiple commercials alongside his father in promotion of Virginia Black. Drake also appeared in The Carter Effect documentary, honouring the basketball career of Vince Carter, who was the first superstar player to play for the Toronto Raptors since the franchise's inception in 1995. The documentary also featured NBA players Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, and LeBron James. 2018–2019: Scorpion and Care Package; return to television After rumours circulated of Drake possibly collaborating with various artists, including rapper Trippie Redd and producer Pi'erre Bourne, for his new studio album, multiple snippets of songs were leaked near the closing end of 2017. Two songs would later be released as members of a mini EP, titled Scary Hours, on January 20, 2018, marking Drake's first solo release since More Life, as well as his first appearance on any song after featuring on a remix of the Jay-Z song "Family Feud" with Lil Wayne, as the lead single of the latter's Dedication 6: Reloaded mixtape. Scary Hours featured the songs "Diplomatic Immunity" and "God's Plan", which both debuted within the top-ten, with the latter eventually breaking various streaming records as it debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was Drake's first song as a solo artist to reach number one, as well as his second chart topper as a lead artist. Drake earned his 70th top 40 entry after featuring on the Migos song "Walk It Talk It", which debuted at number eighteen, and peaked at number ten. He was later featured on BlocBoy JB's debut single "Look Alive", which was released on February 9, 2018. The song's entry at number six on the Hot 100 made Drake the rapper with the most top 10 hits on the Hot 100, with 23. He then featured on a remix to "Lemon", a song originally released as a collaboration between band N.E.R.D and Rihanna. On April 5, Drake announced he was finishing his fifth studio album and he was releasing a single later that night. On April 6, "Nice for What" was released, alongside a music video directed by Karena Evans, which featured several female celebrities. After "Nice For What" replaced his own "God's Plan" on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, making him the first artist to have a new number-one debut replace their former number-one debut, Drake announced the title of his fifth studio album as Scorpion, with a planned release date of June 29, 2018. He then released "I'm Upset" on May 26 as the album's third single. Scorpion was then released as a double-album, and marked Drake's longest project, with a run-time of just under 90 minutes. The album broke both the one-day global records on Spotify and Apple Music, as it gained 132.45 million and 170 million plays on each streaming service, respectively. It eventually sold 749,000 album equivalent units in its first week of sales, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. In 2018, articles by The Guardian and Rolling Stone called him "the definitive pop star of his generation" and "perhaps [the] biggest post-Justin Timberlake male pop star of the new millennium", respectively. Shortly thereafter, Drake collaborated with British hip hop promotion Link Up TV on July 7, releasing a freestyle as a part of the promotion's 'Behind Barz' segment, before releasing another freestyle a week later after featuring on Charlie Sloth's long-running Fire in the Booth program on BBC Radio 1Xtra. Drake then earned his sixth number-one hit with "In My Feelings" on July 21, which also spawned the viral "#InMyFeelingsChallenge" or "#KiKiChallenge". The success of "In My Feelings" also made Drake the record holder for most number one hits among rappers. Soon after, he released the music video for "Nonstop", which was filmed in London during his surprise performance at the Wireless Festival. He then appeared on the Travis Scott album Astroworld, featuring uncredited vocals for his song "Sicko Mode", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Drake announced in July 2018 that he planned to "take 6 months to a year" to himself to return to television and films, producing the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. He then began the Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour with co-headliners Migos on August 12. This preceded a collaboration with Bad Bunny titled "Mia", which featured Drake performing in Spanish. He subsequently received the award for Hot Ticket Performer at the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards on October 16. During a performance in Edmonton on November 7, Drake announced his intention to begin composing his next project in early 2019. In February 2019, he received his fourth Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, for "God's Plan", at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. During his speech, producers abruptly cut to a commercial break, leading viewers to speculate they were censoring his speech during which he criticized The Recording Academy. A legal representative for the academy then released a statement stating "a natural pause [led] the producers [to] assume that he was done and cut to commercial," and added the organization offered him an opportunity to return to stage, but he declined. On February 14, Drake re-released his third mixtape, So Far Gone, onto streaming services for the first time to commemorate its 10-year anniversary, and later collaborated with Summer Walker on a remix of Walker's song "Girls Need Love", marking his first release of 2019. On April 10, during a performance on the Assassination Vacation Tour, he announced he was working on a new album. On June 8, Drake appeared on Chris Brown's single "No Guidance". On June 15, Drake released two songs, "Omertà" and "Money in the Grave", on his EP The Best in the World Pack to celebrate the NBA Championship win of the Toronto Raptors. On August 2, he released the compilation album Care Package, consisting of songs released between 2010 and 2016 that were initially unavailable for purchase or commercial streaming; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. 2019–present: Dark Lane Demo Tapes, Scary Hours 2, and Certified Lover Boy Drake released the song "War" on December 24, 2019, with an accompanying music video, which was widely noted for its UK drill-inspired instrumental. The following day, in an interview with Rap Radar, it was revealed that he was in the process of completing his sixth studio album. On January 10, 2020, Drake collaborated with Future on the song "Life Is Good", which appeared on the album High Off Life. On January 31, the pair again collaborated on the song "Desires", although it was released for free after being leaked. On February 29, Drake released the songs "When to Say When" and "Chicago Freestyle" with a combined music video. On April 3, he released "Toosie Slide" with a music video, which features a dance created in collaboration with social media influencer Toosie. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Drake the first male artist to have three songs debut at number one. On May 1, 2020, Drake released the commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes, with guest appearances from Chris Brown, Future, Young Thug, Fivio Foreign, Playboi Carti, and Sosa Geek. He also announced that his sixth studio album would be released in the summer of 2020. The mixtape is a compilation of new songs and tracks that leaked on the internet. It received mixed reviews and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 223,000 album-equivalent units, and at number one on the UK Albums Chart, earning 20,000 units in its first week. On July 17, Drake was featured on DJ Khaled's singles "Greece" and "Popstar", debuting at numbers eight and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, becoming Drake's record-extending 24th and 25th debuts in the Hot 100's top 10. It also became his 39th and 40th Hot 100 top ten entries, breaking Madonna's record for most Hot 100 top ten hits. On July 20, Drake and Headie One released the drill track "Only You Freestyle", making it the third drill-inspired song he released in 2020, after "War" and "Demons", both of which appear on Dark Lane Demo Tapes. On August 14, "Laugh Now Cry Later" featuring Lil Durk was released, which was intended as the lead single from Drake's album Certified Lover Boy, but not included on the final track listing. It debuted at number two on the Hot 100, and was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. On September 3, the video for "Popstar" was released, in which Drake makes a cameo appearance. On October 2, Drake was the sole guest appearance on Bryson Tiller's album Anniversary (2020), on the song "Outta Time". He subsequently appeared on the remix to "You're Mines Still", alongside Yung Bleu on October 16; just over a week later, on his 34th birthday, Drake announced Certified Lover Boy was set to be released in January 2021. This was later pushed back to an unspecified date after he sustained a knee injury which required surgery. On December 1, he reunited with Lil Wayne on "B.B. King Freestyle", the lead single from the latter's double-disc mixtape No Ceilings 3 (2020). In January 2021, Drake became the first artist to surpass 50 billion combined streams on Spotify. He later collaborated with Drakeo the Ruler on the single "Talk to Me", which was released on February 23. On March 5, Drake released an EP titled Scary Hours 2, which includes three songs: "What's Next", "Wants and Needs" with Lil Baby, and "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" with Rick Ross. These three songs entered the charts at numbers one, two, and three, respectively, making Drake the first artist to have three songs debut in the top three on the Billboard Hot 100. He then appeared on the single "Solid" from the YSL Records compilation Slime Language 2, alongside Gunna and Young Thug. "Solid" was originally meant to appear on Certified Lover Boy, and to only feature Gunna. On May 14, Drake was featured alongside mentor Lil Wayne on former labelmate Nicki Minaj's "Seeing Green", a new song on the streaming re-release of her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. Two weeks later, he was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. On June 12, he featured on Migos' "Having Our Way", from the group's third studio album, Culture III (2021), and on July 1, collaborated with Brent Faiyaz and The Neptunes on the song "Wasting Time". On July 23, Drake appeared on "Over the Top" with Smiley, the newest signee to OVO Sound. During an appearance on Fri Yiy Friday, a radio show supported by OVO Sound, Drake revealed Certified Lover Boy "is ready. [I'm] looking forward to delivering it". He then appeared on "Betrayal", a collaboration with Trippie Redd for Trip at Knight (2021). Certified Lover Boy was then released on September 3, 2021, becoming his tenth number-one album on the Billboard 200; every song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album was the first to chart nine songs on the top 10, with "Way 2 Sexy" becoming Drake's ninth number-one single. He subsequently set the record for the fourth-most cumulative weeks (52) at number one on the Hot 100, behind Mariah Carey (84), Rihanna (60), and The Beatles (59). He received a nomination for Best Global Act at the 2021 All Africa Music Awards, and appeared on Young Thug's Punk (2021), featuring on the song "Bubbly". On October 22, Drake featured on Majid Jordan's "Stars Align", the lead single to the band's third album Wildest Dreams. Two weeks later, on November 5, Drake released a horror-themed black and white music video for "Knife Talk", the third single from Certified Lover Boy, with featured appearances by 21 Savage and Project Pat. On November 6, he debuted the song "Give It Up" on OVO Sound Radio. Certified Lover Boy was nominated for Best Rap Album and "Way 2 Sexy" was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. He was later named Billboard’s Top Artist of the Year for 2021, and was the fourth most streamed artist on Spotify for the year, and the most streamed rapper. On December 6, he withdrew his music for consideration for the Grammys, with multiple outlets noting his contentious relationship with the Recording Academy. Drake accumulated 8.6 billion on-demand streams in 2021, making him the most overall streamed artist of the year in the United States; one out of every 131 streams was a Drake song. On January 7, 2022, Drake was announced as a featured artist on Gunna's DS4Ever, but was not included until the release of the album's deluxe edition just under a week later. On January 17, Drake announced another collaboration with DJ Khaled. Artistry Influences Drake has cited several hip hop artists as influencing his rapping style, including Kanye West, Jay Z, MF Doom, and Lil Wayne, while also attributing various R&B artists as influential to the incorporation of the genre into his own music, including Aaliyah and Usher. Drake has also credited several dancehall artists for later influencing his Caribbean-inflected style, including Vybz Kartel, whom he has called one of his "biggest inspirations". Musical style Drake is considered to be a pop-rap artist. While Drake's earlier music primarily spanned hip hop and R&B, his music has delved into pop and trap in recent years. Additionally, his music has drawn influence from regional scenes, including Jamaican dancehall and UK drill. Drake is known for his egotistical lyrics, technical ability, and integration of personal backstory when dealing with relationships with women. His vocal abilities have been lauded for an audible contrast between typical hip-hop beats and melody, with sometimes abrasive rapping coupled with softer accents, delivered on technical lyricism. His songs often include audible changes in lyrical pronunciation in parallel with his upbringing in Toronto, and connections with Caribbean and Middle Eastern countries which include such phrases as "ting", "touching road", "talkin' boasy" and "gwanin' wassy". Most of his songs contain R&B and Canadian hip hop elements, and he combines rapping with singing. He credits his father with the introduction of singing into his rap mixtapes, which have become a staple in his musical repertoire. His incorporation of melody into technically complex lyrics was supported by Lil Wayne, and has subsequently been a critically acclaimed component to Drake's singles and albums. The lyrical content that Drake deploys is typically considered to be emotional or boastful. However, Drake is often revered for incorporating "degrading" themes of money, drug use, and women into newer, idealized contexts, often achieving this through his augmentation of the typical meaning of phrases in which he combines an objective and subjective perspective into one vocal delivery. His songs often maintain tension between "pause and pace, tone timbre, and volume and vocal fermata." Drake is credited with innovating what has been referred to as "hyper-reality rap", which is characterized by its focus on themes of celebrity as being distinct from the "real world." Public image A prominent figure in pop culture, Drake is widely credited for popularizing the Toronto sound to the music industry and leading the "Canadian Invasion" of the American charts. The Washington Post editor Maura Judkis credits Drake for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States with his single "The Motto", which includes, "You only live once: that's the motto, nigga, YOLO." Drake later popularized the term "The Six" in 2015 in relation to his hometown Toronto, subsequently becoming a point of reference to the city. His lyrical subject matter, which often revolves around relationships, have had widespread use on social media through photo captions to reference emotions or personal situations. However, this content has incited mixed reception from fans and critics, with some deeming him as sensitive, a trait perceived as antithetical to traditional hip hop culture. June 10 was declared "Drake Day" in Houston. In 2016, Drake visited Drake University after a show in Des Moines in response to an extensive social media campaign by students that began in 2009, advocating for his appearance. According to a report from Confused.com, Drake's Toronto home was one of the most Googled homes in the world, recording over a million annual searches in 2021; its features, such as its NBA-size indoor basketball court and Kohler Numi toilet, have also received widespread media attention. The music video for "Hotline Bling" went viral due to Drake's eccentric dance moves. The video has been remixed, memed, and was heavily commented on due to the unconventional nature on the song, causing it to gain popularity on YouTube, and spawning several parodies. Drake has also been critiqued for his expensive, product placement-heavy attire, exemplified by the video for "Hotline Bling". Drake modelled a $1,500 Moncler Puffer Jacket, a $400 Acne Studios turtleneck, and limited edition Timberland 6" Classic Boots. He was labeled by GQ magazine as "[one of] the most stylish men alive"; during promotion for Certified Lover Boy, Drake debuted a "heart haircut", which became popular and widely imitated. He is also known for his large and extravagant lifestyle, including for high-end themed birthday parties; he maintained this image in his early career by renting a Rolls-Royce Phantom, which he was eventually gifted in 2021. He later cultivated a reputation as a successful gambler; between December 2021 and February 2022, he was reported to have made bets of over $1 billion, which included winnings ranging between $354,000 and $7 million. Between 2016 and 2019, he was noted for the "Drake curse", an internet meme based on the incidents where Drake appears to be support of particular sports team or person, just for that team or person to lose, often against the odds. In 2016, Drake spoke on the shooting of Alton Sterling, publishing an open letter expressing his concern for the safety of ethnic minorities against police brutality in the United States. In 2021, he joined a group of Canadian musicians to work with the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) to lobby Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to restructure the country's copyright law to allow artists and their families to regain ownership of copyrights during their lifetime. He also campaigned for the expansion of a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise in Toronto, and headlined a benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with Kanye West on December 9, 2021, to raise clemency for Larry Hoover, although his solo performance was later removed from the Amazon Prime Video replay. In Christmas 2021, Drake gave away money to individuals in Toronto. Impact Commenting on Drake's Take Care, Elias Leight of Rolling Stone noticed in 2020 that "now nearly every singer raps, and nearly every rapper sings", as many artists "have borrowed or copied the template of [the album] that the boldness of the original is easily forgotten", according to the writer. BBC Radio 1Xtra argued that his co-signs helped push the British hip-hop scene to a wider international market, as he did with the Toronto music scene. According to CBS Music in 2019, Drake has inspired "the next wave" of artists coming out of his hometown. Aaron Williams of Uproxx added "jump-starting the sad boy rapper craze alongside Kid Cudi" and "helping to renew stateside interest in UK grime and Caribbean dancehall with Skepta, PartyNextDoor, and Rihanna" to the modern trends Drake assisted. Writing for Bloomberg, Lucas Shaw commented Drake's popularity has influenced the promotion of music, with Certified Lover Boy attaining large commercial success despite relatively minimal orthodox marketing techniques, stating "fans are consuming Drake’s [music] in a way that is different to others". He also noted the album as novel in relation to consumption, with each song having relatively equivalent streams, as opposed to a dominant single(s). The ubiquity of Drake's music has consistently seen it played during various activities or events. In 2021, a study conducted by Pour Moi found, over a kilometer, joggers ran 21 seconds slower while listening to Drake's music compared to other artists. Drake's music was also found to extend a three-mile run by 105 seconds. Beginning in 2022, Drake's music was canonized academically by Ryerson University, which began teaching courses titled "Deconstructing Drake and the Weeknd", with the pair's music used to explore themes related to the Canadian music industry, race, class, marketing and globalization. Achievements Drake is the highest-certified digital singles artist ever in the United States, having moved 142 million units based on combined sales and on-demand streams. His highest-certified single is "God's Plan" (11× Platinum), followed by "Hotline Bling", which was certified 8× Platinum. He holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; he has the most charted songs of any artist (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in a single week (27), the most debuts in a week (22), the most top 10 singles (54), the most top 10 debuts in a week (9), the most top 10 debuts (39), and the most continuous time on the chart (431 weeks). He has accumulated 9 number-one singles, a record among rappers. In 2021, Drake became second act to occupy the entire Hot 100's top five in a single week, the other act being The Beatles in 1964. He also has the most number-one singles on the Hot Rap Songs (23), Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (23), and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. He is also the only artist to have two albums log 400 weeks each on the Billboard 200. , Drake has won four Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. He has also won a record 29 Billboard Music Awards. In 2017, he surpassed Adele's record for most wins at the Billboard Music Awards in one night, winning 13 awards from 22 nominations. He was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. Billboard editor Ernest Baker stated "Drake managed to rule hip-hop in 2014", adding "the best rapper in 2014 didn't need a new album or hit single to prove his dominance". From 2015 to 2017, Drake ranked within the top-five of the Billboard year-end chart for Top Artists topping it in 2018. He was named the IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2016 and 2018. Drake was Spotify's most streamed artist of the 2010s. Pitchfork ranked Nothing Was the Same as the 41st best album of the decade "so far"—between 2010 and 2014, and ranked him fifth in the publication's list of the "Top 10 Music Artists" since 2010. Take Care was ranked at number 95 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020). He has been ranked by Complex on their "Best Rapper Alive Every Year Since 1979" list, awarding Drake the accolade in 2011, 2012, and 2015. Controversies Legal issues On May 31, 2009, Drake was robbed at gunpoint in Toronto's Little Italy district and was forced to forfeit a gold and diamond necklace, an Audemars Piguet watch, and $2,000. Soccerties Cotterell and Paul Lelutiu were initially charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, three counts of pointing a firearm and possession of stolen property; these charges were later dropped. The men pled guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, and spent six months in jail. In April 2017, Mesha Collins was arrested for criminal trespass after breaking into Drake's home in Calabasas; although no criminal charges were brought by Drake, she later filed a $4 billion lawsuit against him for defamation in June 2021, which was dismissed that December. In March 2021, an unidentified woman armed with a knife was arrested following a failed attempt to break into Drake's home in Toronto. In 2012, singer Ericka Lee filed a lawsuit against Drake for the usage of her voice on "Marvins Room". Claiming to have provided the female vocals, Lee also alleged she was owed songwriting credits and royalties. Despite Drake's legal team countering by claiming that Lee simply requested a credit in the liner notes of the album, the matter was resolved in February 2013, with both parties agreeing to an out-of-court settlement. In 2014, Drake was sued for $300,000 for sampling "Jimmy Smith Rap", a 1982 single by jazz musician Jimmy Smith. The suit was filed by Smith's estate, who said Drake never asked for permission when sampling it for the intro on "Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2", claiming Smith himself would have disagreed as he disliked hip hop. Drake would win the lawsuit in 2017, with federal judge William Pauley ruling the content used was transformative, and there was no liability for copyright infringement. Also in 2014, it emerged that Drake was sued by rapper Rappin' 4-Tay, claiming Drake misused his lyrics when collaborating with YG on the song "Who Do You Love?". He sought $100,000 for mistreatment and artistic theft, which Drake paid to the rapper later that year. In 2016, Drake caused a nightclub in Oklahoma City to close down, due to his usage of marijuana and other illegal drugs being prevalent at the club. In December 2021, Drake sued jeweler Ori Vechler and his company Gemma LTD for incorrectly using his likeness in promotional material; he also sought to return three items he purchased. In 2017, Drake was embroiled in another lawsuit, being sued by producer Detail (Noel Fisher) over an alleged assault in 2014. Fisher claimed Drake's bodyguard, Nessel "Chubbs" Beezer, punched him in the face and allegedly broke his jaw over musical and financial disputes. Fisher also said the injuries caused him to be hospitalized for days and had to undergo several surgeries, following which he sued for damages related to medical bills and physical and emotional suffering. The case, which was set to undergo trial in May 2018, was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu after Fisher failed to show up for a final status conference. Lu ruled that Beezer solely acted in self-defense. In October 2021, Drake and Chris Brown were sued by Braindon Cooper and Timothy Valentine for copyright infringement between "No Guidance" and their own song "I Love Your Dress". Cooper and Valentine lost the lawsuit quickly, also being mocked by general public on the internet. A month later, he was named as a co-defendant with Travis Scott in a multi-claimant lawsuit for inciting "a riot and violence" at the Astroworld Festival, to which he released a statement; he was later criticized for reportedly attending the Area 29 strip club in Houston the day after the incident. He also reportedly delayed the release of "Splash Brothers", a collaboration with French Montana, following the incident. Feuds Drake and Chris Brown were allegedly involved in a physical altercation in June 2012 when Drake and his entourage threw glass bottles at Brown in a SoHo nightclub in Manhattan, New York City. Chris Brown tweeted about the incident, and criticized Drake in music until 2013, including on the "R.I.P." remix. Despite no response from Drake, he and Brown both appeared in a comedic skit for the 2014 ESPY Awards, and rehearsed the skit together prior to the televised airing, virtually ending the dispute. The pair later collaborated on "No Guidance" in 2019. In December 2014, Drake was involved in another altercation, being punched by Diddy outside the LIV nightclub in Miami, Florida. The altercation was reported to be over Drake's usage of the instrumental for "0 to 100 / The Catch Up", allegedly produced by Boi-1da for Diddy, before Drake appropriated the track for his own use. Drake was later rushed to the ER after aggravating an old arm injury during the dispute. Drake was also involved in a feud with Tyga, stemming from Tyga's negative comments about him during an interview with Vibe magazine. Drake would later respond on "6 God" and "6PM in New York", which has been interpreted as directly involved in Tyga's abrupt removal from Young Money Entertainment. Further controversy arose in July 2015 when it was alleged by Meek Mill that Drake had used ghostwriters during recording sessions for "RICO", one of the lead singles off Mill's second studio album. This proceeded further allegations that Drake did not help in promotion of the album, due to Mill discovering the ghostwriter, widely believed to be Quentin Miller. Despite Miller collaborating with Drake and receiving past credits, Mill assured that Miller had written Drake's verse for "R.I.C.O." Soon after, Funkmaster Flex aired reference tracks in support of Mill's claims, notably for "R.I.C.O.", "10 Bands", and "Know Yourself". This prompted Drake to respond with two diss tracks, titled "Charged Up" and "Back to Back", in the space of four days. Mill would later respond with "Wanna Know", before removing it from SoundCloud weeks later. Following several subliminal disses from either artist, Drake further sought to denounce Funkmaster Flex while performing in New York (Flex's home state) on the Summer Sixteen Tour. Following Mill's prison sentencing for probation violation, Drake stated "Free Meek Mill" at a concert in Australia, and ended their rivalry on "Family Feud"; the pair later collaborated on "Going Bad" in 2019. Pusha T would also use the same rationale to criticize Drake on "Infrared" in 2018, leading Drake to respond with the "Duppy Freestyle" diss track on May 25. Pusha T responded with "The Story of Adidon" on May 29, which presented several claims and revealed Drake's fatherhood. The pair are considered to have been in a rivalry since 2012, resulting from Pusha T's feuds with Lil Wayne and Birdman, with Drake yet to respond to "The Story of Adidon". In 2016, Drake was embroiled in a feud with Joe Budden, stemming from Budden's derogatory comments when reviewing Views. Drake would allegedly respond to Budden through "4PM in Calabasas", prompting Budden to respond with two diss tracks in the space of five days, echoing the same sentiment Drake deployed during his feud with Meek Mill. Drake would later appear on "No Shopping" alongside French Montana, directly referencing Budden throughout the song, although, Montana claimed Drake's verse was recorded before the release of Budden's diss tracks. Despite Budden releasing two further songs in reference to Drake, he has yet to officially respond to Budden. In the same year, Drake dissed Kid Cudi on "Two Birds, One Stone" after Cudi launched an expletive-filled rant on the artist on Twitter. Cudi later checked into a rehabilitation facility following the release of the song, and continued to disparage Drake in further tweets; the pair eventually resolved their feud, and collaborated on "IMY2" in 2021. In mid-2018, Drake was embroiled in a feud with long-time collaborator Kanye West. In an appearance on The Shop, Drake recounted several meetings with West, who voiced his desire to "be Quincy Jones" and work with Drake and replicate the producer-artist relationship between Jones and Michael Jackson. West requested Drake play and inform him of upcoming releases, while he gave Drake the instrumental to "Lift Yourself". West requested the pair work in Wyoming, with Drake arriving a day after close friend 40, who said West was instead recording an album. Judging the pair to have differing release schedules, Drake traveled to Wyoming, but "only worked on [West's] music"; they explored Drake's after he played West "March 14", which addressed Drake's relationship with his newborn son and co-parent. This prompted a conversation with West regarding his personal issues, after which, news of his son would be exposed by Pusha T, which Drake concluded was revealed to him by West; West also released "Lift Yourself" as a solo song and produced "Infrared". Drake then denounced West in songs and live performances. West would retaliate in a series of tweets in late 2018, and the pair continued to respond on social media and in music as of late 2021, which included Drake leaking West's song "Life of the Party". During their feud, West also made several public attempts to reconcile with Drake, which is reported to have occurred after they co-headlined a benefit concert in December 2021. Drake has also been involved in feuds with DMX, Kendrick Lamar, Common, The Weeknd, XXXTentacion, Jay-Z, Tory Lanez, and Ludacris, although the latter five, and his feud with DMX, have been reported to be resolved. Business ventures Endorsements Prior to venturing into business, Drake garnered several endorsement deals with various companies, notably gaining one with Sprite following his mention of drinking purple drank, a concoction that contains Sprite as a key ingredient. In the aftermath of his highly publicized feud with Meek Mill, Drake was also endorsed by fast food restaurants Burger King and Whataburger. Business magazine Forbes commented his endorsement deals and business partnerships "combined heavily" for Drake's reported pre-tax earnings at $94 million between June 2016 to June 2017, being one of the highest-paid celebrities during that period. OVO Sound During the composition of Nothing Was the Same, Drake started his own record label in late 2012 with producer Noah "40" Shebib and business partner Oliver El-Khatib. Drake sought for an avenue to release his own music, as well helping in the nurturing of other artists, while Shebib and El-Khatib yearned to start a label with a distinct sound, prompting the trio to team up to form OVO Sound. The name is an abbreviation derived from the October's Very Own moniker Drake used to publish his earlier projects. The label is currently distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Drake, 40, and PartyNextDoor were the label's inaugural artists. The label houses artists including Drake, PartyNextDoor, Majid Jordan, Roy Woods, and dvsn, as well as producers including 40, Boi-1da, Nineteen85, and Future the Prince. Toronto Raptors On September 30, 2013, at a press conference with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke, Drake was announced as the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise. It was announced together with the 2016 NBA All-Star Game being awarded to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. This was also the setting where Drake was given The Key to the City. In the role, it was announced that Drake would help to promote and serve as a host of festivities, beginning with the All-Star Game. He would also provide consulting services to rebrand the team, helping to redesign its image and clothing line in commemoration of the franchise's 20th anniversary. He also collaborated with the Raptors on pre-game practice jerseys, t-shirts, and sweatsuits, and began hosting an annual "Drake Night" segment with the organization, beginning in 2013. Entertainment Apple Music Following the launch of Apple Music, a music and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc., the company announced Drake as the figurehead for the platform at their Worldwide Developers Conference in 2015, with the artist also penning an exclusivity deal with the service worth a reported $19 million. This saw all future solo releases by Drake becoming available first on Apple Music, before seeing roll out to other streaming services and music retailers. Drake had also developed the OVO Sound Radio station on Beats 1, which is utilized as the primary avenue for debuting singles and projects, with the station overseeing over 300 million unique users when it debuted More Life. Drake's partnership with Apple Music has largely been credited for the platform's sharp success, as it attained 10 million subscribers after six months, as well as giving birth to exclusivity from artists, with many independent and signed artists, such as Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, also brokering exclusivity deals with streaming services. Through signing with the company, Drake was one of the artists, alongside Pharrell and Katy Perry, to exclusively own an Apple Watch before the smartwatch saw public release. DreamCrew and investments In 2017, Drake and Adel "Future" Nur co-founded the production company DreamCrew, which functions both as a management company and entertainment group. The company has produced the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. Their debut film as producers was on the sports documentary The Carter Effect, detailing the impact of Vince Carter in Canada. In July 2021, Drake was announced as an executive producer, alongside LeBron James and Maverick Carter, for Black Ice, a documentary film charting the experiences of black and ethnic minority professional and amateur ice hockey players. It is due to be produced by Uninterrupted Canada in partnership with Drake's DreamCrew Entertainment, James' SpringHill Company, and Bell Media. DreamCrew also began production on the unscripted survival series Chillin' Island in 2021, due to air on HBO. In June 2021, Live Nation confirmed a long-standing partnership with Drake to open History, a 2,500 convertible capacity live-entertainment and general function venue in Toronto. It was in development for over three years and is situated in The Beaches. He also aided in the venue's interior design, which contains LED screens, soundproofing, quick-change rooms and a customizable staircase. Later that month, Drake signed as an investor and collaborator with Los Angeles-based sustainability and financial services startup Aspiration; he will also use the company's enterprise services to monitor and ensure personal carbon neutrality. He has also invested in robo-advisor Wealthsimple, the "livestreaming video commerce platform" NTWRK, the cannabis provider Bullrider, and several sports-related ventures, including online esports betting platform Players’ Lounge, the sportstech firm StatusPro, and online sports network Overtime. In an analysis by Brennan Doherty for Toronto Star, Drake's investment "carry all the hallmarks" typical of musicians, which is often momentum investing, and cited Jason Pereira, who described Drake's business deals as typically angel investing and private equity (often venture capital) funds. Pereira also noted his "leveraging his personal brand to generate cash". 100 Thieves In 2018, Drake purchased an ownership stake in the gaming organization 100 Thieves, joining as a co-founder and co-owner. The investment was partly funded by music executive Scooter Braun and Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert. Since the investment, the stake is estimated to be worth $125 million. Cuisine Two months prior to the release of Views, Drake announced the development of Virginia Black, a bourbon-based whiskey. This would be his second foray into selling foodstuffs, previously partnering with celebrity chef Susur Lee to open Fring's Restaurant in Toronto. The beverage was created and also distributed alongside Proximo Spirits, as well as with Brent Hocking, a spirits producer who founded DeLeón Tequila in 2008. The company described the partnership as "fruitful [as they] share a passion for style, music, and the pursuit of taste [on] a quest to redefine whiskey." In 2021, using ratings compiled from Vivino and complimentary website Distiller, Virginia Black was ranked the worst value celebrity liquor for quality and price. The product was launched in June 2016, and contained two, three and four-year old Bourbon whiskies. The company sold over 4,000 bottles in the first week domestically. The brand was also promoted and marketed through Drake's music and various tours, such as being part of the "Virginia Black VIP Lounge" additional package available for purchase during the Summer Sixteen Tour. Virginia Black shipped a further 30,000 units when rollout was extended to select international markets in late 2016. The company later aired commercials with Drake's father, Dennis Graham, which featured the tagline of "The Realest Dude Ever" (in reference toward "The Most Interesting Man in the World" tagline employed by Dos Equis) after extending the sale of the drink to Europe in 2017. In 2019, Drake began collaborating with Hocking on Mod Sélection, a luxury range of champagne, and in May 2021, formed part of a $40 million series B investment funding round led by D1 Capital Partners in Daring Foods Inc., a vegan meat analogue corporation. That September, he purchased a minority stake in Californian food chain Dave's Hot Chicken. Fashion In December 2013, Drake announced he was signing with Nike and Air Jordan, saying "growing up, I'm sure we all idolized Michael Jordan. I [am] officially inducted into the Team Jordan family." Drake also released his own collection of Air Jordans, dubbed the "Air Jordan OVOs". This foresaw collaborations between OVO and Canada Goose, in which various items of clothing were produced. In 2020, A Bathing Ape announced a collaboration with Drake, releasing an OVO x BAPE collection of clothing, while he also partnered with candle manufacturer Revolve to create "Better World Fragrance", a line of scented candles. In December 2020, Drake announced Nocta, a sub-label with Nike. In a press release, Drake said "I always felt like there was an opportunity for Nike to embrace an entertainer the same way [as] athletes," he wrote, "to be associated with the highest level possible was always my goal." The apparel line is named after Drake's "nocturnal creative process", in which Nike described as a "collection for the collective", and noted by GQ as "fashion-forward, minimal-inspired sportswear". One clothing item features an image of Drake's muses, Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta, with a poem. After the first collection sold out, another was released in February 2021, which introduced t-shirts, adjustable caps, a utility vest, and a lightweight jacket. That July, OVO released the "Weekender Collection", which includes a line of hoodies, velour sweatsuits, t-shirts, shorts, and accessories for women. OVO then released a "Winter Survival Collection" that December which included puffer jackets, vests, and parkas made with 700-fill down and Oeko-Tex certified down feathers. They followed this with limited edition Jurassic Park-themed collection and an indoor footwear collaboration with Suicoke. Personal life Health and residences Drake lives in Toronto, Ontario, in a 35,000-square-foot, $100 million estate nicknamed "The Embassy", which was built from the ground-up in 2017, and is seen in the video to his song "Toosie Slide". He also owns a home nicknamed the "YOLO Estate" in Hidden Hills, California, which he has owned since 2012, and in 2021, rented a $65 million property in Beverly Hills. He owns a condominium adjacent to the CN Tower, and a Boeing 767. Drake has a variety of tattoos, some of which are symbols associated with personal accomplishments, such as a jack-o-lantern, "October Lejonhjärta" (), owls, and a controversial Abbey Road (1969) inspired depiction of himself and The Beatles. He has portraits of Lil Wayne, Sade, Aaliyah, Jesús Malverde, Denzel Washington, 40, his parents, grandmother, maternal uncle, and son; and several related to Toronto, including the CN Tower and the number "416". On August 18, 2021, Drake revealed he contracted COVID-19 amidst the pandemic, which led to temporary hair loss. He was also one of the first celebrities to publicly test for the virus in March 2020. Family and relationships Drake's paternal uncles are guitarists and songwriters Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges. Graham was a member of Sly and the Family Stone, while Hodges contributed to songs for Al Green, including "Love and Happiness", "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)", and "Take Me to the River". Drake has a close friendship with Adele, and was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Rihanna from 2009 to 2016. He has mentioned the relationship in every one of his studio albums, and when presenting Rihanna with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2016, he said "she's a woman I've been in love with since I was 22 years old." On his relationship with her, he said on the talk show The Shop: As life takes shape and teaches you your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don't have the fairy tale [of] 'Drake started a family with Rihanna, [it's] so perfect.' It looks so good on paper [and] I wanted it too at one time. Drake is a father to one son named Adonis, who was born on October 11, 2017 to French painter and former model Sophie Brussaux. Brussaux's pregnancy was the subject of several rumours after featuring in a TMZ article in early 2017. After the nature of the pair's relationship was discussed in Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon", Drake confirmed his fatherhood on the album Scorpion in 2018, citing a desire for his child's privacy. Discography Studio albums Thank Me Later (2010) Take Care (2011) Nothing Was the Same (2013) Views (2016) Scorpion (2018) Certified Lover Boy (2021) Tours Headlining Away from Home Tour (2010) Club Paradise Tour (2012) Would You Like a Tour? (2013–2014) Jungle Tour (2015; six date promotional tour) Boy Meets World Tour (2017) Assassination Vacation Tour (2019) Co-headlining America's Most Wanted Tour (2009) Drake vs. Lil Wayne (2014) Summer Sixteen Tour (2016) Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour (2018) Filmography Film Television See also Culture of Toronto List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of Canadian musicians List of people from Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of highest-certified music artists in the United States List of best-selling music artists List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones List of most-followed Instagram accounts List of Canadian hip hop musicians List of Canadian Jews List of Black Canadians Black Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area History of the Jews in Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the Canadian Hot 100 List of Canadian Grammy Award winners and nominees List of most-streamed artists on Spotify References External links 1986 births Living people 21st-century Black Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian rappers African-American businesspeople African-American Jews African-American male rappers Black Canadian businesspeople Black Canadian male actors Black Canadian musicians Brit Award winners Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian Ashkenazi Jews Canadian contemporary R&B singers Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Canadian hip hop singers Canadian male child actors Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male rappers Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian music industry executives Canadian people of African-American descent Canadian people of American descent Canadian people of Jewish descent Canadian people of Latvian-Jewish descent Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Canadian philanthropists Canadian pop singers Canadian rhythm and blues singers Canadian songwriters Cash Money Records artists Culture of Toronto Dancehall musicians Grammy Award winners for rap music Jewish Canadian male actors Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish Canadian writers Jewish rappers Jewish singers Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year winners Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year winners Male actors from Toronto MTV Europe Music Award winners OVO Sound artists People from Hidden Hills, California People from Weston, Toronto Pop rappers Rappers from Toronto Republic Records artists Sports spectators Toronto Raptors personnel Trap musicians UK drill musicians Universal Motown Records artists Writers from Toronto Young Money Entertainment artists	true	[ "Basudih is a village in Nala block, Jamtara district, Jharkhand state, India has a Population (2001 Census) of 500 in about 50 families.\n\nGeography\n\nLocation\nBasudih is located at .\n\nOverview\nThe map shows a large area, which is a plateau with low hills, except in the eastern portion where the Rajmahal hills intrude into this area and the Ramgarh hills are there. The south-western portion is just a rolling upland. The entire area is overwhelmingly rural with only small pockets of urbanisation.\n\nNote: The full screen map is interesting. All places marked on the map are linked in the full screen map and one can easily move on to another page of his/her choice. Enlarge the full screen map to see what else is there – one gets railway connections, many more road connections and so on.\n\nDemographics\n India census, Basudih had a population of 500. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Basudih has an average literacy rate of 71%, higher than the national average of 59.5%, male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 62%. In Basudih, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.\n\nClimate\nBasudih has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cwa), with warm, wet summers and mild winters.\n\nGallery\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Primary School Basudih\n\nSee also\n\n Sarak\n Maji (surname)\n\nCities and towns in Jamtara district", "\"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" ]
[ "Drake (musician)", "2006-2009: Early mixtapes and So Far Gone", "When was Thank Me Later released?", "I don't know.", "what was his first mixtape?", "Room for Improvement,", "what was his second mixtape?", "Comeback Season.", "was there a third mixtape?", "So Far Gone.", "Was So Far Gone successful?", "It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success", "did it win any awards?", "gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),", "what were some of the singles on So Far Gone?", "\"Best I Ever Had\" and \"Successful\",", "What else is interesting about this time period on his career?", "Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels," ]	C_9a9897534b1246b3aaaba0a09db98d2e_1	what label did he go with?	9	what label from the bidding war did Drake go with?	Drake (musician)	After becoming musically inspired by Jay Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da, and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." The mixtape was released for sale only, and confirmed to have sold over 6,000 copies. In 2007, he released his second mixtape, Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl", featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first ever unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video featured on BET, with "Replacement Girl" being featured on the channel's "New Joint of the Day" segment on April 30, 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston in order to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "I Want This Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". Despite the collaborations between the duo, Drake was yet to be signed by Young Money Entertainment. In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape, So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success due to the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized album entitled The Girls Love Drake, which was released on iTunes under dubious means. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage, and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He later underwent surgery on September 8, 2009. CANNOTANSWER	Young Money Entertainment	Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor. Gaining recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–08), Drake pursued a career in music releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement in 2006; he subsequently released the mixtapes Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment. Drake released his debut studio album, Thank Me Later, in 2010, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. He achieved major critical success with Take Care (2011) and commercial success with Nothing Was the Same (2013) and his first commercial mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015); the latter two were certified multi-platinum in the US. Drake's fourth album, Views (2016), sat atop the Billboard 200 for 13 nonconsecutive weeks, becoming the first album by a male solo artist to do so in over a decade, and featured the chart record-setting lead single "One Dance". His second solo commercial mixtape, More Life (2017), set then-multiple streaming records, and in 2018, he released the double album Scorpion, which contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings". Leaving Young Money in 2018, Drake's third commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes was released in 2020, and featured the chart-topping "Toosie Slide". In 2021, the EP Scary Hours 2 included the number one "What's Next" and set chart records, and preceded his delayed sixth album, Certified Lover Boy (2021); the album set the record for most U.S. top-ten entries from one album, with lead single "Way 2 Sexy" becoming his tenth number one. As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012. In 2013, Drake became the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise, while owning naming rights to its practice facility. In 2016, he began collaborating with American entrepreneur Brent Hocking on the bourbon whiskey Virginia Black; it eventually broke sale records in Canada. Drake has also designed fashion, the most notable including a sub-label collaboration with Nike, alongside other business ventures. In 2018, he was reportedly responsible for 5 percent (CAD$440 million) of Toronto's CAD$8.8 billion annual tourism income. Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 170 million records sold, Drake is ranked as the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States by the RIAA. He has won four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, a record 29 Billboard Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and three Juno Awards, and holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; Drake has the most top 10 singles (54), the most charted songs (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in one week (27), the most Hot 100 debuts in one week (22), and the most continuous time on the Hot 100 (431 weeks). He additionally has the most number-one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Songs, and Rhythmic Airplay charts. Early life Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. His father, Dennis Graham, is African-American and a practicing Catholic from Memphis, Tennessee, who worked as a drummer, performing alongside country musician Jerry Lee Lewis. His mother, Sandra "Sandi" Graham ( Sher), is a Canadian of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage who worked as an English teacher and florist. Dennis Graham performed at Club Bluenote in Toronto, where he met Sandra Sher, who was in attendance. Drake is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, having American citizenship due to his American father. In his youth, he attended a Jewish day school, and became a bar mitzvah. Drake's parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, he and his mother remained in Toronto; his father returned to Memphis, where he was incarcerated for a number of years on drug-related charges. Graham's limited finances and legal issues caused him to remain in the United States until Drake's early adulthood. Prior to his arrest, however, Graham would travel to Toronto and bring Drake to Memphis every summer. His father later collaborated with Canadian music group Arkells on the music video for a song titled "Drake's Dad". Graham claimed in an interview that Drake's assertions of him being an absent father were embellishments used to sell records, which Drake vehemently denies. Drake was raised in two Toronto neighbourhoods. He lived on Weston Road in the city's working-class west end until grade six, playing minor hockey with the Weston Red Wings. He then moved to one of the city's affluent neighbourhoods, Forest Hill, in 2000. When asked about the move, Drake replied, "[We had] a half of a house we could live in. The other people had the top half, we had the bottom half. I lived in the basement, my mom lived on the first floor. It was not big, it was not luxurious. It was what we could afford." He attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he demonstrated an affinity for the arts, first acting while an active student at the school. He later attended Vaughan Road Academy in the city's multicultural Oakwood–Vaughan neighbourhood. Due to the economic status associated with the neighbourhood, Drake described the school as "not by any means the easiest school to go to." Drake was often bullied at school for his racial and religious background, and upon realizing that his busy class schedule was detrimental to his burgeoning acting career, Drake dropped out of school. He later graduated in October 2012. Career 2001–2009: Career beginnings Degrassi: The Next Generation At the age of 15, Drake, eager to begin his career as an actor, was introduced to a high school friend's father, an acting agent. The agent found Drake a role on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. Drake portrayed Jimmy Brooks, a basketball star who became physically disabled after he was shot by a classmate. Drake reportedly disliked this character arc because of its apparent tokenism (his was one of the only black characters in the series), and he also believed it could negatively influence his standing as a rapper. Longtime series writer James Hurst said that Drake threatened legal action to redo the storyline, before ultimately agreeing to it. Madeleine Robinson, the executive director of the Californian non-profit organization Wheelchair 4 Kids, praised the storyline and Drake's performance, noting "he instilled confidence and representation" to disabled youth. When asked about his early acting career, Drake replied, "My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was [from] Canadian TV." He appeared in a total of 100 episodes between 2001 and 2008. In 2010, Drake expressed interest in playing Barack Obama in a biopic, to which Obama responded to with approval in an interview in 2020. According to Degrassi series creators Stephen Stohn and Linda Schuyler, Drake regularly arrived late on set after spending nights recording music. To prevent this, Schuyler claimed Drake struck an agreement with the set's security guards to gain entry to the set after recording to be allowed to sleep in a dressing room. Early mixtapes and So Far Gone Being musically inspired by Jay-Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." Room for Improvement was released for sale only and sold roughly 6,000 copies, for which Drake received $304.04 in royalties. In 2007, he released his second mixtape Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl" featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video on BET, with "Replacement Girl" featured on their "New Joint of the Day" segment in April 2007. The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston to join his Tha Carter III tour. Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "Forever", and a remix to "Brand New". In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success from the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Due to the success of the mixtape, Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized fake album titled The Girls Love Drake released on iTunes. Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster on the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He underwent surgery later that year. 2010–2012: Musical breakthrough with Thank Me Later and Take Care Drake planned to release his debut album, Thank Me Later, in late 2008, but the album's release date was postponed, first to March 2010, and then to May 25, 2010. Young Money and Universal Motown had then released a statement that the album had again been pushed back three weeks for a June 15, 2010 release. On March 9, 2010, Drake released the debut single "Over", which peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Rap Songs chart. It also received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards. His second single, "Find Your Love", became an even bigger success. It peaked at number five on the Hot 100, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The music video for the single was shot in Kingston, Jamaica, and was criticized by Jamaica's minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett. Bartlett condemned the portrayal of the island in the video, saying, "care has to be taken by all, including our creative artists, in [showcasing] images of our destination and people. Gun culture, while not unique to Jamaica, is not enhancing [the island's image]." The third single and fourth singles, "Miss Me" and "Fancy" respectively, attained moderate commercial success; however, the latter garnered Drake his second nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. On April 29, it was reportedly announced that Drake had finished Thank Me Later during a show in Kansas City, Missouri. Thank Me Later was released on June 15, 2010, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of over 447,000 copies in its first week. Upon the album's release, 25,000 fans gathered at New York City's South Street Seaport for a free concert hosted by Drake and Hanson, which was later cancelled by the police after a near-riot ensued due to overflowing crowds. The album became the top selling debut album for any artist in 2010, and featured Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Jay Z. It was soon announced that Drake would have a prominent role in the military science fiction video game, Gears of War 3. He was scheduled to play the role of Jace Stratton, but scheduling conflicts with his upcoming Away from Home Tour prevented him from accepting the role. He began the tour on September 20, 2010, in Miami, Florida, performing at 78 shows over four different legs. It concluded in Las Vegas in November 2010. Due to the success of the Away from Home Tour, Drake hosted the first OVO Festival in 2010. It would soon become a regular event during the summer, with the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto playing host to the festival on its annual cycle. Drake also had an eco-friendly college tour to support the album, beginning with Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. It concluded in Plymouth, New Hampshire on May 8, and he also performed at The Bamboozle on May 1. Beginning his second effort in fall 2010, Drake announced his intentions to allow Noah "40" Shebib to handle most of the production and record a more cohesive sound than on Thank Me Later, which featured disparate production duties by Shebib and others. In November 2010, Drake revealed the title of his next studio album will be Take Care. In comparison to his debut album, Drake revealed to Y.C Radio 1 that Thank Me Later was a rushed album, stating, "I didn't get to take the time that I wanted to on that record. I rushed a lot of the songs and sonically I didn't get to sit with the record and say, 'I should change this verse.' Once it was done, it was done. That's why my new album is called Take Care, because I get to take my time this go-round." Drake sought to expand on the low-tempo, sensuous, and dark sonic esthetic of Thank Me Later. Primarily a hip hop album, Drake also attempted to incorporate R&B and pop to create a languid, grandiose sound. In January 2011, Drake was in negotiations to join Eva Green and Susan Sarandon as a member of the cast in Nicholas Jarecki's Arbitrage, before ultimately deciding against starring in the movie to focus on the album. "Dreams Money Can Buy" and "Marvins Room" were released on Drake's October's Very Own Blog, on May 20 and June 9, respectively. Acting as promotional singles for Take Care, the former was eventually unincluded on the album's final track listing, while "Marvins Room" gained Gold certification by the RIAA, as well as peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching the top 10 of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, coupled with extensive play on contemporary urban radio. Drake would soon release the song's music video on June 28. "Headlines" was released on August 9 as the lead single for Take Care. It was met with positive critical and commercial response, reaching number thirteen on the Hot 100, as well as becoming his tenth single to reach the summit of the Billboard Hot Rap Songs, making Drake the artist with the most number-one singles on the chart, with 12. It was eventually certified Platinum in both the United States and Canada. The music video for the single was released on October 2, and foresaw Drake performing the song during the second intermission of the 59th National Hockey League All-Star Game in January 2012. "Make Me Proud" was released as the album's second single on October 16. It was the final single to be released prior to the launch of the album, and debuted at number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached number nine the following week, tying the record for the largest jump on the Billboard Hot 100 for a male artist, with 88. "Make Me Proud" soon became Drake's fourth consecutive single to receive Platinum certification by the RIAA. Prior to the album's release, Drake planned to record a collaborative album with Lil Wayne; however, it was ultimately scrapped due to the success of Watch the Throne. He also began collaborations with Rick Ross for a mixtape titled Y.O.L.O., but the duo decided against the project in favor of increased concern for their respective studio albums. Although in 2021, Ross stated that a joint album is still possible as they've casually discussed it. Take Care was released on November 15, 2011, and received generally positive reviews from music critics. John McDonnell of NME dubbed it "an affecting masterpiece" and commended its "delicate, mellifluous sound and unashamedly candid, emotive lyrics." Pitchforks Ryan Dombal found Drake's "technical abilities" to be improved and stated, "Just as his thematic concerns have become richer, so has the music backing them up." Andy Hutchins of The Village Voice called it "a carefully crafted bundle of contradictory sentiments from a conflicted rapper who explores his own neuroses in as compelling a manner as anyone not named Kanye West." Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot complimented the depth of Drake's "moral psychodramas" and stated, "the best of it affirms that Drake is shaping a pop persona with staying power." It also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, and achieved great commercial success, eventually being certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA in 2016, with sales for the album marking 2.6 million in the U.S. The album's third and fourth singles, "The Motto" and Take Care", were released on November 29, 2011 and February 21, 2012, respectively. Each song was subject to commercial success, while also having large societal impacts, with "The Motto" credited for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States. The music video for "Take Care" saw widespread acclaim, with MTV stating, "None of his contemporaries – not even the ever-obtuse Kanye [West] – make videos like this, mostly because no one else can get away with it." The video received four nominations at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Video of the Year. The song was also featured on the channel's "Pop Songs You Must Hear" list of 2011. "HYFR" was the final single to be released from the album, and became certified Gold. It also won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video in 2012, and the channel ranked him number two on their "Hottest MCs in the Game" list. On August 5, 2012, Drake released "Enough Said", performed by American recording artist Aaliyah featuring additional vocals provided by himself. Originally recorded prior to the singer's death in a plane crash in 2001, Drake later finished the track with producer "40". "Enough Said" was released by Blackground Records through their SoundCloud account on August 5, 2012. It was sent to US urban and rhythmic radio stations on August 21. The song charted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs In promotion of his second album, Drake embarked on the worldwide Club Paradise Tour. It became the most successful hip hop tour of 2012, grossing over $42 million. He then returned to acting, starring in Ice Age: Continental Drift as Ethan. 2013–2015: Nothing Was the Same and If You're Reading This It's Too Late During the European leg of the Club Paradise Tour, Drake spoke in an interview stating that he had begun working on his third studio album. Revealing his intentions to remain with 40 as the album's executive producer, Drake spoke fondly about Jamie xx, hoping to include and expand the British producer's influence over his next album. Drake had also revealed that the album would stylistically differ from Take Care, departing from the ambient production and despondent lyrics prevalent previously. In January 2013, Drake announced that he would release the first single off his third album at the end of the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Despite an initial delay, it was released in the wake of his win for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the event, and it foresaw Drake announcing Nothing Was the Same as the title of his third album. The album's second single, "Hold On, We're Going Home", was released in August 2013, becoming the most successful single off the album, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Drake sought inspiration from the 1980s television series Miami Vice during the composition of the song's music video, incorporating the dramatic elements seen in the show en route to winning his second MTV Video Music Award in 2014 for the video. Drake appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing the album's third single, "Too Much", alongside featured artist Sampha. Nothing Was the Same was released on September 24, 2013, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200, with 658,000 copies sold in its first week of release. The album debuted atop the charts in Canada, Denmark, Australia and the United Kingdom. The album also enjoyed generally favourable reviews by contemporary music critics, commending the musical shift in terms of the tone and subject matter, comparing it to the distinct change showcased in Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak. The album was also reported to have sold over 1,720,000 copies in the United States, and was further promoted by the "Would You like a Tour?" throughout late 2013 to early 2014. It became the 22nd-most successful tour of the year, grossing an estimated $46 million. Drake then returned to acting in January 2014, hosting Saturday Night Live, as well as serving as the musical guest. His versatility, acting ability and comedic timing were all praised by critics, describing it as what "kept him afloat during the tough and murky SNL waters". Drake also performed in Dubai, being one of the only artists ever to perform in the city. In late 2014, Drake announced that he began recording sessions for his fourth studio album. In 2014, Drake performed in Spanish as a featured artist on the Romeo Santos song "Odio". He also appeared on a remix of "Tuesday" by ILoveMakonnen, which peaked at number one on Billboard's Rhythmic chart and number twelve on the "Hot 100", and released "0 to 100 / The Catch Up" as a non-album single. The latter went double platinum in the United States. On February 12, 2015, Drake released If You're Reading This It's Too Late onto iTunes with no prior announcement. Despite debate on whether it was an album or a mixtape, its commercial stance quantifies it as his fourth retail project with Cash Money Records, a scheme that was rumoured to allow Drake to leave the label. However, he eventually remained with Cash Money, and If You're Reading This It's Too Late sold over 1 million units in 2015, making Drake the first artist with a platinum project in 2015, as well as his fourth overall. 2015–2017: What a Time to Be Alive, Views, and More Life On July 31, 2015, Drake released four singles: "Back to Back", "Charged Up", "Hotline Bling", and "Right Hand". On September 20, 2015, Drake released a collaborative mixtape with Future, which was recorded in Atlanta in just under a week. What a Time to Be Alive debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making Drake the first hip hop artist to have two projects reach number one in the same year since 2004. It was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales, streaming and track-sales equivalent of over 1 million units. Drake also appeared on the cover of The Fader for their 100th issue. Drake announced in January 2016 that his fourth studio album would be launched during the spring, releasing the promotional single "Summer Sixteen" later that month. The album was originally titled Views from the 6, but was later shortened to Views. "Summer Sixteen" debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, and proved controversial, with Drake comparing his standing in hip hop to more tenured artists. This move divided many contemporary music critics, describing his self-comparison as "goodly brash" or "conventionally disrespectful." It was also interpreted as a diss track towards Tory Lanez, who was unhappy at Drake for popularizing the term "The Six" when referencing Toronto. Drake also crashed a Bat Mitzvah in New York City on February 20, performing at the event. Drake soon released the album's lead singles, "Pop Style" and the dancehall-infused "One Dance", on April 5. Both debuted within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100; however, the latter proved more commercially successful, with "One Dance" becoming Drake's first number-one single in Canada and the US as a leading artist. The single also became Drake's first number one single as a lead artist in the United Kingdom, and peaked at number one in Germany, France, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands. During an episode for OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed the album's release date of April 29, and followed it up with various promotional videos. On October 15, "One Dance" became Spotify's most-streamed song ever, amassing over 882 million plays . Views was previewed in London before its premiere on Beats 1 a day later. It was released as an Apple Music and iTunes exclusive on April 29 before being made available to various other platforms later that week. Views would become Drake's most commercially successful album, sitting atop the Billboard 200 for ten nonconsecutive weeks, as well as simultaneously leading the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 for eight weeks. It also achieved double-platinum status in the U.S., and earned over 1 million album-equivalent units in the first week of its release, as well as gaining over half-billion overall streams of the album. Despite its success, critical opinion towards the album remained much divided, drawing criticism for being overlong and lacking in a cohesive theme, while also claiming Drake was not challenging himself artistically, as opposed to his contemporaries. He later released a short film titled Please Forgive Me, starring Swedish twin models Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta who are frequent collaborators with him. , Views remains Drake's best-selling album in pure sales. Drake returned to host Saturday Night Live on May 14, serving as the show's musical guest. Later, Drake was named as a member of the Forbes Five, which ranks the wealthiest artists in hip-hop, placing fifth after Birdman, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, and Diddy respectively. Drake and Future then announced the Summer Sixteen Tour to showcase their collective mixtape, as well as their respective studio albums. This marked Drake's third co-headlining tour, which began in Austin, Texas on July 20. On July 23, Drake announced that he was working on a new project, scheduled to be released in early 2017, and was later named as the headline act for the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival. The latter dates of the Summer Sixteen Tour were postponed, however, due to Drake suffering an ankle injury. During the 2016 OVO Festival, Kanye West confirmed that he and Drake had begun working on a collaborative album. Soon after, the music video for "Child's Play" was released, depicting Drake and Tyra Banks playing a couple encountering relationship issues at the Cheesecake Factory in a reference to one of the song's lyrics. On September 26, Please Forgive Me was released as an Apple Music exclusive. It ran a total of 25 minutes, and featured music from Views. At the 2016 BET Hip-Hop Awards, Drake received the most nominations, with 10, winning the awards for Album of the Year and Best Hip-Hop Video. Drake later announced the Boy Meets World Tour on October 10, with twenty-six dates announced for the course of the tour in Europe. Seven additional dates were added a day later due to overwhelming demand. Soon after, during an episode of OVO Sound Radio, Drake confirmed he would be releasing a project titled More Life in December. However, he later pushed the date back to the new year. The project was described as a "playlist of original music", rather than being classified as a traditional mixtape or solo album. He was later revealed to be Spotify's most streamed artist for the second consecutive year in 2016, amassing a total 4.7 billion streams for all projects on the service, which is more than double the amount of streams he had in 2015. Drake later secured his second and third Grammy Awards, winning for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song at the 59th ceremony. Despite multiple setbacks, Drake announced More Life would be released on March 18, 2017, via a series of multiple video commercials released through Instagram. Upon release, More Life received mostly positive reviews, and debuted atop the Billboard 200, earning 505,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It also set a streaming record, becoming the highest ever streamed album in 24 hours, with a total of 89.9 million streams on Apple Music alone. The album also garnered 61.3 million streams on Spotify, dethroning Ed Sheeran's ÷ as the highest opening on the service in a single day. He later won 13 awards at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards in May, which saw him breaking the record for the most wins in a single show. Billboard also reported Drake had been present on the Hot 100 chart for eight consecutive years, and has the most recorded entries by a solo artist. He later declined to submit More Life for consideration at the 2018 Grammy Awards, stemming from his displeasure at "Hotline Bling" being "pigeonholed" into the rap category. He then released the single "Signs" on June 24, as well as reuniting with Metro Boomin on a single with Offset. The singles marked his first releases since More Life, with "Signs" was initially released as a collaboration between Drake and French fashion house Louis Vuitton, as part of the "Louis Vuitton Men's Spring-Summer 2018" fashion show. The event also had a playlist exclusively from OVO Sound, curated by label co-founder Oliver El-Khatib. Drake hosted the first annual NBA Awards on June 26, and starred in multiple commercials alongside his father in promotion of Virginia Black. Drake also appeared in The Carter Effect documentary, honouring the basketball career of Vince Carter, who was the first superstar player to play for the Toronto Raptors since the franchise's inception in 1995. The documentary also featured NBA players Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, and LeBron James. 2018–2019: Scorpion and Care Package; return to television After rumours circulated of Drake possibly collaborating with various artists, including rapper Trippie Redd and producer Pi'erre Bourne, for his new studio album, multiple snippets of songs were leaked near the closing end of 2017. Two songs would later be released as members of a mini EP, titled Scary Hours, on January 20, 2018, marking Drake's first solo release since More Life, as well as his first appearance on any song after featuring on a remix of the Jay-Z song "Family Feud" with Lil Wayne, as the lead single of the latter's Dedication 6: Reloaded mixtape. Scary Hours featured the songs "Diplomatic Immunity" and "God's Plan", which both debuted within the top-ten, with the latter eventually breaking various streaming records as it debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was Drake's first song as a solo artist to reach number one, as well as his second chart topper as a lead artist. Drake earned his 70th top 40 entry after featuring on the Migos song "Walk It Talk It", which debuted at number eighteen, and peaked at number ten. He was later featured on BlocBoy JB's debut single "Look Alive", which was released on February 9, 2018. The song's entry at number six on the Hot 100 made Drake the rapper with the most top 10 hits on the Hot 100, with 23. He then featured on a remix to "Lemon", a song originally released as a collaboration between band N.E.R.D and Rihanna. On April 5, Drake announced he was finishing his fifth studio album and he was releasing a single later that night. On April 6, "Nice for What" was released, alongside a music video directed by Karena Evans, which featured several female celebrities. After "Nice For What" replaced his own "God's Plan" on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, making him the first artist to have a new number-one debut replace their former number-one debut, Drake announced the title of his fifth studio album as Scorpion, with a planned release date of June 29, 2018. He then released "I'm Upset" on May 26 as the album's third single. Scorpion was then released as a double-album, and marked Drake's longest project, with a run-time of just under 90 minutes. The album broke both the one-day global records on Spotify and Apple Music, as it gained 132.45 million and 170 million plays on each streaming service, respectively. It eventually sold 749,000 album equivalent units in its first week of sales, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. In 2018, articles by The Guardian and Rolling Stone called him "the definitive pop star of his generation" and "perhaps [the] biggest post-Justin Timberlake male pop star of the new millennium", respectively. Shortly thereafter, Drake collaborated with British hip hop promotion Link Up TV on July 7, releasing a freestyle as a part of the promotion's 'Behind Barz' segment, before releasing another freestyle a week later after featuring on Charlie Sloth's long-running Fire in the Booth program on BBC Radio 1Xtra. Drake then earned his sixth number-one hit with "In My Feelings" on July 21, which also spawned the viral "#InMyFeelingsChallenge" or "#KiKiChallenge". The success of "In My Feelings" also made Drake the record holder for most number one hits among rappers. Soon after, he released the music video for "Nonstop", which was filmed in London during his surprise performance at the Wireless Festival. He then appeared on the Travis Scott album Astroworld, featuring uncredited vocals for his song "Sicko Mode", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Drake announced in July 2018 that he planned to "take 6 months to a year" to himself to return to television and films, producing the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. He then began the Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour with co-headliners Migos on August 12. This preceded a collaboration with Bad Bunny titled "Mia", which featured Drake performing in Spanish. He subsequently received the award for Hot Ticket Performer at the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards on October 16. During a performance in Edmonton on November 7, Drake announced his intention to begin composing his next project in early 2019. In February 2019, he received his fourth Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, for "God's Plan", at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. During his speech, producers abruptly cut to a commercial break, leading viewers to speculate they were censoring his speech during which he criticized The Recording Academy. A legal representative for the academy then released a statement stating "a natural pause [led] the producers [to] assume that he was done and cut to commercial," and added the organization offered him an opportunity to return to stage, but he declined. On February 14, Drake re-released his third mixtape, So Far Gone, onto streaming services for the first time to commemorate its 10-year anniversary, and later collaborated with Summer Walker on a remix of Walker's song "Girls Need Love", marking his first release of 2019. On April 10, during a performance on the Assassination Vacation Tour, he announced he was working on a new album. On June 8, Drake appeared on Chris Brown's single "No Guidance". On June 15, Drake released two songs, "Omertà" and "Money in the Grave", on his EP The Best in the World Pack to celebrate the NBA Championship win of the Toronto Raptors. On August 2, he released the compilation album Care Package, consisting of songs released between 2010 and 2016 that were initially unavailable for purchase or commercial streaming; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. 2019–present: Dark Lane Demo Tapes, Scary Hours 2, and Certified Lover Boy Drake released the song "War" on December 24, 2019, with an accompanying music video, which was widely noted for its UK drill-inspired instrumental. The following day, in an interview with Rap Radar, it was revealed that he was in the process of completing his sixth studio album. On January 10, 2020, Drake collaborated with Future on the song "Life Is Good", which appeared on the album High Off Life. On January 31, the pair again collaborated on the song "Desires", although it was released for free after being leaked. On February 29, Drake released the songs "When to Say When" and "Chicago Freestyle" with a combined music video. On April 3, he released "Toosie Slide" with a music video, which features a dance created in collaboration with social media influencer Toosie. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Drake the first male artist to have three songs debut at number one. On May 1, 2020, Drake released the commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes, with guest appearances from Chris Brown, Future, Young Thug, Fivio Foreign, Playboi Carti, and Sosa Geek. He also announced that his sixth studio album would be released in the summer of 2020. The mixtape is a compilation of new songs and tracks that leaked on the internet. It received mixed reviews and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 223,000 album-equivalent units, and at number one on the UK Albums Chart, earning 20,000 units in its first week. On July 17, Drake was featured on DJ Khaled's singles "Greece" and "Popstar", debuting at numbers eight and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, becoming Drake's record-extending 24th and 25th debuts in the Hot 100's top 10. It also became his 39th and 40th Hot 100 top ten entries, breaking Madonna's record for most Hot 100 top ten hits. On July 20, Drake and Headie One released the drill track "Only You Freestyle", making it the third drill-inspired song he released in 2020, after "War" and "Demons", both of which appear on Dark Lane Demo Tapes. On August 14, "Laugh Now Cry Later" featuring Lil Durk was released, which was intended as the lead single from Drake's album Certified Lover Boy, but not included on the final track listing. It debuted at number two on the Hot 100, and was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. On September 3, the video for "Popstar" was released, in which Drake makes a cameo appearance. On October 2, Drake was the sole guest appearance on Bryson Tiller's album Anniversary (2020), on the song "Outta Time". He subsequently appeared on the remix to "You're Mines Still", alongside Yung Bleu on October 16; just over a week later, on his 34th birthday, Drake announced Certified Lover Boy was set to be released in January 2021. This was later pushed back to an unspecified date after he sustained a knee injury which required surgery. On December 1, he reunited with Lil Wayne on "B.B. King Freestyle", the lead single from the latter's double-disc mixtape No Ceilings 3 (2020). In January 2021, Drake became the first artist to surpass 50 billion combined streams on Spotify. He later collaborated with Drakeo the Ruler on the single "Talk to Me", which was released on February 23. On March 5, Drake released an EP titled Scary Hours 2, which includes three songs: "What's Next", "Wants and Needs" with Lil Baby, and "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" with Rick Ross. These three songs entered the charts at numbers one, two, and three, respectively, making Drake the first artist to have three songs debut in the top three on the Billboard Hot 100. He then appeared on the single "Solid" from the YSL Records compilation Slime Language 2, alongside Gunna and Young Thug. "Solid" was originally meant to appear on Certified Lover Boy, and to only feature Gunna. On May 14, Drake was featured alongside mentor Lil Wayne on former labelmate Nicki Minaj's "Seeing Green", a new song on the streaming re-release of her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. Two weeks later, he was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. On June 12, he featured on Migos' "Having Our Way", from the group's third studio album, Culture III (2021), and on July 1, collaborated with Brent Faiyaz and The Neptunes on the song "Wasting Time". On July 23, Drake appeared on "Over the Top" with Smiley, the newest signee to OVO Sound. During an appearance on Fri Yiy Friday, a radio show supported by OVO Sound, Drake revealed Certified Lover Boy "is ready. [I'm] looking forward to delivering it". He then appeared on "Betrayal", a collaboration with Trippie Redd for Trip at Knight (2021). Certified Lover Boy was then released on September 3, 2021, becoming his tenth number-one album on the Billboard 200; every song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album was the first to chart nine songs on the top 10, with "Way 2 Sexy" becoming Drake's ninth number-one single. He subsequently set the record for the fourth-most cumulative weeks (52) at number one on the Hot 100, behind Mariah Carey (84), Rihanna (60), and The Beatles (59). He received a nomination for Best Global Act at the 2021 All Africa Music Awards, and appeared on Young Thug's Punk (2021), featuring on the song "Bubbly". On October 22, Drake featured on Majid Jordan's "Stars Align", the lead single to the band's third album Wildest Dreams. Two weeks later, on November 5, Drake released a horror-themed black and white music video for "Knife Talk", the third single from Certified Lover Boy, with featured appearances by 21 Savage and Project Pat. On November 6, he debuted the song "Give It Up" on OVO Sound Radio. Certified Lover Boy was nominated for Best Rap Album and "Way 2 Sexy" was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. He was later named Billboard’s Top Artist of the Year for 2021, and was the fourth most streamed artist on Spotify for the year, and the most streamed rapper. On December 6, he withdrew his music for consideration for the Grammys, with multiple outlets noting his contentious relationship with the Recording Academy. Drake accumulated 8.6 billion on-demand streams in 2021, making him the most overall streamed artist of the year in the United States; one out of every 131 streams was a Drake song. On January 7, 2022, Drake was announced as a featured artist on Gunna's DS4Ever, but was not included until the release of the album's deluxe edition just under a week later. On January 17, Drake announced another collaboration with DJ Khaled. Artistry Influences Drake has cited several hip hop artists as influencing his rapping style, including Kanye West, Jay Z, MF Doom, and Lil Wayne, while also attributing various R&B artists as influential to the incorporation of the genre into his own music, including Aaliyah and Usher. Drake has also credited several dancehall artists for later influencing his Caribbean-inflected style, including Vybz Kartel, whom he has called one of his "biggest inspirations". Musical style Drake is considered to be a pop-rap artist. While Drake's earlier music primarily spanned hip hop and R&B, his music has delved into pop and trap in recent years. Additionally, his music has drawn influence from regional scenes, including Jamaican dancehall and UK drill. Drake is known for his egotistical lyrics, technical ability, and integration of personal backstory when dealing with relationships with women. His vocal abilities have been lauded for an audible contrast between typical hip-hop beats and melody, with sometimes abrasive rapping coupled with softer accents, delivered on technical lyricism. His songs often include audible changes in lyrical pronunciation in parallel with his upbringing in Toronto, and connections with Caribbean and Middle Eastern countries which include such phrases as "ting", "touching road", "talkin' boasy" and "gwanin' wassy". Most of his songs contain R&B and Canadian hip hop elements, and he combines rapping with singing. He credits his father with the introduction of singing into his rap mixtapes, which have become a staple in his musical repertoire. His incorporation of melody into technically complex lyrics was supported by Lil Wayne, and has subsequently been a critically acclaimed component to Drake's singles and albums. The lyrical content that Drake deploys is typically considered to be emotional or boastful. However, Drake is often revered for incorporating "degrading" themes of money, drug use, and women into newer, idealized contexts, often achieving this through his augmentation of the typical meaning of phrases in which he combines an objective and subjective perspective into one vocal delivery. His songs often maintain tension between "pause and pace, tone timbre, and volume and vocal fermata." Drake is credited with innovating what has been referred to as "hyper-reality rap", which is characterized by its focus on themes of celebrity as being distinct from the "real world." Public image A prominent figure in pop culture, Drake is widely credited for popularizing the Toronto sound to the music industry and leading the "Canadian Invasion" of the American charts. The Washington Post editor Maura Judkis credits Drake for popularizing the phrase "YOLO" in the United States with his single "The Motto", which includes, "You only live once: that's the motto, nigga, YOLO." Drake later popularized the term "The Six" in 2015 in relation to his hometown Toronto, subsequently becoming a point of reference to the city. His lyrical subject matter, which often revolves around relationships, have had widespread use on social media through photo captions to reference emotions or personal situations. However, this content has incited mixed reception from fans and critics, with some deeming him as sensitive, a trait perceived as antithetical to traditional hip hop culture. June 10 was declared "Drake Day" in Houston. In 2016, Drake visited Drake University after a show in Des Moines in response to an extensive social media campaign by students that began in 2009, advocating for his appearance. According to a report from Confused.com, Drake's Toronto home was one of the most Googled homes in the world, recording over a million annual searches in 2021; its features, such as its NBA-size indoor basketball court and Kohler Numi toilet, have also received widespread media attention. The music video for "Hotline Bling" went viral due to Drake's eccentric dance moves. The video has been remixed, memed, and was heavily commented on due to the unconventional nature on the song, causing it to gain popularity on YouTube, and spawning several parodies. Drake has also been critiqued for his expensive, product placement-heavy attire, exemplified by the video for "Hotline Bling". Drake modelled a $1,500 Moncler Puffer Jacket, a $400 Acne Studios turtleneck, and limited edition Timberland 6" Classic Boots. He was labeled by GQ magazine as "[one of] the most stylish men alive"; during promotion for Certified Lover Boy, Drake debuted a "heart haircut", which became popular and widely imitated. He is also known for his large and extravagant lifestyle, including for high-end themed birthday parties; he maintained this image in his early career by renting a Rolls-Royce Phantom, which he was eventually gifted in 2021. He later cultivated a reputation as a successful gambler; between December 2021 and February 2022, he was reported to have made bets of over $1 billion, which included winnings ranging between $354,000 and $7 million. Between 2016 and 2019, he was noted for the "Drake curse", an internet meme based on the incidents where Drake appears to be support of particular sports team or person, just for that team or person to lose, often against the odds. In 2016, Drake spoke on the shooting of Alton Sterling, publishing an open letter expressing his concern for the safety of ethnic minorities against police brutality in the United States. In 2021, he joined a group of Canadian musicians to work with the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) to lobby Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to restructure the country's copyright law to allow artists and their families to regain ownership of copyrights during their lifetime. He also campaigned for the expansion of a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise in Toronto, and headlined a benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with Kanye West on December 9, 2021, to raise clemency for Larry Hoover, although his solo performance was later removed from the Amazon Prime Video replay. In Christmas 2021, Drake gave away money to individuals in Toronto. Impact Commenting on Drake's Take Care, Elias Leight of Rolling Stone noticed in 2020 that "now nearly every singer raps, and nearly every rapper sings", as many artists "have borrowed or copied the template of [the album] that the boldness of the original is easily forgotten", according to the writer. BBC Radio 1Xtra argued that his co-signs helped push the British hip-hop scene to a wider international market, as he did with the Toronto music scene. According to CBS Music in 2019, Drake has inspired "the next wave" of artists coming out of his hometown. Aaron Williams of Uproxx added "jump-starting the sad boy rapper craze alongside Kid Cudi" and "helping to renew stateside interest in UK grime and Caribbean dancehall with Skepta, PartyNextDoor, and Rihanna" to the modern trends Drake assisted. Writing for Bloomberg, Lucas Shaw commented Drake's popularity has influenced the promotion of music, with Certified Lover Boy attaining large commercial success despite relatively minimal orthodox marketing techniques, stating "fans are consuming Drake’s [music] in a way that is different to others". He also noted the album as novel in relation to consumption, with each song having relatively equivalent streams, as opposed to a dominant single(s). The ubiquity of Drake's music has consistently seen it played during various activities or events. In 2021, a study conducted by Pour Moi found, over a kilometer, joggers ran 21 seconds slower while listening to Drake's music compared to other artists. Drake's music was also found to extend a three-mile run by 105 seconds. Beginning in 2022, Drake's music was canonized academically by Ryerson University, which began teaching courses titled "Deconstructing Drake and the Weeknd", with the pair's music used to explore themes related to the Canadian music industry, race, class, marketing and globalization. Achievements Drake is the highest-certified digital singles artist ever in the United States, having moved 142 million units based on combined sales and on-demand streams. His highest-certified single is "God's Plan" (11× Platinum), followed by "Hotline Bling", which was certified 8× Platinum. He holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; he has the most charted songs of any artist (258), the most simultaneously charted songs in a single week (27), the most debuts in a week (22), the most top 10 singles (54), the most top 10 debuts in a week (9), the most top 10 debuts (39), and the most continuous time on the chart (431 weeks). He has accumulated 9 number-one singles, a record among rappers. In 2021, Drake became second act to occupy the entire Hot 100's top five in a single week, the other act being The Beatles in 1964. He also has the most number-one singles on the Hot Rap Songs (23), Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (23), and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. He is also the only artist to have two albums log 400 weeks each on the Billboard 200. , Drake has won four Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. He has also won a record 29 Billboard Music Awards. In 2017, he surpassed Adele's record for most wins at the Billboard Music Awards in one night, winning 13 awards from 22 nominations. He was named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. Billboard editor Ernest Baker stated "Drake managed to rule hip-hop in 2014", adding "the best rapper in 2014 didn't need a new album or hit single to prove his dominance". From 2015 to 2017, Drake ranked within the top-five of the Billboard year-end chart for Top Artists topping it in 2018. He was named the IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2016 and 2018. Drake was Spotify's most streamed artist of the 2010s. Pitchfork ranked Nothing Was the Same as the 41st best album of the decade "so far"—between 2010 and 2014, and ranked him fifth in the publication's list of the "Top 10 Music Artists" since 2010. Take Care was ranked at number 95 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020). He has been ranked by Complex on their "Best Rapper Alive Every Year Since 1979" list, awarding Drake the accolade in 2011, 2012, and 2015. Controversies Legal issues On May 31, 2009, Drake was robbed at gunpoint in Toronto's Little Italy district and was forced to forfeit a gold and diamond necklace, an Audemars Piguet watch, and $2,000. Soccerties Cotterell and Paul Lelutiu were initially charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, three counts of pointing a firearm and possession of stolen property; these charges were later dropped. The men pled guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, and spent six months in jail. In April 2017, Mesha Collins was arrested for criminal trespass after breaking into Drake's home in Calabasas; although no criminal charges were brought by Drake, she later filed a $4 billion lawsuit against him for defamation in June 2021, which was dismissed that December. In March 2021, an unidentified woman armed with a knife was arrested following a failed attempt to break into Drake's home in Toronto. In 2012, singer Ericka Lee filed a lawsuit against Drake for the usage of her voice on "Marvins Room". Claiming to have provided the female vocals, Lee also alleged she was owed songwriting credits and royalties. Despite Drake's legal team countering by claiming that Lee simply requested a credit in the liner notes of the album, the matter was resolved in February 2013, with both parties agreeing to an out-of-court settlement. In 2014, Drake was sued for $300,000 for sampling "Jimmy Smith Rap", a 1982 single by jazz musician Jimmy Smith. The suit was filed by Smith's estate, who said Drake never asked for permission when sampling it for the intro on "Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2", claiming Smith himself would have disagreed as he disliked hip hop. Drake would win the lawsuit in 2017, with federal judge William Pauley ruling the content used was transformative, and there was no liability for copyright infringement. Also in 2014, it emerged that Drake was sued by rapper Rappin' 4-Tay, claiming Drake misused his lyrics when collaborating with YG on the song "Who Do You Love?". He sought $100,000 for mistreatment and artistic theft, which Drake paid to the rapper later that year. In 2016, Drake caused a nightclub in Oklahoma City to close down, due to his usage of marijuana and other illegal drugs being prevalent at the club. In December 2021, Drake sued jeweler Ori Vechler and his company Gemma LTD for incorrectly using his likeness in promotional material; he also sought to return three items he purchased. In 2017, Drake was embroiled in another lawsuit, being sued by producer Detail (Noel Fisher) over an alleged assault in 2014. Fisher claimed Drake's bodyguard, Nessel "Chubbs" Beezer, punched him in the face and allegedly broke his jaw over musical and financial disputes. Fisher also said the injuries caused him to be hospitalized for days and had to undergo several surgeries, following which he sued for damages related to medical bills and physical and emotional suffering. The case, which was set to undergo trial in May 2018, was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu after Fisher failed to show up for a final status conference. Lu ruled that Beezer solely acted in self-defense. In October 2021, Drake and Chris Brown were sued by Braindon Cooper and Timothy Valentine for copyright infringement between "No Guidance" and their own song "I Love Your Dress". Cooper and Valentine lost the lawsuit quickly, also being mocked by general public on the internet. A month later, he was named as a co-defendant with Travis Scott in a multi-claimant lawsuit for inciting "a riot and violence" at the Astroworld Festival, to which he released a statement; he was later criticized for reportedly attending the Area 29 strip club in Houston the day after the incident. He also reportedly delayed the release of "Splash Brothers", a collaboration with French Montana, following the incident. Feuds Drake and Chris Brown were allegedly involved in a physical altercation in June 2012 when Drake and his entourage threw glass bottles at Brown in a SoHo nightclub in Manhattan, New York City. Chris Brown tweeted about the incident, and criticized Drake in music until 2013, including on the "R.I.P." remix. Despite no response from Drake, he and Brown both appeared in a comedic skit for the 2014 ESPY Awards, and rehearsed the skit together prior to the televised airing, virtually ending the dispute. The pair later collaborated on "No Guidance" in 2019. In December 2014, Drake was involved in another altercation, being punched by Diddy outside the LIV nightclub in Miami, Florida. The altercation was reported to be over Drake's usage of the instrumental for "0 to 100 / The Catch Up", allegedly produced by Boi-1da for Diddy, before Drake appropriated the track for his own use. Drake was later rushed to the ER after aggravating an old arm injury during the dispute. Drake was also involved in a feud with Tyga, stemming from Tyga's negative comments about him during an interview with Vibe magazine. Drake would later respond on "6 God" and "6PM in New York", which has been interpreted as directly involved in Tyga's abrupt removal from Young Money Entertainment. Further controversy arose in July 2015 when it was alleged by Meek Mill that Drake had used ghostwriters during recording sessions for "RICO", one of the lead singles off Mill's second studio album. This proceeded further allegations that Drake did not help in promotion of the album, due to Mill discovering the ghostwriter, widely believed to be Quentin Miller. Despite Miller collaborating with Drake and receiving past credits, Mill assured that Miller had written Drake's verse for "R.I.C.O." Soon after, Funkmaster Flex aired reference tracks in support of Mill's claims, notably for "R.I.C.O.", "10 Bands", and "Know Yourself". This prompted Drake to respond with two diss tracks, titled "Charged Up" and "Back to Back", in the space of four days. Mill would later respond with "Wanna Know", before removing it from SoundCloud weeks later. Following several subliminal disses from either artist, Drake further sought to denounce Funkmaster Flex while performing in New York (Flex's home state) on the Summer Sixteen Tour. Following Mill's prison sentencing for probation violation, Drake stated "Free Meek Mill" at a concert in Australia, and ended their rivalry on "Family Feud"; the pair later collaborated on "Going Bad" in 2019. Pusha T would also use the same rationale to criticize Drake on "Infrared" in 2018, leading Drake to respond with the "Duppy Freestyle" diss track on May 25. Pusha T responded with "The Story of Adidon" on May 29, which presented several claims and revealed Drake's fatherhood. The pair are considered to have been in a rivalry since 2012, resulting from Pusha T's feuds with Lil Wayne and Birdman, with Drake yet to respond to "The Story of Adidon". In 2016, Drake was embroiled in a feud with Joe Budden, stemming from Budden's derogatory comments when reviewing Views. Drake would allegedly respond to Budden through "4PM in Calabasas", prompting Budden to respond with two diss tracks in the space of five days, echoing the same sentiment Drake deployed during his feud with Meek Mill. Drake would later appear on "No Shopping" alongside French Montana, directly referencing Budden throughout the song, although, Montana claimed Drake's verse was recorded before the release of Budden's diss tracks. Despite Budden releasing two further songs in reference to Drake, he has yet to officially respond to Budden. In the same year, Drake dissed Kid Cudi on "Two Birds, One Stone" after Cudi launched an expletive-filled rant on the artist on Twitter. Cudi later checked into a rehabilitation facility following the release of the song, and continued to disparage Drake in further tweets; the pair eventually resolved their feud, and collaborated on "IMY2" in 2021. In mid-2018, Drake was embroiled in a feud with long-time collaborator Kanye West. In an appearance on The Shop, Drake recounted several meetings with West, who voiced his desire to "be Quincy Jones" and work with Drake and replicate the producer-artist relationship between Jones and Michael Jackson. West requested Drake play and inform him of upcoming releases, while he gave Drake the instrumental to "Lift Yourself". West requested the pair work in Wyoming, with Drake arriving a day after close friend 40, who said West was instead recording an album. Judging the pair to have differing release schedules, Drake traveled to Wyoming, but "only worked on [West's] music"; they explored Drake's after he played West "March 14", which addressed Drake's relationship with his newborn son and co-parent. This prompted a conversation with West regarding his personal issues, after which, news of his son would be exposed by Pusha T, which Drake concluded was revealed to him by West; West also released "Lift Yourself" as a solo song and produced "Infrared". Drake then denounced West in songs and live performances. West would retaliate in a series of tweets in late 2018, and the pair continued to respond on social media and in music as of late 2021, which included Drake leaking West's song "Life of the Party". During their feud, West also made several public attempts to reconcile with Drake, which is reported to have occurred after they co-headlined a benefit concert in December 2021. Drake has also been involved in feuds with DMX, Kendrick Lamar, Common, The Weeknd, XXXTentacion, Jay-Z, Tory Lanez, and Ludacris, although the latter five, and his feud with DMX, have been reported to be resolved. Business ventures Endorsements Prior to venturing into business, Drake garnered several endorsement deals with various companies, notably gaining one with Sprite following his mention of drinking purple drank, a concoction that contains Sprite as a key ingredient. In the aftermath of his highly publicized feud with Meek Mill, Drake was also endorsed by fast food restaurants Burger King and Whataburger. Business magazine Forbes commented his endorsement deals and business partnerships "combined heavily" for Drake's reported pre-tax earnings at $94 million between June 2016 to June 2017, being one of the highest-paid celebrities during that period. OVO Sound During the composition of Nothing Was the Same, Drake started his own record label in late 2012 with producer Noah "40" Shebib and business partner Oliver El-Khatib. Drake sought for an avenue to release his own music, as well helping in the nurturing of other artists, while Shebib and El-Khatib yearned to start a label with a distinct sound, prompting the trio to team up to form OVO Sound. The name is an abbreviation derived from the October's Very Own moniker Drake used to publish his earlier projects. The label is currently distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Drake, 40, and PartyNextDoor were the label's inaugural artists. The label houses artists including Drake, PartyNextDoor, Majid Jordan, Roy Woods, and dvsn, as well as producers including 40, Boi-1da, Nineteen85, and Future the Prince. Toronto Raptors On September 30, 2013, at a press conference with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke, Drake was announced as the new "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining the executive committee of the NBA franchise. It was announced together with the 2016 NBA All-Star Game being awarded to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. This was also the setting where Drake was given The Key to the City. In the role, it was announced that Drake would help to promote and serve as a host of festivities, beginning with the All-Star Game. He would also provide consulting services to rebrand the team, helping to redesign its image and clothing line in commemoration of the franchise's 20th anniversary. He also collaborated with the Raptors on pre-game practice jerseys, t-shirts, and sweatsuits, and began hosting an annual "Drake Night" segment with the organization, beginning in 2013. Entertainment Apple Music Following the launch of Apple Music, a music and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc., the company announced Drake as the figurehead for the platform at their Worldwide Developers Conference in 2015, with the artist also penning an exclusivity deal with the service worth a reported $19 million. This saw all future solo releases by Drake becoming available first on Apple Music, before seeing roll out to other streaming services and music retailers. Drake had also developed the OVO Sound Radio station on Beats 1, which is utilized as the primary avenue for debuting singles and projects, with the station overseeing over 300 million unique users when it debuted More Life. Drake's partnership with Apple Music has largely been credited for the platform's sharp success, as it attained 10 million subscribers after six months, as well as giving birth to exclusivity from artists, with many independent and signed artists, such as Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, also brokering exclusivity deals with streaming services. Through signing with the company, Drake was one of the artists, alongside Pharrell and Katy Perry, to exclusively own an Apple Watch before the smartwatch saw public release. DreamCrew and investments In 2017, Drake and Adel "Future" Nur co-founded the production company DreamCrew, which functions both as a management company and entertainment group. The company has produced the television series Euphoria and Top Boy. Their debut film as producers was on the sports documentary The Carter Effect, detailing the impact of Vince Carter in Canada. In July 2021, Drake was announced as an executive producer, alongside LeBron James and Maverick Carter, for Black Ice, a documentary film charting the experiences of black and ethnic minority professional and amateur ice hockey players. It is due to be produced by Uninterrupted Canada in partnership with Drake's DreamCrew Entertainment, James' SpringHill Company, and Bell Media. DreamCrew also began production on the unscripted survival series Chillin' Island in 2021, due to air on HBO. In June 2021, Live Nation confirmed a long-standing partnership with Drake to open History, a 2,500 convertible capacity live-entertainment and general function venue in Toronto. It was in development for over three years and is situated in The Beaches. He also aided in the venue's interior design, which contains LED screens, soundproofing, quick-change rooms and a customizable staircase. Later that month, Drake signed as an investor and collaborator with Los Angeles-based sustainability and financial services startup Aspiration; he will also use the company's enterprise services to monitor and ensure personal carbon neutrality. He has also invested in robo-advisor Wealthsimple, the "livestreaming video commerce platform" NTWRK, the cannabis provider Bullrider, and several sports-related ventures, including online esports betting platform Players’ Lounge, the sportstech firm StatusPro, and online sports network Overtime. In an analysis by Brennan Doherty for Toronto Star, Drake's investment "carry all the hallmarks" typical of musicians, which is often momentum investing, and cited Jason Pereira, who described Drake's business deals as typically angel investing and private equity (often venture capital) funds. Pereira also noted his "leveraging his personal brand to generate cash". 100 Thieves In 2018, Drake purchased an ownership stake in the gaming organization 100 Thieves, joining as a co-founder and co-owner. The investment was partly funded by music executive Scooter Braun and Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert. Since the investment, the stake is estimated to be worth $125 million. Cuisine Two months prior to the release of Views, Drake announced the development of Virginia Black, a bourbon-based whiskey. This would be his second foray into selling foodstuffs, previously partnering with celebrity chef Susur Lee to open Fring's Restaurant in Toronto. The beverage was created and also distributed alongside Proximo Spirits, as well as with Brent Hocking, a spirits producer who founded DeLeón Tequila in 2008. The company described the partnership as "fruitful [as they] share a passion for style, music, and the pursuit of taste [on] a quest to redefine whiskey." In 2021, using ratings compiled from Vivino and complimentary website Distiller, Virginia Black was ranked the worst value celebrity liquor for quality and price. The product was launched in June 2016, and contained two, three and four-year old Bourbon whiskies. The company sold over 4,000 bottles in the first week domestically. The brand was also promoted and marketed through Drake's music and various tours, such as being part of the "Virginia Black VIP Lounge" additional package available for purchase during the Summer Sixteen Tour. Virginia Black shipped a further 30,000 units when rollout was extended to select international markets in late 2016. The company later aired commercials with Drake's father, Dennis Graham, which featured the tagline of "The Realest Dude Ever" (in reference toward "The Most Interesting Man in the World" tagline employed by Dos Equis) after extending the sale of the drink to Europe in 2017. In 2019, Drake began collaborating with Hocking on Mod Sélection, a luxury range of champagne, and in May 2021, formed part of a $40 million series B investment funding round led by D1 Capital Partners in Daring Foods Inc., a vegan meat analogue corporation. That September, he purchased a minority stake in Californian food chain Dave's Hot Chicken. Fashion In December 2013, Drake announced he was signing with Nike and Air Jordan, saying "growing up, I'm sure we all idolized Michael Jordan. I [am] officially inducted into the Team Jordan family." Drake also released his own collection of Air Jordans, dubbed the "Air Jordan OVOs". This foresaw collaborations between OVO and Canada Goose, in which various items of clothing were produced. In 2020, A Bathing Ape announced a collaboration with Drake, releasing an OVO x BAPE collection of clothing, while he also partnered with candle manufacturer Revolve to create "Better World Fragrance", a line of scented candles. In December 2020, Drake announced Nocta, a sub-label with Nike. In a press release, Drake said "I always felt like there was an opportunity for Nike to embrace an entertainer the same way [as] athletes," he wrote, "to be associated with the highest level possible was always my goal." The apparel line is named after Drake's "nocturnal creative process", in which Nike described as a "collection for the collective", and noted by GQ as "fashion-forward, minimal-inspired sportswear". One clothing item features an image of Drake's muses, Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta, with a poem. After the first collection sold out, another was released in February 2021, which introduced t-shirts, adjustable caps, a utility vest, and a lightweight jacket. That July, OVO released the "Weekender Collection", which includes a line of hoodies, velour sweatsuits, t-shirts, shorts, and accessories for women. OVO then released a "Winter Survival Collection" that December which included puffer jackets, vests, and parkas made with 700-fill down and Oeko-Tex certified down feathers. They followed this with limited edition Jurassic Park-themed collection and an indoor footwear collaboration with Suicoke. Personal life Health and residences Drake lives in Toronto, Ontario, in a 35,000-square-foot, $100 million estate nicknamed "The Embassy", which was built from the ground-up in 2017, and is seen in the video to his song "Toosie Slide". He also owns a home nicknamed the "YOLO Estate" in Hidden Hills, California, which he has owned since 2012, and in 2021, rented a $65 million property in Beverly Hills. He owns a condominium adjacent to the CN Tower, and a Boeing 767. Drake has a variety of tattoos, some of which are symbols associated with personal accomplishments, such as a jack-o-lantern, "October Lejonhjärta" (), owls, and a controversial Abbey Road (1969) inspired depiction of himself and The Beatles. He has portraits of Lil Wayne, Sade, Aaliyah, Jesús Malverde, Denzel Washington, 40, his parents, grandmother, maternal uncle, and son; and several related to Toronto, including the CN Tower and the number "416". On August 18, 2021, Drake revealed he contracted COVID-19 amidst the pandemic, which led to temporary hair loss. He was also one of the first celebrities to publicly test for the virus in March 2020. Family and relationships Drake's paternal uncles are guitarists and songwriters Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges. Graham was a member of Sly and the Family Stone, while Hodges contributed to songs for Al Green, including "Love and Happiness", "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)", and "Take Me to the River". Drake has a close friendship with Adele, and was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Rihanna from 2009 to 2016. He has mentioned the relationship in every one of his studio albums, and when presenting Rihanna with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2016, he said "she's a woman I've been in love with since I was 22 years old." On his relationship with her, he said on the talk show The Shop: As life takes shape and teaches you your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don't have the fairy tale [of] 'Drake started a family with Rihanna, [it's] so perfect.' It looks so good on paper [and] I wanted it too at one time. Drake is a father to one son named Adonis, who was born on October 11, 2017 to French painter and former model Sophie Brussaux. Brussaux's pregnancy was the subject of several rumours after featuring in a TMZ article in early 2017. After the nature of the pair's relationship was discussed in Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon", Drake confirmed his fatherhood on the album Scorpion in 2018, citing a desire for his child's privacy. Discography Studio albums Thank Me Later (2010) Take Care (2011) Nothing Was the Same (2013) Views (2016) Scorpion (2018) Certified Lover Boy (2021) Tours Headlining Away from Home Tour (2010) Club Paradise Tour (2012) Would You Like a Tour? (2013–2014) Jungle Tour (2015; six date promotional tour) Boy Meets World Tour (2017) Assassination Vacation Tour (2019) Co-headlining America's Most Wanted Tour (2009) Drake vs. Lil Wayne (2014) Summer Sixteen Tour (2016) Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour (2018) Filmography Film Television See also Culture of Toronto List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of Canadian musicians List of people from Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of highest-certified music artists in the United States List of best-selling music artists List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones List of most-followed Instagram accounts List of Canadian hip hop musicians List of Canadian Jews List of Black Canadians Black Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area History of the Jews in Toronto List of artists who reached number one on the Canadian Hot 100 List of Canadian Grammy Award winners and nominees List of most-streamed artists on Spotify References External links 1986 births Living people 21st-century Black Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian rappers African-American businesspeople African-American Jews African-American male rappers Black Canadian businesspeople Black Canadian male actors Black Canadian musicians Brit Award winners Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian Ashkenazi Jews Canadian contemporary R&B singers Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Canadian hip hop singers Canadian male child actors Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male rappers Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian music industry executives Canadian people of African-American descent Canadian people of American descent Canadian people of Jewish descent Canadian people of Latvian-Jewish descent Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Canadian philanthropists Canadian pop singers Canadian rhythm and blues singers Canadian songwriters Cash Money Records artists Culture of Toronto Dancehall musicians Grammy Award winners for rap music Jewish Canadian male actors Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish Canadian writers Jewish rappers Jewish singers Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year winners Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year winners Male actors from Toronto MTV Europe Music Award winners OVO Sound artists People from Hidden Hills, California People from Weston, Toronto Pop rappers Rappers from Toronto Republic Records artists Sports spectators Toronto Raptors personnel Trap musicians UK drill musicians Universal Motown Records artists Writers from Toronto Young Money Entertainment artists	true	[ "The discography of American country artist Melba Montgomery contains twenty nine studio albums, eleven compilation albums, sixty two singles, one charting B-side and five other appearances. Signing with United Artists Records in 1962, she recorded with George Jones on the self-penned \"We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds\". It reached the top three of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. The pair's follow-up \"Let's Invite Them Over\" reached the top twenty, as did its B-side. Jones and Montgomery issued their debut studio album What's in Our Heart in November 1963, which peaked in the top ten of the Billboard Top Country Albums list. They continued releasing albums together including Close Together (1966) and Party Pickin''' (1967). In 1963, Montgomery's debut solo singles reached the top-thirty of the country songs chart and the following year, her first pair of solo studio albums were issued. She collaborated with Gene Pitney in 1965, releasing \"Baby Ain't That Fine\" that year. The song reached number fifteen and the duo then issued the studio album Being Together (1965). Between 1965 and 1968 Montgomery released six solo studio efforts on both United Artists and Musicor, including Hallelujah Road (1966) and Don't Keep Me Lonely Too Long (1967). Through Capitol Records, she recorded with Charlie Louvin in 1970 and \"Something to Brag About\", reached number eighteen in early 1971. The pair would release two studio albums together in 1971 and several more singles.\n\nFocusing more on a solo career, Montgomery's 1973 single \"Wrap Your Love Around Me\" reached the top forty. In 1974, her solo single \"No Charge\" topped the Hot Country Singles chart and hit the top-forty of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the biggest solo hit of her musical career. An album of the same name would peak at number fourteen. The following year, \"Don't Let the Good Times Fool You\" reached the top-twenty of the country singles chart and Montgomery released two more albums on the Elektra label. Her second self-titled studio album was released in 1977 via United Artists Records, which included a cover of \"Angel of the Morning\". In 1982, Montgomery released I Still Care, an album of cover songs. Her 1986 single \"Straight Talkin'\" became her final Billboard chart appearance, reaching the top-seventy that year. After a several-year hiatus, Montgomery released the studio album Do You Know Where Your Man Is on Playback Records in 1992. In 1997, Montgomery released her twenty-seventh studio record entitled This Time Around via a Swedish label. Things That Keep You Going, her most recent studio recording, was issued in December 2010 via RPM Music.\n\n Albums \n\n Studio albums \n{\| class=\"wikitable plainrowheaders\" style=\"text-align:center;\" border=\"1\"\n\|+ List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and other relevant details\n! scope=\"col\" rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width:20em;\"\| Title\n! scope=\"col\" rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width:20em;\"\| Album details\n! scope=\"col\" colspan=\"1\"\| Peakchartpositions\n\|-\n! scope=\"col\" style=\"width:3.8em;font-size:90%;\"\|USCountry\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| What's in Our Heart(with George Jones)\n\|\n Released: November 1963\n Label: United Artists\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| 3\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| America's No. One Country and Western Girl Singer\|\n Released: February 1964\n Label: United Artists\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Bluegrass Hootenanny(with George Jones)\n\|\n Released: March 1964\n Label: United Artists\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| 12\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Down Home\|\n Released: August 1964\n Label: United Artists\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| I Can't Get Used to Being Lonely\|\n Released: July 1965\n Label: United Artists\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Being Together(with Gene Pitney)\n\|\n Released: December 1965\n Label: Musicor\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Hallelujah Road\|\n Released: July 1966\n Label: Musicor\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Country Girl\|\n Released: November 1966\n Label: Musicor\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Close Together(with George Jones)\n\|\n Released: November 1966\n Label: Musicor\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| 28\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Melba Toast\|\n Released: March 1967\n Label: Musicor\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Don't Keep Me Lonely Too Long\|\n Released: March 1967\n Label: Musicor\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Party Pickin(with George Jones)\n\|\n Released: August 1967\n Label: Musicor\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| I'm Just Living\n\|\n Released: December 1967\n Label: Musicor\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| The Big Beautiful Country World of Melba Montgomery\n\|\n Released: October 1969\n Label: Capitol\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Don't Keep Me Lonely Too Long\n\|\n Released: May 1970\n Label: Capitol\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Something to Brag About(with Charlie Louvin)\n\|\n Released: January 1971\n Label: Capitol\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| 45\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Baby You've Got What It Takes(with Charlie Louvin)\n\|\n Released: July 1971\n Label: Capitol\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| 45\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Melba Montgomery\n\|\n Released: October 1973\n Label: Elektra\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| No Charge\n\|\n Released: April 1974\n Label: Elektra\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| 14\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Don't Let the Good Times Fool You\n\|\n Released: April 1975\n Label: Elektra\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| 47\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| The Greatest Gift of All\n\|\n Released: November 1975\n Label: Elektra\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Melba Montgomery\n\|\n Released: April 1977\n Label: United Artists\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| I Still Care\n\|\n Released: 1982\n Label: Phonorama\n Formats: Vinyl, CD, music download\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Audiograph Alive\n\|\n Released: 1983\n Label: Audiograph\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| No Charge\n\|\n Released: 1986\n Label: Compass\n Formats: Vinyl\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Do You Know Where Your Man Is\n\|\n Released: 1992\n Label: Playback\n Formats: Cassette, CD, music download\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| This Time Around\n\|\n Released: 1997\n Label: CMC\n Formats: CD\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Studio 102 Essentials\n\|\n Released: May 27, 2008\n Label: Suite 102\n Formats: CD, music download\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| Things That Keep You Going\n\|\n Released: December 14, 2010\n Label: RPM\n Formats: CD, music download\n\| —\n\|-\n\| colspan=\"3\" style=\"font-size:8pt\"\| \"—\" denotes releases that did not chart\n\|-\n\|}\n\n Compilation albums \n\n Singles \n\n As lead artist \n\n As a collaborative artist \n{\| class=\"wikitable plainrowheaders\" style=\"text-align:center;\" border=\"1\"\n\|+ List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing other relevant details\n! scope=\"col\" rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width:19em;\"\| Title\n! scope=\"col\" rowspan=\"2\"\| Year\n! scope=\"col\" colspan=\"2\"\| Peak chartpositions\n! scope=\"col\" rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width:18em;\"\| Album\n\|-\n! scope=\"col\" style=\"width:3.4em;font-size:90%;\"\|USCountry\n! scope=\"col\" style=\"width:3.4em;font-size:90%;\"\|CANCountry\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds\"(with George Jones)\n\| rowspan=\"2\"\| 1963\n\| 3\n\| —\n\| rowspan=\"3\"\| What's in Our Heart\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Let's Invite Them Over\"(with George Jones)\n\| 17\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Suppose Tonight Would Be Our Last\"(with George Jones)\n\| rowspan=\"3\"\| 1964\n\| —\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Please Be My New Love\"(with George Jones)\n\| 31\n\| —\n\| Blue Moon of Kentucky\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Multiply the Heartaches\"(with George Jones)\n\| 25\n\| —\n\| What's in Our Heart\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"House of Gold\"(with George Jones)\n\| rowspan=\"4\"\| 1965\n\| —\n\| —\n\| Bluegrass Hootenanny\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"I Let You Go\"(with George Jones)\n\| —\n\| —\n\| What's in Our Heart\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Blue Moon of Kentucky\"(with George Jones)\n\| —\n\| —\n\| Blue Moon of Kentucky\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Baby Ain't That Fine\"(with Gene Pitney)\n\| 15\n\| —\n\| rowspan=\"2\"\| Being Together\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Being Together\"(with Gene Pitney)\n\| rowspan=\"2\"\| 1966\n\| —\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Close Together (As You and Me)\"(with George Jones)\n\| 70\n\| —\n\| Close Together\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Party Pickin'\"(with George Jones)\n\| 1967\n\| 24\n\| —\n\| Party Pickin\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Something to Brag About\"(with Charlie Louvin)\n\| 1970\n\| 18\n\| 26\n\| Something to Brag About\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Did You Ever\"(with Charlie Louvin)\n\| rowspan=\"3\"\| 1971\n\| 26\n\| —\n\| rowspan=\"2\"\| Baby You've Got What It Takes\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Baby You've Got What It Takes\"(with Charlie Louvin)\n\| 30\n\| —\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"I'm Gonna Leave You\"(with Charlie Louvin)\n\| 60\n\| —\n\| \n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Baby What's Wrong with Us\"(with Charlie Louvin)\n\| rowspan=\"2\"\| 1972\n\| 66\n\| —\n\| \n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"A Man Likes Things Like That\"(with Charlie Louvin)\n\| 59\n\| —\n\| \n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Almost Over the Line\"(with Lee Dillard)\n\| 1987\n\| —\n\| —\n\| \n\|-\n\| colspan=\"5\" style=\"font-size:8pt\"\| \"—\" denotes releases that did not chart\n\|-\n\|}\n\n Charted B-sides \n\n Other appearances \n{\| class=\"wikitable plainrowheaders\" style=\"text-align:center;\" border=\"1\"\n\|+ List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name\n! scope=\"col\" style=\"width:20em;\"\| Title\n! scope=\"col\"\| Year\n! scope=\"col\"\| Other artist(s)\n! scope=\"col\" style=\"width:22em;\"\| Album\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing\"\n\| 1988\n\| \n\| K-Tel Presents Christmas Favorites\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Shameless Lies\"<ref>{{cite web\|title=Cryin', Lovin', Leavin\|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/cryin-lovin-leavin-mw0000624416\|website=Allmusic\|accessdate=20 December 2014}}</ref>\n\| 1994\n\| Marty Brown\n\| Cryin', Lovin', Leavin\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"Milwaukee Here I Come\"\n\| rowspan=\"2\"\| 1999\n\| rowspan=\"2\"\| John Prine\n\| rowspan=\"2\"\| In Spite of Ourselves\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds\"\n\|-\n! scope=\"row\"\| \"You Win Again\"\n\| 2001\n\| Ralph Stanley\n\| Clinch Mountain Sweethearts\n\|-\n\|}\n\nSee also \n List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. country chart\n List of number-one country hits (United States)\n List of years in country music\n\nNotes \nA^ Don't Keep Me Lonely Too Long (1967) is a separate studio album release from Don't Keep Me Lonely Too Long (1970).\nB^ Melba Montgomery (1973) is a separate studio album release from Melba Montgomery (1978).\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Melba Montgomery music at Discogs\n\nCountry music discographies\nDiscographies of American artists", "True Tone Records was an Australian based record label. It was founded by Michael Crawley in the 1980s. The label was distributed by Polygram Records.\n\nHistory\nTrue Tone signed Gang Gajang and released the band's first single \"Gimme Some Lovin'\" in 1984, as well as their first two albums, Gang Gajang (1985) and Gang Again (1987). In 1985 the label signed The Go-Betweens but the band never recorded anything for True Tone and went on to sign with the UK label, Beggars Banquet Records. True Tone did however provide the Australian release of the Go-Between's fifth album, Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express (1986), as well as The Able Label Singles (1987).\n\nTrue Tone also signed Rockmelons, releasing the band's first singles, \"Time Out (For Serious Fun)\" (1985), \"Sweat It Out\", and \"Rhymes\" (1987), as well as their debut album, Tales of the City (1988). When vocalist Peter Blakeley left the band he was signed by True Tone, which released his 1987 mini-album Vicious.\n\nIn 1986, the label signed Ed Kuepper (The Saints), releasing his second and third solo albums, Rooms Of The Magnificent (1986) and Everybody's Got To (1988).\n\nStephen Cummings then signed to the label in 1987, releasing the albums Lovetown (1988), A New Kind of Blue (1989), and Good Humour (1991).\n\nAfter a three-year distribution arrangement with EMI, Crawley chose to take the label to another distributor, but EMI objected and took the label to court. Rather than see the label remain with EMI, Crawley sold off all its assets and left the industry.\n\nArtist roster\nThe label was responsible for releases by:\n\n Gang Gajang\n The Go-Betweens\n Rockmelons\n Ed Kuepper\n Peter Blakeley\n The Celibate Rifles\n Shooting School\n Steeltown\n Clive Young\n\nSee also \n List of record labels\n\nIndie rock record labels\nDefunct record labels of Australia" ]
[ "Illyrians", "Hellenistic period" ]	C_a9b96a021b774af3a303077bcfe676dd_0	When did the Hellenistic period take place?	1	When did the Illyrians Hellenistic period take place?	Illyrians	Illyria appears in Greco-Roman historiography from the 4th century BC. The Illyrians formed several kingdoms in the central Balkans, and the first known Illyrian king was Bardyllis. Illyrian kingdoms were often at war with ancient Macedonia, and the Illyrian pirates were also a significant danger to neighbouring peoples. At the Neretva Delta, there was a strong Hellenistic influence on the Illyrian tribe of Daors. Their capital was Daorson located in Osanici near Stolac in Herzegovina, which became the main center of classical Illyrian culture. Daorson, during the 4th century BC, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 meter high stonewalls, composed out of large trapeze stones blocks. Daors also made unique bronze coins and sculptures. The Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on the Dalmatian islands. Queen Teuta was famous for having waged wars against the Romans. After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos became the strongest state in Illyria. Philip II killed 7,000 Illyrians in a great victory and annexed the territory up to Lake Ohrid. Next, Philip II reduced the Grabaei, and then went for the Ardiaei, defeated the Triballi (339 BC), and fought with Pleurias (337 BC). In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Italian commerce. There were three campaigns, the first against Teuta the second against Demetrius of Pharos and the third against Gentius. The initial campaign in 229 BC marks the first time that the Roman Navy crossed the Adriatic Sea to launch an invasion. The Roman Republic subdued the Illyrians during the 2nd century BC. An Illyrian revolt was crushed under Augustus, resulting in the division of Illyria in the provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. CANNOTANSWER	4th century BC.	The Illyrians (, Illyrioi; ) were a group of Indo-European speaking peoples, who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, along with the Thracians and Greeks. The territory the Illyrians inhabited came to be known as Illyria to later Greek and Roman authors, who identified a territory that corresponds to most of Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, much of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, western and central Serbia and some parts of Slovenia between the Adriatic Sea in the west, the Drava river in the north, the Morava river in the east and in the south the Aous (modern Vjosa) river or possibly the Ceraunian Mountains. The first account of Illyrian peoples dates back to the 6th century BC, in the works of the ancient Greek writer Hecataeus of Miletus. The name "Illyrians", as applied by the ancient Greeks to their northern neighbors, may have referred to a broad, ill-defined group of peoples. The Illyrian tribes never collectively identified as "Illyrians", and it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature at all. Illyrians seems to be the name of a specific Illyrian tribe who were among the first to encounter the ancient Greeks during the Bronze Age. The Greeks later applied this term Illyrians, pars pro toto, to all people with similar language and customs. In archaeological, historical and linguistic studies, research about the Illyrians, from the late 19th to the 21st century, has moved from Pan-Illyrian theories, which identified as Illyrian even groups north of the Balkans to more well-defined groupings based on Illyrian onomastics and material anthropology since the 1960s as newer inscriptions were found and sites excavated. There are two principal Illyrian onomastic areas: the southern and the Dalmatian-Pannonian, with the area of the Dardani as a region of overlapping between the two. A third area, to the north of them – which in ancient literature was usually identified as part of Illyria – has been connected more to the Venetic language than to Illyrian. Illyric settlement in Italy was and still is attributed to a few ancient tribes which are thought to have migrated along the Adriatic shorelines to the Italian peninsula from the geographic "Illyria": the Dauni, the Peuceti and Messapi (collectively known as Iapyges). The term "Illyrians" last appears in the historical record in the 7th century, referring to a Byzantine garrison operating within the former Roman province of Illyricum. Names and terminology The terms 'Illyrians', 'Illyria' and 'Illyricum' have been used throughout history for ethnic and geographic contextualizations that have changed over time. Re-contextualizations of these terms often confused ancient writers and modern scholars. Notable scholarly efforts have been dedicated to try to analyze and explain these changes. The first known mention of Illyrians occurred in the late 6th and the early 5th century BC in fragments of Hecataeus of Miletus, the author of Γενεαλογίαι (Genealogies) and of Περίοδος Γῆς or Περιήγησις (Description of the Earth or Periegesis), where the Illyrians are described as a barbarian people. In the Macedonian history during the 6th and 5th century B.C., the term 'Illyrian' had a political meaning that was quite definite, denoting a kingdom established on the north-western borders of Upper Macedonia. From the 5th century B.C. onwards, the term 'Illyrian' was already applied to a large ethnic group whose territory extended deep into the Balkan mainland. Ancient Greeks clearly considered the Illyrians as a completely distinct ethnos from both the Thracians (Θρᾷκες) and the Macedonians (Μακεδόνες). Most scholars hold that the territory originally designated as 'Illyrian' was roughly located in the region of the south-eastern Adriatic (modern Albania and Montenegro) and its hinterland, then was later extended to the whole Roman Illyricum province, which stretched from the eastern Adriatic to the Danube. After the Illyrians had come to be widely known to the Greeks due to their proximity, this ethnic designation was broadened to include other peoples who, for some reason, were considered by ancient writers to be related with those peoples originally designated as Illyrians (Ἰλλυριοί, Illyrioi). The original designation may have occurred during the Bronze Age, when Greek-speaking tribes may have been neighbours of the southernmost Illyrian tribe of that time that dwelled in the Zeta plain in Montenegro or in the Mat valley in Albania, being subsequently applied as a general term to people of the same language and manners. It has been also inferred that if Greek populations had their first contact with Illyrian tribes when the latter dwelt around Shkodër, then an Illyrian expansion southwards took place during the early first millennium BC, before the later reaching Aous. The label Illyrians was first used by outsiders, in particular Ancient Greeks, at the beginning of the 8th century BC. When the Greeks began to frequent the eastern Adriatic coast with the colonization of Corcyra, they started to have some knowledge and perceptions of the indigenous peoples of western Balkans. The Illyrian tribes evidently never collectively identified themselves as Illyrians and it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature at all. Most modern scholars are certain that all the peoples of western Balkans that were collectively labeled as 'Illyrians' were not a culturally or linguistically homogeneous entity. For instance, some tribes like the Bryges would not have been identified as Illyrian. What criteria were initially used to define this group of peoples or how and why the term 'Illyrians' began to be used to describe the indigenous population of western Balkans cannot be said with certainty. Scholarly debates have been waged to find an answer to the question whether the term 'Illyrians' (Ἰλλυριοί) derived from some eponymous tribe, or whether it has been applied to designate the indigenous population as a general term for some other specific reason. Illyrii proprie dicti Ancient Roman writers Pliny the Elder and Pomponius Mela used the term Illyrii proprie dicti ('properly called Illyrians') to designate a people that was located in the coast of modern Albania and Montenegro. Many modern scholars view the 'properly called Illyrians' as a trace of the Illyrian kingdom known in the sources from the 4th century BC until 167 BC, which was ruled in Roman times by the Ardiaei and Labeatae when it was centered in the Bay of Kotor and Lake Skadar. According to other modern scholars, the term Illyrii may have originally referred only to a small ethnos in the area between Epidaurum and Lissus, and Pliny and Mela may have followed a literary tradition that dates back as early as Hecataeus of Miletus. Placed in central Albania, the Illyrii proprie dicti also might have been Rome's first contact with lllyrian peoples. In that case, it did not indicate an original area from which the Illyrians expanded. The area of the Illyrii proprie dicti is largely included in the southern Illyrian onomastic province in modern linguistics. Origins Scholars have long recognized a "difficulty in producing a single theory on the ethnogenesis of the Illyrians" given their heterogeneous nature. Modern scholarship is unable to refer to the Illyrians as a unique and compact people and agrees that they were a sum of ill-defined communities without common origins that never merged to a single ethnic entity. According to linguist Robert Elsie, "the term 'Illyrian' probably referred initially to the tribe with which the ancient Greeks first had contact, but it was later used as a collective term for a wide range of tribes in the region, although they may not have been culturally or linguistically homogenous at all." Older Pan-Illyrian theories which emerged in the 1920s placed the proto-Illyrians as the original inhabitants of a very large area which reached central Europe. These theories, which are now generally dismissed by scholars, were used in the politics of the era and its racialist notions of Nordicism and Aryanism. The main fact which these theories tried to address was the existence of traces of Illyrian toponymy in parts of Europe beyond the western Balkans, an issue whose origins are still unclear. The specific theories have found little archaeological corroboration, as no convincing evidence for significant migratory movements from the Luzatian culture into the west Balkans has ever been found. Rather, archaeologists from former Yugoslavia highlighted the continuity between the Bronze and succeeding Iron Age (especially in regions such as Donja Dolina, central Bosnia-Glasinac, and northern Albania (Mat river basin)), ultimately developing the so-called "autochthonous theory" of Illyrian genesis. The "autochthonous" model was most elaborated upon by Alojz Benac and B. Čović. They argued (following the "Kurgan hypothesis") that the 'proto-Illyrians' had arrived much earlier, during the Bronze Age as nomadic Indo-Europeans from the steppe. From that point, there was a gradual Illyrianization of the western Balkans leading to historic Illyrians, with no early Iron Age migration from northern Europe. He did not deny a minor cultural impact from the northern Urnfield cultures, however, "these movements had neither a profound influence on the stability of the Balkans, nor did they affect the ethnogenesis of the Illyrian ethnos". Aleksandar Stipčević raised concerns regarding Benac's all-encompassing scenario of autochthonous ethnogenesis, raising the following questions: "can one negate the participation of the bearers of the field-urn culture in the ethnogenesis of the Illyrian tribes who lived in present-day Slovenia and Croatia" or "Hellenistic and Mediterranean influences on southern Illyrians and Liburnians?". He concludes that Benac's model is only applicable to the Illyrian groups in Bosnia, western Serbia and a part of Dalmatia, where there had indeed been a settlement continuity and 'native' progression of pottery sequences since the Bronze Age. Following prevailing trends in discourse on identity in Iron Age Europe, current anthropological perspectives reject older theories of a longue duree (long term) ethnogenesis of Illyrians, even where 'archaeological continuity' can be demonstrated to Bronze Age times. They rather see the emergence of historic Illyrians tribes as a more recent phenomenon - just prior to their first attestation. The proto-Illyrians during the course of their settlement along the Adriatic coast and its hinterland likely merged with populations of a pre-Illyrian substratum – like Enchelei might have been –, leading to the formation of the historical Illyrians who were attested in later times. It has been suggested that the myth of Cadmus and Harmonia may be a reflection in mythology of that historical era. The impetus behind the emergence of larger regional groups, such as "Iapodes", "Liburnians", "Pannonians" etc., is traced to increased contacts with the Mediterranean and La Tène 'global worlds'. This catalyzed "the development of more complex political institutions and the increase in differences between individual communities". Emerging local elites selectively adopted either La Tène or Hellenistic and, later, Roman cultural templates "in order to legitimize and strengthen domination within their communities. They were competing fiercely through either alliance or conflict and resistance to Roman expansion. Thus, they established more complex political alliances, which convinced (Greco-Roman) sources to see them as ‘ethnic’ identities." In ancient Greek and Roman literature Different versions of the genealogy of the Illyrians, their tribes and their eponymous ancestor, Illyrius, existed in the ancient world both in fictional and non-fictional Greco-Roman literature. The fact that there were many versions of the genealogical story of Illyrius was ascertained by Ancient Greek historian Appian (1st–2nd century AD). However, only two versions of all these genealogical stories are attested. The first version—which reports the legend of Cadmus and Harmonia—was recorded by Euripides and Strabo in accounts that would be presented in detail in Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus (1st to 2nd century AD). The second version—which reports the legend of Polyphemus and Galatea—was recorded by Appian (1st–2nd century AD) in his Illyrike. According to the first version Illyrius was the son of Cadmus and Harmonia, whom the Enchelei had chosen to be their leaders. He eventually ruled Illyria and became the eponymous ancestor of the whole Illyrian people. In one of these versions, Illyrius was named so after Cadmus left him by a river named the Illyrian, where a serpent found and raised him. Appian writes that many mythological stories were still circulating in his time, and he chose a particular version because it seemed to be the most correct one. Appian's genealogy of tribes is not complete as he writes that other Illyrian tribes exist, which he hasn't included. According to Appian's tradition, Polyphemus and Galatea gave birth to Celtus, Galas, and Illyrius, three brothers, progenitors respectively of Celts, Galatians and Illyrians. Illyrius had multiple sons: Encheleus, Autarieus, Dardanus, Maedus, Taulas and Perrhaebus, and daughters: Partho, Daortho, Dassaro and others. From these, sprang the Taulantii, Parthini, Dardani, Encheleae, Autariates, Dassaretii and the Daorsi. Autareius had a son Pannonius or Paeon and these had sons Scordiscus and Triballus. Appian's genealogy was evidently composed in Roman times encompassing barbarian peoples other than Illyrians like Celts and Galatians. and choosing a specific story for his audience that included most of the peoples who dwelled in the Illyricum of the Antonine era. However, the inclusion in his genealogy of the Enchelei and the Autariatae, whose political strength has been highly weakened, reflects a pre-Roman historical situation. Basically, ancient Greeks included in their mythological accounts all the peoples with whom they had close contacts. In Roman times, ancient Romans created more mythical or genealogical relations to include various new peoples, regardless of their large ethnic and cultural differences. Appian's genealogy lists the earliest known peoples of Illyria in the goup of the first generation, consisting mostly of southern Illyrian peoples firstly encountered by the Greeks, some of which were the Enchelei, the Taulantii, the Dassaretii and the Parthini. Some peoples that came to the Balkans at a later date such as the Scordisci are listed in the group that belongs to the third generation. The Scordisci were a Celtic people mixed with the indigenous Illyrian and Thracian population. The Pannonians have not been known to the Greeks, and it seems that before the 2nd century BC they did not come into contact with the Romans. Almost all the Greek writers referred to the Pannonians with the name Paeones until late Roman times. The Scordisci and Pannonians were considered Illyrian mainly because they belonged to Illyricum since the early Roman Imperial period. History Pre-Roman period Depending on the complexity of the diverse physical geography of the Balkans, arable farming and livestock (mixed farming) rearing had constituted the economic basis of the Illyrians during the Iron Age. In southern Illyria organized realms were formed earlier than in other areas of this region. One of the oldest known Illyrian kingdoms is that of the Enchelei, which seems to have reached its height from the 8th–7th centuries BC, but the kingdom fell from dominant power around the 6th century BC. It seems that the weakening of the kingdom of Enchelae resulted in their assimilation and inclusion into a newly established Illyrian realm at the latest in the 5th century BC, marking the arising of the Dassaretii, who appear to have replaced the Enchelei in the lakeland area of Lychnidus. According to a number of modern scholars the dynasty of Bardylis—the first attested Illyrian dynasty—was Dassaretan. The weakening of the Enchelean realm was also caused by the strengthening of another Illyrian kingdom established in its vicinity—that of the Taulantii—which existed for some time along with that of the Enchelei. The Taulantii—another people among the more anciently known groups of Illyrian tribes—lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria (modern Albania), dominating at various times much of the plain between the Drin and the Aous, comprising the area around Epidamnus/Dyrrhachium. In the 7th century BC the Taulantii invoked the aid of Corcyra and Corinth in a war against the Liburni. After the defeat and expulsion from the region of the Liburni, the Corcyreans founded in 627 BC on the Illyrian mainland a colony called Epidamnus, thought to have been the name of a barbarian king of the region. A flourishing commercial centre emerged and the city grew rapidly. The Taulantii continued to play an important role in Illyrian history between the 5th and 4th–3rd centuries BC, and in particular, in the history of Epidamnus, both as its neighbors and as part of its population. Notably they influenced the affairs in the internal conflicts between aristocrats and democrats. The Taulantian kingdom seems to have reached its climax during Glaukias' rule, in the years between 335 BC and 302 BC. The Illyrian kingdoms frequently came into conflicts with the neighbouring Ancient Macedonians, and the Illyrian pirates were also seen as significant threat to the neighbouring peoples. At the Neretva Delta, there was a strong Hellenistic influence on the Illyrian tribe of Daors. Their capital was Daorson located in Ošanići near Stolac in Herzegovina, which became the main center of classical Illyrian culture. Daorson, during the 4th century BC, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 meter high stonewalls, composed out of large trapeze stones blocks. Daors also made unique bronze coins and sculptures. The Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on the Dalmatian islands. Queen Teuta was famous for having waged wars against the Romans. After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos II became the strongest state in Illyria. Philip II killed 7,000 Illyrians in a great victory and annexed the territory up to Lake Ohrid. Next, Philip II reduced the Grabaei, and then went for the Ardiaei, defeated the Triballi (339 BC), and fought with Pleurias (337 BC). During the second part of the 3rd century BC, a number of Illyrian tribes seem to have united to form a proto-state stretching from the central part of present-day Albania up to Neretva river in Herzegovina. The political entity was financed on piracy and ruled from 250 BC by the king Agron. He was succeeded by his wife Teuta, who assumed the regency for her stepson Pinnes following Agron's death in 231 BC. In his work The Histories, Polybius (2nd century BC) reported first diplomatic contacts between the Romans and Illyrians. In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC, Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Roman commerce. There were three campaigns, the first against Teuta the second against Demetrius of Pharos and the third against Gentius. The initial campaign in 229 BC marks the first time that the Roman Navy crossed the Adriatic Sea to launch an invasion. The Roman Republic subdued the Illyrians during the 2nd century BC. An Illyrian revolt was crushed under Augustus, resulting in the division of Illyria in the provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. Depictions of the Illyrians, usually described as "barbarians" or "savages", are universally negative in Greek and Roman sources. Roman Empire Prior to the Roman conquest of Illyria, the Roman Republic had started expanding its power and territory across the Adriatic Sea. The Romans came nevertheless into a series of conflicts with the Illyrians, equally known as the Illyrian Wars, beginning in 229 BC until 168 BC as the Romans defeated Gentius at Scodra. The Great Illyrian Uprising took place in the Roman province of Illyricum in the 1st century AD, in which an alliance of native peoples revolted against the Romans. The main ancient source that describes this military conflict is Velleius Paterculus, which was incorporated into the second book of Roman History. Another ancient source about it is the biography of Octavius Augustus by Pliny the Elder. The two leaders of uprising were Bato the Breucian and Bato the Daesitiate. Geographically, the name 'Illyria' came to mean Roman Illyricum which from the 4th century to the 7th century signified the prefecture of Illyricum. It covered much of the western and central Balkans. After the defeat of the Great Illyrian Revolt and the consolidation of Roman power in the Balkans, the process of integration of Illyrians in the Roman world began. Some Illyrian communities were organized in their pre-Roman locations under their own civitates. Others migrated or were forcefully resettled in different regions. Some groups like the Azali were transferred from their homeland to frontier areas (northern Hungary) after the Great Illyrian Revolt. In Dacia, Illyrian communities like the Pirustae who were skilled miners were settled to the gold mines of Alburnus Maior where they formed their own communities. In Trajan's period these population movements were likely part of a deliberate policy of resettling, while later they involved free migrations. In their new regions, they were free salaried workers. Inscriptions show that by that era many of them had acquired Roman citizenship. Byzantine Empire With the disintegration of the Roman Empire, Gothic and Hunnic tribes raided the Balkan peninsula, forcing many Illyrians to seek refuge in the highlands. In 395 AD, the Roman Empire was split upon the death of Theodosius I into an Eastern and Western Roman Empire, in part due to the weakening and increasing pressure from threats during the Barbarian Invasions, therefore, Illyria remained in the eastern empire which was later referred to as the Byzantine Empire. The early Byzantine Empire was predominantly ruled by emperors from the Balkan Peninsula with Byzantine emperors of Illyrian origin, amongst them Constantine the Great, Jovian, Valentinian I, Anastasius I Dicorus, Justinian I and their descendants from the Constantinian dynasty, Valentinianic dynasty and Justinian dynasty. From the 6th century ongoing into the 7th century, the Slavs crossed the Danube and started to absorb the indigenous Illyrians alongside the Ancient Greeks, Dacians and Thracians into the emerging medieval states of the Slavs such as that of the Croats and Serbs. The term Illyrians last appears in the historical record in the 7th century AD, in the Miracula Sancti Demetrii, referring to a Byzantine garrison operating within the former Roman province of Illyricum. However, in the acts of the Second Council of Nicaea from 787, Nikephoros of Durrës signed himself as "Episcopus of Durrës, province of the Illyrians". Since the Middle Ages the term "Illyrian" has been used principally in connection with the Albanians, although it was also used to describe the western wing of the Southern Slavs up to the 19th century, being revived in particular during the Habsburg Monarchy. In Byzantine literature, references to Illyria as a defined region in administrative terms end after 1204 and the term specifically began to refer only to the more confined Albanian territory. Society Social and political organisation The structure of Illyrian society during classical antiquity was characterised by a conglomeration of numerous tribes and small realms ruled by warrior elites, a situation similar like that in most other societies at that time. Thucidides in the History of the Peloponnesian War (5th century BC) addresses the social organisation of the Illyrian tribes via a speech he attributes to Brasidas, in which he recounts that the mode of rulership among the Illyrian tribes is that of dynasteia—which Thucidides used in reference to foreign customs—neither democratic, nor oligarchic. Brasidas then goes on to explain that in the dynasteia the ruler rose to power "by no other means than by superiority in fighting". Pseudo-Scymnus (2nd century BC) in reference to the social organisation of Illyrian tribes in earlier times than the era he lived in makes a distinction between three modes of social organisation. A part of the Illyrians were organized under hereditary kingdoms, a second part was organized under chieftains who were elected but held no hereditary power and some Illyrians were organised in autonomous communities governed by their own internal tribal laws. In these communities social stratification had not yet emerged. Warfare The history of Illyrian warfare and weaponry spanned from around the 10th century BC up to the 1st century AD in the region defined by the Ancient Greek and Roman historians as Illyria. It concerns the armed conflicts of the Illyrian tribes and their kingdoms in the Balkan Peninsula and the Italian Peninsula as well as their pirate activity in the Adriatic Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. The Illyrians were a notorious seafaring people with a strong reputation for piracy especially common during the regency of king Agron and later queen Teuta. They used fast and maneuverable ships of types known as lembus and liburna which were subsequently used by the Ancient Macedonians and Romans. Livy described the Illyrians along the Liburnians and Istrians as nations of savages in general noted for their piracy. Illyria appears in Greco-Roman historiography from the 4th century BC. Illyrians were regarded as bloodthirsty, unpredictable, turbulent, and warlike by Greeks and Romans. They were seen as savages on the edge of their world. Polybius (3rd century BC) wrote: "the Romans had freed the Greeks from the enemies of all mankind". According to the Romans, the Illyrians were tall and well-built. Herodianus writes that "Pannonians are tall and strong always ready for a fight and to face danger but slow witted". Illyrian rulers wore bronze torques around their necks. Apart from conflicts between Illyrians and neighbouring nations and tribes, numerous wars were recorded among Illyrian tribes too. Culture Language The languages spoken by the Illyrian tribes are an extinct and poorly attested Indo-European language group, and it is not clear whether the languages belonged to the centum or the satem group. The Illyrians were subject to varying degrees of Celticization, Hellenization, Romanization and later Slavicization which possibly lead to the extinction of their languages. In modern research, use of concepts like "Hellenization" and "Romanization" has declined as they have been criticized as simplistic notions which can't describe the actual processes via which material development moved from the centres of the ancient Mediterranean to its periphery. The vast majority of knowledge of Illyrian is based on the Messapian language if the latter is considered an Illyrian dialect. The non-Messapian testimonies of Illyrian are too fragmentary to allow any conclusions whether Messapian should be considered part of Illyrian proper, although it has been widely thought that Messapian was related to Illyrian. An extinct Indo-European language, Messapian was once spoken in Messapia in the southeastern Italian Peninsula. It was spoken by the three Iapygian tribes of the region, the Messapians, the Daunii and the Peucetii. On both sides on the border region between southern Illyria and northern Epirus the contact between the Illyrian and Greek languages produced an area of bilingualism between the two, although it is unclear how the impact of the one language to the other developed because of the scarcity of available archaeological material. However, this did not occur at the same level on both sides, with the Illyrians being more willing to adopt the more prestigious Greek language. Ongoing research may provide further knowledge about these contacts beyond present limited sources. Illyrians were exposed not only to Doric and Epirote Greek but also to Attic-Ionic. The Illyrian languages were once thought to be connected to the Venetic language in the Italian Peninsula but this view was abandoned. Other scholars have linked them with the adjacent Thracian language supposing an intermediate convergence area or dialect continuum, but this view is also not generally supported. All these languages were likely extinct by the 5th century AD although traditionally, the Albanian language is identified as the descendant of Illyrian dialects that survived in remote areas of the Balkans during the Middle Ages but evidence "is too meager and contradictory for us to know whether the term Illyrian even referred to a single language". The ancestor dialects of the Albanian language would have survived somewhere along the boundary of Latin and Ancient Greek linguistic influence, the Jireček Line. There are various modern historians and linguists who believe that the modern Albanian language might have descended from a southern Illyrian dialect whereas an alternative hypothesis holds that Albanian was descended from the Thracian language. Not enough is known of the ancient language to completely prove or disprove either hypothesis, see Origin of the Albanians. Linguistic evidence and subgrouping Modern studies about Illyrian onomastics, the main field via which the Illyrians have been linguistically investigated as no written records have been found, began in the 1920s and sought to more accurately define Illyrian tribes, the commonalities, relations and differences between each other as they were conditioned by specific local cultural, ecological and economic factors, which further subdivided them into different groupings. This approach has led in contemporary research in the definition of three main onomastic provinces in which Illyrian personal names appear near exclusively in the archaeological material of each province. The southern Illyrian or south-eastern Dalmatian province was the area of the proper Illyrians (the core of which was the territory of Illyrii proprie dicti of the classical authors, located in modern Albania) and includes most of Albania, Montenegro and their hinterlands. This area extended along the Adriatic coast from the Aous valley in the south, up to and beyond the Neretva valley in the north. The second onomastic province, the central Illyrian or middle Dalmatian-Pannonian province began to its north and covered a larger area than the southern province. It extended along the Adriatic coast between the Krka and Cetina rivers, covered much of Bosnia (except for its northern regions), central Dalmatia (Lika) and its hinterland in the central Balkans included western Serbia and Sandžak. The third onomastic province further to the north defined as North Adriatic area includes Liburnia and the region of modern Ljubljana in Slovenia. It is part of a larger linguistic area different from Illyrian that also comprises Venetic and its Istrian variety. These areas are not strictly defined geographically as there was some overlap between them. The region of the Dardani (modern Kosovo, parts of northern North Macedonia, parts of eastern Serbia) saw the overlap of the southern Illyrian and Dalmatian onomastic provinces. Local Illyrian anthroponymy is also found in the area. In its onomastics, southern Illyrian (or south-east Dalmatian) has close relations with Messapic. Most of these relations are shared with the central Dalmatian area. In older scholarship (Crossland (1982)), some toponyms in central and northern Greece show phonetic characteristics that were thought to indicate that Illyrians or closely related peoples were settled in those regions before the introduction of the Greek language. However, such views largely relied on subjective ancient testimonies and are not supported by the earliest evidence (epigraphic etc.). Religion The Illyrians, as most ancient civilizations, were polytheistic and worshipped many gods and deities developed of the powers of nature. The most numerous traces—still insufficiently studied—of religious practices of the pre-Roman era are those relating to religious symbolism. Symbols are depicted in every variety of ornament and reveal that the chief object of the prehistoric cult of the Illyrians was the Sun, worshipped in a widespread and complex religious system. The solar deity was depicted as a geometrical figure such as the spiral, the concentric circle and the swastika, or as an animal figure the likes of the birds, serpents and horses. The symbols of water-fowl and horses were more common in the north, while the serpent was more common in the south. Illyrian deities were mentioned in inscriptions on statues, monuments, and coins of the Roman period, and some interpreted by Ancient writers through comparative religion. There appears to be no single most prominent god for all the Illyrian tribes, and a number of deities evidently appear only in specific regions. In Illyris, Dei-pátrous was a god worshiped as the Sky Father, Prende was the love-goddess and the consort of the thunder-god Perendi, En or Enji was the fire-god, Jupiter Parthinus was a chief deity of the Parthini, Redon was a tutelary deity of sailors appearing on many inscriptions in the coastal towns of Lissus, Daorson, Scodra and Dyrrhachium, while Medaurus was the protector deity of Risinium, with a monumental equestrian statue dominating the city from the acropolis. In Dalmatia and Pannonia one of the most popular ritual traditions during the Roman period was the cult of the Roman tutelary deity of the wild, woods and fields Silvanus, depicted with iconography of Pan. The Roman deity of wine, fertility and freedom Liber was worshipped with the attributes of Silvanus, and those of Terminus, the god protector of boundaries. Tadenus was a Dalmatian deity bearing the identity or epithet of Apollo in inscriptions found near the source of the Bosna river. The Delmatae also had Armatus as a war god in Delminium. The Silvanae, a feminine plural of Silvanus, were featured on many dedications across Pannonia. In the hot springs of Topusko (Pannonia Superior), sacrificial altars were dedicated to Vidasus and Thana (identified with Silvanus and Diana), whose names invariably stand side by side as companions. Aecorna or Arquornia was a lake or river tutelary goddess worshipped exclusively in the cities of Nauportus and Emona, where she was the most important deity next to Jupiter. Laburus was also a local deity worshipped in Emona, perhaps a deity protecting the boatmen sailing. It seems that the Illyrians did not develop a uniform cosmology on which to center their religious practices. A number of Illyrian toponyms and anthroponyms derived from animal names and reflected the beliefs in animals as mythological ancestors and protectors. The serpent was one of the most important animal totems. Illyrians believed in the force of spells and the evil eye, in the magic power of protective and beneficial amulets which could avert the evil eye or the bad intentions of enemies. Human sacrifice also played a role in the lives of the Illyrians. Arrian records the chieftain Cleitus the Illyrian as sacrificing three boys, three girls and three rams just before his battle with Alexander the Great. The most common type of burial among the Iron Age Illyrians was tumulus or mound burial. The kin of the first tumuli was buried around that, and the higher the status of those in these burials the higher the mound. Archaeology has found many artifacts placed within these tumuli such as weapons, ornaments, garments and clay vessels. The rich spectrum in religious beliefs and burial rituals that emerged in Illyria, especially during the Roman period, may reflect the variation in cultural identities in this region. Archaeology There are few remains to connect with the Bronze Age with the later Illyrians in the western Balkans. Moreover, with the notable exception of Pod near Bugojno in the upper valley of the Vrbas River, nothing is known of their settlements. Some hill settlements have been identified in western Serbia, but the main evidence comes from cemeteries, consisting usually of a small number of burial mounds (tumuli). In the cemeteries of Belotić and Bela Crkva (sr), the rites of exhumation and cremation are attested, with skeletons in stone cists and cremations in urns. Metal implements appear here side by side with stone implements. Most of the remains belong to the fully developed Middle Bronze Age. During the 7th century BC, the beginning of the Iron Age, the Illyrians emerge as an ethnic group with a distinct culture and art form. Various Illyrian tribes appeared, under the influence of the Halstatt cultures from the north, and they organized their regional centers. The cult of the dead played an important role in the lives of the Illyrians, which is seen in their carefully made burials and burial ceremonies, as well as the richness of the burial sites. In the northern parts of the Balkans, there existed a long tradition of cremation and burial in shallow graves, while in the southern parts, the dead were buried in large stone, or earth tumuli (natively called gromile) that in Herzegovina were reaching monumental sizes, more than 50 meters wide and 5 meters high. The Japodian tribe (found from Istria in Croatia to Bihać in Bosnia) have had an affinity for decoration with heavy, oversized necklaces out of yellow, blue or white glass paste, and large bronze fibulas, as well as spiral bracelets, diadems and helmets out of bronze. Small sculptures out of jade in form of archaic Ionian plastic are also characteristically Japodian. Numerous monumental sculptures are preserved, as well as walls of citadel Nezakcij near Pula, one of numerous Istrian cities from Iron Age. Illyrian chiefs wore bronze torques around their necks much like the Celts did. The Illyrians were influenced by the Celts in many cultural and material aspects and some of them were Celticized, especially the tribes in Dalmatia and the Pannonians. In Slovenia, the Vače situla was discovered in 1882 and attributed to Illyrians. Prehistoric remains indicate no more than average height, male , female . Early Middle Ages It is also evident that in a region which stretches from the southern Dalmatian coast, its hinterland, Montenegro, northern Albania up to Kosovo and Dardania, apart from a uniformity in onomastics there were also some archaeological similarities. However, it cannot be determined whether these tribes living there also formed a linguistic unity. The Komani-Kruja culture is an archaeological culture attested from late antiquity to the Middle Ages in central and northern Albania, southern Montenegro and similar sites in the western parts of North Macedonia. It consists of settlements usually built below hillforts along the Lezhë (Praevalitana)-Dardania and Via Egnatia road networks which connected the Adriatic coastline with the central Balkan Roman provinces. Its type site is Komani and its fort on the nearby Dalmace hill in the Drin river valley. Kruja and Lezha represent significant sites of the culture. The population of Komani-Kruja represents a local, non-Slavic western Balkan people which was linked to the Roman Justinianic military system of forts. The development of Komani-Kruja is significant for the study of the transition between the classical antiquity population of Albania to the medieval Albanians who were attested in historical records in the 11th century. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja is framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of Arbanon. Illyrian-Albanian links were the main focus of Albanian nationalism during the Communism period. What was established in this early phase of research was that Komani-Kruja settlements represented a local, non-Slavic population which has been described as Romanized Illyrian, Latin-speaking or Latin-literate. This is corroborated by the absence of Slavic toponyms and survival of Latin ones in the Komani-Kruja area. In terms of historiography, the thesis of older Albanian archaeology is an untestable hypothesis as no historical sources exist which can link Komani-Kruja to the first definite attestation of medieval Albanians in the 11th century. The nationalist interpretation of the Komani-Kruja cemeteries has been roundly rejected by non-Albanian scholars. J. Wilkes has described it as "a highly improbable reconstruction of Albanian history". Some Albanian scholars even today have continued to espouse this model of continuity. Limited excavations campaigns occurred until the 1990s. Objects from a vast area covering nearby regions the entire Byzantine Empire, the northern Balkans and Hungary and sea routes from Sicily to Crimea were found in Dalmace and other sites coming from many different production centres: local, Byzantine, Sicilian, Avar-Slavic, Hungarian, Crimean and even possibly Merovingian and Carolingian. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja was framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of Arbanon. As research focused almost entirely on grave contexts and burial sites, settlements and living spaces were often ignored. Other views stressed that as an archaeological culture it shouldn't be connected to a single social or ethnic group but be contextualized in a broader Roman-Byzantine or Christian framework, nor should material finds be separated in ethnic categories as they can't be correlated to a specific culture. In this view, cemeteries from nearby regions which were classified as belonging to Slavic groups shouldn't be viewed as necessarily representing another people but as representations of class and other social factors as "ethnic identity was only one factor of varying importance". Yugoslav archaeology proposed an opposite narrative and tried to frame the population as Slavic, especially in the region of western Macedonia. Archaeological research has shown that these sites were not related to regions then inhabited by Slavs and even in regions like Macedonia, no Slavic settlements had been founded in the 7th century. Archaeologically, while it was considered possible and even likely that Komani-Kruja sites were used continuously from the 7th century onwards, it remained an untested hypothesis as research was still limited. Whether this population represented local continuity or arrived at an earlier period from a more northern location as the Slavs entered the Balkans remained unclear at the time but regardless of their ultimate geographical origins, these groups maintained Justinianic era cultural traditions of the 6th century possibly as a statement of their collective identity and derived their material cultural references from the Justinianic military system. In this context, they may have used burial customs as a means of reference to an "idealized image of the past Roman power". Research greatly expanded after 2009, and the first survey of Komani's topography was produced in 2014. Until then, except for the area of the cemetery, the size of the settlement and its extension remained unknown. In 2014, it was revealed that Komani occupied an area of more than 40 ha, a much larger territory than originally thought. Its oldest settlement phase dates to the Hellenistic era. Proper development began in late antiquity and continued well into the Middle Ages (13th-14th centuries). It indicates that Komani was a late Roman fort and an important trading node in the networks of Praevalitana and Dardania. Participation in trade networks of the eastern Mediterranean via sea routes seems to have been very limited even in nearby coastal territory in this era. The collapse of the Roman administration in the Balkans was followed by a broad demographic collapse with the exception of Komani-Kruja and neighbouring mountainous regions. In the Avar-Slavic raids, communities from present-day northern Albania and nearby areas clustered around hill sites for better protection as is the case of other areas like Lezha and Sarda. During the 7th century, as Byzantine authority was reeastablished after the Avar-Slavic raids and the prosperity of the settlements increased, Komani saw an increase in population and a new elite began to take shape. Increase in population and wealth was marked by the establishment of new settlements and new churches in their vicinity. Komani formed a local network with Lezha and Kruja and in turn this network was integrated in the wider Byzantine Mediterranean world, maintained contacts with the northern Balkans and engaged in long-distance trade. Winnifrith (2020) recently described this population as the survival of a "Latin-Illyrian" culture which emerged later in historical records as Albanians and Vlachs. In Winnifrith's view, the geographical conditions of northern Albania favored the continuation of the Albanian language in hilly and mountainous areas as opposed to lowland valleys. He adds that the language and religion of this culture remain uncertain. With bishops absent abroad, "the mountain flocks cannot have been too versed in theological or linguistic niceties". Nationalism Albanians The possible continuity between the Illyrian populations of the Western Balkans in antiquity and the Albanians has played a significant role in Albanian nationalism from the 19th century until the present day. South Slavs At the beginning of the 19th century, many educated Europeans regarded the South Slavs as the descendants of ancient Illyrians. Consequently, when Napoléon conquered part of the South Slavic lands, these areas were named after ancient Illyrian provinces (1809–1814). After the demise of the First French Empire in 1815, the Habsburg Monarchy became increasingly centralized and authoritarian, and fear of Magyarization arouse patriotic resistance among Croatians. Under the influence of Romantic nationalism, a self-identified "Illyrian movement", in the form of a Croatian national revival, opened a literary and journalistic campaign initiated by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the years of 1835–49. See also Notes References Bibliography External links Phallic Cult of the Illyrians Indo-European peoples Ancient tribes in Albania Ancient tribes in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ancient tribes in Croatia Ancient tribes in Kosovo Ancient tribes in Montenegro Ancient tribes in Serbia Ancient tribes in the Balkans Illyrian Albania Illyrian Serbia Ancient history of Slovenia Ancient peoples of Europe	true	[ "Hellenism may refer to:\n\nAncient Greece\n Hellenistic period, the period between the death of Alexander the Great and the annexation of the classical Greek heartlands by Rome\n Hellenistic Greece, Greece in the Hellenistic period\n Hellenistic art, the art of the Hellenistic period\n Hellenistic Judaism, a form of Judaism in the ancient world that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Greek culture\n Hellenistic philosophy, a period of Western philosophy that was developed in the Hellenistic civilization following Aristotle and ending with the beginning of Neoplatonism\n Hellenistic religion, systems of beliefs and practices of the people who lived under the influence of ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic period and the Roman Empire (c. 300 BCE to 300 CE)\n\nModern\n Hellenism (neoclassicism), an aesthetic movement in 18th and 19th century England and Germany\n Hellenism (modern religion), Hellenic and Hellenistic religious groups rooted in praxis, cultural values, philosophy of the Greeks and Greek history.\n\nSee also\n Hellenic (disambiguation)\n Hellenic studies\n Hellenization, the spread of Greek culture to other peoples\n Panhellenism, the nationalism of Greeks and Greek culture", "Hellenistic fortifications are defense structures constructed during the Hellenistic Period of ancient Greek civilization (323 - ca. 30 B.C.E.). These included fortification walls, towers, and gates. Expansion of Greek territory during the Hellenistic Period from Alexander the Great's conquests created the necessity to build new fortifications with new settlements. This, combined with developing military technology, led to changes in style of architecture specific to the Hellenistic Period.\n\nHistorical Chronology \nThe Hellenistic Period was the period in Ancient Greek civilization from 323 - ca. 30 B.C.E.. It is marked by the death of Alexander the Great and ends with the rise of the Roman Empire. The period follows the conquests of Alexander the Great spreading Greek territory far into Egypt, Asia Minor, and the Middle East. The Hellenistic Period saw Greek territorial expansion at its greatest. Acquisition of new territory led to the movement of Greek people and influence throughout the Mediterranean. It also allowed for the rise of new cities. With a huge territory, being \"Greek\" became less of a geographic locator, and more a representation of personal cultural ties. Therefore architecture built during this time developed both a mix of canonical Greek elements and locally indigenous styles.\n\nFortification walls \n\nThe buildup of new cities required the build up of fortification walls. Fortification walls served multiple purposes for the Greeks. They served as a means of protection from invasion and as markers of territory. Walls were first constructed around the city's Acropolis, to ensure the safety of the most important part of Greek society—their sacred space. The extent to which the defensive walls protected only the city-center, or spread into the countryside, varied. The intensity of defense measures depended on a city's vulnerability and likelihood of attack.\n\nTherefore, it was common to see Greek civilizations purposefully located at naturally defensible locations such as mountains and rivers. These natural barriers sometimes prevented the need to build fortifications. Choosing geography as a means of defense only increased during the Hellenistic period with the development of colonies. When specifically looking to where to build a new city, rulers chose locations with defense in mind. An example of this can be seen at Mount Oreion, Corinthia. Located on the important Corinthian isthmus, the Mount Oreion mountain range provided a natural barrier for the city. In low sloping planes, such as the sites of Stanotopi and Maritsa, walls were constructed to add to protection.\n\nTowers \nTowers provided a variety of purposes for the Greeks. They were a place to store military supplies and provide lookouts out over the fortification walls. In the Hellenistic Period, there was a shift in the construction and placement of towers. This is due to the increasing necessity to have what would be the strongest defensive line. Prior to the Hellenistic Period, towers were largely simple, single-storied square buildings. Due to advances in military technology this style of tower changed. The creation of the cannon led to the development of circular or multi-angled towers rather than square shaped. The new shapes made the structure stronger against impact from a cannonball.\n\nAt the start of the Hellenistic Period, towers were incorporated into the fortification walls. Moving through the Hellenistic Period, there was a shift to towers being constructed separate from the wall system. Circular or multi-angled towers would have been more difficult to incorporate into the flat-walled architecture. They were also separated due to their vulnerability to attack. If a cannon were to take down a separate tower, it would not effect the defensibility of the walls.\n\nThis idea is seen specifically at Alinda, Karia. Original construction had the citadel connected in the city walls. A later construction purposefully brought the citadel outside the city defense fortifications, and away from the city center. This has been hypothesized as a decision to further protect the city, by keeping a potential military target away from the society.\n\nMaterials and construction \n\nHellenistic fortifications were built out of a variety of materials. The materials largely depended on what could be sourced locally. This provided the cheapest, most abundant option. Most common were ashlar block masonry and mud-brick. However, we also see limestone and stone filled with rubble. Mud-brick was common in colonies located around the Black Sea and Ionia. The process for mud-brick took materials of clay and water and then added sand to strengthen the consistency.\n\nThe mixture was then placed in wooden molds and let to dry in the sun. In the Hellenistic period, the use of ashlar block style masonry developed. Here, blocks were evenly cut small and rectangular, to create the strongest individual block. Thus, creating stronger walls and towers. These construction projects were largely financed from public funds, rather than from individual donors as they were a public necessity.\n\nArchitecture \nColonies created during the Hellenistic period held an interesting mix of incorporating both Greek and foreign indigenous styles of Architecture. A majority of settlements around the Black Sea were founded by Miletians, therefore architectural methods and styles of the Miletians were transferred on. But, in these same colonies, there was a sense of needing to legitimize their \"Greekness\". New rulers wanted to prove that they were just as Greek as cities in mainland Greece. Therefore, many elements found in traditional Greek fortification walls were also seen in colonies far from the mainland.\n\nAt the site of Chersonesus, blocks were cut long and flat. Masonries purposefully used a style of untrimming to give a stylistic effect common in Greek cities. In all fortification walls, one continuous idea was all walls were kept relatively low, but powerful from the use of small bricks or ashlar blocks. It was not economically resourceful to create extra-tall or extra-thick walls, when the strength in the stone itself would be defensible on its own. Walls were only made as tall or as thick as they were needed. Generally, fortifications were simple in design, their purpose was simply to defend, not to necessarily look pretty. However, Chersonesos offers a unique example of Greeks emphasizing aestetical beauty over what was most economical or defensible.\n\nSee also \n Hellenistic armies\n\nReferences\n\nAncient Greek fortifications in Greece\nFortifications" ]
[ "Illyrians", "Hellenistic period", "When did the Hellenistic period take place?", "4th century BC." ]	C_a9b96a021b774af3a303077bcfe676dd_0	Where were the Illyrians located?	2	Where were the Illyrians located during the Hellenistic period?	Illyrians	Illyria appears in Greco-Roman historiography from the 4th century BC. The Illyrians formed several kingdoms in the central Balkans, and the first known Illyrian king was Bardyllis. Illyrian kingdoms were often at war with ancient Macedonia, and the Illyrian pirates were also a significant danger to neighbouring peoples. At the Neretva Delta, there was a strong Hellenistic influence on the Illyrian tribe of Daors. Their capital was Daorson located in Osanici near Stolac in Herzegovina, which became the main center of classical Illyrian culture. Daorson, during the 4th century BC, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 meter high stonewalls, composed out of large trapeze stones blocks. Daors also made unique bronze coins and sculptures. The Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on the Dalmatian islands. Queen Teuta was famous for having waged wars against the Romans. After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos became the strongest state in Illyria. Philip II killed 7,000 Illyrians in a great victory and annexed the territory up to Lake Ohrid. Next, Philip II reduced the Grabaei, and then went for the Ardiaei, defeated the Triballi (339 BC), and fought with Pleurias (337 BC). In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Italian commerce. There were three campaigns, the first against Teuta the second against Demetrius of Pharos and the third against Gentius. The initial campaign in 229 BC marks the first time that the Roman Navy crossed the Adriatic Sea to launch an invasion. The Roman Republic subdued the Illyrians during the 2nd century BC. An Illyrian revolt was crushed under Augustus, resulting in the division of Illyria in the provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. CANNOTANSWER	Greco-Roman historiography	The Illyrians (, Illyrioi; ) were a group of Indo-European speaking peoples, who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, along with the Thracians and Greeks. The territory the Illyrians inhabited came to be known as Illyria to later Greek and Roman authors, who identified a territory that corresponds to most of Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, much of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, western and central Serbia and some parts of Slovenia between the Adriatic Sea in the west, the Drava river in the north, the Morava river in the east and in the south the Aous (modern Vjosa) river or possibly the Ceraunian Mountains. The first account of Illyrian peoples dates back to the 6th century BC, in the works of the ancient Greek writer Hecataeus of Miletus. The name "Illyrians", as applied by the ancient Greeks to their northern neighbors, may have referred to a broad, ill-defined group of peoples. The Illyrian tribes never collectively identified as "Illyrians", and it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature at all. Illyrians seems to be the name of a specific Illyrian tribe who were among the first to encounter the ancient Greeks during the Bronze Age. The Greeks later applied this term Illyrians, pars pro toto, to all people with similar language and customs. In archaeological, historical and linguistic studies, research about the Illyrians, from the late 19th to the 21st century, has moved from Pan-Illyrian theories, which identified as Illyrian even groups north of the Balkans to more well-defined groupings based on Illyrian onomastics and material anthropology since the 1960s as newer inscriptions were found and sites excavated. There are two principal Illyrian onomastic areas: the southern and the Dalmatian-Pannonian, with the area of the Dardani as a region of overlapping between the two. A third area, to the north of them – which in ancient literature was usually identified as part of Illyria – has been connected more to the Venetic language than to Illyrian. Illyric settlement in Italy was and still is attributed to a few ancient tribes which are thought to have migrated along the Adriatic shorelines to the Italian peninsula from the geographic "Illyria": the Dauni, the Peuceti and Messapi (collectively known as Iapyges). The term "Illyrians" last appears in the historical record in the 7th century, referring to a Byzantine garrison operating within the former Roman province of Illyricum. Names and terminology The terms 'Illyrians', 'Illyria' and 'Illyricum' have been used throughout history for ethnic and geographic contextualizations that have changed over time. Re-contextualizations of these terms often confused ancient writers and modern scholars. Notable scholarly efforts have been dedicated to try to analyze and explain these changes. The first known mention of Illyrians occurred in the late 6th and the early 5th century BC in fragments of Hecataeus of Miletus, the author of Γενεαλογίαι (Genealogies) and of Περίοδος Γῆς or Περιήγησις (Description of the Earth or Periegesis), where the Illyrians are described as a barbarian people. In the Macedonian history during the 6th and 5th century B.C., the term 'Illyrian' had a political meaning that was quite definite, denoting a kingdom established on the north-western borders of Upper Macedonia. From the 5th century B.C. onwards, the term 'Illyrian' was already applied to a large ethnic group whose territory extended deep into the Balkan mainland. Ancient Greeks clearly considered the Illyrians as a completely distinct ethnos from both the Thracians (Θρᾷκες) and the Macedonians (Μακεδόνες). Most scholars hold that the territory originally designated as 'Illyrian' was roughly located in the region of the south-eastern Adriatic (modern Albania and Montenegro) and its hinterland, then was later extended to the whole Roman Illyricum province, which stretched from the eastern Adriatic to the Danube. After the Illyrians had come to be widely known to the Greeks due to their proximity, this ethnic designation was broadened to include other peoples who, for some reason, were considered by ancient writers to be related with those peoples originally designated as Illyrians (Ἰλλυριοί, Illyrioi). The original designation may have occurred during the Bronze Age, when Greek-speaking tribes may have been neighbours of the southernmost Illyrian tribe of that time that dwelled in the Zeta plain in Montenegro or in the Mat valley in Albania, being subsequently applied as a general term to people of the same language and manners. It has been also inferred that if Greek populations had their first contact with Illyrian tribes when the latter dwelt around Shkodër, then an Illyrian expansion southwards took place during the early first millennium BC, before the later reaching Aous. The label Illyrians was first used by outsiders, in particular Ancient Greeks, at the beginning of the 8th century BC. When the Greeks began to frequent the eastern Adriatic coast with the colonization of Corcyra, they started to have some knowledge and perceptions of the indigenous peoples of western Balkans. The Illyrian tribes evidently never collectively identified themselves as Illyrians and it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature at all. Most modern scholars are certain that all the peoples of western Balkans that were collectively labeled as 'Illyrians' were not a culturally or linguistically homogeneous entity. For instance, some tribes like the Bryges would not have been identified as Illyrian. What criteria were initially used to define this group of peoples or how and why the term 'Illyrians' began to be used to describe the indigenous population of western Balkans cannot be said with certainty. Scholarly debates have been waged to find an answer to the question whether the term 'Illyrians' (Ἰλλυριοί) derived from some eponymous tribe, or whether it has been applied to designate the indigenous population as a general term for some other specific reason. Illyrii proprie dicti Ancient Roman writers Pliny the Elder and Pomponius Mela used the term Illyrii proprie dicti ('properly called Illyrians') to designate a people that was located in the coast of modern Albania and Montenegro. Many modern scholars view the 'properly called Illyrians' as a trace of the Illyrian kingdom known in the sources from the 4th century BC until 167 BC, which was ruled in Roman times by the Ardiaei and Labeatae when it was centered in the Bay of Kotor and Lake Skadar. According to other modern scholars, the term Illyrii may have originally referred only to a small ethnos in the area between Epidaurum and Lissus, and Pliny and Mela may have followed a literary tradition that dates back as early as Hecataeus of Miletus. Placed in central Albania, the Illyrii proprie dicti also might have been Rome's first contact with lllyrian peoples. In that case, it did not indicate an original area from which the Illyrians expanded. The area of the Illyrii proprie dicti is largely included in the southern Illyrian onomastic province in modern linguistics. Origins Scholars have long recognized a "difficulty in producing a single theory on the ethnogenesis of the Illyrians" given their heterogeneous nature. Modern scholarship is unable to refer to the Illyrians as a unique and compact people and agrees that they were a sum of ill-defined communities without common origins that never merged to a single ethnic entity. According to linguist Robert Elsie, "the term 'Illyrian' probably referred initially to the tribe with which the ancient Greeks first had contact, but it was later used as a collective term for a wide range of tribes in the region, although they may not have been culturally or linguistically homogenous at all." Older Pan-Illyrian theories which emerged in the 1920s placed the proto-Illyrians as the original inhabitants of a very large area which reached central Europe. These theories, which are now generally dismissed by scholars, were used in the politics of the era and its racialist notions of Nordicism and Aryanism. The main fact which these theories tried to address was the existence of traces of Illyrian toponymy in parts of Europe beyond the western Balkans, an issue whose origins are still unclear. The specific theories have found little archaeological corroboration, as no convincing evidence for significant migratory movements from the Luzatian culture into the west Balkans has ever been found. Rather, archaeologists from former Yugoslavia highlighted the continuity between the Bronze and succeeding Iron Age (especially in regions such as Donja Dolina, central Bosnia-Glasinac, and northern Albania (Mat river basin)), ultimately developing the so-called "autochthonous theory" of Illyrian genesis. The "autochthonous" model was most elaborated upon by Alojz Benac and B. Čović. They argued (following the "Kurgan hypothesis") that the 'proto-Illyrians' had arrived much earlier, during the Bronze Age as nomadic Indo-Europeans from the steppe. From that point, there was a gradual Illyrianization of the western Balkans leading to historic Illyrians, with no early Iron Age migration from northern Europe. He did not deny a minor cultural impact from the northern Urnfield cultures, however, "these movements had neither a profound influence on the stability of the Balkans, nor did they affect the ethnogenesis of the Illyrian ethnos". Aleksandar Stipčević raised concerns regarding Benac's all-encompassing scenario of autochthonous ethnogenesis, raising the following questions: "can one negate the participation of the bearers of the field-urn culture in the ethnogenesis of the Illyrian tribes who lived in present-day Slovenia and Croatia" or "Hellenistic and Mediterranean influences on southern Illyrians and Liburnians?". He concludes that Benac's model is only applicable to the Illyrian groups in Bosnia, western Serbia and a part of Dalmatia, where there had indeed been a settlement continuity and 'native' progression of pottery sequences since the Bronze Age. Following prevailing trends in discourse on identity in Iron Age Europe, current anthropological perspectives reject older theories of a longue duree (long term) ethnogenesis of Illyrians, even where 'archaeological continuity' can be demonstrated to Bronze Age times. They rather see the emergence of historic Illyrians tribes as a more recent phenomenon - just prior to their first attestation. The proto-Illyrians during the course of their settlement along the Adriatic coast and its hinterland likely merged with populations of a pre-Illyrian substratum – like Enchelei might have been –, leading to the formation of the historical Illyrians who were attested in later times. It has been suggested that the myth of Cadmus and Harmonia may be a reflection in mythology of that historical era. The impetus behind the emergence of larger regional groups, such as "Iapodes", "Liburnians", "Pannonians" etc., is traced to increased contacts with the Mediterranean and La Tène 'global worlds'. This catalyzed "the development of more complex political institutions and the increase in differences between individual communities". Emerging local elites selectively adopted either La Tène or Hellenistic and, later, Roman cultural templates "in order to legitimize and strengthen domination within their communities. They were competing fiercely through either alliance or conflict and resistance to Roman expansion. Thus, they established more complex political alliances, which convinced (Greco-Roman) sources to see them as ‘ethnic’ identities." In ancient Greek and Roman literature Different versions of the genealogy of the Illyrians, their tribes and their eponymous ancestor, Illyrius, existed in the ancient world both in fictional and non-fictional Greco-Roman literature. The fact that there were many versions of the genealogical story of Illyrius was ascertained by Ancient Greek historian Appian (1st–2nd century AD). However, only two versions of all these genealogical stories are attested. The first version—which reports the legend of Cadmus and Harmonia—was recorded by Euripides and Strabo in accounts that would be presented in detail in Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus (1st to 2nd century AD). The second version—which reports the legend of Polyphemus and Galatea—was recorded by Appian (1st–2nd century AD) in his Illyrike. According to the first version Illyrius was the son of Cadmus and Harmonia, whom the Enchelei had chosen to be their leaders. He eventually ruled Illyria and became the eponymous ancestor of the whole Illyrian people. In one of these versions, Illyrius was named so after Cadmus left him by a river named the Illyrian, where a serpent found and raised him. Appian writes that many mythological stories were still circulating in his time, and he chose a particular version because it seemed to be the most correct one. Appian's genealogy of tribes is not complete as he writes that other Illyrian tribes exist, which he hasn't included. According to Appian's tradition, Polyphemus and Galatea gave birth to Celtus, Galas, and Illyrius, three brothers, progenitors respectively of Celts, Galatians and Illyrians. Illyrius had multiple sons: Encheleus, Autarieus, Dardanus, Maedus, Taulas and Perrhaebus, and daughters: Partho, Daortho, Dassaro and others. From these, sprang the Taulantii, Parthini, Dardani, Encheleae, Autariates, Dassaretii and the Daorsi. Autareius had a son Pannonius or Paeon and these had sons Scordiscus and Triballus. Appian's genealogy was evidently composed in Roman times encompassing barbarian peoples other than Illyrians like Celts and Galatians. and choosing a specific story for his audience that included most of the peoples who dwelled in the Illyricum of the Antonine era. However, the inclusion in his genealogy of the Enchelei and the Autariatae, whose political strength has been highly weakened, reflects a pre-Roman historical situation. Basically, ancient Greeks included in their mythological accounts all the peoples with whom they had close contacts. In Roman times, ancient Romans created more mythical or genealogical relations to include various new peoples, regardless of their large ethnic and cultural differences. Appian's genealogy lists the earliest known peoples of Illyria in the goup of the first generation, consisting mostly of southern Illyrian peoples firstly encountered by the Greeks, some of which were the Enchelei, the Taulantii, the Dassaretii and the Parthini. Some peoples that came to the Balkans at a later date such as the Scordisci are listed in the group that belongs to the third generation. The Scordisci were a Celtic people mixed with the indigenous Illyrian and Thracian population. The Pannonians have not been known to the Greeks, and it seems that before the 2nd century BC they did not come into contact with the Romans. Almost all the Greek writers referred to the Pannonians with the name Paeones until late Roman times. The Scordisci and Pannonians were considered Illyrian mainly because they belonged to Illyricum since the early Roman Imperial period. History Pre-Roman period Depending on the complexity of the diverse physical geography of the Balkans, arable farming and livestock (mixed farming) rearing had constituted the economic basis of the Illyrians during the Iron Age. In southern Illyria organized realms were formed earlier than in other areas of this region. One of the oldest known Illyrian kingdoms is that of the Enchelei, which seems to have reached its height from the 8th–7th centuries BC, but the kingdom fell from dominant power around the 6th century BC. It seems that the weakening of the kingdom of Enchelae resulted in their assimilation and inclusion into a newly established Illyrian realm at the latest in the 5th century BC, marking the arising of the Dassaretii, who appear to have replaced the Enchelei in the lakeland area of Lychnidus. According to a number of modern scholars the dynasty of Bardylis—the first attested Illyrian dynasty—was Dassaretan. The weakening of the Enchelean realm was also caused by the strengthening of another Illyrian kingdom established in its vicinity—that of the Taulantii—which existed for some time along with that of the Enchelei. The Taulantii—another people among the more anciently known groups of Illyrian tribes—lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria (modern Albania), dominating at various times much of the plain between the Drin and the Aous, comprising the area around Epidamnus/Dyrrhachium. In the 7th century BC the Taulantii invoked the aid of Corcyra and Corinth in a war against the Liburni. After the defeat and expulsion from the region of the Liburni, the Corcyreans founded in 627 BC on the Illyrian mainland a colony called Epidamnus, thought to have been the name of a barbarian king of the region. A flourishing commercial centre emerged and the city grew rapidly. The Taulantii continued to play an important role in Illyrian history between the 5th and 4th–3rd centuries BC, and in particular, in the history of Epidamnus, both as its neighbors and as part of its population. Notably they influenced the affairs in the internal conflicts between aristocrats and democrats. The Taulantian kingdom seems to have reached its climax during Glaukias' rule, in the years between 335 BC and 302 BC. The Illyrian kingdoms frequently came into conflicts with the neighbouring Ancient Macedonians, and the Illyrian pirates were also seen as significant threat to the neighbouring peoples. At the Neretva Delta, there was a strong Hellenistic influence on the Illyrian tribe of Daors. Their capital was Daorson located in Ošanići near Stolac in Herzegovina, which became the main center of classical Illyrian culture. Daorson, during the 4th century BC, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 meter high stonewalls, composed out of large trapeze stones blocks. Daors also made unique bronze coins and sculptures. The Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on the Dalmatian islands. Queen Teuta was famous for having waged wars against the Romans. After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos II became the strongest state in Illyria. Philip II killed 7,000 Illyrians in a great victory and annexed the territory up to Lake Ohrid. Next, Philip II reduced the Grabaei, and then went for the Ardiaei, defeated the Triballi (339 BC), and fought with Pleurias (337 BC). During the second part of the 3rd century BC, a number of Illyrian tribes seem to have united to form a proto-state stretching from the central part of present-day Albania up to Neretva river in Herzegovina. The political entity was financed on piracy and ruled from 250 BC by the king Agron. He was succeeded by his wife Teuta, who assumed the regency for her stepson Pinnes following Agron's death in 231 BC. In his work The Histories, Polybius (2nd century BC) reported first diplomatic contacts between the Romans and Illyrians. In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC, Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Roman commerce. There were three campaigns, the first against Teuta the second against Demetrius of Pharos and the third against Gentius. The initial campaign in 229 BC marks the first time that the Roman Navy crossed the Adriatic Sea to launch an invasion. The Roman Republic subdued the Illyrians during the 2nd century BC. An Illyrian revolt was crushed under Augustus, resulting in the division of Illyria in the provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. Depictions of the Illyrians, usually described as "barbarians" or "savages", are universally negative in Greek and Roman sources. Roman Empire Prior to the Roman conquest of Illyria, the Roman Republic had started expanding its power and territory across the Adriatic Sea. The Romans came nevertheless into a series of conflicts with the Illyrians, equally known as the Illyrian Wars, beginning in 229 BC until 168 BC as the Romans defeated Gentius at Scodra. The Great Illyrian Uprising took place in the Roman province of Illyricum in the 1st century AD, in which an alliance of native peoples revolted against the Romans. The main ancient source that describes this military conflict is Velleius Paterculus, which was incorporated into the second book of Roman History. Another ancient source about it is the biography of Octavius Augustus by Pliny the Elder. The two leaders of uprising were Bato the Breucian and Bato the Daesitiate. Geographically, the name 'Illyria' came to mean Roman Illyricum which from the 4th century to the 7th century signified the prefecture of Illyricum. It covered much of the western and central Balkans. After the defeat of the Great Illyrian Revolt and the consolidation of Roman power in the Balkans, the process of integration of Illyrians in the Roman world began. Some Illyrian communities were organized in their pre-Roman locations under their own civitates. Others migrated or were forcefully resettled in different regions. Some groups like the Azali were transferred from their homeland to frontier areas (northern Hungary) after the Great Illyrian Revolt. In Dacia, Illyrian communities like the Pirustae who were skilled miners were settled to the gold mines of Alburnus Maior where they formed their own communities. In Trajan's period these population movements were likely part of a deliberate policy of resettling, while later they involved free migrations. In their new regions, they were free salaried workers. Inscriptions show that by that era many of them had acquired Roman citizenship. Byzantine Empire With the disintegration of the Roman Empire, Gothic and Hunnic tribes raided the Balkan peninsula, forcing many Illyrians to seek refuge in the highlands. In 395 AD, the Roman Empire was split upon the death of Theodosius I into an Eastern and Western Roman Empire, in part due to the weakening and increasing pressure from threats during the Barbarian Invasions, therefore, Illyria remained in the eastern empire which was later referred to as the Byzantine Empire. The early Byzantine Empire was predominantly ruled by emperors from the Balkan Peninsula with Byzantine emperors of Illyrian origin, amongst them Constantine the Great, Jovian, Valentinian I, Anastasius I Dicorus, Justinian I and their descendants from the Constantinian dynasty, Valentinianic dynasty and Justinian dynasty. From the 6th century ongoing into the 7th century, the Slavs crossed the Danube and started to absorb the indigenous Illyrians alongside the Ancient Greeks, Dacians and Thracians into the emerging medieval states of the Slavs such as that of the Croats and Serbs. The term Illyrians last appears in the historical record in the 7th century AD, in the Miracula Sancti Demetrii, referring to a Byzantine garrison operating within the former Roman province of Illyricum. However, in the acts of the Second Council of Nicaea from 787, Nikephoros of Durrës signed himself as "Episcopus of Durrës, province of the Illyrians". Since the Middle Ages the term "Illyrian" has been used principally in connection with the Albanians, although it was also used to describe the western wing of the Southern Slavs up to the 19th century, being revived in particular during the Habsburg Monarchy. In Byzantine literature, references to Illyria as a defined region in administrative terms end after 1204 and the term specifically began to refer only to the more confined Albanian territory. Society Social and political organisation The structure of Illyrian society during classical antiquity was characterised by a conglomeration of numerous tribes and small realms ruled by warrior elites, a situation similar like that in most other societies at that time. Thucidides in the History of the Peloponnesian War (5th century BC) addresses the social organisation of the Illyrian tribes via a speech he attributes to Brasidas, in which he recounts that the mode of rulership among the Illyrian tribes is that of dynasteia—which Thucidides used in reference to foreign customs—neither democratic, nor oligarchic. Brasidas then goes on to explain that in the dynasteia the ruler rose to power "by no other means than by superiority in fighting". Pseudo-Scymnus (2nd century BC) in reference to the social organisation of Illyrian tribes in earlier times than the era he lived in makes a distinction between three modes of social organisation. A part of the Illyrians were organized under hereditary kingdoms, a second part was organized under chieftains who were elected but held no hereditary power and some Illyrians were organised in autonomous communities governed by their own internal tribal laws. In these communities social stratification had not yet emerged. Warfare The history of Illyrian warfare and weaponry spanned from around the 10th century BC up to the 1st century AD in the region defined by the Ancient Greek and Roman historians as Illyria. It concerns the armed conflicts of the Illyrian tribes and their kingdoms in the Balkan Peninsula and the Italian Peninsula as well as their pirate activity in the Adriatic Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. The Illyrians were a notorious seafaring people with a strong reputation for piracy especially common during the regency of king Agron and later queen Teuta. They used fast and maneuverable ships of types known as lembus and liburna which were subsequently used by the Ancient Macedonians and Romans. Livy described the Illyrians along the Liburnians and Istrians as nations of savages in general noted for their piracy. Illyria appears in Greco-Roman historiography from the 4th century BC. Illyrians were regarded as bloodthirsty, unpredictable, turbulent, and warlike by Greeks and Romans. They were seen as savages on the edge of their world. Polybius (3rd century BC) wrote: "the Romans had freed the Greeks from the enemies of all mankind". According to the Romans, the Illyrians were tall and well-built. Herodianus writes that "Pannonians are tall and strong always ready for a fight and to face danger but slow witted". Illyrian rulers wore bronze torques around their necks. Apart from conflicts between Illyrians and neighbouring nations and tribes, numerous wars were recorded among Illyrian tribes too. Culture Language The languages spoken by the Illyrian tribes are an extinct and poorly attested Indo-European language group, and it is not clear whether the languages belonged to the centum or the satem group. The Illyrians were subject to varying degrees of Celticization, Hellenization, Romanization and later Slavicization which possibly lead to the extinction of their languages. In modern research, use of concepts like "Hellenization" and "Romanization" has declined as they have been criticized as simplistic notions which can't describe the actual processes via which material development moved from the centres of the ancient Mediterranean to its periphery. The vast majority of knowledge of Illyrian is based on the Messapian language if the latter is considered an Illyrian dialect. The non-Messapian testimonies of Illyrian are too fragmentary to allow any conclusions whether Messapian should be considered part of Illyrian proper, although it has been widely thought that Messapian was related to Illyrian. An extinct Indo-European language, Messapian was once spoken in Messapia in the southeastern Italian Peninsula. It was spoken by the three Iapygian tribes of the region, the Messapians, the Daunii and the Peucetii. On both sides on the border region between southern Illyria and northern Epirus the contact between the Illyrian and Greek languages produced an area of bilingualism between the two, although it is unclear how the impact of the one language to the other developed because of the scarcity of available archaeological material. However, this did not occur at the same level on both sides, with the Illyrians being more willing to adopt the more prestigious Greek language. Ongoing research may provide further knowledge about these contacts beyond present limited sources. Illyrians were exposed not only to Doric and Epirote Greek but also to Attic-Ionic. The Illyrian languages were once thought to be connected to the Venetic language in the Italian Peninsula but this view was abandoned. Other scholars have linked them with the adjacent Thracian language supposing an intermediate convergence area or dialect continuum, but this view is also not generally supported. All these languages were likely extinct by the 5th century AD although traditionally, the Albanian language is identified as the descendant of Illyrian dialects that survived in remote areas of the Balkans during the Middle Ages but evidence "is too meager and contradictory for us to know whether the term Illyrian even referred to a single language". The ancestor dialects of the Albanian language would have survived somewhere along the boundary of Latin and Ancient Greek linguistic influence, the Jireček Line. There are various modern historians and linguists who believe that the modern Albanian language might have descended from a southern Illyrian dialect whereas an alternative hypothesis holds that Albanian was descended from the Thracian language. Not enough is known of the ancient language to completely prove or disprove either hypothesis, see Origin of the Albanians. Linguistic evidence and subgrouping Modern studies about Illyrian onomastics, the main field via which the Illyrians have been linguistically investigated as no written records have been found, began in the 1920s and sought to more accurately define Illyrian tribes, the commonalities, relations and differences between each other as they were conditioned by specific local cultural, ecological and economic factors, which further subdivided them into different groupings. This approach has led in contemporary research in the definition of three main onomastic provinces in which Illyrian personal names appear near exclusively in the archaeological material of each province. The southern Illyrian or south-eastern Dalmatian province was the area of the proper Illyrians (the core of which was the territory of Illyrii proprie dicti of the classical authors, located in modern Albania) and includes most of Albania, Montenegro and their hinterlands. This area extended along the Adriatic coast from the Aous valley in the south, up to and beyond the Neretva valley in the north. The second onomastic province, the central Illyrian or middle Dalmatian-Pannonian province began to its north and covered a larger area than the southern province. It extended along the Adriatic coast between the Krka and Cetina rivers, covered much of Bosnia (except for its northern regions), central Dalmatia (Lika) and its hinterland in the central Balkans included western Serbia and Sandžak. The third onomastic province further to the north defined as North Adriatic area includes Liburnia and the region of modern Ljubljana in Slovenia. It is part of a larger linguistic area different from Illyrian that also comprises Venetic and its Istrian variety. These areas are not strictly defined geographically as there was some overlap between them. The region of the Dardani (modern Kosovo, parts of northern North Macedonia, parts of eastern Serbia) saw the overlap of the southern Illyrian and Dalmatian onomastic provinces. Local Illyrian anthroponymy is also found in the area. In its onomastics, southern Illyrian (or south-east Dalmatian) has close relations with Messapic. Most of these relations are shared with the central Dalmatian area. In older scholarship (Crossland (1982)), some toponyms in central and northern Greece show phonetic characteristics that were thought to indicate that Illyrians or closely related peoples were settled in those regions before the introduction of the Greek language. However, such views largely relied on subjective ancient testimonies and are not supported by the earliest evidence (epigraphic etc.). Religion The Illyrians, as most ancient civilizations, were polytheistic and worshipped many gods and deities developed of the powers of nature. The most numerous traces—still insufficiently studied—of religious practices of the pre-Roman era are those relating to religious symbolism. Symbols are depicted in every variety of ornament and reveal that the chief object of the prehistoric cult of the Illyrians was the Sun, worshipped in a widespread and complex religious system. The solar deity was depicted as a geometrical figure such as the spiral, the concentric circle and the swastika, or as an animal figure the likes of the birds, serpents and horses. The symbols of water-fowl and horses were more common in the north, while the serpent was more common in the south. Illyrian deities were mentioned in inscriptions on statues, monuments, and coins of the Roman period, and some interpreted by Ancient writers through comparative religion. There appears to be no single most prominent god for all the Illyrian tribes, and a number of deities evidently appear only in specific regions. In Illyris, Dei-pátrous was a god worshiped as the Sky Father, Prende was the love-goddess and the consort of the thunder-god Perendi, En or Enji was the fire-god, Jupiter Parthinus was a chief deity of the Parthini, Redon was a tutelary deity of sailors appearing on many inscriptions in the coastal towns of Lissus, Daorson, Scodra and Dyrrhachium, while Medaurus was the protector deity of Risinium, with a monumental equestrian statue dominating the city from the acropolis. In Dalmatia and Pannonia one of the most popular ritual traditions during the Roman period was the cult of the Roman tutelary deity of the wild, woods and fields Silvanus, depicted with iconography of Pan. The Roman deity of wine, fertility and freedom Liber was worshipped with the attributes of Silvanus, and those of Terminus, the god protector of boundaries. Tadenus was a Dalmatian deity bearing the identity or epithet of Apollo in inscriptions found near the source of the Bosna river. The Delmatae also had Armatus as a war god in Delminium. The Silvanae, a feminine plural of Silvanus, were featured on many dedications across Pannonia. In the hot springs of Topusko (Pannonia Superior), sacrificial altars were dedicated to Vidasus and Thana (identified with Silvanus and Diana), whose names invariably stand side by side as companions. Aecorna or Arquornia was a lake or river tutelary goddess worshipped exclusively in the cities of Nauportus and Emona, where she was the most important deity next to Jupiter. Laburus was also a local deity worshipped in Emona, perhaps a deity protecting the boatmen sailing. It seems that the Illyrians did not develop a uniform cosmology on which to center their religious practices. A number of Illyrian toponyms and anthroponyms derived from animal names and reflected the beliefs in animals as mythological ancestors and protectors. The serpent was one of the most important animal totems. Illyrians believed in the force of spells and the evil eye, in the magic power of protective and beneficial amulets which could avert the evil eye or the bad intentions of enemies. Human sacrifice also played a role in the lives of the Illyrians. Arrian records the chieftain Cleitus the Illyrian as sacrificing three boys, three girls and three rams just before his battle with Alexander the Great. The most common type of burial among the Iron Age Illyrians was tumulus or mound burial. The kin of the first tumuli was buried around that, and the higher the status of those in these burials the higher the mound. Archaeology has found many artifacts placed within these tumuli such as weapons, ornaments, garments and clay vessels. The rich spectrum in religious beliefs and burial rituals that emerged in Illyria, especially during the Roman period, may reflect the variation in cultural identities in this region. Archaeology There are few remains to connect with the Bronze Age with the later Illyrians in the western Balkans. Moreover, with the notable exception of Pod near Bugojno in the upper valley of the Vrbas River, nothing is known of their settlements. Some hill settlements have been identified in western Serbia, but the main evidence comes from cemeteries, consisting usually of a small number of burial mounds (tumuli). In the cemeteries of Belotić and Bela Crkva (sr), the rites of exhumation and cremation are attested, with skeletons in stone cists and cremations in urns. Metal implements appear here side by side with stone implements. Most of the remains belong to the fully developed Middle Bronze Age. During the 7th century BC, the beginning of the Iron Age, the Illyrians emerge as an ethnic group with a distinct culture and art form. Various Illyrian tribes appeared, under the influence of the Halstatt cultures from the north, and they organized their regional centers. The cult of the dead played an important role in the lives of the Illyrians, which is seen in their carefully made burials and burial ceremonies, as well as the richness of the burial sites. In the northern parts of the Balkans, there existed a long tradition of cremation and burial in shallow graves, while in the southern parts, the dead were buried in large stone, or earth tumuli (natively called gromile) that in Herzegovina were reaching monumental sizes, more than 50 meters wide and 5 meters high. The Japodian tribe (found from Istria in Croatia to Bihać in Bosnia) have had an affinity for decoration with heavy, oversized necklaces out of yellow, blue or white glass paste, and large bronze fibulas, as well as spiral bracelets, diadems and helmets out of bronze. Small sculptures out of jade in form of archaic Ionian plastic are also characteristically Japodian. Numerous monumental sculptures are preserved, as well as walls of citadel Nezakcij near Pula, one of numerous Istrian cities from Iron Age. Illyrian chiefs wore bronze torques around their necks much like the Celts did. The Illyrians were influenced by the Celts in many cultural and material aspects and some of them were Celticized, especially the tribes in Dalmatia and the Pannonians. In Slovenia, the Vače situla was discovered in 1882 and attributed to Illyrians. Prehistoric remains indicate no more than average height, male , female . Early Middle Ages It is also evident that in a region which stretches from the southern Dalmatian coast, its hinterland, Montenegro, northern Albania up to Kosovo and Dardania, apart from a uniformity in onomastics there were also some archaeological similarities. However, it cannot be determined whether these tribes living there also formed a linguistic unity. The Komani-Kruja culture is an archaeological culture attested from late antiquity to the Middle Ages in central and northern Albania, southern Montenegro and similar sites in the western parts of North Macedonia. It consists of settlements usually built below hillforts along the Lezhë (Praevalitana)-Dardania and Via Egnatia road networks which connected the Adriatic coastline with the central Balkan Roman provinces. Its type site is Komani and its fort on the nearby Dalmace hill in the Drin river valley. Kruja and Lezha represent significant sites of the culture. The population of Komani-Kruja represents a local, non-Slavic western Balkan people which was linked to the Roman Justinianic military system of forts. The development of Komani-Kruja is significant for the study of the transition between the classical antiquity population of Albania to the medieval Albanians who were attested in historical records in the 11th century. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja is framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of Arbanon. Illyrian-Albanian links were the main focus of Albanian nationalism during the Communism period. What was established in this early phase of research was that Komani-Kruja settlements represented a local, non-Slavic population which has been described as Romanized Illyrian, Latin-speaking or Latin-literate. This is corroborated by the absence of Slavic toponyms and survival of Latin ones in the Komani-Kruja area. In terms of historiography, the thesis of older Albanian archaeology is an untestable hypothesis as no historical sources exist which can link Komani-Kruja to the first definite attestation of medieval Albanians in the 11th century. The nationalist interpretation of the Komani-Kruja cemeteries has been roundly rejected by non-Albanian scholars. J. Wilkes has described it as "a highly improbable reconstruction of Albanian history". Some Albanian scholars even today have continued to espouse this model of continuity. Limited excavations campaigns occurred until the 1990s. Objects from a vast area covering nearby regions the entire Byzantine Empire, the northern Balkans and Hungary and sea routes from Sicily to Crimea were found in Dalmace and other sites coming from many different production centres: local, Byzantine, Sicilian, Avar-Slavic, Hungarian, Crimean and even possibly Merovingian and Carolingian. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja was framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of Arbanon. As research focused almost entirely on grave contexts and burial sites, settlements and living spaces were often ignored. Other views stressed that as an archaeological culture it shouldn't be connected to a single social or ethnic group but be contextualized in a broader Roman-Byzantine or Christian framework, nor should material finds be separated in ethnic categories as they can't be correlated to a specific culture. In this view, cemeteries from nearby regions which were classified as belonging to Slavic groups shouldn't be viewed as necessarily representing another people but as representations of class and other social factors as "ethnic identity was only one factor of varying importance". Yugoslav archaeology proposed an opposite narrative and tried to frame the population as Slavic, especially in the region of western Macedonia. Archaeological research has shown that these sites were not related to regions then inhabited by Slavs and even in regions like Macedonia, no Slavic settlements had been founded in the 7th century. Archaeologically, while it was considered possible and even likely that Komani-Kruja sites were used continuously from the 7th century onwards, it remained an untested hypothesis as research was still limited. Whether this population represented local continuity or arrived at an earlier period from a more northern location as the Slavs entered the Balkans remained unclear at the time but regardless of their ultimate geographical origins, these groups maintained Justinianic era cultural traditions of the 6th century possibly as a statement of their collective identity and derived their material cultural references from the Justinianic military system. In this context, they may have used burial customs as a means of reference to an "idealized image of the past Roman power". Research greatly expanded after 2009, and the first survey of Komani's topography was produced in 2014. Until then, except for the area of the cemetery, the size of the settlement and its extension remained unknown. In 2014, it was revealed that Komani occupied an area of more than 40 ha, a much larger territory than originally thought. Its oldest settlement phase dates to the Hellenistic era. Proper development began in late antiquity and continued well into the Middle Ages (13th-14th centuries). It indicates that Komani was a late Roman fort and an important trading node in the networks of Praevalitana and Dardania. Participation in trade networks of the eastern Mediterranean via sea routes seems to have been very limited even in nearby coastal territory in this era. The collapse of the Roman administration in the Balkans was followed by a broad demographic collapse with the exception of Komani-Kruja and neighbouring mountainous regions. In the Avar-Slavic raids, communities from present-day northern Albania and nearby areas clustered around hill sites for better protection as is the case of other areas like Lezha and Sarda. During the 7th century, as Byzantine authority was reeastablished after the Avar-Slavic raids and the prosperity of the settlements increased, Komani saw an increase in population and a new elite began to take shape. Increase in population and wealth was marked by the establishment of new settlements and new churches in their vicinity. Komani formed a local network with Lezha and Kruja and in turn this network was integrated in the wider Byzantine Mediterranean world, maintained contacts with the northern Balkans and engaged in long-distance trade. Winnifrith (2020) recently described this population as the survival of a "Latin-Illyrian" culture which emerged later in historical records as Albanians and Vlachs. In Winnifrith's view, the geographical conditions of northern Albania favored the continuation of the Albanian language in hilly and mountainous areas as opposed to lowland valleys. He adds that the language and religion of this culture remain uncertain. With bishops absent abroad, "the mountain flocks cannot have been too versed in theological or linguistic niceties". Nationalism Albanians The possible continuity between the Illyrian populations of the Western Balkans in antiquity and the Albanians has played a significant role in Albanian nationalism from the 19th century until the present day. South Slavs At the beginning of the 19th century, many educated Europeans regarded the South Slavs as the descendants of ancient Illyrians. Consequently, when Napoléon conquered part of the South Slavic lands, these areas were named after ancient Illyrian provinces (1809–1814). After the demise of the First French Empire in 1815, the Habsburg Monarchy became increasingly centralized and authoritarian, and fear of Magyarization arouse patriotic resistance among Croatians. Under the influence of Romantic nationalism, a self-identified "Illyrian movement", in the form of a Croatian national revival, opened a literary and journalistic campaign initiated by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the years of 1835–49. See also Notes References Bibliography External links Phallic Cult of the Illyrians Indo-European peoples Ancient tribes in Albania Ancient tribes in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ancient tribes in Croatia Ancient tribes in Kosovo Ancient tribes in Montenegro Ancient tribes in Serbia Ancient tribes in the Balkans Illyrian Albania Illyrian Serbia Ancient history of Slovenia Ancient peoples of Europe	true	[ "Two invasions of Epidamnus by Illyrian forces deployed by Queen Teuta attacking the Greek cities of Epirus took place as part of the Illyrian Wars in spring 229 BC.\n\nPrelude\nIn 230 BC, the Illyrians had defeated an Epirote army of Phoenice and prepared to engage a second Greek army, but were called back by Queen Teuta to stop an Illyrian defection to Dardania. Teuta quickly crushed the revolt, and set about taking control of remaining territories in the Adriatic not already under Illyrian control. She began the siege of Issa the same year and sent a large fleet into the Adriatic, which attacked Epidamnus, Corcyra and Apollonia in spring 229 BC.\n\nThe battle\n\nThe Illyrians landed at the port of Epidamnus in spring 229 BC, with the pretext of collecting food and water. The Greeks were careless and allowed the Illyrians to enter, with the latter concealing swords to prepare for an assault. They killed the guards of the gate tower and quickly took part of much of the walls of Epidamnus. Eventually, the citizens formed a resistance and pushed the Illyrians outside of the city. The Illyrians then left Epidamnus and joined other Illyrians who were heading southwards towards Corcyra.\n\nAssistance\n\nFollowing this attack, the cities of Epidamnus, Apollonia and Corcyra requested assistance from the Acheaen and Aetolian leagues to protect them from Illyrian attacks. The leagues agreed to help, and sent a fleet of ten ships to lift the siege of Corcyra, which the Illyrians had already begun. However, the Greeks were defeated at sea off the coast of Paxus and the Illyrians shortly afterwards captured Corcyra. With this victory, the Illyrians sailed back north towards Epidamnus, and prepared for a second attack.\n\nThe siege\n\nUpon arriving from Corcyra, the Illyrians began the siege of Epidamnus in 229 BC. However, following Roman intervention after the breakout of the First Illyrian War, a large Roman army and fleet approached Illyria. After several victories, resulting in the capture of Corcyra and territories of the southern Illyrian tribes, the Romans approached Epidamnus in 229 BC. Upon hearing of this, the Illyrians fled and abandoned the siege.\n\nReferences\n\n229 BC\nEpidamnus\nEpidamnus\nEpidamnus", "Illyrii proprie dicti or Illyrians proper were a group of ancient illyrian tribes. Ancient Roman writer Pliny the Elder and Pomponius Mela used the term Illyrii proprie dicti ('properly called Illyrians') to designate a people that was located in the coast of modern Albania and Montenegro.\n\nOverview \nPliny the Elder in his work Natural History used the term \"properly named Illyrians\" (Illyrii proprii/proprie dicti) for a small group of people between Epidaurum (now Cavtat) and Lissus (now Lezhë). \"... this region contained the Labeatae, Senedi, Rudini, Sasaei, Grabaei, properly called Illyrians, and Taulantii and Pyraei,\" he said. () \n\nPomponius Mela tells different details, but makes the same point: \" The Parthenes and Dassaretae come first, follow the Taulanti, Enchelei, Phaeaci. From there are these (who are) properly called Illyrians.\" ().\n\nMany modern scholars view the 'properly called Illyrians' as a trace of the Illyrian kingdom known in the sources from the 4th century BC until 167 BC, which was ruled in Roman times by the Ardiaei and Labeatae when it was centered in the Bay of Kotor and Lake Skadar. According to other modern scholars, the term Illyrii may have originally referred only to a small ethnos in the area between Epidaurum and Lissus, and Pliny the Elder and Pomponius Mela may have followed a literary tradition that dates back as early as Hecataeus of Miletus. Placed in central Albania, the Illyrii proprie dicti also might have been Rome's first contact with lllyrian peoples. In that case, it did not indicate an original area from which the Illyrians expanded. The area of the Illyrii proprie dicti is largely included in the southern Illyrian onomastic province in modern linguistics.\n\nSee also \n Illyria\n Illyrian kingdom\n Kingdom of Dardania\n List of ancient tribes in Illyria\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nCitations\n\nBibliography \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\nIllyrian tribes\nAncient tribes in Albania\nIllyrian Albania\nIllyrian Croatia\nIllyrian Kosovo\nIllyrian Montenegro" ]
[ "Illyrians", "Hellenistic period", "When did the Hellenistic period take place?", "4th century BC.", "Where were the Illyrians located?", "Greco-Roman historiography" ]	C_a9b96a021b774af3a303077bcfe676dd_0	Did the Illyrians have a Ruler/King/President?	3	Did the Illyrians have a Ruler/King/President during the Hellenistic Period?	Illyrians	Illyria appears in Greco-Roman historiography from the 4th century BC. The Illyrians formed several kingdoms in the central Balkans, and the first known Illyrian king was Bardyllis. Illyrian kingdoms were often at war with ancient Macedonia, and the Illyrian pirates were also a significant danger to neighbouring peoples. At the Neretva Delta, there was a strong Hellenistic influence on the Illyrian tribe of Daors. Their capital was Daorson located in Osanici near Stolac in Herzegovina, which became the main center of classical Illyrian culture. Daorson, during the 4th century BC, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 meter high stonewalls, composed out of large trapeze stones blocks. Daors also made unique bronze coins and sculptures. The Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on the Dalmatian islands. Queen Teuta was famous for having waged wars against the Romans. After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos became the strongest state in Illyria. Philip II killed 7,000 Illyrians in a great victory and annexed the territory up to Lake Ohrid. Next, Philip II reduced the Grabaei, and then went for the Ardiaei, defeated the Triballi (339 BC), and fought with Pleurias (337 BC). In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Italian commerce. There were three campaigns, the first against Teuta the second against Demetrius of Pharos and the third against Gentius. The initial campaign in 229 BC marks the first time that the Roman Navy crossed the Adriatic Sea to launch an invasion. The Roman Republic subdued the Illyrians during the 2nd century BC. An Illyrian revolt was crushed under Augustus, resulting in the division of Illyria in the provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. CANNOTANSWER	The Illyrians formed several kingdoms in the central Balkans, and the first known Illyrian king was Bardyllis.	The Illyrians (, Illyrioi; ) were a group of Indo-European speaking peoples, who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, along with the Thracians and Greeks. The territory the Illyrians inhabited came to be known as Illyria to later Greek and Roman authors, who identified a territory that corresponds to most of Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, much of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, western and central Serbia and some parts of Slovenia between the Adriatic Sea in the west, the Drava river in the north, the Morava river in the east and in the south the Aous (modern Vjosa) river or possibly the Ceraunian Mountains. The first account of Illyrian peoples dates back to the 6th century BC, in the works of the ancient Greek writer Hecataeus of Miletus. The name "Illyrians", as applied by the ancient Greeks to their northern neighbors, may have referred to a broad, ill-defined group of peoples. The Illyrian tribes never collectively identified as "Illyrians", and it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature at all. Illyrians seems to be the name of a specific Illyrian tribe who were among the first to encounter the ancient Greeks during the Bronze Age. The Greeks later applied this term Illyrians, pars pro toto, to all people with similar language and customs. In archaeological, historical and linguistic studies, research about the Illyrians, from the late 19th to the 21st century, has moved from Pan-Illyrian theories, which identified as Illyrian even groups north of the Balkans to more well-defined groupings based on Illyrian onomastics and material anthropology since the 1960s as newer inscriptions were found and sites excavated. There are two principal Illyrian onomastic areas: the southern and the Dalmatian-Pannonian, with the area of the Dardani as a region of overlapping between the two. A third area, to the north of them – which in ancient literature was usually identified as part of Illyria – has been connected more to the Venetic language than to Illyrian. Illyric settlement in Italy was and still is attributed to a few ancient tribes which are thought to have migrated along the Adriatic shorelines to the Italian peninsula from the geographic "Illyria": the Dauni, the Peuceti and Messapi (collectively known as Iapyges). The term "Illyrians" last appears in the historical record in the 7th century, referring to a Byzantine garrison operating within the former Roman province of Illyricum. Names and terminology The terms 'Illyrians', 'Illyria' and 'Illyricum' have been used throughout history for ethnic and geographic contextualizations that have changed over time. Re-contextualizations of these terms often confused ancient writers and modern scholars. Notable scholarly efforts have been dedicated to try to analyze and explain these changes. The first known mention of Illyrians occurred in the late 6th and the early 5th century BC in fragments of Hecataeus of Miletus, the author of Γενεαλογίαι (Genealogies) and of Περίοδος Γῆς or Περιήγησις (Description of the Earth or Periegesis), where the Illyrians are described as a barbarian people. In the Macedonian history during the 6th and 5th century B.C., the term 'Illyrian' had a political meaning that was quite definite, denoting a kingdom established on the north-western borders of Upper Macedonia. From the 5th century B.C. onwards, the term 'Illyrian' was already applied to a large ethnic group whose territory extended deep into the Balkan mainland. Ancient Greeks clearly considered the Illyrians as a completely distinct ethnos from both the Thracians (Θρᾷκες) and the Macedonians (Μακεδόνες). Most scholars hold that the territory originally designated as 'Illyrian' was roughly located in the region of the south-eastern Adriatic (modern Albania and Montenegro) and its hinterland, then was later extended to the whole Roman Illyricum province, which stretched from the eastern Adriatic to the Danube. After the Illyrians had come to be widely known to the Greeks due to their proximity, this ethnic designation was broadened to include other peoples who, for some reason, were considered by ancient writers to be related with those peoples originally designated as Illyrians (Ἰλλυριοί, Illyrioi). The original designation may have occurred during the Bronze Age, when Greek-speaking tribes may have been neighbours of the southernmost Illyrian tribe of that time that dwelled in the Zeta plain in Montenegro or in the Mat valley in Albania, being subsequently applied as a general term to people of the same language and manners. It has been also inferred that if Greek populations had their first contact with Illyrian tribes when the latter dwelt around Shkodër, then an Illyrian expansion southwards took place during the early first millennium BC, before the later reaching Aous. The label Illyrians was first used by outsiders, in particular Ancient Greeks, at the beginning of the 8th century BC. When the Greeks began to frequent the eastern Adriatic coast with the colonization of Corcyra, they started to have some knowledge and perceptions of the indigenous peoples of western Balkans. The Illyrian tribes evidently never collectively identified themselves as Illyrians and it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature at all. Most modern scholars are certain that all the peoples of western Balkans that were collectively labeled as 'Illyrians' were not a culturally or linguistically homogeneous entity. For instance, some tribes like the Bryges would not have been identified as Illyrian. What criteria were initially used to define this group of peoples or how and why the term 'Illyrians' began to be used to describe the indigenous population of western Balkans cannot be said with certainty. Scholarly debates have been waged to find an answer to the question whether the term 'Illyrians' (Ἰλλυριοί) derived from some eponymous tribe, or whether it has been applied to designate the indigenous population as a general term for some other specific reason. Illyrii proprie dicti Ancient Roman writers Pliny the Elder and Pomponius Mela used the term Illyrii proprie dicti ('properly called Illyrians') to designate a people that was located in the coast of modern Albania and Montenegro. Many modern scholars view the 'properly called Illyrians' as a trace of the Illyrian kingdom known in the sources from the 4th century BC until 167 BC, which was ruled in Roman times by the Ardiaei and Labeatae when it was centered in the Bay of Kotor and Lake Skadar. According to other modern scholars, the term Illyrii may have originally referred only to a small ethnos in the area between Epidaurum and Lissus, and Pliny and Mela may have followed a literary tradition that dates back as early as Hecataeus of Miletus. Placed in central Albania, the Illyrii proprie dicti also might have been Rome's first contact with lllyrian peoples. In that case, it did not indicate an original area from which the Illyrians expanded. The area of the Illyrii proprie dicti is largely included in the southern Illyrian onomastic province in modern linguistics. Origins Scholars have long recognized a "difficulty in producing a single theory on the ethnogenesis of the Illyrians" given their heterogeneous nature. Modern scholarship is unable to refer to the Illyrians as a unique and compact people and agrees that they were a sum of ill-defined communities without common origins that never merged to a single ethnic entity. According to linguist Robert Elsie, "the term 'Illyrian' probably referred initially to the tribe with which the ancient Greeks first had contact, but it was later used as a collective term for a wide range of tribes in the region, although they may not have been culturally or linguistically homogenous at all." Older Pan-Illyrian theories which emerged in the 1920s placed the proto-Illyrians as the original inhabitants of a very large area which reached central Europe. These theories, which are now generally dismissed by scholars, were used in the politics of the era and its racialist notions of Nordicism and Aryanism. The main fact which these theories tried to address was the existence of traces of Illyrian toponymy in parts of Europe beyond the western Balkans, an issue whose origins are still unclear. The specific theories have found little archaeological corroboration, as no convincing evidence for significant migratory movements from the Luzatian culture into the west Balkans has ever been found. Rather, archaeologists from former Yugoslavia highlighted the continuity between the Bronze and succeeding Iron Age (especially in regions such as Donja Dolina, central Bosnia-Glasinac, and northern Albania (Mat river basin)), ultimately developing the so-called "autochthonous theory" of Illyrian genesis. The "autochthonous" model was most elaborated upon by Alojz Benac and B. Čović. They argued (following the "Kurgan hypothesis") that the 'proto-Illyrians' had arrived much earlier, during the Bronze Age as nomadic Indo-Europeans from the steppe. From that point, there was a gradual Illyrianization of the western Balkans leading to historic Illyrians, with no early Iron Age migration from northern Europe. He did not deny a minor cultural impact from the northern Urnfield cultures, however, "these movements had neither a profound influence on the stability of the Balkans, nor did they affect the ethnogenesis of the Illyrian ethnos". Aleksandar Stipčević raised concerns regarding Benac's all-encompassing scenario of autochthonous ethnogenesis, raising the following questions: "can one negate the participation of the bearers of the field-urn culture in the ethnogenesis of the Illyrian tribes who lived in present-day Slovenia and Croatia" or "Hellenistic and Mediterranean influences on southern Illyrians and Liburnians?". He concludes that Benac's model is only applicable to the Illyrian groups in Bosnia, western Serbia and a part of Dalmatia, where there had indeed been a settlement continuity and 'native' progression of pottery sequences since the Bronze Age. Following prevailing trends in discourse on identity in Iron Age Europe, current anthropological perspectives reject older theories of a longue duree (long term) ethnogenesis of Illyrians, even where 'archaeological continuity' can be demonstrated to Bronze Age times. They rather see the emergence of historic Illyrians tribes as a more recent phenomenon - just prior to their first attestation. The proto-Illyrians during the course of their settlement along the Adriatic coast and its hinterland likely merged with populations of a pre-Illyrian substratum – like Enchelei might have been –, leading to the formation of the historical Illyrians who were attested in later times. It has been suggested that the myth of Cadmus and Harmonia may be a reflection in mythology of that historical era. The impetus behind the emergence of larger regional groups, such as "Iapodes", "Liburnians", "Pannonians" etc., is traced to increased contacts with the Mediterranean and La Tène 'global worlds'. This catalyzed "the development of more complex political institutions and the increase in differences between individual communities". Emerging local elites selectively adopted either La Tène or Hellenistic and, later, Roman cultural templates "in order to legitimize and strengthen domination within their communities. They were competing fiercely through either alliance or conflict and resistance to Roman expansion. Thus, they established more complex political alliances, which convinced (Greco-Roman) sources to see them as ‘ethnic’ identities." In ancient Greek and Roman literature Different versions of the genealogy of the Illyrians, their tribes and their eponymous ancestor, Illyrius, existed in the ancient world both in fictional and non-fictional Greco-Roman literature. The fact that there were many versions of the genealogical story of Illyrius was ascertained by Ancient Greek historian Appian (1st–2nd century AD). However, only two versions of all these genealogical stories are attested. The first version—which reports the legend of Cadmus and Harmonia—was recorded by Euripides and Strabo in accounts that would be presented in detail in Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus (1st to 2nd century AD). The second version—which reports the legend of Polyphemus and Galatea—was recorded by Appian (1st–2nd century AD) in his Illyrike. According to the first version Illyrius was the son of Cadmus and Harmonia, whom the Enchelei had chosen to be their leaders. He eventually ruled Illyria and became the eponymous ancestor of the whole Illyrian people. In one of these versions, Illyrius was named so after Cadmus left him by a river named the Illyrian, where a serpent found and raised him. Appian writes that many mythological stories were still circulating in his time, and he chose a particular version because it seemed to be the most correct one. Appian's genealogy of tribes is not complete as he writes that other Illyrian tribes exist, which he hasn't included. According to Appian's tradition, Polyphemus and Galatea gave birth to Celtus, Galas, and Illyrius, three brothers, progenitors respectively of Celts, Galatians and Illyrians. Illyrius had multiple sons: Encheleus, Autarieus, Dardanus, Maedus, Taulas and Perrhaebus, and daughters: Partho, Daortho, Dassaro and others. From these, sprang the Taulantii, Parthini, Dardani, Encheleae, Autariates, Dassaretii and the Daorsi. Autareius had a son Pannonius or Paeon and these had sons Scordiscus and Triballus. Appian's genealogy was evidently composed in Roman times encompassing barbarian peoples other than Illyrians like Celts and Galatians. and choosing a specific story for his audience that included most of the peoples who dwelled in the Illyricum of the Antonine era. However, the inclusion in his genealogy of the Enchelei and the Autariatae, whose political strength has been highly weakened, reflects a pre-Roman historical situation. Basically, ancient Greeks included in their mythological accounts all the peoples with whom they had close contacts. In Roman times, ancient Romans created more mythical or genealogical relations to include various new peoples, regardless of their large ethnic and cultural differences. Appian's genealogy lists the earliest known peoples of Illyria in the goup of the first generation, consisting mostly of southern Illyrian peoples firstly encountered by the Greeks, some of which were the Enchelei, the Taulantii, the Dassaretii and the Parthini. Some peoples that came to the Balkans at a later date such as the Scordisci are listed in the group that belongs to the third generation. The Scordisci were a Celtic people mixed with the indigenous Illyrian and Thracian population. The Pannonians have not been known to the Greeks, and it seems that before the 2nd century BC they did not come into contact with the Romans. Almost all the Greek writers referred to the Pannonians with the name Paeones until late Roman times. The Scordisci and Pannonians were considered Illyrian mainly because they belonged to Illyricum since the early Roman Imperial period. History Pre-Roman period Depending on the complexity of the diverse physical geography of the Balkans, arable farming and livestock (mixed farming) rearing had constituted the economic basis of the Illyrians during the Iron Age. In southern Illyria organized realms were formed earlier than in other areas of this region. One of the oldest known Illyrian kingdoms is that of the Enchelei, which seems to have reached its height from the 8th–7th centuries BC, but the kingdom fell from dominant power around the 6th century BC. It seems that the weakening of the kingdom of Enchelae resulted in their assimilation and inclusion into a newly established Illyrian realm at the latest in the 5th century BC, marking the arising of the Dassaretii, who appear to have replaced the Enchelei in the lakeland area of Lychnidus. According to a number of modern scholars the dynasty of Bardylis—the first attested Illyrian dynasty—was Dassaretan. The weakening of the Enchelean realm was also caused by the strengthening of another Illyrian kingdom established in its vicinity—that of the Taulantii—which existed for some time along with that of the Enchelei. The Taulantii—another people among the more anciently known groups of Illyrian tribes—lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria (modern Albania), dominating at various times much of the plain between the Drin and the Aous, comprising the area around Epidamnus/Dyrrhachium. In the 7th century BC the Taulantii invoked the aid of Corcyra and Corinth in a war against the Liburni. After the defeat and expulsion from the region of the Liburni, the Corcyreans founded in 627 BC on the Illyrian mainland a colony called Epidamnus, thought to have been the name of a barbarian king of the region. A flourishing commercial centre emerged and the city grew rapidly. The Taulantii continued to play an important role in Illyrian history between the 5th and 4th–3rd centuries BC, and in particular, in the history of Epidamnus, both as its neighbors and as part of its population. Notably they influenced the affairs in the internal conflicts between aristocrats and democrats. The Taulantian kingdom seems to have reached its climax during Glaukias' rule, in the years between 335 BC and 302 BC. The Illyrian kingdoms frequently came into conflicts with the neighbouring Ancient Macedonians, and the Illyrian pirates were also seen as significant threat to the neighbouring peoples. At the Neretva Delta, there was a strong Hellenistic influence on the Illyrian tribe of Daors. Their capital was Daorson located in Ošanići near Stolac in Herzegovina, which became the main center of classical Illyrian culture. Daorson, during the 4th century BC, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 meter high stonewalls, composed out of large trapeze stones blocks. Daors also made unique bronze coins and sculptures. The Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on the Dalmatian islands. Queen Teuta was famous for having waged wars against the Romans. After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos II became the strongest state in Illyria. Philip II killed 7,000 Illyrians in a great victory and annexed the territory up to Lake Ohrid. Next, Philip II reduced the Grabaei, and then went for the Ardiaei, defeated the Triballi (339 BC), and fought with Pleurias (337 BC). During the second part of the 3rd century BC, a number of Illyrian tribes seem to have united to form a proto-state stretching from the central part of present-day Albania up to Neretva river in Herzegovina. The political entity was financed on piracy and ruled from 250 BC by the king Agron. He was succeeded by his wife Teuta, who assumed the regency for her stepson Pinnes following Agron's death in 231 BC. In his work The Histories, Polybius (2nd century BC) reported first diplomatic contacts between the Romans and Illyrians. In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC, Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Roman commerce. There were three campaigns, the first against Teuta the second against Demetrius of Pharos and the third against Gentius. The initial campaign in 229 BC marks the first time that the Roman Navy crossed the Adriatic Sea to launch an invasion. The Roman Republic subdued the Illyrians during the 2nd century BC. An Illyrian revolt was crushed under Augustus, resulting in the division of Illyria in the provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. Depictions of the Illyrians, usually described as "barbarians" or "savages", are universally negative in Greek and Roman sources. Roman Empire Prior to the Roman conquest of Illyria, the Roman Republic had started expanding its power and territory across the Adriatic Sea. The Romans came nevertheless into a series of conflicts with the Illyrians, equally known as the Illyrian Wars, beginning in 229 BC until 168 BC as the Romans defeated Gentius at Scodra. The Great Illyrian Uprising took place in the Roman province of Illyricum in the 1st century AD, in which an alliance of native peoples revolted against the Romans. The main ancient source that describes this military conflict is Velleius Paterculus, which was incorporated into the second book of Roman History. Another ancient source about it is the biography of Octavius Augustus by Pliny the Elder. The two leaders of uprising were Bato the Breucian and Bato the Daesitiate. Geographically, the name 'Illyria' came to mean Roman Illyricum which from the 4th century to the 7th century signified the prefecture of Illyricum. It covered much of the western and central Balkans. After the defeat of the Great Illyrian Revolt and the consolidation of Roman power in the Balkans, the process of integration of Illyrians in the Roman world began. Some Illyrian communities were organized in their pre-Roman locations under their own civitates. Others migrated or were forcefully resettled in different regions. Some groups like the Azali were transferred from their homeland to frontier areas (northern Hungary) after the Great Illyrian Revolt. In Dacia, Illyrian communities like the Pirustae who were skilled miners were settled to the gold mines of Alburnus Maior where they formed their own communities. In Trajan's period these population movements were likely part of a deliberate policy of resettling, while later they involved free migrations. In their new regions, they were free salaried workers. Inscriptions show that by that era many of them had acquired Roman citizenship. Byzantine Empire With the disintegration of the Roman Empire, Gothic and Hunnic tribes raided the Balkan peninsula, forcing many Illyrians to seek refuge in the highlands. In 395 AD, the Roman Empire was split upon the death of Theodosius I into an Eastern and Western Roman Empire, in part due to the weakening and increasing pressure from threats during the Barbarian Invasions, therefore, Illyria remained in the eastern empire which was later referred to as the Byzantine Empire. The early Byzantine Empire was predominantly ruled by emperors from the Balkan Peninsula with Byzantine emperors of Illyrian origin, amongst them Constantine the Great, Jovian, Valentinian I, Anastasius I Dicorus, Justinian I and their descendants from the Constantinian dynasty, Valentinianic dynasty and Justinian dynasty. From the 6th century ongoing into the 7th century, the Slavs crossed the Danube and started to absorb the indigenous Illyrians alongside the Ancient Greeks, Dacians and Thracians into the emerging medieval states of the Slavs such as that of the Croats and Serbs. The term Illyrians last appears in the historical record in the 7th century AD, in the Miracula Sancti Demetrii, referring to a Byzantine garrison operating within the former Roman province of Illyricum. However, in the acts of the Second Council of Nicaea from 787, Nikephoros of Durrës signed himself as "Episcopus of Durrës, province of the Illyrians". Since the Middle Ages the term "Illyrian" has been used principally in connection with the Albanians, although it was also used to describe the western wing of the Southern Slavs up to the 19th century, being revived in particular during the Habsburg Monarchy. In Byzantine literature, references to Illyria as a defined region in administrative terms end after 1204 and the term specifically began to refer only to the more confined Albanian territory. Society Social and political organisation The structure of Illyrian society during classical antiquity was characterised by a conglomeration of numerous tribes and small realms ruled by warrior elites, a situation similar like that in most other societies at that time. Thucidides in the History of the Peloponnesian War (5th century BC) addresses the social organisation of the Illyrian tribes via a speech he attributes to Brasidas, in which he recounts that the mode of rulership among the Illyrian tribes is that of dynasteia—which Thucidides used in reference to foreign customs—neither democratic, nor oligarchic. Brasidas then goes on to explain that in the dynasteia the ruler rose to power "by no other means than by superiority in fighting". Pseudo-Scymnus (2nd century BC) in reference to the social organisation of Illyrian tribes in earlier times than the era he lived in makes a distinction between three modes of social organisation. A part of the Illyrians were organized under hereditary kingdoms, a second part was organized under chieftains who were elected but held no hereditary power and some Illyrians were organised in autonomous communities governed by their own internal tribal laws. In these communities social stratification had not yet emerged. Warfare The history of Illyrian warfare and weaponry spanned from around the 10th century BC up to the 1st century AD in the region defined by the Ancient Greek and Roman historians as Illyria. It concerns the armed conflicts of the Illyrian tribes and their kingdoms in the Balkan Peninsula and the Italian Peninsula as well as their pirate activity in the Adriatic Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. The Illyrians were a notorious seafaring people with a strong reputation for piracy especially common during the regency of king Agron and later queen Teuta. They used fast and maneuverable ships of types known as lembus and liburna which were subsequently used by the Ancient Macedonians and Romans. Livy described the Illyrians along the Liburnians and Istrians as nations of savages in general noted for their piracy. Illyria appears in Greco-Roman historiography from the 4th century BC. Illyrians were regarded as bloodthirsty, unpredictable, turbulent, and warlike by Greeks and Romans. They were seen as savages on the edge of their world. Polybius (3rd century BC) wrote: "the Romans had freed the Greeks from the enemies of all mankind". According to the Romans, the Illyrians were tall and well-built. Herodianus writes that "Pannonians are tall and strong always ready for a fight and to face danger but slow witted". Illyrian rulers wore bronze torques around their necks. Apart from conflicts between Illyrians and neighbouring nations and tribes, numerous wars were recorded among Illyrian tribes too. Culture Language The languages spoken by the Illyrian tribes are an extinct and poorly attested Indo-European language group, and it is not clear whether the languages belonged to the centum or the satem group. The Illyrians were subject to varying degrees of Celticization, Hellenization, Romanization and later Slavicization which possibly lead to the extinction of their languages. In modern research, use of concepts like "Hellenization" and "Romanization" has declined as they have been criticized as simplistic notions which can't describe the actual processes via which material development moved from the centres of the ancient Mediterranean to its periphery. The vast majority of knowledge of Illyrian is based on the Messapian language if the latter is considered an Illyrian dialect. The non-Messapian testimonies of Illyrian are too fragmentary to allow any conclusions whether Messapian should be considered part of Illyrian proper, although it has been widely thought that Messapian was related to Illyrian. An extinct Indo-European language, Messapian was once spoken in Messapia in the southeastern Italian Peninsula. It was spoken by the three Iapygian tribes of the region, the Messapians, the Daunii and the Peucetii. On both sides on the border region between southern Illyria and northern Epirus the contact between the Illyrian and Greek languages produced an area of bilingualism between the two, although it is unclear how the impact of the one language to the other developed because of the scarcity of available archaeological material. However, this did not occur at the same level on both sides, with the Illyrians being more willing to adopt the more prestigious Greek language. Ongoing research may provide further knowledge about these contacts beyond present limited sources. Illyrians were exposed not only to Doric and Epirote Greek but also to Attic-Ionic. The Illyrian languages were once thought to be connected to the Venetic language in the Italian Peninsula but this view was abandoned. Other scholars have linked them with the adjacent Thracian language supposing an intermediate convergence area or dialect continuum, but this view is also not generally supported. All these languages were likely extinct by the 5th century AD although traditionally, the Albanian language is identified as the descendant of Illyrian dialects that survived in remote areas of the Balkans during the Middle Ages but evidence "is too meager and contradictory for us to know whether the term Illyrian even referred to a single language". The ancestor dialects of the Albanian language would have survived somewhere along the boundary of Latin and Ancient Greek linguistic influence, the Jireček Line. There are various modern historians and linguists who believe that the modern Albanian language might have descended from a southern Illyrian dialect whereas an alternative hypothesis holds that Albanian was descended from the Thracian language. Not enough is known of the ancient language to completely prove or disprove either hypothesis, see Origin of the Albanians. Linguistic evidence and subgrouping Modern studies about Illyrian onomastics, the main field via which the Illyrians have been linguistically investigated as no written records have been found, began in the 1920s and sought to more accurately define Illyrian tribes, the commonalities, relations and differences between each other as they were conditioned by specific local cultural, ecological and economic factors, which further subdivided them into different groupings. This approach has led in contemporary research in the definition of three main onomastic provinces in which Illyrian personal names appear near exclusively in the archaeological material of each province. The southern Illyrian or south-eastern Dalmatian province was the area of the proper Illyrians (the core of which was the territory of Illyrii proprie dicti of the classical authors, located in modern Albania) and includes most of Albania, Montenegro and their hinterlands. This area extended along the Adriatic coast from the Aous valley in the south, up to and beyond the Neretva valley in the north. The second onomastic province, the central Illyrian or middle Dalmatian-Pannonian province began to its north and covered a larger area than the southern province. It extended along the Adriatic coast between the Krka and Cetina rivers, covered much of Bosnia (except for its northern regions), central Dalmatia (Lika) and its hinterland in the central Balkans included western Serbia and Sandžak. The third onomastic province further to the north defined as North Adriatic area includes Liburnia and the region of modern Ljubljana in Slovenia. It is part of a larger linguistic area different from Illyrian that also comprises Venetic and its Istrian variety. These areas are not strictly defined geographically as there was some overlap between them. The region of the Dardani (modern Kosovo, parts of northern North Macedonia, parts of eastern Serbia) saw the overlap of the southern Illyrian and Dalmatian onomastic provinces. Local Illyrian anthroponymy is also found in the area. In its onomastics, southern Illyrian (or south-east Dalmatian) has close relations with Messapic. Most of these relations are shared with the central Dalmatian area. In older scholarship (Crossland (1982)), some toponyms in central and northern Greece show phonetic characteristics that were thought to indicate that Illyrians or closely related peoples were settled in those regions before the introduction of the Greek language. However, such views largely relied on subjective ancient testimonies and are not supported by the earliest evidence (epigraphic etc.). Religion The Illyrians, as most ancient civilizations, were polytheistic and worshipped many gods and deities developed of the powers of nature. The most numerous traces—still insufficiently studied—of religious practices of the pre-Roman era are those relating to religious symbolism. Symbols are depicted in every variety of ornament and reveal that the chief object of the prehistoric cult of the Illyrians was the Sun, worshipped in a widespread and complex religious system. The solar deity was depicted as a geometrical figure such as the spiral, the concentric circle and the swastika, or as an animal figure the likes of the birds, serpents and horses. The symbols of water-fowl and horses were more common in the north, while the serpent was more common in the south. Illyrian deities were mentioned in inscriptions on statues, monuments, and coins of the Roman period, and some interpreted by Ancient writers through comparative religion. There appears to be no single most prominent god for all the Illyrian tribes, and a number of deities evidently appear only in specific regions. In Illyris, Dei-pátrous was a god worshiped as the Sky Father, Prende was the love-goddess and the consort of the thunder-god Perendi, En or Enji was the fire-god, Jupiter Parthinus was a chief deity of the Parthini, Redon was a tutelary deity of sailors appearing on many inscriptions in the coastal towns of Lissus, Daorson, Scodra and Dyrrhachium, while Medaurus was the protector deity of Risinium, with a monumental equestrian statue dominating the city from the acropolis. In Dalmatia and Pannonia one of the most popular ritual traditions during the Roman period was the cult of the Roman tutelary deity of the wild, woods and fields Silvanus, depicted with iconography of Pan. The Roman deity of wine, fertility and freedom Liber was worshipped with the attributes of Silvanus, and those of Terminus, the god protector of boundaries. Tadenus was a Dalmatian deity bearing the identity or epithet of Apollo in inscriptions found near the source of the Bosna river. The Delmatae also had Armatus as a war god in Delminium. The Silvanae, a feminine plural of Silvanus, were featured on many dedications across Pannonia. In the hot springs of Topusko (Pannonia Superior), sacrificial altars were dedicated to Vidasus and Thana (identified with Silvanus and Diana), whose names invariably stand side by side as companions. Aecorna or Arquornia was a lake or river tutelary goddess worshipped exclusively in the cities of Nauportus and Emona, where she was the most important deity next to Jupiter. Laburus was also a local deity worshipped in Emona, perhaps a deity protecting the boatmen sailing. It seems that the Illyrians did not develop a uniform cosmology on which to center their religious practices. A number of Illyrian toponyms and anthroponyms derived from animal names and reflected the beliefs in animals as mythological ancestors and protectors. The serpent was one of the most important animal totems. Illyrians believed in the force of spells and the evil eye, in the magic power of protective and beneficial amulets which could avert the evil eye or the bad intentions of enemies. Human sacrifice also played a role in the lives of the Illyrians. Arrian records the chieftain Cleitus the Illyrian as sacrificing three boys, three girls and three rams just before his battle with Alexander the Great. The most common type of burial among the Iron Age Illyrians was tumulus or mound burial. The kin of the first tumuli was buried around that, and the higher the status of those in these burials the higher the mound. Archaeology has found many artifacts placed within these tumuli such as weapons, ornaments, garments and clay vessels. The rich spectrum in religious beliefs and burial rituals that emerged in Illyria, especially during the Roman period, may reflect the variation in cultural identities in this region. Archaeology There are few remains to connect with the Bronze Age with the later Illyrians in the western Balkans. Moreover, with the notable exception of Pod near Bugojno in the upper valley of the Vrbas River, nothing is known of their settlements. Some hill settlements have been identified in western Serbia, but the main evidence comes from cemeteries, consisting usually of a small number of burial mounds (tumuli). In the cemeteries of Belotić and Bela Crkva (sr), the rites of exhumation and cremation are attested, with skeletons in stone cists and cremations in urns. Metal implements appear here side by side with stone implements. Most of the remains belong to the fully developed Middle Bronze Age. During the 7th century BC, the beginning of the Iron Age, the Illyrians emerge as an ethnic group with a distinct culture and art form. Various Illyrian tribes appeared, under the influence of the Halstatt cultures from the north, and they organized their regional centers. The cult of the dead played an important role in the lives of the Illyrians, which is seen in their carefully made burials and burial ceremonies, as well as the richness of the burial sites. In the northern parts of the Balkans, there existed a long tradition of cremation and burial in shallow graves, while in the southern parts, the dead were buried in large stone, or earth tumuli (natively called gromile) that in Herzegovina were reaching monumental sizes, more than 50 meters wide and 5 meters high. The Japodian tribe (found from Istria in Croatia to Bihać in Bosnia) have had an affinity for decoration with heavy, oversized necklaces out of yellow, blue or white glass paste, and large bronze fibulas, as well as spiral bracelets, diadems and helmets out of bronze. Small sculptures out of jade in form of archaic Ionian plastic are also characteristically Japodian. Numerous monumental sculptures are preserved, as well as walls of citadel Nezakcij near Pula, one of numerous Istrian cities from Iron Age. Illyrian chiefs wore bronze torques around their necks much like the Celts did. The Illyrians were influenced by the Celts in many cultural and material aspects and some of them were Celticized, especially the tribes in Dalmatia and the Pannonians. In Slovenia, the Vače situla was discovered in 1882 and attributed to Illyrians. Prehistoric remains indicate no more than average height, male , female . Early Middle Ages It is also evident that in a region which stretches from the southern Dalmatian coast, its hinterland, Montenegro, northern Albania up to Kosovo and Dardania, apart from a uniformity in onomastics there were also some archaeological similarities. However, it cannot be determined whether these tribes living there also formed a linguistic unity. The Komani-Kruja culture is an archaeological culture attested from late antiquity to the Middle Ages in central and northern Albania, southern Montenegro and similar sites in the western parts of North Macedonia. It consists of settlements usually built below hillforts along the Lezhë (Praevalitana)-Dardania and Via Egnatia road networks which connected the Adriatic coastline with the central Balkan Roman provinces. Its type site is Komani and its fort on the nearby Dalmace hill in the Drin river valley. Kruja and Lezha represent significant sites of the culture. The population of Komani-Kruja represents a local, non-Slavic western Balkan people which was linked to the Roman Justinianic military system of forts. The development of Komani-Kruja is significant for the study of the transition between the classical antiquity population of Albania to the medieval Albanians who were attested in historical records in the 11th century. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja is framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of Arbanon. Illyrian-Albanian links were the main focus of Albanian nationalism during the Communism period. What was established in this early phase of research was that Komani-Kruja settlements represented a local, non-Slavic population which has been described as Romanized Illyrian, Latin-speaking or Latin-literate. This is corroborated by the absence of Slavic toponyms and survival of Latin ones in the Komani-Kruja area. In terms of historiography, the thesis of older Albanian archaeology is an untestable hypothesis as no historical sources exist which can link Komani-Kruja to the first definite attestation of medieval Albanians in the 11th century. The nationalist interpretation of the Komani-Kruja cemeteries has been roundly rejected by non-Albanian scholars. J. Wilkes has described it as "a highly improbable reconstruction of Albanian history". Some Albanian scholars even today have continued to espouse this model of continuity. Limited excavations campaigns occurred until the 1990s. Objects from a vast area covering nearby regions the entire Byzantine Empire, the northern Balkans and Hungary and sea routes from Sicily to Crimea were found in Dalmace and other sites coming from many different production centres: local, Byzantine, Sicilian, Avar-Slavic, Hungarian, Crimean and even possibly Merovingian and Carolingian. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja was framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of Arbanon. As research focused almost entirely on grave contexts and burial sites, settlements and living spaces were often ignored. Other views stressed that as an archaeological culture it shouldn't be connected to a single social or ethnic group but be contextualized in a broader Roman-Byzantine or Christian framework, nor should material finds be separated in ethnic categories as they can't be correlated to a specific culture. In this view, cemeteries from nearby regions which were classified as belonging to Slavic groups shouldn't be viewed as necessarily representing another people but as representations of class and other social factors as "ethnic identity was only one factor of varying importance". Yugoslav archaeology proposed an opposite narrative and tried to frame the population as Slavic, especially in the region of western Macedonia. Archaeological research has shown that these sites were not related to regions then inhabited by Slavs and even in regions like Macedonia, no Slavic settlements had been founded in the 7th century. Archaeologically, while it was considered possible and even likely that Komani-Kruja sites were used continuously from the 7th century onwards, it remained an untested hypothesis as research was still limited. Whether this population represented local continuity or arrived at an earlier period from a more northern location as the Slavs entered the Balkans remained unclear at the time but regardless of their ultimate geographical origins, these groups maintained Justinianic era cultural traditions of the 6th century possibly as a statement of their collective identity and derived their material cultural references from the Justinianic military system. In this context, they may have used burial customs as a means of reference to an "idealized image of the past Roman power". Research greatly expanded after 2009, and the first survey of Komani's topography was produced in 2014. Until then, except for the area of the cemetery, the size of the settlement and its extension remained unknown. In 2014, it was revealed that Komani occupied an area of more than 40 ha, a much larger territory than originally thought. Its oldest settlement phase dates to the Hellenistic era. Proper development began in late antiquity and continued well into the Middle Ages (13th-14th centuries). It indicates that Komani was a late Roman fort and an important trading node in the networks of Praevalitana and Dardania. Participation in trade networks of the eastern Mediterranean via sea routes seems to have been very limited even in nearby coastal territory in this era. The collapse of the Roman administration in the Balkans was followed by a broad demographic collapse with the exception of Komani-Kruja and neighbouring mountainous regions. In the Avar-Slavic raids, communities from present-day northern Albania and nearby areas clustered around hill sites for better protection as is the case of other areas like Lezha and Sarda. During the 7th century, as Byzantine authority was reeastablished after the Avar-Slavic raids and the prosperity of the settlements increased, Komani saw an increase in population and a new elite began to take shape. Increase in population and wealth was marked by the establishment of new settlements and new churches in their vicinity. Komani formed a local network with Lezha and Kruja and in turn this network was integrated in the wider Byzantine Mediterranean world, maintained contacts with the northern Balkans and engaged in long-distance trade. Winnifrith (2020) recently described this population as the survival of a "Latin-Illyrian" culture which emerged later in historical records as Albanians and Vlachs. In Winnifrith's view, the geographical conditions of northern Albania favored the continuation of the Albanian language in hilly and mountainous areas as opposed to lowland valleys. He adds that the language and religion of this culture remain uncertain. With bishops absent abroad, "the mountain flocks cannot have been too versed in theological or linguistic niceties". Nationalism Albanians The possible continuity between the Illyrian populations of the Western Balkans in antiquity and the Albanians has played a significant role in Albanian nationalism from the 19th century until the present day. South Slavs At the beginning of the 19th century, many educated Europeans regarded the South Slavs as the descendants of ancient Illyrians. Consequently, when Napoléon conquered part of the South Slavic lands, these areas were named after ancient Illyrian provinces (1809–1814). After the demise of the First French Empire in 1815, the Habsburg Monarchy became increasingly centralized and authoritarian, and fear of Magyarization arouse patriotic resistance among Croatians. Under the influence of Romantic nationalism, a self-identified "Illyrian movement", in the form of a Croatian national revival, opened a literary and journalistic campaign initiated by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the years of 1835–49. See also Notes References Bibliography External links Phallic Cult of the Illyrians Indo-European peoples Ancient tribes in Albania Ancient tribes in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ancient tribes in Croatia Ancient tribes in Kosovo Ancient tribes in Montenegro Ancient tribes in Serbia Ancient tribes in the Balkans Illyrian Albania Illyrian Serbia Ancient history of Slovenia Ancient peoples of Europe	false	[ "The Illyrians (, ; ) were a conglomeration of Indo-European peoples and tribes in the Balkan Peninsula, Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Illyrian language and practiced a multitude of common religious and cultural practices. Many of Illyrian groups formed a distinct tribal mode of social organisation, which survived much later in the form of the Albanian tribal system.\n\nIn late iron age and early classical antiquity, the first polities of the area would be created by tribal groupings, including the Taulantii and Dardani. The most powerful Illyrian states of the area, the Ardiaean kingdom, emerged in the 3rd century BC during the rule of Agron and Teuta. The Illyrians came into conflict with Roman Republic and were defeated in the Illyrian Wars, which were followed by many revolts. The largest and last of them was the Great Illyrian Revolt (6-9 BC). The beginning of the integration of the region of Illyria in the Roman world followed the revolt and saw many Illyrians rise through the ranks of the Roman society and the Roman army in particular which produced several emperors of Illyrian origin.\n\nA\n\nB\n\nC\n\nD\n\nE\n\nI\n\nJ\n\nT\n\nV\n\nHistorical rulers \n Galaurus: king of Taulantii. Unsuccessfully invaded Macedonia between 678–640 BC.\n Grabos I (5th century BC): attested on an Athenian inscription, he was very likely a person with great political responsibilities. He probably was the grandfather of Grabos II.\n Sirras (437–390 BC), ruler in Lyncestis.\n Grabos II (r. 358–356 BC): entered Athenian alliance to resist Philip's power in 356 BC.\n Pleuratus I (r. 356–335 BC): reigned near the Adriatic coast in southern Illyria. In a losing effort in 344 BC, tried to thwart Philip's advances in Illyria.\n Pleurias (r. c. 337/336 BC): Illyrian ruler who campaigned against Philip II about 337 BC. He is considered by some scholars as king of either the Autariatae, the Taulantii, or the Dardani. Some have suggested that he was the same as Pleuratus I; Pleurias is mentioned only in Diodorus (16.93.6), elsewere unattested in ancient sources.\n Cleitus, son of Bardylis I (r. 335–295 BC): mastermind behind the Illyrian Revolt in Pelion of 335 BC against Alexander the Great.\n Glaucias: king of Taulantii. He aided Cleitus at the Battle of Pelion in 335 BC, raised Pyrrhus of Epirus and was involved in other events in southern Illyria in the late 4th century BC.\n Monunius I, (r. 290–270 BC): reigned during the Gallic invasions of 279 BC. He minted his own silver staters in Dyrrhachion.\n Mytilos, successor of Monunius I and probably his son (r. 270–?): waged war on Epirus in 270 BC. He minted his own bronze coins in Dyrrhachion.\n\nArdiaean-Labeatan rulers\n\n Pleuratus II: reigned in a time of peace and prosperity for the Illyrian kingdom., ruled BC 260 ~ BC 250\n Teuta (regent for Pinnes): forced to come to terms with the Romans in 227 BC.\n Demetrius of Pharos: surrenders to the Romans at Pharos in 218 BC and flees to Macedonia., ruled B.C 222~B.C 219\n Scerdilaidas: allied with Rome to defeat Macedonia in 208 BC., ruled B.C 218~B.C 206\n Pinnes: too young to become king; ruled under the regency of Teuta, Demetrius and Scerdilaidas., ruled B.C 230~B.C 217\n Pleuratus III: rewarded by the Romans in 196 BC, with lands annexed by the Macedonians., ruled B.C 205~B.C 181\n Gentius: defeated by the Romans in 168 BC during the Third Illyrian War; Illyrian kingdom ceased to exist while the king was taken prisoner., ruled B.C 181~B.C 168\n\nDardanian rulers\n\n Longarus: invaded northern borders of the Illyrian kingdom in 229 BC while Teuta was dealing with campaigns in Epirus.\n Monunius of Dardania: repelled the Bastarnae Invasion of Dardania in 175 BC.\n\nOther rulers\n\nHistria\n Epulon, ruler of Histria: thwarted Roman advances in the Istrian peninsula until his death in 177 BC.\n\nDalmatae\n Verzo, ruler of the Dalmatae: took the city of Promona from the Liburni in order to ambush Octavian in 34 BC.\n Testimos, ruler of the Dalmatae: defeated by the Romans in 33 BC; Dalmatia incorporated into Roman Republic.\n\nMessapia\n Opis of Messapia: attacked by Taras in 460 BC at Hyria, in which he died.\n\nPannonia\n Pinnes of Pannonia: led Pannonians in the Great Illyrian Revolt from 6 AD.\n\nMinor rulers\n Ionios: ruled over Issa and the surrounding region in the first half of the 4th century BC, probably after the fall of Dionysius of Syracuse in 367 BC.\n Caeria: Illyrian queen who ruled to 344/343BC.\n\nSee also \nList of ancient Illyrian peoples and tribes\nList of settlements in Illyria\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography \n\nIllyrians\nIllyrians", "Cleitus (Ancient Greek: Κλεῖτος; ruled 356335 BC) was an Illyrian ruler, the son of the King Bardylis and the father of Bardylis II.\n\nCleitus was the mastermind behind the well structured Illyrian Revolt of 335 BC. Cleitus entered into an agreement with the Taulantii State under Glaucias and the Autariatae State under Pleurias. Cleitus had captured and garrisoned the city of Pelion and waited for Glaucias' troops to arrive. However, Alexander arrived on the scene first and blockaded Cleitus within the city walls. Glaucias came to Cleitus' aid, and the Macedonians were forced to retreat. Alexander came back with more equipment and supplies and skillfully drove Glaucias' army from the surrounding heights, preventing Cleitus from engaging with Glaucias.\n\nAfter a three-day truce, Alexander found the Taulantii camp unguarded and defeated the Illyrians under the cover of night. Cletius managed to escape and likely kept his throne ruling in , probably as a vassal under the Macedonian Kingdom. According to a modern historical reconstruction, Cleitus was ruler of the Dardani, according to another reconstruction he was ruler of the Dassaretii.\n\nBiography \n\nCleitus was attested as the son of Bardylis by Arrian ( ) in The Anabasis of Alexander. Some modern historians consider Cleitus the grandson of the very old Bardylis I who defeated Perdiccas III in 359 and who died shortly thereafter at the age of more than ninety, and the son of Bardylis II; others consider Cleitus directly the son of Bardylis I, since nothing confirms such a generation gap and nothing allows to find out Cleitus's age in the year 335. Unlike Grabos II and Pleurias - Pleuratus, the designation \"king of the Illyrians\" never appears next to Cleitus in Arrian. In his military operations, Cleitus seems to treat Glaukias, the king of Taulanti, as his equal. Diodorus ( 1st century BC) recognizes Glaukias as the king of Illyrians after the disappearance of Cleitus. Therefore Cleitus can be considered king of the Illyrians not particularly because he succeeded Bardylis, but because he led the Illyrians in the 335 BC uprising at Pelion.\n\nRulership\n\nAlliances for the Illyrian revolt \n\nCleitus was one of the three Illyrian kings who attempted to gain lost territory and thwart Macedonian power in a revolt. During Alexander's Balkan campaigns, alarming reports began to come from Illyria that the Illyrians had revolted and were poised to invade Macaedonia. The Illyrian revolt had a personal element to it; Cleitus led the revolt, and his father Bardyllis had been soundly defeated by Macedonia in 358 BC. Alexander found himself thrown headlong into one of the toughest campaigns of his entire career. Alexander's Danubian expedition had given Cleitus just the chance he was waiting for. Cleitus allied himself with Glaucias, king of the Taulantii State, and en route, he persuaded the Autariatae State to attack Alexander as well. Meanwhile, Glaucias' army would march to Cleitus, so the Macedonians would have to face this larger, combined force.\n\nBattle of Pelion \n\nIn 335 BC, Alexander's ally Langarus promised to deal with the Autariatae while Alexander headed towards Cleitus. Langarus invaded their territory and defeated them. Alexander thus foiled Cleitus' plan of blockading the Macedonian army. Glaucias and his army had not yet reached Cleitus, and Alexander pushed hard to reach the Cleitus' fortress city of Pelion before Glaucias did. Alexander drove through Paeonia and Lynkestis, finally arriving at Pelion before Glaucias. The ancient historian Arrian states that Cleitus sacrificed three boys, three girls, and three black rams on an altar just before the Battle of Pelion with Alexander. The Illyrian advance detachments, after some brief skirmishing, retreated within the walls of Pelion. The Macedonians decided to blockade Pelion, bringing up their siege equipment. The Macedonians had no time in starving Cleitus out, and with so small a task force, their chances of taking the strongly guarded city fortress by storm were minimal. Glaucias was on his way to aid Cleitus, and the Macedonians were cut off and short of supplies. This was the first and last bitter taste of failure for Alexander.\n\nA foraging party under the Macedonian general Philotas barely escaped annihilation thanks to quick action by Alexander and the cavalry. Early next morning, he formed up his entire army in the plain, apparently oblivious to the presence of Cleitus and the newly arrived Glaucias, and gave an exhibition of close-order drill. The bristling spear-line swung right and left in perfect unison. The phalanx advanced, wheeled into column and line, and moved through various intricate formations as though on the parade-ground, all without a word being uttered. The Illyrian kings had never seen anything like it. From their positions in the surrounding hills, the Illyrians stared down at this weird ritual, scarcely able to believe their eyes. Then little by little one Illyrian force began to edge closer. Alexander, watching their psychological movement, gave his final prearranged signal. The left wing of the cavalry swung into wedge formation and charged. At the same moment every man of the phalanx beat his spear on his shield yelling out the Macedonia war-cry. Glaucias' forces fled back in wild confusion from the heights to the safety of their city where Cleitus was. The last of the Illyrians from the knoll were flushed out while the Macedonians began to advance across the river.\n\nThe Illyrians, realizing the trap, rallied and counter-attacked. Alexander's cavalry and light-armed troops held them off from the knoll long enough for his siege catapults to be carried through the ford and set up on the further bank. The Macedonians withdrew a few miles and gave Cleitus and Glaucias three days to regain their confidence. The Illyrian camp lay wide open because of indiscipline; Glaucias dug no trenches and built no palisades, not even bothering to post sentries. Alexander returned with a specially picked mobile force, and he sent in his archers and the Agrianians to finish the job during the night. Most of the Illyrians were still asleep, and the Macedonian slaughtered them where they lay. In desperation, Cleitus set fire to Pelion, so it would not fall into Macedonian hands.\n\nAftermath \n\nThere was no time to capture Cleitus or to negotiate a treaty with the Illyrians as Thebes and Boeotia suddenly revolted. Cleitus fled with Glaucias to the Taulantii State where he was offered shelter. Cleitus and Glaucias continued to rule, probably as vassal kings under Macedonia. Cleitus did not regroup his forces, so the Illyrians remained on amicable terms with Macedonia for the rest of Alexander's reign. They even sent a contingent of troops for Alexander's invasion of Persia. Alexander's superior skill as a general was enough of a deterrent to ensure that the Illyrian States remained passive. The year of Cletius' death is not known, but he was succeeded to the throne by his son Bardyllis II around 300–295 BC, although it is unlikely that he ruled that long.\n\nSee also \n List of rulers of Illyria\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography \n\nIllyrian royalty\n4th-century BC rulers\nDardanians\nYear of birth unknown\nYear of death unknown" ]
[ "Illyrians", "Hellenistic period", "When did the Hellenistic period take place?", "4th century BC.", "Where were the Illyrians located?", "Greco-Roman historiography", "Did the Illyrians have a Ruler/King/President?", "The Illyrians formed several kingdoms in the central Balkans, and the first known Illyrian king was Bardyllis." ]	C_a9b96a021b774af3a303077bcfe676dd_0	Were they peaceful or warlike?	4	Were the Illyrians peaceful or warlike during the Hellenistic period?	Illyrians	Illyria appears in Greco-Roman historiography from the 4th century BC. The Illyrians formed several kingdoms in the central Balkans, and the first known Illyrian king was Bardyllis. Illyrian kingdoms were often at war with ancient Macedonia, and the Illyrian pirates were also a significant danger to neighbouring peoples. At the Neretva Delta, there was a strong Hellenistic influence on the Illyrian tribe of Daors. Their capital was Daorson located in Osanici near Stolac in Herzegovina, which became the main center of classical Illyrian culture. Daorson, during the 4th century BC, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 meter high stonewalls, composed out of large trapeze stones blocks. Daors also made unique bronze coins and sculptures. The Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on the Dalmatian islands. Queen Teuta was famous for having waged wars against the Romans. After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos became the strongest state in Illyria. Philip II killed 7,000 Illyrians in a great victory and annexed the territory up to Lake Ohrid. Next, Philip II reduced the Grabaei, and then went for the Ardiaei, defeated the Triballi (339 BC), and fought with Pleurias (337 BC). In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Italian commerce. There were three campaigns, the first against Teuta the second against Demetrius of Pharos and the third against Gentius. The initial campaign in 229 BC marks the first time that the Roman Navy crossed the Adriatic Sea to launch an invasion. The Roman Republic subdued the Illyrians during the 2nd century BC. An Illyrian revolt was crushed under Augustus, resulting in the division of Illyria in the provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. CANNOTANSWER	After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos became the strongest state in Illyria.	The Illyrians (, Illyrioi; ) were a group of Indo-European speaking peoples, who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, along with the Thracians and Greeks. The territory the Illyrians inhabited came to be known as Illyria to later Greek and Roman authors, who identified a territory that corresponds to most of Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, much of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, western and central Serbia and some parts of Slovenia between the Adriatic Sea in the west, the Drava river in the north, the Morava river in the east and in the south the Aous (modern Vjosa) river or possibly the Ceraunian Mountains. The first account of Illyrian peoples dates back to the 6th century BC, in the works of the ancient Greek writer Hecataeus of Miletus. The name "Illyrians", as applied by the ancient Greeks to their northern neighbors, may have referred to a broad, ill-defined group of peoples. The Illyrian tribes never collectively identified as "Illyrians", and it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature at all. Illyrians seems to be the name of a specific Illyrian tribe who were among the first to encounter the ancient Greeks during the Bronze Age. The Greeks later applied this term Illyrians, pars pro toto, to all people with similar language and customs. In archaeological, historical and linguistic studies, research about the Illyrians, from the late 19th to the 21st century, has moved from Pan-Illyrian theories, which identified as Illyrian even groups north of the Balkans to more well-defined groupings based on Illyrian onomastics and material anthropology since the 1960s as newer inscriptions were found and sites excavated. There are two principal Illyrian onomastic areas: the southern and the Dalmatian-Pannonian, with the area of the Dardani as a region of overlapping between the two. A third area, to the north of them – which in ancient literature was usually identified as part of Illyria – has been connected more to the Venetic language than to Illyrian. Illyric settlement in Italy was and still is attributed to a few ancient tribes which are thought to have migrated along the Adriatic shorelines to the Italian peninsula from the geographic "Illyria": the Dauni, the Peuceti and Messapi (collectively known as Iapyges). The term "Illyrians" last appears in the historical record in the 7th century, referring to a Byzantine garrison operating within the former Roman province of Illyricum. Names and terminology The terms 'Illyrians', 'Illyria' and 'Illyricum' have been used throughout history for ethnic and geographic contextualizations that have changed over time. Re-contextualizations of these terms often confused ancient writers and modern scholars. Notable scholarly efforts have been dedicated to try to analyze and explain these changes. The first known mention of Illyrians occurred in the late 6th and the early 5th century BC in fragments of Hecataeus of Miletus, the author of Γενεαλογίαι (Genealogies) and of Περίοδος Γῆς or Περιήγησις (Description of the Earth or Periegesis), where the Illyrians are described as a barbarian people. In the Macedonian history during the 6th and 5th century B.C., the term 'Illyrian' had a political meaning that was quite definite, denoting a kingdom established on the north-western borders of Upper Macedonia. From the 5th century B.C. onwards, the term 'Illyrian' was already applied to a large ethnic group whose territory extended deep into the Balkan mainland. Ancient Greeks clearly considered the Illyrians as a completely distinct ethnos from both the Thracians (Θρᾷκες) and the Macedonians (Μακεδόνες). Most scholars hold that the territory originally designated as 'Illyrian' was roughly located in the region of the south-eastern Adriatic (modern Albania and Montenegro) and its hinterland, then was later extended to the whole Roman Illyricum province, which stretched from the eastern Adriatic to the Danube. After the Illyrians had come to be widely known to the Greeks due to their proximity, this ethnic designation was broadened to include other peoples who, for some reason, were considered by ancient writers to be related with those peoples originally designated as Illyrians (Ἰλλυριοί, Illyrioi). The original designation may have occurred during the Bronze Age, when Greek-speaking tribes may have been neighbours of the southernmost Illyrian tribe of that time that dwelled in the Zeta plain in Montenegro or in the Mat valley in Albania, being subsequently applied as a general term to people of the same language and manners. It has been also inferred that if Greek populations had their first contact with Illyrian tribes when the latter dwelt around Shkodër, then an Illyrian expansion southwards took place during the early first millennium BC, before the later reaching Aous. The label Illyrians was first used by outsiders, in particular Ancient Greeks, at the beginning of the 8th century BC. When the Greeks began to frequent the eastern Adriatic coast with the colonization of Corcyra, they started to have some knowledge and perceptions of the indigenous peoples of western Balkans. The Illyrian tribes evidently never collectively identified themselves as Illyrians and it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature at all. Most modern scholars are certain that all the peoples of western Balkans that were collectively labeled as 'Illyrians' were not a culturally or linguistically homogeneous entity. For instance, some tribes like the Bryges would not have been identified as Illyrian. What criteria were initially used to define this group of peoples or how and why the term 'Illyrians' began to be used to describe the indigenous population of western Balkans cannot be said with certainty. Scholarly debates have been waged to find an answer to the question whether the term 'Illyrians' (Ἰλλυριοί) derived from some eponymous tribe, or whether it has been applied to designate the indigenous population as a general term for some other specific reason. Illyrii proprie dicti Ancient Roman writers Pliny the Elder and Pomponius Mela used the term Illyrii proprie dicti ('properly called Illyrians') to designate a people that was located in the coast of modern Albania and Montenegro. Many modern scholars view the 'properly called Illyrians' as a trace of the Illyrian kingdom known in the sources from the 4th century BC until 167 BC, which was ruled in Roman times by the Ardiaei and Labeatae when it was centered in the Bay of Kotor and Lake Skadar. According to other modern scholars, the term Illyrii may have originally referred only to a small ethnos in the area between Epidaurum and Lissus, and Pliny and Mela may have followed a literary tradition that dates back as early as Hecataeus of Miletus. Placed in central Albania, the Illyrii proprie dicti also might have been Rome's first contact with lllyrian peoples. In that case, it did not indicate an original area from which the Illyrians expanded. The area of the Illyrii proprie dicti is largely included in the southern Illyrian onomastic province in modern linguistics. Origins Scholars have long recognized a "difficulty in producing a single theory on the ethnogenesis of the Illyrians" given their heterogeneous nature. Modern scholarship is unable to refer to the Illyrians as a unique and compact people and agrees that they were a sum of ill-defined communities without common origins that never merged to a single ethnic entity. According to linguist Robert Elsie, "the term 'Illyrian' probably referred initially to the tribe with which the ancient Greeks first had contact, but it was later used as a collective term for a wide range of tribes in the region, although they may not have been culturally or linguistically homogenous at all." Older Pan-Illyrian theories which emerged in the 1920s placed the proto-Illyrians as the original inhabitants of a very large area which reached central Europe. These theories, which are now generally dismissed by scholars, were used in the politics of the era and its racialist notions of Nordicism and Aryanism. The main fact which these theories tried to address was the existence of traces of Illyrian toponymy in parts of Europe beyond the western Balkans, an issue whose origins are still unclear. The specific theories have found little archaeological corroboration, as no convincing evidence for significant migratory movements from the Luzatian culture into the west Balkans has ever been found. Rather, archaeologists from former Yugoslavia highlighted the continuity between the Bronze and succeeding Iron Age (especially in regions such as Donja Dolina, central Bosnia-Glasinac, and northern Albania (Mat river basin)), ultimately developing the so-called "autochthonous theory" of Illyrian genesis. The "autochthonous" model was most elaborated upon by Alojz Benac and B. Čović. They argued (following the "Kurgan hypothesis") that the 'proto-Illyrians' had arrived much earlier, during the Bronze Age as nomadic Indo-Europeans from the steppe. From that point, there was a gradual Illyrianization of the western Balkans leading to historic Illyrians, with no early Iron Age migration from northern Europe. He did not deny a minor cultural impact from the northern Urnfield cultures, however, "these movements had neither a profound influence on the stability of the Balkans, nor did they affect the ethnogenesis of the Illyrian ethnos". Aleksandar Stipčević raised concerns regarding Benac's all-encompassing scenario of autochthonous ethnogenesis, raising the following questions: "can one negate the participation of the bearers of the field-urn culture in the ethnogenesis of the Illyrian tribes who lived in present-day Slovenia and Croatia" or "Hellenistic and Mediterranean influences on southern Illyrians and Liburnians?". He concludes that Benac's model is only applicable to the Illyrian groups in Bosnia, western Serbia and a part of Dalmatia, where there had indeed been a settlement continuity and 'native' progression of pottery sequences since the Bronze Age. Following prevailing trends in discourse on identity in Iron Age Europe, current anthropological perspectives reject older theories of a longue duree (long term) ethnogenesis of Illyrians, even where 'archaeological continuity' can be demonstrated to Bronze Age times. They rather see the emergence of historic Illyrians tribes as a more recent phenomenon - just prior to their first attestation. The proto-Illyrians during the course of their settlement along the Adriatic coast and its hinterland likely merged with populations of a pre-Illyrian substratum – like Enchelei might have been –, leading to the formation of the historical Illyrians who were attested in later times. It has been suggested that the myth of Cadmus and Harmonia may be a reflection in mythology of that historical era. The impetus behind the emergence of larger regional groups, such as "Iapodes", "Liburnians", "Pannonians" etc., is traced to increased contacts with the Mediterranean and La Tène 'global worlds'. This catalyzed "the development of more complex political institutions and the increase in differences between individual communities". Emerging local elites selectively adopted either La Tène or Hellenistic and, later, Roman cultural templates "in order to legitimize and strengthen domination within their communities. They were competing fiercely through either alliance or conflict and resistance to Roman expansion. Thus, they established more complex political alliances, which convinced (Greco-Roman) sources to see them as ‘ethnic’ identities." In ancient Greek and Roman literature Different versions of the genealogy of the Illyrians, their tribes and their eponymous ancestor, Illyrius, existed in the ancient world both in fictional and non-fictional Greco-Roman literature. The fact that there were many versions of the genealogical story of Illyrius was ascertained by Ancient Greek historian Appian (1st–2nd century AD). However, only two versions of all these genealogical stories are attested. The first version—which reports the legend of Cadmus and Harmonia—was recorded by Euripides and Strabo in accounts that would be presented in detail in Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus (1st to 2nd century AD). The second version—which reports the legend of Polyphemus and Galatea—was recorded by Appian (1st–2nd century AD) in his Illyrike. According to the first version Illyrius was the son of Cadmus and Harmonia, whom the Enchelei had chosen to be their leaders. He eventually ruled Illyria and became the eponymous ancestor of the whole Illyrian people. In one of these versions, Illyrius was named so after Cadmus left him by a river named the Illyrian, where a serpent found and raised him. Appian writes that many mythological stories were still circulating in his time, and he chose a particular version because it seemed to be the most correct one. Appian's genealogy of tribes is not complete as he writes that other Illyrian tribes exist, which he hasn't included. According to Appian's tradition, Polyphemus and Galatea gave birth to Celtus, Galas, and Illyrius, three brothers, progenitors respectively of Celts, Galatians and Illyrians. Illyrius had multiple sons: Encheleus, Autarieus, Dardanus, Maedus, Taulas and Perrhaebus, and daughters: Partho, Daortho, Dassaro and others. From these, sprang the Taulantii, Parthini, Dardani, Encheleae, Autariates, Dassaretii and the Daorsi. Autareius had a son Pannonius or Paeon and these had sons Scordiscus and Triballus. Appian's genealogy was evidently composed in Roman times encompassing barbarian peoples other than Illyrians like Celts and Galatians. and choosing a specific story for his audience that included most of the peoples who dwelled in the Illyricum of the Antonine era. However, the inclusion in his genealogy of the Enchelei and the Autariatae, whose political strength has been highly weakened, reflects a pre-Roman historical situation. Basically, ancient Greeks included in their mythological accounts all the peoples with whom they had close contacts. In Roman times, ancient Romans created more mythical or genealogical relations to include various new peoples, regardless of their large ethnic and cultural differences. Appian's genealogy lists the earliest known peoples of Illyria in the goup of the first generation, consisting mostly of southern Illyrian peoples firstly encountered by the Greeks, some of which were the Enchelei, the Taulantii, the Dassaretii and the Parthini. Some peoples that came to the Balkans at a later date such as the Scordisci are listed in the group that belongs to the third generation. The Scordisci were a Celtic people mixed with the indigenous Illyrian and Thracian population. The Pannonians have not been known to the Greeks, and it seems that before the 2nd century BC they did not come into contact with the Romans. Almost all the Greek writers referred to the Pannonians with the name Paeones until late Roman times. The Scordisci and Pannonians were considered Illyrian mainly because they belonged to Illyricum since the early Roman Imperial period. History Pre-Roman period Depending on the complexity of the diverse physical geography of the Balkans, arable farming and livestock (mixed farming) rearing had constituted the economic basis of the Illyrians during the Iron Age. In southern Illyria organized realms were formed earlier than in other areas of this region. One of the oldest known Illyrian kingdoms is that of the Enchelei, which seems to have reached its height from the 8th–7th centuries BC, but the kingdom fell from dominant power around the 6th century BC. It seems that the weakening of the kingdom of Enchelae resulted in their assimilation and inclusion into a newly established Illyrian realm at the latest in the 5th century BC, marking the arising of the Dassaretii, who appear to have replaced the Enchelei in the lakeland area of Lychnidus. According to a number of modern scholars the dynasty of Bardylis—the first attested Illyrian dynasty—was Dassaretan. The weakening of the Enchelean realm was also caused by the strengthening of another Illyrian kingdom established in its vicinity—that of the Taulantii—which existed for some time along with that of the Enchelei. The Taulantii—another people among the more anciently known groups of Illyrian tribes—lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria (modern Albania), dominating at various times much of the plain between the Drin and the Aous, comprising the area around Epidamnus/Dyrrhachium. In the 7th century BC the Taulantii invoked the aid of Corcyra and Corinth in a war against the Liburni. After the defeat and expulsion from the region of the Liburni, the Corcyreans founded in 627 BC on the Illyrian mainland a colony called Epidamnus, thought to have been the name of a barbarian king of the region. A flourishing commercial centre emerged and the city grew rapidly. The Taulantii continued to play an important role in Illyrian history between the 5th and 4th–3rd centuries BC, and in particular, in the history of Epidamnus, both as its neighbors and as part of its population. Notably they influenced the affairs in the internal conflicts between aristocrats and democrats. The Taulantian kingdom seems to have reached its climax during Glaukias' rule, in the years between 335 BC and 302 BC. The Illyrian kingdoms frequently came into conflicts with the neighbouring Ancient Macedonians, and the Illyrian pirates were also seen as significant threat to the neighbouring peoples. At the Neretva Delta, there was a strong Hellenistic influence on the Illyrian tribe of Daors. Their capital was Daorson located in Ošanići near Stolac in Herzegovina, which became the main center of classical Illyrian culture. Daorson, during the 4th century BC, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 meter high stonewalls, composed out of large trapeze stones blocks. Daors also made unique bronze coins and sculptures. The Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on the Dalmatian islands. Queen Teuta was famous for having waged wars against the Romans. After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos II became the strongest state in Illyria. Philip II killed 7,000 Illyrians in a great victory and annexed the territory up to Lake Ohrid. Next, Philip II reduced the Grabaei, and then went for the Ardiaei, defeated the Triballi (339 BC), and fought with Pleurias (337 BC). During the second part of the 3rd century BC, a number of Illyrian tribes seem to have united to form a proto-state stretching from the central part of present-day Albania up to Neretva river in Herzegovina. The political entity was financed on piracy and ruled from 250 BC by the king Agron. He was succeeded by his wife Teuta, who assumed the regency for her stepson Pinnes following Agron's death in 231 BC. In his work The Histories, Polybius (2nd century BC) reported first diplomatic contacts between the Romans and Illyrians. In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC, Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Roman commerce. There were three campaigns, the first against Teuta the second against Demetrius of Pharos and the third against Gentius. The initial campaign in 229 BC marks the first time that the Roman Navy crossed the Adriatic Sea to launch an invasion. The Roman Republic subdued the Illyrians during the 2nd century BC. An Illyrian revolt was crushed under Augustus, resulting in the division of Illyria in the provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. Depictions of the Illyrians, usually described as "barbarians" or "savages", are universally negative in Greek and Roman sources. Roman Empire Prior to the Roman conquest of Illyria, the Roman Republic had started expanding its power and territory across the Adriatic Sea. The Romans came nevertheless into a series of conflicts with the Illyrians, equally known as the Illyrian Wars, beginning in 229 BC until 168 BC as the Romans defeated Gentius at Scodra. The Great Illyrian Uprising took place in the Roman province of Illyricum in the 1st century AD, in which an alliance of native peoples revolted against the Romans. The main ancient source that describes this military conflict is Velleius Paterculus, which was incorporated into the second book of Roman History. Another ancient source about it is the biography of Octavius Augustus by Pliny the Elder. The two leaders of uprising were Bato the Breucian and Bato the Daesitiate. Geographically, the name 'Illyria' came to mean Roman Illyricum which from the 4th century to the 7th century signified the prefecture of Illyricum. It covered much of the western and central Balkans. After the defeat of the Great Illyrian Revolt and the consolidation of Roman power in the Balkans, the process of integration of Illyrians in the Roman world began. Some Illyrian communities were organized in their pre-Roman locations under their own civitates. Others migrated or were forcefully resettled in different regions. Some groups like the Azali were transferred from their homeland to frontier areas (northern Hungary) after the Great Illyrian Revolt. In Dacia, Illyrian communities like the Pirustae who were skilled miners were settled to the gold mines of Alburnus Maior where they formed their own communities. In Trajan's period these population movements were likely part of a deliberate policy of resettling, while later they involved free migrations. In their new regions, they were free salaried workers. Inscriptions show that by that era many of them had acquired Roman citizenship. Byzantine Empire With the disintegration of the Roman Empire, Gothic and Hunnic tribes raided the Balkan peninsula, forcing many Illyrians to seek refuge in the highlands. In 395 AD, the Roman Empire was split upon the death of Theodosius I into an Eastern and Western Roman Empire, in part due to the weakening and increasing pressure from threats during the Barbarian Invasions, therefore, Illyria remained in the eastern empire which was later referred to as the Byzantine Empire. The early Byzantine Empire was predominantly ruled by emperors from the Balkan Peninsula with Byzantine emperors of Illyrian origin, amongst them Constantine the Great, Jovian, Valentinian I, Anastasius I Dicorus, Justinian I and their descendants from the Constantinian dynasty, Valentinianic dynasty and Justinian dynasty. From the 6th century ongoing into the 7th century, the Slavs crossed the Danube and started to absorb the indigenous Illyrians alongside the Ancient Greeks, Dacians and Thracians into the emerging medieval states of the Slavs such as that of the Croats and Serbs. The term Illyrians last appears in the historical record in the 7th century AD, in the Miracula Sancti Demetrii, referring to a Byzantine garrison operating within the former Roman province of Illyricum. However, in the acts of the Second Council of Nicaea from 787, Nikephoros of Durrës signed himself as "Episcopus of Durrës, province of the Illyrians". Since the Middle Ages the term "Illyrian" has been used principally in connection with the Albanians, although it was also used to describe the western wing of the Southern Slavs up to the 19th century, being revived in particular during the Habsburg Monarchy. In Byzantine literature, references to Illyria as a defined region in administrative terms end after 1204 and the term specifically began to refer only to the more confined Albanian territory. Society Social and political organisation The structure of Illyrian society during classical antiquity was characterised by a conglomeration of numerous tribes and small realms ruled by warrior elites, a situation similar like that in most other societies at that time. Thucidides in the History of the Peloponnesian War (5th century BC) addresses the social organisation of the Illyrian tribes via a speech he attributes to Brasidas, in which he recounts that the mode of rulership among the Illyrian tribes is that of dynasteia—which Thucidides used in reference to foreign customs—neither democratic, nor oligarchic. Brasidas then goes on to explain that in the dynasteia the ruler rose to power "by no other means than by superiority in fighting". Pseudo-Scymnus (2nd century BC) in reference to the social organisation of Illyrian tribes in earlier times than the era he lived in makes a distinction between three modes of social organisation. A part of the Illyrians were organized under hereditary kingdoms, a second part was organized under chieftains who were elected but held no hereditary power and some Illyrians were organised in autonomous communities governed by their own internal tribal laws. In these communities social stratification had not yet emerged. Warfare The history of Illyrian warfare and weaponry spanned from around the 10th century BC up to the 1st century AD in the region defined by the Ancient Greek and Roman historians as Illyria. It concerns the armed conflicts of the Illyrian tribes and their kingdoms in the Balkan Peninsula and the Italian Peninsula as well as their pirate activity in the Adriatic Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. The Illyrians were a notorious seafaring people with a strong reputation for piracy especially common during the regency of king Agron and later queen Teuta. They used fast and maneuverable ships of types known as lembus and liburna which were subsequently used by the Ancient Macedonians and Romans. Livy described the Illyrians along the Liburnians and Istrians as nations of savages in general noted for their piracy. Illyria appears in Greco-Roman historiography from the 4th century BC. Illyrians were regarded as bloodthirsty, unpredictable, turbulent, and warlike by Greeks and Romans. They were seen as savages on the edge of their world. Polybius (3rd century BC) wrote: "the Romans had freed the Greeks from the enemies of all mankind". According to the Romans, the Illyrians were tall and well-built. Herodianus writes that "Pannonians are tall and strong always ready for a fight and to face danger but slow witted". Illyrian rulers wore bronze torques around their necks. Apart from conflicts between Illyrians and neighbouring nations and tribes, numerous wars were recorded among Illyrian tribes too. Culture Language The languages spoken by the Illyrian tribes are an extinct and poorly attested Indo-European language group, and it is not clear whether the languages belonged to the centum or the satem group. The Illyrians were subject to varying degrees of Celticization, Hellenization, Romanization and later Slavicization which possibly lead to the extinction of their languages. In modern research, use of concepts like "Hellenization" and "Romanization" has declined as they have been criticized as simplistic notions which can't describe the actual processes via which material development moved from the centres of the ancient Mediterranean to its periphery. The vast majority of knowledge of Illyrian is based on the Messapian language if the latter is considered an Illyrian dialect. The non-Messapian testimonies of Illyrian are too fragmentary to allow any conclusions whether Messapian should be considered part of Illyrian proper, although it has been widely thought that Messapian was related to Illyrian. An extinct Indo-European language, Messapian was once spoken in Messapia in the southeastern Italian Peninsula. It was spoken by the three Iapygian tribes of the region, the Messapians, the Daunii and the Peucetii. On both sides on the border region between southern Illyria and northern Epirus the contact between the Illyrian and Greek languages produced an area of bilingualism between the two, although it is unclear how the impact of the one language to the other developed because of the scarcity of available archaeological material. However, this did not occur at the same level on both sides, with the Illyrians being more willing to adopt the more prestigious Greek language. Ongoing research may provide further knowledge about these contacts beyond present limited sources. Illyrians were exposed not only to Doric and Epirote Greek but also to Attic-Ionic. The Illyrian languages were once thought to be connected to the Venetic language in the Italian Peninsula but this view was abandoned. Other scholars have linked them with the adjacent Thracian language supposing an intermediate convergence area or dialect continuum, but this view is also not generally supported. All these languages were likely extinct by the 5th century AD although traditionally, the Albanian language is identified as the descendant of Illyrian dialects that survived in remote areas of the Balkans during the Middle Ages but evidence "is too meager and contradictory for us to know whether the term Illyrian even referred to a single language". The ancestor dialects of the Albanian language would have survived somewhere along the boundary of Latin and Ancient Greek linguistic influence, the Jireček Line. There are various modern historians and linguists who believe that the modern Albanian language might have descended from a southern Illyrian dialect whereas an alternative hypothesis holds that Albanian was descended from the Thracian language. Not enough is known of the ancient language to completely prove or disprove either hypothesis, see Origin of the Albanians. Linguistic evidence and subgrouping Modern studies about Illyrian onomastics, the main field via which the Illyrians have been linguistically investigated as no written records have been found, began in the 1920s and sought to more accurately define Illyrian tribes, the commonalities, relations and differences between each other as they were conditioned by specific local cultural, ecological and economic factors, which further subdivided them into different groupings. This approach has led in contemporary research in the definition of three main onomastic provinces in which Illyrian personal names appear near exclusively in the archaeological material of each province. The southern Illyrian or south-eastern Dalmatian province was the area of the proper Illyrians (the core of which was the territory of Illyrii proprie dicti of the classical authors, located in modern Albania) and includes most of Albania, Montenegro and their hinterlands. This area extended along the Adriatic coast from the Aous valley in the south, up to and beyond the Neretva valley in the north. The second onomastic province, the central Illyrian or middle Dalmatian-Pannonian province began to its north and covered a larger area than the southern province. It extended along the Adriatic coast between the Krka and Cetina rivers, covered much of Bosnia (except for its northern regions), central Dalmatia (Lika) and its hinterland in the central Balkans included western Serbia and Sandžak. The third onomastic province further to the north defined as North Adriatic area includes Liburnia and the region of modern Ljubljana in Slovenia. It is part of a larger linguistic area different from Illyrian that also comprises Venetic and its Istrian variety. These areas are not strictly defined geographically as there was some overlap between them. The region of the Dardani (modern Kosovo, parts of northern North Macedonia, parts of eastern Serbia) saw the overlap of the southern Illyrian and Dalmatian onomastic provinces. Local Illyrian anthroponymy is also found in the area. In its onomastics, southern Illyrian (or south-east Dalmatian) has close relations with Messapic. Most of these relations are shared with the central Dalmatian area. In older scholarship (Crossland (1982)), some toponyms in central and northern Greece show phonetic characteristics that were thought to indicate that Illyrians or closely related peoples were settled in those regions before the introduction of the Greek language. However, such views largely relied on subjective ancient testimonies and are not supported by the earliest evidence (epigraphic etc.). Religion The Illyrians, as most ancient civilizations, were polytheistic and worshipped many gods and deities developed of the powers of nature. The most numerous traces—still insufficiently studied—of religious practices of the pre-Roman era are those relating to religious symbolism. Symbols are depicted in every variety of ornament and reveal that the chief object of the prehistoric cult of the Illyrians was the Sun, worshipped in a widespread and complex religious system. The solar deity was depicted as a geometrical figure such as the spiral, the concentric circle and the swastika, or as an animal figure the likes of the birds, serpents and horses. The symbols of water-fowl and horses were more common in the north, while the serpent was more common in the south. Illyrian deities were mentioned in inscriptions on statues, monuments, and coins of the Roman period, and some interpreted by Ancient writers through comparative religion. There appears to be no single most prominent god for all the Illyrian tribes, and a number of deities evidently appear only in specific regions. In Illyris, Dei-pátrous was a god worshiped as the Sky Father, Prende was the love-goddess and the consort of the thunder-god Perendi, En or Enji was the fire-god, Jupiter Parthinus was a chief deity of the Parthini, Redon was a tutelary deity of sailors appearing on many inscriptions in the coastal towns of Lissus, Daorson, Scodra and Dyrrhachium, while Medaurus was the protector deity of Risinium, with a monumental equestrian statue dominating the city from the acropolis. In Dalmatia and Pannonia one of the most popular ritual traditions during the Roman period was the cult of the Roman tutelary deity of the wild, woods and fields Silvanus, depicted with iconography of Pan. The Roman deity of wine, fertility and freedom Liber was worshipped with the attributes of Silvanus, and those of Terminus, the god protector of boundaries. Tadenus was a Dalmatian deity bearing the identity or epithet of Apollo in inscriptions found near the source of the Bosna river. The Delmatae also had Armatus as a war god in Delminium. The Silvanae, a feminine plural of Silvanus, were featured on many dedications across Pannonia. In the hot springs of Topusko (Pannonia Superior), sacrificial altars were dedicated to Vidasus and Thana (identified with Silvanus and Diana), whose names invariably stand side by side as companions. Aecorna or Arquornia was a lake or river tutelary goddess worshipped exclusively in the cities of Nauportus and Emona, where she was the most important deity next to Jupiter. Laburus was also a local deity worshipped in Emona, perhaps a deity protecting the boatmen sailing. It seems that the Illyrians did not develop a uniform cosmology on which to center their religious practices. A number of Illyrian toponyms and anthroponyms derived from animal names and reflected the beliefs in animals as mythological ancestors and protectors. The serpent was one of the most important animal totems. Illyrians believed in the force of spells and the evil eye, in the magic power of protective and beneficial amulets which could avert the evil eye or the bad intentions of enemies. Human sacrifice also played a role in the lives of the Illyrians. Arrian records the chieftain Cleitus the Illyrian as sacrificing three boys, three girls and three rams just before his battle with Alexander the Great. The most common type of burial among the Iron Age Illyrians was tumulus or mound burial. The kin of the first tumuli was buried around that, and the higher the status of those in these burials the higher the mound. Archaeology has found many artifacts placed within these tumuli such as weapons, ornaments, garments and clay vessels. The rich spectrum in religious beliefs and burial rituals that emerged in Illyria, especially during the Roman period, may reflect the variation in cultural identities in this region. Archaeology There are few remains to connect with the Bronze Age with the later Illyrians in the western Balkans. Moreover, with the notable exception of Pod near Bugojno in the upper valley of the Vrbas River, nothing is known of their settlements. Some hill settlements have been identified in western Serbia, but the main evidence comes from cemeteries, consisting usually of a small number of burial mounds (tumuli). In the cemeteries of Belotić and Bela Crkva (sr), the rites of exhumation and cremation are attested, with skeletons in stone cists and cremations in urns. Metal implements appear here side by side with stone implements. Most of the remains belong to the fully developed Middle Bronze Age. During the 7th century BC, the beginning of the Iron Age, the Illyrians emerge as an ethnic group with a distinct culture and art form. Various Illyrian tribes appeared, under the influence of the Halstatt cultures from the north, and they organized their regional centers. The cult of the dead played an important role in the lives of the Illyrians, which is seen in their carefully made burials and burial ceremonies, as well as the richness of the burial sites. In the northern parts of the Balkans, there existed a long tradition of cremation and burial in shallow graves, while in the southern parts, the dead were buried in large stone, or earth tumuli (natively called gromile) that in Herzegovina were reaching monumental sizes, more than 50 meters wide and 5 meters high. The Japodian tribe (found from Istria in Croatia to Bihać in Bosnia) have had an affinity for decoration with heavy, oversized necklaces out of yellow, blue or white glass paste, and large bronze fibulas, as well as spiral bracelets, diadems and helmets out of bronze. Small sculptures out of jade in form of archaic Ionian plastic are also characteristically Japodian. Numerous monumental sculptures are preserved, as well as walls of citadel Nezakcij near Pula, one of numerous Istrian cities from Iron Age. Illyrian chiefs wore bronze torques around their necks much like the Celts did. The Illyrians were influenced by the Celts in many cultural and material aspects and some of them were Celticized, especially the tribes in Dalmatia and the Pannonians. In Slovenia, the Vače situla was discovered in 1882 and attributed to Illyrians. Prehistoric remains indicate no more than average height, male , female . Early Middle Ages It is also evident that in a region which stretches from the southern Dalmatian coast, its hinterland, Montenegro, northern Albania up to Kosovo and Dardania, apart from a uniformity in onomastics there were also some archaeological similarities. However, it cannot be determined whether these tribes living there also formed a linguistic unity. The Komani-Kruja culture is an archaeological culture attested from late antiquity to the Middle Ages in central and northern Albania, southern Montenegro and similar sites in the western parts of North Macedonia. It consists of settlements usually built below hillforts along the Lezhë (Praevalitana)-Dardania and Via Egnatia road networks which connected the Adriatic coastline with the central Balkan Roman provinces. Its type site is Komani and its fort on the nearby Dalmace hill in the Drin river valley. Kruja and Lezha represent significant sites of the culture. The population of Komani-Kruja represents a local, non-Slavic western Balkan people which was linked to the Roman Justinianic military system of forts. The development of Komani-Kruja is significant for the study of the transition between the classical antiquity population of Albania to the medieval Albanians who were attested in historical records in the 11th century. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja is framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of Arbanon. Illyrian-Albanian links were the main focus of Albanian nationalism during the Communism period. What was established in this early phase of research was that Komani-Kruja settlements represented a local, non-Slavic population which has been described as Romanized Illyrian, Latin-speaking or Latin-literate. This is corroborated by the absence of Slavic toponyms and survival of Latin ones in the Komani-Kruja area. In terms of historiography, the thesis of older Albanian archaeology is an untestable hypothesis as no historical sources exist which can link Komani-Kruja to the first definite attestation of medieval Albanians in the 11th century. The nationalist interpretation of the Komani-Kruja cemeteries has been roundly rejected by non-Albanian scholars. J. Wilkes has described it as "a highly improbable reconstruction of Albanian history". Some Albanian scholars even today have continued to espouse this model of continuity. Limited excavations campaigns occurred until the 1990s. Objects from a vast area covering nearby regions the entire Byzantine Empire, the northern Balkans and Hungary and sea routes from Sicily to Crimea were found in Dalmace and other sites coming from many different production centres: local, Byzantine, Sicilian, Avar-Slavic, Hungarian, Crimean and even possibly Merovingian and Carolingian. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja was framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of Arbanon. As research focused almost entirely on grave contexts and burial sites, settlements and living spaces were often ignored. Other views stressed that as an archaeological culture it shouldn't be connected to a single social or ethnic group but be contextualized in a broader Roman-Byzantine or Christian framework, nor should material finds be separated in ethnic categories as they can't be correlated to a specific culture. In this view, cemeteries from nearby regions which were classified as belonging to Slavic groups shouldn't be viewed as necessarily representing another people but as representations of class and other social factors as "ethnic identity was only one factor of varying importance". Yugoslav archaeology proposed an opposite narrative and tried to frame the population as Slavic, especially in the region of western Macedonia. Archaeological research has shown that these sites were not related to regions then inhabited by Slavs and even in regions like Macedonia, no Slavic settlements had been founded in the 7th century. Archaeologically, while it was considered possible and even likely that Komani-Kruja sites were used continuously from the 7th century onwards, it remained an untested hypothesis as research was still limited. Whether this population represented local continuity or arrived at an earlier period from a more northern location as the Slavs entered the Balkans remained unclear at the time but regardless of their ultimate geographical origins, these groups maintained Justinianic era cultural traditions of the 6th century possibly as a statement of their collective identity and derived their material cultural references from the Justinianic military system. In this context, they may have used burial customs as a means of reference to an "idealized image of the past Roman power". Research greatly expanded after 2009, and the first survey of Komani's topography was produced in 2014. Until then, except for the area of the cemetery, the size of the settlement and its extension remained unknown. In 2014, it was revealed that Komani occupied an area of more than 40 ha, a much larger territory than originally thought. Its oldest settlement phase dates to the Hellenistic era. Proper development began in late antiquity and continued well into the Middle Ages (13th-14th centuries). It indicates that Komani was a late Roman fort and an important trading node in the networks of Praevalitana and Dardania. Participation in trade networks of the eastern Mediterranean via sea routes seems to have been very limited even in nearby coastal territory in this era. The collapse of the Roman administration in the Balkans was followed by a broad demographic collapse with the exception of Komani-Kruja and neighbouring mountainous regions. In the Avar-Slavic raids, communities from present-day northern Albania and nearby areas clustered around hill sites for better protection as is the case of other areas like Lezha and Sarda. During the 7th century, as Byzantine authority was reeastablished after the Avar-Slavic raids and the prosperity of the settlements increased, Komani saw an increase in population and a new elite began to take shape. Increase in population and wealth was marked by the establishment of new settlements and new churches in their vicinity. Komani formed a local network with Lezha and Kruja and in turn this network was integrated in the wider Byzantine Mediterranean world, maintained contacts with the northern Balkans and engaged in long-distance trade. Winnifrith (2020) recently described this population as the survival of a "Latin-Illyrian" culture which emerged later in historical records as Albanians and Vlachs. In Winnifrith's view, the geographical conditions of northern Albania favored the continuation of the Albanian language in hilly and mountainous areas as opposed to lowland valleys. He adds that the language and religion of this culture remain uncertain. With bishops absent abroad, "the mountain flocks cannot have been too versed in theological or linguistic niceties". Nationalism Albanians The possible continuity between the Illyrian populations of the Western Balkans in antiquity and the Albanians has played a significant role in Albanian nationalism from the 19th century until the present day. South Slavs At the beginning of the 19th century, many educated Europeans regarded the South Slavs as the descendants of ancient Illyrians. Consequently, when Napoléon conquered part of the South Slavic lands, these areas were named after ancient Illyrian provinces (1809–1814). After the demise of the First French Empire in 1815, the Habsburg Monarchy became increasingly centralized and authoritarian, and fear of Magyarization arouse patriotic resistance among Croatians. Under the influence of Romantic nationalism, a self-identified "Illyrian movement", in the form of a Croatian national revival, opened a literary and journalistic campaign initiated by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the years of 1835–49. See also Notes References Bibliography External links Phallic Cult of the Illyrians Indo-European peoples Ancient tribes in Albania Ancient tribes in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ancient tribes in Croatia Ancient tribes in Kosovo Ancient tribes in Montenegro Ancient tribes in Serbia Ancient tribes in the Balkans Illyrian Albania Illyrian Serbia Ancient history of Slovenia Ancient peoples of Europe	false	[ "The epithet \"the Warlike\" may refer to:\n\n Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1522–1557)\n Crimthann the Warlike, 8th century Irish individual whose identity is uncertain - see Aedh Ailghin\n Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (1370–1428), also Margrave of Meissen\n Frederick II, Duke of Austria (1211–1246), Duke of Austria and of Styria\n Michael VI Bringas (died 1059), Byzantine emperor from 1056 to 1057\n\nSee also\n Aphrodite Areia (\"Aphrodite the Warlike\"), a cult epithet of the Greek goddess Aphrodite\n List of people known as the Peaceful\n\nLists of people by epithet", "The Peaceful is an epithet applied to:\n\n Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy (1383–1451), also Antipope Felix V\n Aymon, Count of Savoy (1291–1343)\n Conrad I of Burgundy (c. 925–993), King of Burgundy\n Edgar the Peaceful (943–975), King of England\n Henry the Peaceful, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1411–1473)\n Henry II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (before 1296–after 1351)\n Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse (1402–1458)\n\nSee also\n List of people known as the Gentle\n List of people known as the Mild\n List of people known as the Warlike\n\nLists of people by epithet" ]
[ "Illyrians", "Hellenistic period", "When did the Hellenistic period take place?", "4th century BC.", "Where were the Illyrians located?", "Greco-Roman historiography", "Did the Illyrians have a Ruler/King/President?", "The Illyrians formed several kingdoms in the central Balkans, and the first known Illyrian king was Bardyllis.", "Were they peaceful or warlike?", "After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos became the strongest state in Illyria." ]	C_a9b96a021b774af3a303077bcfe676dd_0	Were there any other wars fought?	5	Other than the defeat of King Bardyllis in 358 BC, Were there any other wars fought?	Illyrians	Illyria appears in Greco-Roman historiography from the 4th century BC. The Illyrians formed several kingdoms in the central Balkans, and the first known Illyrian king was Bardyllis. Illyrian kingdoms were often at war with ancient Macedonia, and the Illyrian pirates were also a significant danger to neighbouring peoples. At the Neretva Delta, there was a strong Hellenistic influence on the Illyrian tribe of Daors. Their capital was Daorson located in Osanici near Stolac in Herzegovina, which became the main center of classical Illyrian culture. Daorson, during the 4th century BC, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 meter high stonewalls, composed out of large trapeze stones blocks. Daors also made unique bronze coins and sculptures. The Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on the Dalmatian islands. Queen Teuta was famous for having waged wars against the Romans. After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos became the strongest state in Illyria. Philip II killed 7,000 Illyrians in a great victory and annexed the territory up to Lake Ohrid. Next, Philip II reduced the Grabaei, and then went for the Ardiaei, defeated the Triballi (339 BC), and fought with Pleurias (337 BC). In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Italian commerce. There were three campaigns, the first against Teuta the second against Demetrius of Pharos and the third against Gentius. The initial campaign in 229 BC marks the first time that the Roman Navy crossed the Adriatic Sea to launch an invasion. The Roman Republic subdued the Illyrians during the 2nd century BC. An Illyrian revolt was crushed under Augustus, resulting in the division of Illyria in the provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. CANNOTANSWER	In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Italian commerce.	The Illyrians (, Illyrioi; ) were a group of Indo-European speaking peoples, who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, along with the Thracians and Greeks. The territory the Illyrians inhabited came to be known as Illyria to later Greek and Roman authors, who identified a territory that corresponds to most of Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, much of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, western and central Serbia and some parts of Slovenia between the Adriatic Sea in the west, the Drava river in the north, the Morava river in the east and in the south the Aous (modern Vjosa) river or possibly the Ceraunian Mountains. The first account of Illyrian peoples dates back to the 6th century BC, in the works of the ancient Greek writer Hecataeus of Miletus. The name "Illyrians", as applied by the ancient Greeks to their northern neighbors, may have referred to a broad, ill-defined group of peoples. The Illyrian tribes never collectively identified as "Illyrians", and it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature at all. Illyrians seems to be the name of a specific Illyrian tribe who were among the first to encounter the ancient Greeks during the Bronze Age. The Greeks later applied this term Illyrians, pars pro toto, to all people with similar language and customs. In archaeological, historical and linguistic studies, research about the Illyrians, from the late 19th to the 21st century, has moved from Pan-Illyrian theories, which identified as Illyrian even groups north of the Balkans to more well-defined groupings based on Illyrian onomastics and material anthropology since the 1960s as newer inscriptions were found and sites excavated. There are two principal Illyrian onomastic areas: the southern and the Dalmatian-Pannonian, with the area of the Dardani as a region of overlapping between the two. A third area, to the north of them – which in ancient literature was usually identified as part of Illyria – has been connected more to the Venetic language than to Illyrian. Illyric settlement in Italy was and still is attributed to a few ancient tribes which are thought to have migrated along the Adriatic shorelines to the Italian peninsula from the geographic "Illyria": the Dauni, the Peuceti and Messapi (collectively known as Iapyges). The term "Illyrians" last appears in the historical record in the 7th century, referring to a Byzantine garrison operating within the former Roman province of Illyricum. Names and terminology The terms 'Illyrians', 'Illyria' and 'Illyricum' have been used throughout history for ethnic and geographic contextualizations that have changed over time. Re-contextualizations of these terms often confused ancient writers and modern scholars. Notable scholarly efforts have been dedicated to try to analyze and explain these changes. The first known mention of Illyrians occurred in the late 6th and the early 5th century BC in fragments of Hecataeus of Miletus, the author of Γενεαλογίαι (Genealogies) and of Περίοδος Γῆς or Περιήγησις (Description of the Earth or Periegesis), where the Illyrians are described as a barbarian people. In the Macedonian history during the 6th and 5th century B.C., the term 'Illyrian' had a political meaning that was quite definite, denoting a kingdom established on the north-western borders of Upper Macedonia. From the 5th century B.C. onwards, the term 'Illyrian' was already applied to a large ethnic group whose territory extended deep into the Balkan mainland. Ancient Greeks clearly considered the Illyrians as a completely distinct ethnos from both the Thracians (Θρᾷκες) and the Macedonians (Μακεδόνες). Most scholars hold that the territory originally designated as 'Illyrian' was roughly located in the region of the south-eastern Adriatic (modern Albania and Montenegro) and its hinterland, then was later extended to the whole Roman Illyricum province, which stretched from the eastern Adriatic to the Danube. After the Illyrians had come to be widely known to the Greeks due to their proximity, this ethnic designation was broadened to include other peoples who, for some reason, were considered by ancient writers to be related with those peoples originally designated as Illyrians (Ἰλλυριοί, Illyrioi). The original designation may have occurred during the Bronze Age, when Greek-speaking tribes may have been neighbours of the southernmost Illyrian tribe of that time that dwelled in the Zeta plain in Montenegro or in the Mat valley in Albania, being subsequently applied as a general term to people of the same language and manners. It has been also inferred that if Greek populations had their first contact with Illyrian tribes when the latter dwelt around Shkodër, then an Illyrian expansion southwards took place during the early first millennium BC, before the later reaching Aous. The label Illyrians was first used by outsiders, in particular Ancient Greeks, at the beginning of the 8th century BC. When the Greeks began to frequent the eastern Adriatic coast with the colonization of Corcyra, they started to have some knowledge and perceptions of the indigenous peoples of western Balkans. The Illyrian tribes evidently never collectively identified themselves as Illyrians and it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature at all. Most modern scholars are certain that all the peoples of western Balkans that were collectively labeled as 'Illyrians' were not a culturally or linguistically homogeneous entity. For instance, some tribes like the Bryges would not have been identified as Illyrian. What criteria were initially used to define this group of peoples or how and why the term 'Illyrians' began to be used to describe the indigenous population of western Balkans cannot be said with certainty. Scholarly debates have been waged to find an answer to the question whether the term 'Illyrians' (Ἰλλυριοί) derived from some eponymous tribe, or whether it has been applied to designate the indigenous population as a general term for some other specific reason. Illyrii proprie dicti Ancient Roman writers Pliny the Elder and Pomponius Mela used the term Illyrii proprie dicti ('properly called Illyrians') to designate a people that was located in the coast of modern Albania and Montenegro. Many modern scholars view the 'properly called Illyrians' as a trace of the Illyrian kingdom known in the sources from the 4th century BC until 167 BC, which was ruled in Roman times by the Ardiaei and Labeatae when it was centered in the Bay of Kotor and Lake Skadar. According to other modern scholars, the term Illyrii may have originally referred only to a small ethnos in the area between Epidaurum and Lissus, and Pliny and Mela may have followed a literary tradition that dates back as early as Hecataeus of Miletus. Placed in central Albania, the Illyrii proprie dicti also might have been Rome's first contact with lllyrian peoples. In that case, it did not indicate an original area from which the Illyrians expanded. The area of the Illyrii proprie dicti is largely included in the southern Illyrian onomastic province in modern linguistics. Origins Scholars have long recognized a "difficulty in producing a single theory on the ethnogenesis of the Illyrians" given their heterogeneous nature. Modern scholarship is unable to refer to the Illyrians as a unique and compact people and agrees that they were a sum of ill-defined communities without common origins that never merged to a single ethnic entity. According to linguist Robert Elsie, "the term 'Illyrian' probably referred initially to the tribe with which the ancient Greeks first had contact, but it was later used as a collective term for a wide range of tribes in the region, although they may not have been culturally or linguistically homogenous at all." Older Pan-Illyrian theories which emerged in the 1920s placed the proto-Illyrians as the original inhabitants of a very large area which reached central Europe. These theories, which are now generally dismissed by scholars, were used in the politics of the era and its racialist notions of Nordicism and Aryanism. The main fact which these theories tried to address was the existence of traces of Illyrian toponymy in parts of Europe beyond the western Balkans, an issue whose origins are still unclear. The specific theories have found little archaeological corroboration, as no convincing evidence for significant migratory movements from the Luzatian culture into the west Balkans has ever been found. Rather, archaeologists from former Yugoslavia highlighted the continuity between the Bronze and succeeding Iron Age (especially in regions such as Donja Dolina, central Bosnia-Glasinac, and northern Albania (Mat river basin)), ultimately developing the so-called "autochthonous theory" of Illyrian genesis. The "autochthonous" model was most elaborated upon by Alojz Benac and B. Čović. They argued (following the "Kurgan hypothesis") that the 'proto-Illyrians' had arrived much earlier, during the Bronze Age as nomadic Indo-Europeans from the steppe. From that point, there was a gradual Illyrianization of the western Balkans leading to historic Illyrians, with no early Iron Age migration from northern Europe. He did not deny a minor cultural impact from the northern Urnfield cultures, however, "these movements had neither a profound influence on the stability of the Balkans, nor did they affect the ethnogenesis of the Illyrian ethnos". Aleksandar Stipčević raised concerns regarding Benac's all-encompassing scenario of autochthonous ethnogenesis, raising the following questions: "can one negate the participation of the bearers of the field-urn culture in the ethnogenesis of the Illyrian tribes who lived in present-day Slovenia and Croatia" or "Hellenistic and Mediterranean influences on southern Illyrians and Liburnians?". He concludes that Benac's model is only applicable to the Illyrian groups in Bosnia, western Serbia and a part of Dalmatia, where there had indeed been a settlement continuity and 'native' progression of pottery sequences since the Bronze Age. Following prevailing trends in discourse on identity in Iron Age Europe, current anthropological perspectives reject older theories of a longue duree (long term) ethnogenesis of Illyrians, even where 'archaeological continuity' can be demonstrated to Bronze Age times. They rather see the emergence of historic Illyrians tribes as a more recent phenomenon - just prior to their first attestation. The proto-Illyrians during the course of their settlement along the Adriatic coast and its hinterland likely merged with populations of a pre-Illyrian substratum – like Enchelei might have been –, leading to the formation of the historical Illyrians who were attested in later times. It has been suggested that the myth of Cadmus and Harmonia may be a reflection in mythology of that historical era. The impetus behind the emergence of larger regional groups, such as "Iapodes", "Liburnians", "Pannonians" etc., is traced to increased contacts with the Mediterranean and La Tène 'global worlds'. This catalyzed "the development of more complex political institutions and the increase in differences between individual communities". Emerging local elites selectively adopted either La Tène or Hellenistic and, later, Roman cultural templates "in order to legitimize and strengthen domination within their communities. They were competing fiercely through either alliance or conflict and resistance to Roman expansion. Thus, they established more complex political alliances, which convinced (Greco-Roman) sources to see them as ‘ethnic’ identities." In ancient Greek and Roman literature Different versions of the genealogy of the Illyrians, their tribes and their eponymous ancestor, Illyrius, existed in the ancient world both in fictional and non-fictional Greco-Roman literature. The fact that there were many versions of the genealogical story of Illyrius was ascertained by Ancient Greek historian Appian (1st–2nd century AD). However, only two versions of all these genealogical stories are attested. The first version—which reports the legend of Cadmus and Harmonia—was recorded by Euripides and Strabo in accounts that would be presented in detail in Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus (1st to 2nd century AD). The second version—which reports the legend of Polyphemus and Galatea—was recorded by Appian (1st–2nd century AD) in his Illyrike. According to the first version Illyrius was the son of Cadmus and Harmonia, whom the Enchelei had chosen to be their leaders. He eventually ruled Illyria and became the eponymous ancestor of the whole Illyrian people. In one of these versions, Illyrius was named so after Cadmus left him by a river named the Illyrian, where a serpent found and raised him. Appian writes that many mythological stories were still circulating in his time, and he chose a particular version because it seemed to be the most correct one. Appian's genealogy of tribes is not complete as he writes that other Illyrian tribes exist, which he hasn't included. According to Appian's tradition, Polyphemus and Galatea gave birth to Celtus, Galas, and Illyrius, three brothers, progenitors respectively of Celts, Galatians and Illyrians. Illyrius had multiple sons: Encheleus, Autarieus, Dardanus, Maedus, Taulas and Perrhaebus, and daughters: Partho, Daortho, Dassaro and others. From these, sprang the Taulantii, Parthini, Dardani, Encheleae, Autariates, Dassaretii and the Daorsi. Autareius had a son Pannonius or Paeon and these had sons Scordiscus and Triballus. Appian's genealogy was evidently composed in Roman times encompassing barbarian peoples other than Illyrians like Celts and Galatians. and choosing a specific story for his audience that included most of the peoples who dwelled in the Illyricum of the Antonine era. However, the inclusion in his genealogy of the Enchelei and the Autariatae, whose political strength has been highly weakened, reflects a pre-Roman historical situation. Basically, ancient Greeks included in their mythological accounts all the peoples with whom they had close contacts. In Roman times, ancient Romans created more mythical or genealogical relations to include various new peoples, regardless of their large ethnic and cultural differences. Appian's genealogy lists the earliest known peoples of Illyria in the goup of the first generation, consisting mostly of southern Illyrian peoples firstly encountered by the Greeks, some of which were the Enchelei, the Taulantii, the Dassaretii and the Parthini. Some peoples that came to the Balkans at a later date such as the Scordisci are listed in the group that belongs to the third generation. The Scordisci were a Celtic people mixed with the indigenous Illyrian and Thracian population. The Pannonians have not been known to the Greeks, and it seems that before the 2nd century BC they did not come into contact with the Romans. Almost all the Greek writers referred to the Pannonians with the name Paeones until late Roman times. The Scordisci and Pannonians were considered Illyrian mainly because they belonged to Illyricum since the early Roman Imperial period. History Pre-Roman period Depending on the complexity of the diverse physical geography of the Balkans, arable farming and livestock (mixed farming) rearing had constituted the economic basis of the Illyrians during the Iron Age. In southern Illyria organized realms were formed earlier than in other areas of this region. One of the oldest known Illyrian kingdoms is that of the Enchelei, which seems to have reached its height from the 8th–7th centuries BC, but the kingdom fell from dominant power around the 6th century BC. It seems that the weakening of the kingdom of Enchelae resulted in their assimilation and inclusion into a newly established Illyrian realm at the latest in the 5th century BC, marking the arising of the Dassaretii, who appear to have replaced the Enchelei in the lakeland area of Lychnidus. According to a number of modern scholars the dynasty of Bardylis—the first attested Illyrian dynasty—was Dassaretan. The weakening of the Enchelean realm was also caused by the strengthening of another Illyrian kingdom established in its vicinity—that of the Taulantii—which existed for some time along with that of the Enchelei. The Taulantii—another people among the more anciently known groups of Illyrian tribes—lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria (modern Albania), dominating at various times much of the plain between the Drin and the Aous, comprising the area around Epidamnus/Dyrrhachium. In the 7th century BC the Taulantii invoked the aid of Corcyra and Corinth in a war against the Liburni. After the defeat and expulsion from the region of the Liburni, the Corcyreans founded in 627 BC on the Illyrian mainland a colony called Epidamnus, thought to have been the name of a barbarian king of the region. A flourishing commercial centre emerged and the city grew rapidly. The Taulantii continued to play an important role in Illyrian history between the 5th and 4th–3rd centuries BC, and in particular, in the history of Epidamnus, both as its neighbors and as part of its population. Notably they influenced the affairs in the internal conflicts between aristocrats and democrats. The Taulantian kingdom seems to have reached its climax during Glaukias' rule, in the years between 335 BC and 302 BC. The Illyrian kingdoms frequently came into conflicts with the neighbouring Ancient Macedonians, and the Illyrian pirates were also seen as significant threat to the neighbouring peoples. At the Neretva Delta, there was a strong Hellenistic influence on the Illyrian tribe of Daors. Their capital was Daorson located in Ošanići near Stolac in Herzegovina, which became the main center of classical Illyrian culture. Daorson, during the 4th century BC, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 meter high stonewalls, composed out of large trapeze stones blocks. Daors also made unique bronze coins and sculptures. The Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on the Dalmatian islands. Queen Teuta was famous for having waged wars against the Romans. After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos II became the strongest state in Illyria. Philip II killed 7,000 Illyrians in a great victory and annexed the territory up to Lake Ohrid. Next, Philip II reduced the Grabaei, and then went for the Ardiaei, defeated the Triballi (339 BC), and fought with Pleurias (337 BC). During the second part of the 3rd century BC, a number of Illyrian tribes seem to have united to form a proto-state stretching from the central part of present-day Albania up to Neretva river in Herzegovina. The political entity was financed on piracy and ruled from 250 BC by the king Agron. He was succeeded by his wife Teuta, who assumed the regency for her stepson Pinnes following Agron's death in 231 BC. In his work The Histories, Polybius (2nd century BC) reported first diplomatic contacts between the Romans and Illyrians. In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC, Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Roman commerce. There were three campaigns, the first against Teuta the second against Demetrius of Pharos and the third against Gentius. The initial campaign in 229 BC marks the first time that the Roman Navy crossed the Adriatic Sea to launch an invasion. The Roman Republic subdued the Illyrians during the 2nd century BC. An Illyrian revolt was crushed under Augustus, resulting in the division of Illyria in the provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. Depictions of the Illyrians, usually described as "barbarians" or "savages", are universally negative in Greek and Roman sources. Roman Empire Prior to the Roman conquest of Illyria, the Roman Republic had started expanding its power and territory across the Adriatic Sea. The Romans came nevertheless into a series of conflicts with the Illyrians, equally known as the Illyrian Wars, beginning in 229 BC until 168 BC as the Romans defeated Gentius at Scodra. The Great Illyrian Uprising took place in the Roman province of Illyricum in the 1st century AD, in which an alliance of native peoples revolted against the Romans. The main ancient source that describes this military conflict is Velleius Paterculus, which was incorporated into the second book of Roman History. Another ancient source about it is the biography of Octavius Augustus by Pliny the Elder. The two leaders of uprising were Bato the Breucian and Bato the Daesitiate. Geographically, the name 'Illyria' came to mean Roman Illyricum which from the 4th century to the 7th century signified the prefecture of Illyricum. It covered much of the western and central Balkans. After the defeat of the Great Illyrian Revolt and the consolidation of Roman power in the Balkans, the process of integration of Illyrians in the Roman world began. Some Illyrian communities were organized in their pre-Roman locations under their own civitates. Others migrated or were forcefully resettled in different regions. Some groups like the Azali were transferred from their homeland to frontier areas (northern Hungary) after the Great Illyrian Revolt. In Dacia, Illyrian communities like the Pirustae who were skilled miners were settled to the gold mines of Alburnus Maior where they formed their own communities. In Trajan's period these population movements were likely part of a deliberate policy of resettling, while later they involved free migrations. In their new regions, they were free salaried workers. Inscriptions show that by that era many of them had acquired Roman citizenship. Byzantine Empire With the disintegration of the Roman Empire, Gothic and Hunnic tribes raided the Balkan peninsula, forcing many Illyrians to seek refuge in the highlands. In 395 AD, the Roman Empire was split upon the death of Theodosius I into an Eastern and Western Roman Empire, in part due to the weakening and increasing pressure from threats during the Barbarian Invasions, therefore, Illyria remained in the eastern empire which was later referred to as the Byzantine Empire. The early Byzantine Empire was predominantly ruled by emperors from the Balkan Peninsula with Byzantine emperors of Illyrian origin, amongst them Constantine the Great, Jovian, Valentinian I, Anastasius I Dicorus, Justinian I and their descendants from the Constantinian dynasty, Valentinianic dynasty and Justinian dynasty. From the 6th century ongoing into the 7th century, the Slavs crossed the Danube and started to absorb the indigenous Illyrians alongside the Ancient Greeks, Dacians and Thracians into the emerging medieval states of the Slavs such as that of the Croats and Serbs. The term Illyrians last appears in the historical record in the 7th century AD, in the Miracula Sancti Demetrii, referring to a Byzantine garrison operating within the former Roman province of Illyricum. However, in the acts of the Second Council of Nicaea from 787, Nikephoros of Durrës signed himself as "Episcopus of Durrës, province of the Illyrians". Since the Middle Ages the term "Illyrian" has been used principally in connection with the Albanians, although it was also used to describe the western wing of the Southern Slavs up to the 19th century, being revived in particular during the Habsburg Monarchy. In Byzantine literature, references to Illyria as a defined region in administrative terms end after 1204 and the term specifically began to refer only to the more confined Albanian territory. Society Social and political organisation The structure of Illyrian society during classical antiquity was characterised by a conglomeration of numerous tribes and small realms ruled by warrior elites, a situation similar like that in most other societies at that time. Thucidides in the History of the Peloponnesian War (5th century BC) addresses the social organisation of the Illyrian tribes via a speech he attributes to Brasidas, in which he recounts that the mode of rulership among the Illyrian tribes is that of dynasteia—which Thucidides used in reference to foreign customs—neither democratic, nor oligarchic. Brasidas then goes on to explain that in the dynasteia the ruler rose to power "by no other means than by superiority in fighting". Pseudo-Scymnus (2nd century BC) in reference to the social organisation of Illyrian tribes in earlier times than the era he lived in makes a distinction between three modes of social organisation. A part of the Illyrians were organized under hereditary kingdoms, a second part was organized under chieftains who were elected but held no hereditary power and some Illyrians were organised in autonomous communities governed by their own internal tribal laws. In these communities social stratification had not yet emerged. Warfare The history of Illyrian warfare and weaponry spanned from around the 10th century BC up to the 1st century AD in the region defined by the Ancient Greek and Roman historians as Illyria. It concerns the armed conflicts of the Illyrian tribes and their kingdoms in the Balkan Peninsula and the Italian Peninsula as well as their pirate activity in the Adriatic Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. The Illyrians were a notorious seafaring people with a strong reputation for piracy especially common during the regency of king Agron and later queen Teuta. They used fast and maneuverable ships of types known as lembus and liburna which were subsequently used by the Ancient Macedonians and Romans. Livy described the Illyrians along the Liburnians and Istrians as nations of savages in general noted for their piracy. Illyria appears in Greco-Roman historiography from the 4th century BC. Illyrians were regarded as bloodthirsty, unpredictable, turbulent, and warlike by Greeks and Romans. They were seen as savages on the edge of their world. Polybius (3rd century BC) wrote: "the Romans had freed the Greeks from the enemies of all mankind". According to the Romans, the Illyrians were tall and well-built. Herodianus writes that "Pannonians are tall and strong always ready for a fight and to face danger but slow witted". Illyrian rulers wore bronze torques around their necks. Apart from conflicts between Illyrians and neighbouring nations and tribes, numerous wars were recorded among Illyrian tribes too. Culture Language The languages spoken by the Illyrian tribes are an extinct and poorly attested Indo-European language group, and it is not clear whether the languages belonged to the centum or the satem group. The Illyrians were subject to varying degrees of Celticization, Hellenization, Romanization and later Slavicization which possibly lead to the extinction of their languages. In modern research, use of concepts like "Hellenization" and "Romanization" has declined as they have been criticized as simplistic notions which can't describe the actual processes via which material development moved from the centres of the ancient Mediterranean to its periphery. The vast majority of knowledge of Illyrian is based on the Messapian language if the latter is considered an Illyrian dialect. The non-Messapian testimonies of Illyrian are too fragmentary to allow any conclusions whether Messapian should be considered part of Illyrian proper, although it has been widely thought that Messapian was related to Illyrian. An extinct Indo-European language, Messapian was once spoken in Messapia in the southeastern Italian Peninsula. It was spoken by the three Iapygian tribes of the region, the Messapians, the Daunii and the Peucetii. On both sides on the border region between southern Illyria and northern Epirus the contact between the Illyrian and Greek languages produced an area of bilingualism between the two, although it is unclear how the impact of the one language to the other developed because of the scarcity of available archaeological material. However, this did not occur at the same level on both sides, with the Illyrians being more willing to adopt the more prestigious Greek language. Ongoing research may provide further knowledge about these contacts beyond present limited sources. Illyrians were exposed not only to Doric and Epirote Greek but also to Attic-Ionic. The Illyrian languages were once thought to be connected to the Venetic language in the Italian Peninsula but this view was abandoned. Other scholars have linked them with the adjacent Thracian language supposing an intermediate convergence area or dialect continuum, but this view is also not generally supported. All these languages were likely extinct by the 5th century AD although traditionally, the Albanian language is identified as the descendant of Illyrian dialects that survived in remote areas of the Balkans during the Middle Ages but evidence "is too meager and contradictory for us to know whether the term Illyrian even referred to a single language". The ancestor dialects of the Albanian language would have survived somewhere along the boundary of Latin and Ancient Greek linguistic influence, the Jireček Line. There are various modern historians and linguists who believe that the modern Albanian language might have descended from a southern Illyrian dialect whereas an alternative hypothesis holds that Albanian was descended from the Thracian language. Not enough is known of the ancient language to completely prove or disprove either hypothesis, see Origin of the Albanians. Linguistic evidence and subgrouping Modern studies about Illyrian onomastics, the main field via which the Illyrians have been linguistically investigated as no written records have been found, began in the 1920s and sought to more accurately define Illyrian tribes, the commonalities, relations and differences between each other as they were conditioned by specific local cultural, ecological and economic factors, which further subdivided them into different groupings. This approach has led in contemporary research in the definition of three main onomastic provinces in which Illyrian personal names appear near exclusively in the archaeological material of each province. The southern Illyrian or south-eastern Dalmatian province was the area of the proper Illyrians (the core of which was the territory of Illyrii proprie dicti of the classical authors, located in modern Albania) and includes most of Albania, Montenegro and their hinterlands. This area extended along the Adriatic coast from the Aous valley in the south, up to and beyond the Neretva valley in the north. The second onomastic province, the central Illyrian or middle Dalmatian-Pannonian province began to its north and covered a larger area than the southern province. It extended along the Adriatic coast between the Krka and Cetina rivers, covered much of Bosnia (except for its northern regions), central Dalmatia (Lika) and its hinterland in the central Balkans included western Serbia and Sandžak. The third onomastic province further to the north defined as North Adriatic area includes Liburnia and the region of modern Ljubljana in Slovenia. It is part of a larger linguistic area different from Illyrian that also comprises Venetic and its Istrian variety. These areas are not strictly defined geographically as there was some overlap between them. The region of the Dardani (modern Kosovo, parts of northern North Macedonia, parts of eastern Serbia) saw the overlap of the southern Illyrian and Dalmatian onomastic provinces. Local Illyrian anthroponymy is also found in the area. In its onomastics, southern Illyrian (or south-east Dalmatian) has close relations with Messapic. Most of these relations are shared with the central Dalmatian area. In older scholarship (Crossland (1982)), some toponyms in central and northern Greece show phonetic characteristics that were thought to indicate that Illyrians or closely related peoples were settled in those regions before the introduction of the Greek language. However, such views largely relied on subjective ancient testimonies and are not supported by the earliest evidence (epigraphic etc.). Religion The Illyrians, as most ancient civilizations, were polytheistic and worshipped many gods and deities developed of the powers of nature. The most numerous traces—still insufficiently studied—of religious practices of the pre-Roman era are those relating to religious symbolism. Symbols are depicted in every variety of ornament and reveal that the chief object of the prehistoric cult of the Illyrians was the Sun, worshipped in a widespread and complex religious system. The solar deity was depicted as a geometrical figure such as the spiral, the concentric circle and the swastika, or as an animal figure the likes of the birds, serpents and horses. The symbols of water-fowl and horses were more common in the north, while the serpent was more common in the south. Illyrian deities were mentioned in inscriptions on statues, monuments, and coins of the Roman period, and some interpreted by Ancient writers through comparative religion. There appears to be no single most prominent god for all the Illyrian tribes, and a number of deities evidently appear only in specific regions. In Illyris, Dei-pátrous was a god worshiped as the Sky Father, Prende was the love-goddess and the consort of the thunder-god Perendi, En or Enji was the fire-god, Jupiter Parthinus was a chief deity of the Parthini, Redon was a tutelary deity of sailors appearing on many inscriptions in the coastal towns of Lissus, Daorson, Scodra and Dyrrhachium, while Medaurus was the protector deity of Risinium, with a monumental equestrian statue dominating the city from the acropolis. In Dalmatia and Pannonia one of the most popular ritual traditions during the Roman period was the cult of the Roman tutelary deity of the wild, woods and fields Silvanus, depicted with iconography of Pan. The Roman deity of wine, fertility and freedom Liber was worshipped with the attributes of Silvanus, and those of Terminus, the god protector of boundaries. Tadenus was a Dalmatian deity bearing the identity or epithet of Apollo in inscriptions found near the source of the Bosna river. The Delmatae also had Armatus as a war god in Delminium. The Silvanae, a feminine plural of Silvanus, were featured on many dedications across Pannonia. In the hot springs of Topusko (Pannonia Superior), sacrificial altars were dedicated to Vidasus and Thana (identified with Silvanus and Diana), whose names invariably stand side by side as companions. Aecorna or Arquornia was a lake or river tutelary goddess worshipped exclusively in the cities of Nauportus and Emona, where she was the most important deity next to Jupiter. Laburus was also a local deity worshipped in Emona, perhaps a deity protecting the boatmen sailing. It seems that the Illyrians did not develop a uniform cosmology on which to center their religious practices. A number of Illyrian toponyms and anthroponyms derived from animal names and reflected the beliefs in animals as mythological ancestors and protectors. The serpent was one of the most important animal totems. Illyrians believed in the force of spells and the evil eye, in the magic power of protective and beneficial amulets which could avert the evil eye or the bad intentions of enemies. Human sacrifice also played a role in the lives of the Illyrians. Arrian records the chieftain Cleitus the Illyrian as sacrificing three boys, three girls and three rams just before his battle with Alexander the Great. The most common type of burial among the Iron Age Illyrians was tumulus or mound burial. The kin of the first tumuli was buried around that, and the higher the status of those in these burials the higher the mound. Archaeology has found many artifacts placed within these tumuli such as weapons, ornaments, garments and clay vessels. The rich spectrum in religious beliefs and burial rituals that emerged in Illyria, especially during the Roman period, may reflect the variation in cultural identities in this region. Archaeology There are few remains to connect with the Bronze Age with the later Illyrians in the western Balkans. Moreover, with the notable exception of Pod near Bugojno in the upper valley of the Vrbas River, nothing is known of their settlements. Some hill settlements have been identified in western Serbia, but the main evidence comes from cemeteries, consisting usually of a small number of burial mounds (tumuli). In the cemeteries of Belotić and Bela Crkva (sr), the rites of exhumation and cremation are attested, with skeletons in stone cists and cremations in urns. Metal implements appear here side by side with stone implements. Most of the remains belong to the fully developed Middle Bronze Age. During the 7th century BC, the beginning of the Iron Age, the Illyrians emerge as an ethnic group with a distinct culture and art form. Various Illyrian tribes appeared, under the influence of the Halstatt cultures from the north, and they organized their regional centers. The cult of the dead played an important role in the lives of the Illyrians, which is seen in their carefully made burials and burial ceremonies, as well as the richness of the burial sites. In the northern parts of the Balkans, there existed a long tradition of cremation and burial in shallow graves, while in the southern parts, the dead were buried in large stone, or earth tumuli (natively called gromile) that in Herzegovina were reaching monumental sizes, more than 50 meters wide and 5 meters high. The Japodian tribe (found from Istria in Croatia to Bihać in Bosnia) have had an affinity for decoration with heavy, oversized necklaces out of yellow, blue or white glass paste, and large bronze fibulas, as well as spiral bracelets, diadems and helmets out of bronze. Small sculptures out of jade in form of archaic Ionian plastic are also characteristically Japodian. Numerous monumental sculptures are preserved, as well as walls of citadel Nezakcij near Pula, one of numerous Istrian cities from Iron Age. Illyrian chiefs wore bronze torques around their necks much like the Celts did. The Illyrians were influenced by the Celts in many cultural and material aspects and some of them were Celticized, especially the tribes in Dalmatia and the Pannonians. In Slovenia, the Vače situla was discovered in 1882 and attributed to Illyrians. Prehistoric remains indicate no more than average height, male , female . Early Middle Ages It is also evident that in a region which stretches from the southern Dalmatian coast, its hinterland, Montenegro, northern Albania up to Kosovo and Dardania, apart from a uniformity in onomastics there were also some archaeological similarities. However, it cannot be determined whether these tribes living there also formed a linguistic unity. The Komani-Kruja culture is an archaeological culture attested from late antiquity to the Middle Ages in central and northern Albania, southern Montenegro and similar sites in the western parts of North Macedonia. It consists of settlements usually built below hillforts along the Lezhë (Praevalitana)-Dardania and Via Egnatia road networks which connected the Adriatic coastline with the central Balkan Roman provinces. Its type site is Komani and its fort on the nearby Dalmace hill in the Drin river valley. Kruja and Lezha represent significant sites of the culture. The population of Komani-Kruja represents a local, non-Slavic western Balkan people which was linked to the Roman Justinianic military system of forts. The development of Komani-Kruja is significant for the study of the transition between the classical antiquity population of Albania to the medieval Albanians who were attested in historical records in the 11th century. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja is framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of Arbanon. Illyrian-Albanian links were the main focus of Albanian nationalism during the Communism period. What was established in this early phase of research was that Komani-Kruja settlements represented a local, non-Slavic population which has been described as Romanized Illyrian, Latin-speaking or Latin-literate. This is corroborated by the absence of Slavic toponyms and survival of Latin ones in the Komani-Kruja area. In terms of historiography, the thesis of older Albanian archaeology is an untestable hypothesis as no historical sources exist which can link Komani-Kruja to the first definite attestation of medieval Albanians in the 11th century. The nationalist interpretation of the Komani-Kruja cemeteries has been roundly rejected by non-Albanian scholars. J. Wilkes has described it as "a highly improbable reconstruction of Albanian history". Some Albanian scholars even today have continued to espouse this model of continuity. Limited excavations campaigns occurred until the 1990s. Objects from a vast area covering nearby regions the entire Byzantine Empire, the northern Balkans and Hungary and sea routes from Sicily to Crimea were found in Dalmace and other sites coming from many different production centres: local, Byzantine, Sicilian, Avar-Slavic, Hungarian, Crimean and even possibly Merovingian and Carolingian. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja was framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of Arbanon. As research focused almost entirely on grave contexts and burial sites, settlements and living spaces were often ignored. Other views stressed that as an archaeological culture it shouldn't be connected to a single social or ethnic group but be contextualized in a broader Roman-Byzantine or Christian framework, nor should material finds be separated in ethnic categories as they can't be correlated to a specific culture. In this view, cemeteries from nearby regions which were classified as belonging to Slavic groups shouldn't be viewed as necessarily representing another people but as representations of class and other social factors as "ethnic identity was only one factor of varying importance". Yugoslav archaeology proposed an opposite narrative and tried to frame the population as Slavic, especially in the region of western Macedonia. Archaeological research has shown that these sites were not related to regions then inhabited by Slavs and even in regions like Macedonia, no Slavic settlements had been founded in the 7th century. Archaeologically, while it was considered possible and even likely that Komani-Kruja sites were used continuously from the 7th century onwards, it remained an untested hypothesis as research was still limited. Whether this population represented local continuity or arrived at an earlier period from a more northern location as the Slavs entered the Balkans remained unclear at the time but regardless of their ultimate geographical origins, these groups maintained Justinianic era cultural traditions of the 6th century possibly as a statement of their collective identity and derived their material cultural references from the Justinianic military system. In this context, they may have used burial customs as a means of reference to an "idealized image of the past Roman power". Research greatly expanded after 2009, and the first survey of Komani's topography was produced in 2014. Until then, except for the area of the cemetery, the size of the settlement and its extension remained unknown. In 2014, it was revealed that Komani occupied an area of more than 40 ha, a much larger territory than originally thought. Its oldest settlement phase dates to the Hellenistic era. Proper development began in late antiquity and continued well into the Middle Ages (13th-14th centuries). It indicates that Komani was a late Roman fort and an important trading node in the networks of Praevalitana and Dardania. Participation in trade networks of the eastern Mediterranean via sea routes seems to have been very limited even in nearby coastal territory in this era. The collapse of the Roman administration in the Balkans was followed by a broad demographic collapse with the exception of Komani-Kruja and neighbouring mountainous regions. In the Avar-Slavic raids, communities from present-day northern Albania and nearby areas clustered around hill sites for better protection as is the case of other areas like Lezha and Sarda. During the 7th century, as Byzantine authority was reeastablished after the Avar-Slavic raids and the prosperity of the settlements increased, Komani saw an increase in population and a new elite began to take shape. Increase in population and wealth was marked by the establishment of new settlements and new churches in their vicinity. Komani formed a local network with Lezha and Kruja and in turn this network was integrated in the wider Byzantine Mediterranean world, maintained contacts with the northern Balkans and engaged in long-distance trade. Winnifrith (2020) recently described this population as the survival of a "Latin-Illyrian" culture which emerged later in historical records as Albanians and Vlachs. In Winnifrith's view, the geographical conditions of northern Albania favored the continuation of the Albanian language in hilly and mountainous areas as opposed to lowland valleys. He adds that the language and religion of this culture remain uncertain. With bishops absent abroad, "the mountain flocks cannot have been too versed in theological or linguistic niceties". Nationalism Albanians The possible continuity between the Illyrian populations of the Western Balkans in antiquity and the Albanians has played a significant role in Albanian nationalism from the 19th century until the present day. South Slavs At the beginning of the 19th century, many educated Europeans regarded the South Slavs as the descendants of ancient Illyrians. Consequently, when Napoléon conquered part of the South Slavic lands, these areas were named after ancient Illyrian provinces (1809–1814). After the demise of the First French Empire in 1815, the Habsburg Monarchy became increasingly centralized and authoritarian, and fear of Magyarization arouse patriotic resistance among Croatians. Under the influence of Romantic nationalism, a self-identified "Illyrian movement", in the form of a Croatian national revival, opened a literary and journalistic campaign initiated by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the years of 1835–49. See also Notes References Bibliography External links Phallic Cult of the Illyrians Indo-European peoples Ancient tribes in Albania Ancient tribes in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ancient tribes in Croatia Ancient tribes in Kosovo Ancient tribes in Montenegro Ancient tribes in Serbia Ancient tribes in the Balkans Illyrian Albania Illyrian Serbia Ancient history of Slovenia Ancient peoples of Europe	false	[ "This is a list of wars fought by Romania since 1859:\n\nThe United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (1859–1862) \n\nThe United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia did not participate in any wars.\n\nRomanian United Principalities (1862–1866) \n\nThe Romanian United Principalities did not participate in any wars.\n\nPrincipality of Romania (1866–1881)\n\nKingdom of Romania (1881–1947)\n\nRomanian People's Republic (1947–1965)\n\nSocialist Republic of Romania (1965–1989)\n\nPost-communist Romania (since 1989)\n\nReferences \n\n \nRomania\nWars", "The Tunisian-Algerian Wars were a set of wars fought between the Regency of Algiers, and the Regency of Tunis.\n\nPre-1670 conflicts \n\n Algerian-Tunisian war (1627)\n\nAfter 1670 Algiers went through several reforms and gained autonomy. After a short civil war in 1710, Algiers became De facto independent, or quasi independent. While the other wars are linked to each other, this one isn't, and is a standalone war. Tunis gained a large amount of autonomy after 1705.\n\nPost-1670 conflicts \n\n Algerian-Tunisian War (1694)\n Maghrebi war (1699-1702)\n Algerian-Tunisian War (1705)\n\nConflicts of the 18th century and the 19th century lead to a peace treaty in 1817, where the two sides recognized each other, Algiers waives the payment of the tribute from Tunis, and both sides renounce any territorial claim:\n\n Algerian-Tunisian War (1735)\n Algerian-Tunisian war (1756)\n Algerian-Tunisian War (1807)\n Algerian-Tunisian naval war (1811)\n\nWars involving Algeria\nWars involving Tunisia" ]
[ "Illyrians", "Hellenistic period", "When did the Hellenistic period take place?", "4th century BC.", "Where were the Illyrians located?", "Greco-Roman historiography", "Did the Illyrians have a Ruler/King/President?", "The Illyrians formed several kingdoms in the central Balkans, and the first known Illyrian king was Bardyllis.", "Were they peaceful or warlike?", "After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos became the strongest state in Illyria.", "Were there any other wars fought?", "In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Italian commerce." ]	C_a9b96a021b774af3a303077bcfe676dd_0	What happened after these wars?	6	What happened after the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC ?	Illyrians	Illyria appears in Greco-Roman historiography from the 4th century BC. The Illyrians formed several kingdoms in the central Balkans, and the first known Illyrian king was Bardyllis. Illyrian kingdoms were often at war with ancient Macedonia, and the Illyrian pirates were also a significant danger to neighbouring peoples. At the Neretva Delta, there was a strong Hellenistic influence on the Illyrian tribe of Daors. Their capital was Daorson located in Osanici near Stolac in Herzegovina, which became the main center of classical Illyrian culture. Daorson, during the 4th century BC, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 meter high stonewalls, composed out of large trapeze stones blocks. Daors also made unique bronze coins and sculptures. The Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on the Dalmatian islands. Queen Teuta was famous for having waged wars against the Romans. After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos became the strongest state in Illyria. Philip II killed 7,000 Illyrians in a great victory and annexed the territory up to Lake Ohrid. Next, Philip II reduced the Grabaei, and then went for the Ardiaei, defeated the Triballi (339 BC), and fought with Pleurias (337 BC). In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Italian commerce. There were three campaigns, the first against Teuta the second against Demetrius of Pharos and the third against Gentius. The initial campaign in 229 BC marks the first time that the Roman Navy crossed the Adriatic Sea to launch an invasion. The Roman Republic subdued the Illyrians during the 2nd century BC. An Illyrian revolt was crushed under Augustus, resulting in the division of Illyria in the provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. CANNOTANSWER	There were three campaigns,	The Illyrians (, Illyrioi; ) were a group of Indo-European speaking peoples, who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, along with the Thracians and Greeks. The territory the Illyrians inhabited came to be known as Illyria to later Greek and Roman authors, who identified a territory that corresponds to most of Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, much of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, western and central Serbia and some parts of Slovenia between the Adriatic Sea in the west, the Drava river in the north, the Morava river in the east and in the south the Aous (modern Vjosa) river or possibly the Ceraunian Mountains. The first account of Illyrian peoples dates back to the 6th century BC, in the works of the ancient Greek writer Hecataeus of Miletus. The name "Illyrians", as applied by the ancient Greeks to their northern neighbors, may have referred to a broad, ill-defined group of peoples. The Illyrian tribes never collectively identified as "Illyrians", and it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature at all. Illyrians seems to be the name of a specific Illyrian tribe who were among the first to encounter the ancient Greeks during the Bronze Age. The Greeks later applied this term Illyrians, pars pro toto, to all people with similar language and customs. In archaeological, historical and linguistic studies, research about the Illyrians, from the late 19th to the 21st century, has moved from Pan-Illyrian theories, which identified as Illyrian even groups north of the Balkans to more well-defined groupings based on Illyrian onomastics and material anthropology since the 1960s as newer inscriptions were found and sites excavated. There are two principal Illyrian onomastic areas: the southern and the Dalmatian-Pannonian, with the area of the Dardani as a region of overlapping between the two. A third area, to the north of them – which in ancient literature was usually identified as part of Illyria – has been connected more to the Venetic language than to Illyrian. Illyric settlement in Italy was and still is attributed to a few ancient tribes which are thought to have migrated along the Adriatic shorelines to the Italian peninsula from the geographic "Illyria": the Dauni, the Peuceti and Messapi (collectively known as Iapyges). The term "Illyrians" last appears in the historical record in the 7th century, referring to a Byzantine garrison operating within the former Roman province of Illyricum. Names and terminology The terms 'Illyrians', 'Illyria' and 'Illyricum' have been used throughout history for ethnic and geographic contextualizations that have changed over time. Re-contextualizations of these terms often confused ancient writers and modern scholars. Notable scholarly efforts have been dedicated to try to analyze and explain these changes. The first known mention of Illyrians occurred in the late 6th and the early 5th century BC in fragments of Hecataeus of Miletus, the author of Γενεαλογίαι (Genealogies) and of Περίοδος Γῆς or Περιήγησις (Description of the Earth or Periegesis), where the Illyrians are described as a barbarian people. In the Macedonian history during the 6th and 5th century B.C., the term 'Illyrian' had a political meaning that was quite definite, denoting a kingdom established on the north-western borders of Upper Macedonia. From the 5th century B.C. onwards, the term 'Illyrian' was already applied to a large ethnic group whose territory extended deep into the Balkan mainland. Ancient Greeks clearly considered the Illyrians as a completely distinct ethnos from both the Thracians (Θρᾷκες) and the Macedonians (Μακεδόνες). Most scholars hold that the territory originally designated as 'Illyrian' was roughly located in the region of the south-eastern Adriatic (modern Albania and Montenegro) and its hinterland, then was later extended to the whole Roman Illyricum province, which stretched from the eastern Adriatic to the Danube. After the Illyrians had come to be widely known to the Greeks due to their proximity, this ethnic designation was broadened to include other peoples who, for some reason, were considered by ancient writers to be related with those peoples originally designated as Illyrians (Ἰλλυριοί, Illyrioi). The original designation may have occurred during the Bronze Age, when Greek-speaking tribes may have been neighbours of the southernmost Illyrian tribe of that time that dwelled in the Zeta plain in Montenegro or in the Mat valley in Albania, being subsequently applied as a general term to people of the same language and manners. It has been also inferred that if Greek populations had their first contact with Illyrian tribes when the latter dwelt around Shkodër, then an Illyrian expansion southwards took place during the early first millennium BC, before the later reaching Aous. The label Illyrians was first used by outsiders, in particular Ancient Greeks, at the beginning of the 8th century BC. When the Greeks began to frequent the eastern Adriatic coast with the colonization of Corcyra, they started to have some knowledge and perceptions of the indigenous peoples of western Balkans. The Illyrian tribes evidently never collectively identified themselves as Illyrians and it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature at all. Most modern scholars are certain that all the peoples of western Balkans that were collectively labeled as 'Illyrians' were not a culturally or linguistically homogeneous entity. For instance, some tribes like the Bryges would not have been identified as Illyrian. What criteria were initially used to define this group of peoples or how and why the term 'Illyrians' began to be used to describe the indigenous population of western Balkans cannot be said with certainty. Scholarly debates have been waged to find an answer to the question whether the term 'Illyrians' (Ἰλλυριοί) derived from some eponymous tribe, or whether it has been applied to designate the indigenous population as a general term for some other specific reason. Illyrii proprie dicti Ancient Roman writers Pliny the Elder and Pomponius Mela used the term Illyrii proprie dicti ('properly called Illyrians') to designate a people that was located in the coast of modern Albania and Montenegro. Many modern scholars view the 'properly called Illyrians' as a trace of the Illyrian kingdom known in the sources from the 4th century BC until 167 BC, which was ruled in Roman times by the Ardiaei and Labeatae when it was centered in the Bay of Kotor and Lake Skadar. According to other modern scholars, the term Illyrii may have originally referred only to a small ethnos in the area between Epidaurum and Lissus, and Pliny and Mela may have followed a literary tradition that dates back as early as Hecataeus of Miletus. Placed in central Albania, the Illyrii proprie dicti also might have been Rome's first contact with lllyrian peoples. In that case, it did not indicate an original area from which the Illyrians expanded. The area of the Illyrii proprie dicti is largely included in the southern Illyrian onomastic province in modern linguistics. Origins Scholars have long recognized a "difficulty in producing a single theory on the ethnogenesis of the Illyrians" given their heterogeneous nature. Modern scholarship is unable to refer to the Illyrians as a unique and compact people and agrees that they were a sum of ill-defined communities without common origins that never merged to a single ethnic entity. According to linguist Robert Elsie, "the term 'Illyrian' probably referred initially to the tribe with which the ancient Greeks first had contact, but it was later used as a collective term for a wide range of tribes in the region, although they may not have been culturally or linguistically homogenous at all." Older Pan-Illyrian theories which emerged in the 1920s placed the proto-Illyrians as the original inhabitants of a very large area which reached central Europe. These theories, which are now generally dismissed by scholars, were used in the politics of the era and its racialist notions of Nordicism and Aryanism. The main fact which these theories tried to address was the existence of traces of Illyrian toponymy in parts of Europe beyond the western Balkans, an issue whose origins are still unclear. The specific theories have found little archaeological corroboration, as no convincing evidence for significant migratory movements from the Luzatian culture into the west Balkans has ever been found. Rather, archaeologists from former Yugoslavia highlighted the continuity between the Bronze and succeeding Iron Age (especially in regions such as Donja Dolina, central Bosnia-Glasinac, and northern Albania (Mat river basin)), ultimately developing the so-called "autochthonous theory" of Illyrian genesis. The "autochthonous" model was most elaborated upon by Alojz Benac and B. Čović. They argued (following the "Kurgan hypothesis") that the 'proto-Illyrians' had arrived much earlier, during the Bronze Age as nomadic Indo-Europeans from the steppe. From that point, there was a gradual Illyrianization of the western Balkans leading to historic Illyrians, with no early Iron Age migration from northern Europe. He did not deny a minor cultural impact from the northern Urnfield cultures, however, "these movements had neither a profound influence on the stability of the Balkans, nor did they affect the ethnogenesis of the Illyrian ethnos". Aleksandar Stipčević raised concerns regarding Benac's all-encompassing scenario of autochthonous ethnogenesis, raising the following questions: "can one negate the participation of the bearers of the field-urn culture in the ethnogenesis of the Illyrian tribes who lived in present-day Slovenia and Croatia" or "Hellenistic and Mediterranean influences on southern Illyrians and Liburnians?". He concludes that Benac's model is only applicable to the Illyrian groups in Bosnia, western Serbia and a part of Dalmatia, where there had indeed been a settlement continuity and 'native' progression of pottery sequences since the Bronze Age. Following prevailing trends in discourse on identity in Iron Age Europe, current anthropological perspectives reject older theories of a longue duree (long term) ethnogenesis of Illyrians, even where 'archaeological continuity' can be demonstrated to Bronze Age times. They rather see the emergence of historic Illyrians tribes as a more recent phenomenon - just prior to their first attestation. The proto-Illyrians during the course of their settlement along the Adriatic coast and its hinterland likely merged with populations of a pre-Illyrian substratum – like Enchelei might have been –, leading to the formation of the historical Illyrians who were attested in later times. It has been suggested that the myth of Cadmus and Harmonia may be a reflection in mythology of that historical era. The impetus behind the emergence of larger regional groups, such as "Iapodes", "Liburnians", "Pannonians" etc., is traced to increased contacts with the Mediterranean and La Tène 'global worlds'. This catalyzed "the development of more complex political institutions and the increase in differences between individual communities". Emerging local elites selectively adopted either La Tène or Hellenistic and, later, Roman cultural templates "in order to legitimize and strengthen domination within their communities. They were competing fiercely through either alliance or conflict and resistance to Roman expansion. Thus, they established more complex political alliances, which convinced (Greco-Roman) sources to see them as ‘ethnic’ identities." In ancient Greek and Roman literature Different versions of the genealogy of the Illyrians, their tribes and their eponymous ancestor, Illyrius, existed in the ancient world both in fictional and non-fictional Greco-Roman literature. The fact that there were many versions of the genealogical story of Illyrius was ascertained by Ancient Greek historian Appian (1st–2nd century AD). However, only two versions of all these genealogical stories are attested. The first version—which reports the legend of Cadmus and Harmonia—was recorded by Euripides and Strabo in accounts that would be presented in detail in Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus (1st to 2nd century AD). The second version—which reports the legend of Polyphemus and Galatea—was recorded by Appian (1st–2nd century AD) in his Illyrike. According to the first version Illyrius was the son of Cadmus and Harmonia, whom the Enchelei had chosen to be their leaders. He eventually ruled Illyria and became the eponymous ancestor of the whole Illyrian people. In one of these versions, Illyrius was named so after Cadmus left him by a river named the Illyrian, where a serpent found and raised him. Appian writes that many mythological stories were still circulating in his time, and he chose a particular version because it seemed to be the most correct one. Appian's genealogy of tribes is not complete as he writes that other Illyrian tribes exist, which he hasn't included. According to Appian's tradition, Polyphemus and Galatea gave birth to Celtus, Galas, and Illyrius, three brothers, progenitors respectively of Celts, Galatians and Illyrians. Illyrius had multiple sons: Encheleus, Autarieus, Dardanus, Maedus, Taulas and Perrhaebus, and daughters: Partho, Daortho, Dassaro and others. From these, sprang the Taulantii, Parthini, Dardani, Encheleae, Autariates, Dassaretii and the Daorsi. Autareius had a son Pannonius or Paeon and these had sons Scordiscus and Triballus. Appian's genealogy was evidently composed in Roman times encompassing barbarian peoples other than Illyrians like Celts and Galatians. and choosing a specific story for his audience that included most of the peoples who dwelled in the Illyricum of the Antonine era. However, the inclusion in his genealogy of the Enchelei and the Autariatae, whose political strength has been highly weakened, reflects a pre-Roman historical situation. Basically, ancient Greeks included in their mythological accounts all the peoples with whom they had close contacts. In Roman times, ancient Romans created more mythical or genealogical relations to include various new peoples, regardless of their large ethnic and cultural differences. Appian's genealogy lists the earliest known peoples of Illyria in the goup of the first generation, consisting mostly of southern Illyrian peoples firstly encountered by the Greeks, some of which were the Enchelei, the Taulantii, the Dassaretii and the Parthini. Some peoples that came to the Balkans at a later date such as the Scordisci are listed in the group that belongs to the third generation. The Scordisci were a Celtic people mixed with the indigenous Illyrian and Thracian population. The Pannonians have not been known to the Greeks, and it seems that before the 2nd century BC they did not come into contact with the Romans. Almost all the Greek writers referred to the Pannonians with the name Paeones until late Roman times. The Scordisci and Pannonians were considered Illyrian mainly because they belonged to Illyricum since the early Roman Imperial period. History Pre-Roman period Depending on the complexity of the diverse physical geography of the Balkans, arable farming and livestock (mixed farming) rearing had constituted the economic basis of the Illyrians during the Iron Age. In southern Illyria organized realms were formed earlier than in other areas of this region. One of the oldest known Illyrian kingdoms is that of the Enchelei, which seems to have reached its height from the 8th–7th centuries BC, but the kingdom fell from dominant power around the 6th century BC. It seems that the weakening of the kingdom of Enchelae resulted in their assimilation and inclusion into a newly established Illyrian realm at the latest in the 5th century BC, marking the arising of the Dassaretii, who appear to have replaced the Enchelei in the lakeland area of Lychnidus. According to a number of modern scholars the dynasty of Bardylis—the first attested Illyrian dynasty—was Dassaretan. The weakening of the Enchelean realm was also caused by the strengthening of another Illyrian kingdom established in its vicinity—that of the Taulantii—which existed for some time along with that of the Enchelei. The Taulantii—another people among the more anciently known groups of Illyrian tribes—lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria (modern Albania), dominating at various times much of the plain between the Drin and the Aous, comprising the area around Epidamnus/Dyrrhachium. In the 7th century BC the Taulantii invoked the aid of Corcyra and Corinth in a war against the Liburni. After the defeat and expulsion from the region of the Liburni, the Corcyreans founded in 627 BC on the Illyrian mainland a colony called Epidamnus, thought to have been the name of a barbarian king of the region. A flourishing commercial centre emerged and the city grew rapidly. The Taulantii continued to play an important role in Illyrian history between the 5th and 4th–3rd centuries BC, and in particular, in the history of Epidamnus, both as its neighbors and as part of its population. Notably they influenced the affairs in the internal conflicts between aristocrats and democrats. The Taulantian kingdom seems to have reached its climax during Glaukias' rule, in the years between 335 BC and 302 BC. The Illyrian kingdoms frequently came into conflicts with the neighbouring Ancient Macedonians, and the Illyrian pirates were also seen as significant threat to the neighbouring peoples. At the Neretva Delta, there was a strong Hellenistic influence on the Illyrian tribe of Daors. Their capital was Daorson located in Ošanići near Stolac in Herzegovina, which became the main center of classical Illyrian culture. Daorson, during the 4th century BC, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 meter high stonewalls, composed out of large trapeze stones blocks. Daors also made unique bronze coins and sculptures. The Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on the Dalmatian islands. Queen Teuta was famous for having waged wars against the Romans. After Philip II of Macedon defeated Bardylis (358 BC), the Grabaei under Grabos II became the strongest state in Illyria. Philip II killed 7,000 Illyrians in a great victory and annexed the territory up to Lake Ohrid. Next, Philip II reduced the Grabaei, and then went for the Ardiaei, defeated the Triballi (339 BC), and fought with Pleurias (337 BC). During the second part of the 3rd century BC, a number of Illyrian tribes seem to have united to form a proto-state stretching from the central part of present-day Albania up to Neretva river in Herzegovina. The political entity was financed on piracy and ruled from 250 BC by the king Agron. He was succeeded by his wife Teuta, who assumed the regency for her stepson Pinnes following Agron's death in 231 BC. In his work The Histories, Polybius (2nd century BC) reported first diplomatic contacts between the Romans and Illyrians. In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC, 219 BC and 168 BC, Rome overran the Illyrian settlements and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe for Roman commerce. There were three campaigns, the first against Teuta the second against Demetrius of Pharos and the third against Gentius. The initial campaign in 229 BC marks the first time that the Roman Navy crossed the Adriatic Sea to launch an invasion. The Roman Republic subdued the Illyrians during the 2nd century BC. An Illyrian revolt was crushed under Augustus, resulting in the division of Illyria in the provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. Depictions of the Illyrians, usually described as "barbarians" or "savages", are universally negative in Greek and Roman sources. Roman Empire Prior to the Roman conquest of Illyria, the Roman Republic had started expanding its power and territory across the Adriatic Sea. The Romans came nevertheless into a series of conflicts with the Illyrians, equally known as the Illyrian Wars, beginning in 229 BC until 168 BC as the Romans defeated Gentius at Scodra. The Great Illyrian Uprising took place in the Roman province of Illyricum in the 1st century AD, in which an alliance of native peoples revolted against the Romans. The main ancient source that describes this military conflict is Velleius Paterculus, which was incorporated into the second book of Roman History. Another ancient source about it is the biography of Octavius Augustus by Pliny the Elder. The two leaders of uprising were Bato the Breucian and Bato the Daesitiate. Geographically, the name 'Illyria' came to mean Roman Illyricum which from the 4th century to the 7th century signified the prefecture of Illyricum. It covered much of the western and central Balkans. After the defeat of the Great Illyrian Revolt and the consolidation of Roman power in the Balkans, the process of integration of Illyrians in the Roman world began. Some Illyrian communities were organized in their pre-Roman locations under their own civitates. Others migrated or were forcefully resettled in different regions. Some groups like the Azali were transferred from their homeland to frontier areas (northern Hungary) after the Great Illyrian Revolt. In Dacia, Illyrian communities like the Pirustae who were skilled miners were settled to the gold mines of Alburnus Maior where they formed their own communities. In Trajan's period these population movements were likely part of a deliberate policy of resettling, while later they involved free migrations. In their new regions, they were free salaried workers. Inscriptions show that by that era many of them had acquired Roman citizenship. Byzantine Empire With the disintegration of the Roman Empire, Gothic and Hunnic tribes raided the Balkan peninsula, forcing many Illyrians to seek refuge in the highlands. In 395 AD, the Roman Empire was split upon the death of Theodosius I into an Eastern and Western Roman Empire, in part due to the weakening and increasing pressure from threats during the Barbarian Invasions, therefore, Illyria remained in the eastern empire which was later referred to as the Byzantine Empire. The early Byzantine Empire was predominantly ruled by emperors from the Balkan Peninsula with Byzantine emperors of Illyrian origin, amongst them Constantine the Great, Jovian, Valentinian I, Anastasius I Dicorus, Justinian I and their descendants from the Constantinian dynasty, Valentinianic dynasty and Justinian dynasty. From the 6th century ongoing into the 7th century, the Slavs crossed the Danube and started to absorb the indigenous Illyrians alongside the Ancient Greeks, Dacians and Thracians into the emerging medieval states of the Slavs such as that of the Croats and Serbs. The term Illyrians last appears in the historical record in the 7th century AD, in the Miracula Sancti Demetrii, referring to a Byzantine garrison operating within the former Roman province of Illyricum. However, in the acts of the Second Council of Nicaea from 787, Nikephoros of Durrës signed himself as "Episcopus of Durrës, province of the Illyrians". Since the Middle Ages the term "Illyrian" has been used principally in connection with the Albanians, although it was also used to describe the western wing of the Southern Slavs up to the 19th century, being revived in particular during the Habsburg Monarchy. In Byzantine literature, references to Illyria as a defined region in administrative terms end after 1204 and the term specifically began to refer only to the more confined Albanian territory. Society Social and political organisation The structure of Illyrian society during classical antiquity was characterised by a conglomeration of numerous tribes and small realms ruled by warrior elites, a situation similar like that in most other societies at that time. Thucidides in the History of the Peloponnesian War (5th century BC) addresses the social organisation of the Illyrian tribes via a speech he attributes to Brasidas, in which he recounts that the mode of rulership among the Illyrian tribes is that of dynasteia—which Thucidides used in reference to foreign customs—neither democratic, nor oligarchic. Brasidas then goes on to explain that in the dynasteia the ruler rose to power "by no other means than by superiority in fighting". Pseudo-Scymnus (2nd century BC) in reference to the social organisation of Illyrian tribes in earlier times than the era he lived in makes a distinction between three modes of social organisation. A part of the Illyrians were organized under hereditary kingdoms, a second part was organized under chieftains who were elected but held no hereditary power and some Illyrians were organised in autonomous communities governed by their own internal tribal laws. In these communities social stratification had not yet emerged. Warfare The history of Illyrian warfare and weaponry spanned from around the 10th century BC up to the 1st century AD in the region defined by the Ancient Greek and Roman historians as Illyria. It concerns the armed conflicts of the Illyrian tribes and their kingdoms in the Balkan Peninsula and the Italian Peninsula as well as their pirate activity in the Adriatic Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. The Illyrians were a notorious seafaring people with a strong reputation for piracy especially common during the regency of king Agron and later queen Teuta. They used fast and maneuverable ships of types known as lembus and liburna which were subsequently used by the Ancient Macedonians and Romans. Livy described the Illyrians along the Liburnians and Istrians as nations of savages in general noted for their piracy. Illyria appears in Greco-Roman historiography from the 4th century BC. Illyrians were regarded as bloodthirsty, unpredictable, turbulent, and warlike by Greeks and Romans. They were seen as savages on the edge of their world. Polybius (3rd century BC) wrote: "the Romans had freed the Greeks from the enemies of all mankind". According to the Romans, the Illyrians were tall and well-built. Herodianus writes that "Pannonians are tall and strong always ready for a fight and to face danger but slow witted". Illyrian rulers wore bronze torques around their necks. Apart from conflicts between Illyrians and neighbouring nations and tribes, numerous wars were recorded among Illyrian tribes too. Culture Language The languages spoken by the Illyrian tribes are an extinct and poorly attested Indo-European language group, and it is not clear whether the languages belonged to the centum or the satem group. The Illyrians were subject to varying degrees of Celticization, Hellenization, Romanization and later Slavicization which possibly lead to the extinction of their languages. In modern research, use of concepts like "Hellenization" and "Romanization" has declined as they have been criticized as simplistic notions which can't describe the actual processes via which material development moved from the centres of the ancient Mediterranean to its periphery. The vast majority of knowledge of Illyrian is based on the Messapian language if the latter is considered an Illyrian dialect. The non-Messapian testimonies of Illyrian are too fragmentary to allow any conclusions whether Messapian should be considered part of Illyrian proper, although it has been widely thought that Messapian was related to Illyrian. An extinct Indo-European language, Messapian was once spoken in Messapia in the southeastern Italian Peninsula. It was spoken by the three Iapygian tribes of the region, the Messapians, the Daunii and the Peucetii. On both sides on the border region between southern Illyria and northern Epirus the contact between the Illyrian and Greek languages produced an area of bilingualism between the two, although it is unclear how the impact of the one language to the other developed because of the scarcity of available archaeological material. However, this did not occur at the same level on both sides, with the Illyrians being more willing to adopt the more prestigious Greek language. Ongoing research may provide further knowledge about these contacts beyond present limited sources. Illyrians were exposed not only to Doric and Epirote Greek but also to Attic-Ionic. The Illyrian languages were once thought to be connected to the Venetic language in the Italian Peninsula but this view was abandoned. Other scholars have linked them with the adjacent Thracian language supposing an intermediate convergence area or dialect continuum, but this view is also not generally supported. All these languages were likely extinct by the 5th century AD although traditionally, the Albanian language is identified as the descendant of Illyrian dialects that survived in remote areas of the Balkans during the Middle Ages but evidence "is too meager and contradictory for us to know whether the term Illyrian even referred to a single language". The ancestor dialects of the Albanian language would have survived somewhere along the boundary of Latin and Ancient Greek linguistic influence, the Jireček Line. There are various modern historians and linguists who believe that the modern Albanian language might have descended from a southern Illyrian dialect whereas an alternative hypothesis holds that Albanian was descended from the Thracian language. Not enough is known of the ancient language to completely prove or disprove either hypothesis, see Origin of the Albanians. Linguistic evidence and subgrouping Modern studies about Illyrian onomastics, the main field via which the Illyrians have been linguistically investigated as no written records have been found, began in the 1920s and sought to more accurately define Illyrian tribes, the commonalities, relations and differences between each other as they were conditioned by specific local cultural, ecological and economic factors, which further subdivided them into different groupings. This approach has led in contemporary research in the definition of three main onomastic provinces in which Illyrian personal names appear near exclusively in the archaeological material of each province. The southern Illyrian or south-eastern Dalmatian province was the area of the proper Illyrians (the core of which was the territory of Illyrii proprie dicti of the classical authors, located in modern Albania) and includes most of Albania, Montenegro and their hinterlands. This area extended along the Adriatic coast from the Aous valley in the south, up to and beyond the Neretva valley in the north. The second onomastic province, the central Illyrian or middle Dalmatian-Pannonian province began to its north and covered a larger area than the southern province. It extended along the Adriatic coast between the Krka and Cetina rivers, covered much of Bosnia (except for its northern regions), central Dalmatia (Lika) and its hinterland in the central Balkans included western Serbia and Sandžak. The third onomastic province further to the north defined as North Adriatic area includes Liburnia and the region of modern Ljubljana in Slovenia. It is part of a larger linguistic area different from Illyrian that also comprises Venetic and its Istrian variety. These areas are not strictly defined geographically as there was some overlap between them. The region of the Dardani (modern Kosovo, parts of northern North Macedonia, parts of eastern Serbia) saw the overlap of the southern Illyrian and Dalmatian onomastic provinces. Local Illyrian anthroponymy is also found in the area. In its onomastics, southern Illyrian (or south-east Dalmatian) has close relations with Messapic. Most of these relations are shared with the central Dalmatian area. In older scholarship (Crossland (1982)), some toponyms in central and northern Greece show phonetic characteristics that were thought to indicate that Illyrians or closely related peoples were settled in those regions before the introduction of the Greek language. However, such views largely relied on subjective ancient testimonies and are not supported by the earliest evidence (epigraphic etc.). Religion The Illyrians, as most ancient civilizations, were polytheistic and worshipped many gods and deities developed of the powers of nature. The most numerous traces—still insufficiently studied—of religious practices of the pre-Roman era are those relating to religious symbolism. Symbols are depicted in every variety of ornament and reveal that the chief object of the prehistoric cult of the Illyrians was the Sun, worshipped in a widespread and complex religious system. The solar deity was depicted as a geometrical figure such as the spiral, the concentric circle and the swastika, or as an animal figure the likes of the birds, serpents and horses. The symbols of water-fowl and horses were more common in the north, while the serpent was more common in the south. Illyrian deities were mentioned in inscriptions on statues, monuments, and coins of the Roman period, and some interpreted by Ancient writers through comparative religion. There appears to be no single most prominent god for all the Illyrian tribes, and a number of deities evidently appear only in specific regions. In Illyris, Dei-pátrous was a god worshiped as the Sky Father, Prende was the love-goddess and the consort of the thunder-god Perendi, En or Enji was the fire-god, Jupiter Parthinus was a chief deity of the Parthini, Redon was a tutelary deity of sailors appearing on many inscriptions in the coastal towns of Lissus, Daorson, Scodra and Dyrrhachium, while Medaurus was the protector deity of Risinium, with a monumental equestrian statue dominating the city from the acropolis. In Dalmatia and Pannonia one of the most popular ritual traditions during the Roman period was the cult of the Roman tutelary deity of the wild, woods and fields Silvanus, depicted with iconography of Pan. The Roman deity of wine, fertility and freedom Liber was worshipped with the attributes of Silvanus, and those of Terminus, the god protector of boundaries. Tadenus was a Dalmatian deity bearing the identity or epithet of Apollo in inscriptions found near the source of the Bosna river. The Delmatae also had Armatus as a war god in Delminium. The Silvanae, a feminine plural of Silvanus, were featured on many dedications across Pannonia. In the hot springs of Topusko (Pannonia Superior), sacrificial altars were dedicated to Vidasus and Thana (identified with Silvanus and Diana), whose names invariably stand side by side as companions. Aecorna or Arquornia was a lake or river tutelary goddess worshipped exclusively in the cities of Nauportus and Emona, where she was the most important deity next to Jupiter. Laburus was also a local deity worshipped in Emona, perhaps a deity protecting the boatmen sailing. It seems that the Illyrians did not develop a uniform cosmology on which to center their religious practices. A number of Illyrian toponyms and anthroponyms derived from animal names and reflected the beliefs in animals as mythological ancestors and protectors. The serpent was one of the most important animal totems. Illyrians believed in the force of spells and the evil eye, in the magic power of protective and beneficial amulets which could avert the evil eye or the bad intentions of enemies. Human sacrifice also played a role in the lives of the Illyrians. Arrian records the chieftain Cleitus the Illyrian as sacrificing three boys, three girls and three rams just before his battle with Alexander the Great. The most common type of burial among the Iron Age Illyrians was tumulus or mound burial. The kin of the first tumuli was buried around that, and the higher the status of those in these burials the higher the mound. Archaeology has found many artifacts placed within these tumuli such as weapons, ornaments, garments and clay vessels. The rich spectrum in religious beliefs and burial rituals that emerged in Illyria, especially during the Roman period, may reflect the variation in cultural identities in this region. Archaeology There are few remains to connect with the Bronze Age with the later Illyrians in the western Balkans. Moreover, with the notable exception of Pod near Bugojno in the upper valley of the Vrbas River, nothing is known of their settlements. Some hill settlements have been identified in western Serbia, but the main evidence comes from cemeteries, consisting usually of a small number of burial mounds (tumuli). In the cemeteries of Belotić and Bela Crkva (sr), the rites of exhumation and cremation are attested, with skeletons in stone cists and cremations in urns. Metal implements appear here side by side with stone implements. Most of the remains belong to the fully developed Middle Bronze Age. During the 7th century BC, the beginning of the Iron Age, the Illyrians emerge as an ethnic group with a distinct culture and art form. Various Illyrian tribes appeared, under the influence of the Halstatt cultures from the north, and they organized their regional centers. The cult of the dead played an important role in the lives of the Illyrians, which is seen in their carefully made burials and burial ceremonies, as well as the richness of the burial sites. In the northern parts of the Balkans, there existed a long tradition of cremation and burial in shallow graves, while in the southern parts, the dead were buried in large stone, or earth tumuli (natively called gromile) that in Herzegovina were reaching monumental sizes, more than 50 meters wide and 5 meters high. The Japodian tribe (found from Istria in Croatia to Bihać in Bosnia) have had an affinity for decoration with heavy, oversized necklaces out of yellow, blue or white glass paste, and large bronze fibulas, as well as spiral bracelets, diadems and helmets out of bronze. Small sculptures out of jade in form of archaic Ionian plastic are also characteristically Japodian. Numerous monumental sculptures are preserved, as well as walls of citadel Nezakcij near Pula, one of numerous Istrian cities from Iron Age. Illyrian chiefs wore bronze torques around their necks much like the Celts did. The Illyrians were influenced by the Celts in many cultural and material aspects and some of them were Celticized, especially the tribes in Dalmatia and the Pannonians. In Slovenia, the Vače situla was discovered in 1882 and attributed to Illyrians. Prehistoric remains indicate no more than average height, male , female . Early Middle Ages It is also evident that in a region which stretches from the southern Dalmatian coast, its hinterland, Montenegro, northern Albania up to Kosovo and Dardania, apart from a uniformity in onomastics there were also some archaeological similarities. However, it cannot be determined whether these tribes living there also formed a linguistic unity. The Komani-Kruja culture is an archaeological culture attested from late antiquity to the Middle Ages in central and northern Albania, southern Montenegro and similar sites in the western parts of North Macedonia. It consists of settlements usually built below hillforts along the Lezhë (Praevalitana)-Dardania and Via Egnatia road networks which connected the Adriatic coastline with the central Balkan Roman provinces. Its type site is Komani and its fort on the nearby Dalmace hill in the Drin river valley. Kruja and Lezha represent significant sites of the culture. The population of Komani-Kruja represents a local, non-Slavic western Balkan people which was linked to the Roman Justinianic military system of forts. The development of Komani-Kruja is significant for the study of the transition between the classical antiquity population of Albania to the medieval Albanians who were attested in historical records in the 11th century. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja is framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of Arbanon. Illyrian-Albanian links were the main focus of Albanian nationalism during the Communism period. What was established in this early phase of research was that Komani-Kruja settlements represented a local, non-Slavic population which has been described as Romanized Illyrian, Latin-speaking or Latin-literate. This is corroborated by the absence of Slavic toponyms and survival of Latin ones in the Komani-Kruja area. In terms of historiography, the thesis of older Albanian archaeology is an untestable hypothesis as no historical sources exist which can link Komani-Kruja to the first definite attestation of medieval Albanians in the 11th century. The nationalist interpretation of the Komani-Kruja cemeteries has been roundly rejected by non-Albanian scholars. J. Wilkes has described it as "a highly improbable reconstruction of Albanian history". Some Albanian scholars even today have continued to espouse this model of continuity. Limited excavations campaigns occurred until the 1990s. Objects from a vast area covering nearby regions the entire Byzantine Empire, the northern Balkans and Hungary and sea routes from Sicily to Crimea were found in Dalmace and other sites coming from many different production centres: local, Byzantine, Sicilian, Avar-Slavic, Hungarian, Crimean and even possibly Merovingian and Carolingian. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja was framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of Arbanon. As research focused almost entirely on grave contexts and burial sites, settlements and living spaces were often ignored. Other views stressed that as an archaeological culture it shouldn't be connected to a single social or ethnic group but be contextualized in a broader Roman-Byzantine or Christian framework, nor should material finds be separated in ethnic categories as they can't be correlated to a specific culture. In this view, cemeteries from nearby regions which were classified as belonging to Slavic groups shouldn't be viewed as necessarily representing another people but as representations of class and other social factors as "ethnic identity was only one factor of varying importance". Yugoslav archaeology proposed an opposite narrative and tried to frame the population as Slavic, especially in the region of western Macedonia. Archaeological research has shown that these sites were not related to regions then inhabited by Slavs and even in regions like Macedonia, no Slavic settlements had been founded in the 7th century. Archaeologically, while it was considered possible and even likely that Komani-Kruja sites were used continuously from the 7th century onwards, it remained an untested hypothesis as research was still limited. Whether this population represented local continuity or arrived at an earlier period from a more northern location as the Slavs entered the Balkans remained unclear at the time but regardless of their ultimate geographical origins, these groups maintained Justinianic era cultural traditions of the 6th century possibly as a statement of their collective identity and derived their material cultural references from the Justinianic military system. In this context, they may have used burial customs as a means of reference to an "idealized image of the past Roman power". Research greatly expanded after 2009, and the first survey of Komani's topography was produced in 2014. Until then, except for the area of the cemetery, the size of the settlement and its extension remained unknown. In 2014, it was revealed that Komani occupied an area of more than 40 ha, a much larger territory than originally thought. Its oldest settlement phase dates to the Hellenistic era. Proper development began in late antiquity and continued well into the Middle Ages (13th-14th centuries). It indicates that Komani was a late Roman fort and an important trading node in the networks of Praevalitana and Dardania. Participation in trade networks of the eastern Mediterranean via sea routes seems to have been very limited even in nearby coastal territory in this era. The collapse of the Roman administration in the Balkans was followed by a broad demographic collapse with the exception of Komani-Kruja and neighbouring mountainous regions. In the Avar-Slavic raids, communities from present-day northern Albania and nearby areas clustered around hill sites for better protection as is the case of other areas like Lezha and Sarda. During the 7th century, as Byzantine authority was reeastablished after the Avar-Slavic raids and the prosperity of the settlements increased, Komani saw an increase in population and a new elite began to take shape. Increase in population and wealth was marked by the establishment of new settlements and new churches in their vicinity. Komani formed a local network with Lezha and Kruja and in turn this network was integrated in the wider Byzantine Mediterranean world, maintained contacts with the northern Balkans and engaged in long-distance trade. Winnifrith (2020) recently described this population as the survival of a "Latin-Illyrian" culture which emerged later in historical records as Albanians and Vlachs. In Winnifrith's view, the geographical conditions of northern Albania favored the continuation of the Albanian language in hilly and mountainous areas as opposed to lowland valleys. He adds that the language and religion of this culture remain uncertain. With bishops absent abroad, "the mountain flocks cannot have been too versed in theological or linguistic niceties". Nationalism Albanians The possible continuity between the Illyrian populations of the Western Balkans in antiquity and the Albanians has played a significant role in Albanian nationalism from the 19th century until the present day. South Slavs At the beginning of the 19th century, many educated Europeans regarded the South Slavs as the descendants of ancient Illyrians. Consequently, when Napoléon conquered part of the South Slavic lands, these areas were named after ancient Illyrian provinces (1809–1814). After the demise of the First French Empire in 1815, the Habsburg Monarchy became increasingly centralized and authoritarian, and fear of Magyarization arouse patriotic resistance among Croatians. Under the influence of Romantic nationalism, a self-identified "Illyrian movement", in the form of a Croatian national revival, opened a literary and journalistic campaign initiated by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the years of 1835–49. See also Notes References Bibliography External links Phallic Cult of the Illyrians Indo-European peoples Ancient tribes in Albania Ancient tribes in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ancient tribes in Croatia Ancient tribes in Kosovo Ancient tribes in Montenegro Ancient tribes in Serbia Ancient tribes in the Balkans Illyrian Albania Illyrian Serbia Ancient history of Slovenia Ancient peoples of Europe	true	[ "Star Wars Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire is a 2019 novel written by Delilah S. Dawson and published by Del Rey Books. The novel is a sequel to the 2018 novel Phasma, also by Dawson. It takes place in the Star Wars galaxy, immediately after the events of Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi.\n\nPlot Summary\nVi Moradi, the main protagonist, is tasked with setting up a base for the Resistance by General Leia Organa. She travels to the fictional planet Batuu, which is also the site of Disney's Star Wars theme park attraction. She is aided by Archex, a former First Order stormtrooper. Together, they recruit locals and build a small resistance camp to fight the nearby First Order presence that has been alerted to Vi and Archex's presence.\n\nReception\nThe book met mixed reviews from multiple critics, some praised the book while others didn't especially enjoy it.\nMegan Crouse of Den of Geek wrote \"Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge tie-in novel Black Spire is about good people, but, unfortunately, isn’t a very good novel. \"\nBrian Silliman from SyfyWire.com wrote: It's one of the first real glimpses we've gotten into what happened after [The Last Jedi] and it is a highly interesting read. \nMeg Dowell from the website DorkSideoftheForce.com wrote \"...Delilah S. Dawson has told an unforgettable story that has a major impact on the future of the Skywalker saga ... definitely add this book to your list. \"\n\nReferences\n\n2019 American novels\nNovels based on Star Wars\nDelilah S. Dawson works", "What Happened to Jones may refer to:\n What Happened to Jones (1897 play), a play by George Broadhurst\n What Happened to Jones (1915 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1920 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1926 film), a silent film comedy" ]
[ "Count Dracula", "Powers and weaknesses" ]	C_520ea2c01e0d4e02bbbe6ce2ae3c1a09_1	What does Dracula force Mina to do?	1	What does Dracula force Mina to do?	Count Dracula	Count Dracula is portrayed in the novel using many different supernatural abilities, and is believed to have gained his abilities through dealings with the Devil. Chapter 18 of the novel describes many of the abilities, limitations and weaknesses of vampires and Dracula in particular. Dracula has superhuman strength which, according to Van Helsing, is equivalent to that of 20 strong men. He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors. He is immune to conventional means of attack; a sailor tries to stab him in the back with a knife, but the blade goes through his body as though it is air. Why Harker's and Morris' physical attacks are able to harm him in other parts of the book is never explained although it is noteworthy that the failed stabbing by the sailor occurred at night and the successful attacks were during daylight hours. The Count can defy gravity to a certain extent and possesses superhuman agility, able to climb vertical surfaces upside down in a reptilian manner. He can travel onto "unhallowed" ground such as the graves of suicides and those of his victims. He has powerful hypnotic, telepathic and illusionary abilities. He also has the ability to "within limitations" vanish and reappear elsewhere at will. If he knows the path, he can come out from anything or into anything regardless of how close it is bound even if it is fused with fire. He has amassed cunning and wisdom throughout centuries, and he is unable to die by the mere passing of time alone. He can command animals such as rats, owls, bats, moths, foxes and wolves. However, his control over these animals is limited, as seen when the party first enters his house in London. Although Dracula is able to summon thousands of rats to swarm and attack the group, Holmwood summons his trio of terriers to do battle with the rats. The dogs prove very efficient rat killers, suggesting they are Manchester terriers trained for that purpose. Terrified by the dogs' onslaught, the rats flee and any control which Dracula had over them is gone. Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Some aspects of the character are believed to have been inspired by the 15th-century Wallachian Prince Vlad the Impaler, who was also known as Dracula, and by Sir Henry Irving, an actor for whom Stoker was a personal assistant. One of Dracula's most iconic powers is his ability to turn others into vampires by biting them and infecting them with the vampiric disease. Other character aspects have been added or altered in subsequent popular fictional works. The character has appeared frequently in popular culture, from films to animated media to breakfast cereals. Stoker's creation Bram Stoker's novel takes the form of an epistolary tale, in which Count Dracula's characteristics, powers, abilities and weaknesses are narrated by multiple narrators, from different perspectives. Count Dracula is an undead, centuries-old vampire, and a Transylvanian nobleman who claims to be a Székely descended from Attila the Hun. He inhabits a decaying castle in the Carpathian Mountains near the Borgo Pass. Unlike the vampires of Eastern European folklore, which are portrayed as repulsive, corpse-like creatures, Dracula is handsome and charismatic, with a veneer of aristocratic charm. In his conversations with Jonathan Harker, he reveals himself as deeply proud of his boyar heritage and nostalgic for the past, which he admits has become only a memory of heroism, honour and valour in modern times. Early life Details of his early life are undisclosed, but it is mentioned that Dracula studied the black arts at the academy of Scholomance in the Carpathian Mountains, overlooking the town of Sibiu (also known as Hermannstadt) and has a deep knowledge of alchemy and magic. Taking up arms, as befitting his rank and status as a voivode, he led troops against the Turks across the Danube. According to his nemesis Abraham Van Helsing, "He must indeed have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk, over the great river on the very frontier of Turkey-land. If it be so, then was he no common man: for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the land beyond the forest." Dead and buried in a great tomb in the chapel of his castle, Dracula returns from death as a vampire and lives for several centuries in his castle with three terrifyingly beautiful female vampires beside him. Narrative Short story In "Dracula's Guest", the narrative follows an unnamed Englishman traveller as he wanders around Munich before leaving for Transylvania. It is Walpurgis Night and the young Englishman foolishly leaves his hotel, in spite of the coachman's warnings, and wanders through a dense forest alone. Along the way, he feels that he is being watched by a tall and thin stranger. The short story climaxes in an old graveyard, where the Englishman encounters a sleeping female vampire called Countess Dolingen in a marble tomb with a large iron stake driven into it. This malevolent and beautiful vampire awakens from her marble bier to conjure a snowstorm before being struck by lightning and returning to her eternal prison. However, the Englishman's troubles are not quite over, as he is dragged away by an unseen force and rendered unconscious. He awakens to find a "gigantic" wolf lying on his chest and licking at his throat; however, the wolf merely keeps him warm and protects him until help arrives. When the Englishman is finally taken back to his hotel, a telegram awaits him from his expectant host Dracula, with a warning about "dangers from snow and wolves and night". Novel In Dracula, the eponymous vampire has decided to move from Transylvania to London. He summons Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English solicitor, to provide legal support for a real estate transaction overseen by Harker's employer. Dracula at first charms Harker with his cordiality and historical knowledge, and even rescues him from the clutches of the three female vampires in the castle. In truth, however, Dracula merely wishes to keep Harker alive long enough to complete the legal transaction and to learn as much as possible about England. Dracula leaves his castle and boards a Russian ship, the Demeter, taking along with him 50 boxes of Transylvanian soil, which he needs to regain his strength and rest during daylight. During the voyage to Whitby, a coastal town in northern England, he sustains himself on the ship's crew members. Only one body is later found, that of the captain, who is found tied up to the ship's helm. The captain's log is recovered and tells of strange events that had taken place during the ship's journey. Dracula leaves the ship in the form of a dog and runs up the 199 steps to the graveyard of St Mary's Church in the shadow of the Whitby Abbey ruins. Soon the Count begins menacing Harker's fiancée, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray, and her friend, Lucy Westenra. There is also a notable link between Dracula and Renfield, a patient in an insane asylum overseen by John Seward, who is compelled to consume spiders, birds, and other creatures—in ascending order of size—to absorb their "life force". Renfield acts as a kind of sensor, reacting to Dracula's proximity and supplying clues accordingly. Dracula visits Lucy's bed chamber on a nightly basis, draining her of blood while simultaneously infecting her with the curse of vampirism. Not knowing the cause for Lucy's deterioration, her three suitors – Seward, Arthur Holmwood and Quincey Morris – call upon Seward's mentor, the Dutch doctor Abraham Van Helsing. Van Helsing soon deduces her condition's supernatural origins, and tries to keep the vampire at bay with garlic. Nevertheless, Dracula attacks Lucy's house one final time, killing her mother and transforming Lucy herself into one of the undead. Harker escapes Dracula's castle and returns to England, barely alive and deeply traumatized. On Seward's suggestion, Mina seeks Van Helsing's assistance in assessing Harker's health. She reads his journal and passes it along to Van Helsing. This unfolds the first clue to the identity of Lucy's assailant, which later prompts Mina to collect all of the events of Dracula's appearance in news articles, saved letters, newspaper clippings and the journals of each member of the group. This assists the group in investigating Dracula's movements and later discovering that Renfield's behaviour is directly influenced by Dracula. They then discover that Dracula has purchased a residence next door to Seward's. The group gathers intelligence to track down Dracula and destroy him. After the undead Lucy attacks several children, Van Helsing, Seward, Holmwood and Morris enter her crypt and destroy her to save her soul. Later, Harker joins them and the party work to discover Dracula's intentions. Harker aids the party in tracking down the locations of the boxes to the various residences of Dracula and discovers that Dracula purchased multiple real estate properties throughout London under the alias 'Count De Ville'. Dracula's main plan was to move each of his 50 boxes of earth to his various properties in order to arrange multiple lairs throughout and around the perimeter of London. The party pries open each of the graves, places sacramental wafers within each of them, and seals them shut. This deprives Dracula of his ability to seek safety in those boxes. Dracula gains entry into Seward's residence by coercing an invitation out of Renfield. As he attempts to enter the room in which Harker and Mina are staying, Renfield tries to stop him; Dracula then mortally wounds him. With his dying breath, Renfield tells Seward and Van Helsing that Dracula is after Mina. Van Helsing and Seward discover Dracula biting Mina and forcing her to drink his blood. The group repel Dracula using crucifixes and sacramental bread, forcing him to flee by turning into a dark vapour. The party continue to hunt Dracula to search for his remaining lairs. Although Dracula's 'baptism' of Mina grants him a telepathic link to her, it backfires when Van Helsing hypnotizes Mina and uses her supernatural link with Dracula to track him as he flees back to Transylvania. The heroes follow Dracula back to Transylvania, and in a climactic battle with Dracula's Romani bodyguards, finally destroy him. Despite the popular image of Dracula having a stake driven through his heart to kill him, Mina's narrative describes his decapitation by Harker's kukri while Morris simultaneously pierces his heart with a Bowie knife (Mina Harker's Journal, 6 November, Dracula Chapter 27). His body then turns into dust, but not before Mina sees an expression of peace on his face. Characteristics Although early in the novel Dracula dons a mask of cordiality, he often flies into fits of rage when his plans are frustrated. When Dracula's brides attempt to seduce Jonathan Harker, Dracula physically assaults one and ferociously berates them for their insubordination. He has an appreciation for ancient architecture, and when purchasing a home he prefers them to be aged, saying "A new home would kill me", and that to make a new home habitable to him would take a century. Dracula is very proud of his warrior heritage, proclaiming his pride to Harker on how the Székely people are infused with the blood of heroes. He also expresses an interest in the history of the British Empire, speaking admiringly of its people. He has a somewhat primal and predatory worldview; he pities ordinary humans for their revulsion to their darker impulses. He is not without human emotions, however; he often says that he too can love. Though usually portrayed as having a strong Eastern European accent, the original novel only specifies that his spoken English is excellent, though strangely toned. His appearance varies in age. He is described early in the novel as thin, with a long white moustache, pointed ears and sharp teeth. It is also noted later in the novel (Chapter 11 subsection "The Escaped Wolf") by a zookeeper who sees him that he has a hooked nose and a pointed beard with a streak of white in it. He is dressed all in black and has hair on his palms. Harker describes him as an old man, "cruel looking" and giving an effect of "extraordinary pallor". As the novel progresses, Dracula is described as taking on a more and more youthful appearance. After Harker strikes him with a shovel, he is left with a scar on his forehead which he bears throughout the course of the novel. Dracula also possesses great wealth, and has Romani people in his homeland who are loyal to him as servants and protectors. Powers and weaknesses Count Dracula is portrayed in the novel using many different supernatural abilities, and is believed to have gained his abilities through dealings with the Devil. Chapter 18 of the novel describes many of the abilities, limitations and weaknesses of vampires and Dracula in particular. Dracula has superhuman strength which, according to Van Helsing, is equivalent to that of 20 strong men. He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors. He is immune to conventional means of attack; a sailor tries to stab him in the back with a knife, but the blade goes through his body as though it is air. He can defy gravity to a certain extent and possesses superhuman agility, able to climb vertical surfaces upside down in a reptilian manner. He can travel onto "unhallowed" ground, such as the graves of suicides and those of his victims. He has powerful hypnotic, telepathic and illusionary abilities. He also has the ability to "within limitations" vanish and reappear elsewhere at will. If he knows the path, he can come out from anything or into anything regardless of how close it is bound or even if it is soldered shut. He has amassed cunning and wisdom throughout centuries, and he is unable to die by the mere passing of time alone. He can command animals such as rats, owls, bats, moths, foxes and wolves. However, his control over these animals is limited, as seen when the party first enters his house in London. Although Dracula is able to summon thousands of rats to swarm and attack the group, Holmwood summons his trio of terriers to do battle with the rats. The dogs prove very efficient rat killers, suggesting they are Manchester Terriers trained for that purpose. Terrified by the dogs' onslaught, the rats flee, and any control which Dracula had over them is gone. Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist. Shapeshifting Dracula can change form at will, able to grow and become small, his featured forms in the novel being that of a bat, a wolf, a large dog and a fog or mist. When the moonlight is shining, he can travel as elemental dust within its rays. He is able to pass through tiny cracks or crevices while retaining his human form or in the form of a vapour; described by Van Helsing as the ability to slip through a hairbreadth space of a tomb door or coffin. This is also an ability used by his victim Lucy as a vampire. When the party breaks into her tomb, they open the sealed coffin to find her corpse is no longer located within. Vampirism One of Dracula's powers is the ability to turn others into vampires by biting them. According to Van Helsing: The vampire bite itself does not cause death. It is the method vampires use to drain blood of the victim and to increase their influence over them. This is described by Van Helsing: Victims who are bitten by a vampire and do not die, are hypnotically influenced by them: Van Helsing later describes the aftermath of a bitten victim when the vampire has been killed: As Dracula slowly drains Lucy's blood, she dies from acute blood loss and later transforms into a vampire, despite the efforts of Seward and Van Helsing to provide her with blood transfusions. He is aided by powers of necromancy and divination of the dead, that all who die by his hand may reanimate and do his bidding. Bloodletting Dracula requires no other sustenance but fresh human blood, which has the effect of rejuvenating him and allowing him to grow younger. His power is drawn from the blood of others, and he cannot survive without it. Although drinking blood can rejuvenate his youth and strength, it does not give him the ability to regenerate; months after being struck on the head by a shovel, he still bears a scar from the impact. Dracula's preferred victims are women. Harker states that he believes Dracula has a state of fasting as well as a state of feeding. Dracula does state to Mina, however, that exerting his abilities causes a desire to feed. Vampire's Baptism of Blood Count Dracula is depicted as the "King Vampire", and can control other vampires. To punish Mina and the party for their efforts against him, Dracula bites her on at least three occasions. He also forces her to drink his blood; this act curses her with the effects of vampirism and gives him a telepathic link to her thoughts. However, hypnotism was only able to be done before dawn. Van Helsing refers to the act of drinking blood by both the vampire and the victim "the Vampire's Baptism of Blood". The effects changes Mina physically and mentally over time. A few moments after Dracula attacks her, Van Helsing takes a wafer of sacramental bread and places it on her forehead to bless her; when the bread touches her skin, it burns her and leaves a scar on her forehead. Her teeth start growing longer but do not grow sharper. She begins to lose her appetite, feeling repulsed by normal food, begins to sleep more and more during the day; cannot wake unless at sunset and stops writing in her diary. When Van Helsing later crumbles the same bread in a circle around her, she is unable to cross or leave the circle, discovering a new form of protection. Dracula's death can release the curse on any living victim of eventual transformation into vampire. However, Van Helsing reveals that were he to escape, his continued existence would ensure that even if he did not victimize Mina further, she would transform into a vampire upon her eventual natural death. Limitations of his powers Dracula is much less powerful in daylight and is only able to shift his form at dawn, noon, and dusk (he can shift his form freely at night or if he is at his grave). The sun is not fatal to him, as sunlight does not burn and destroy him upon contact, though most of his abilities cease. Later interpretations of the character, and vampires in general, would amplify this trait into an outright fatal weakness, making it so that even the first rays of sunrise are capable of reducing a vampire to ash. He is also limited in his ability to travel, as he can only cross running water at low or high tide. Owing to this, he is unable to fly across a river in the form of a bat or mist or even by himself board a boat or step off a boat onto a dock unless he is physically carried over with assistance. He is also unable to enter a place unless invited to do so by someone of the household, even a visitor; once invited, he can enter and leave the premises at will. Weaknesses Thirst Dracula is commonly depicted with a bloodlust which he is seemingly unable to control. Adaptations sometimes call this uncontrollable state 'the thirst'. Religious symbolism There are items which afflict him to the point he has no power and can even calm him from his insatiable appetite for blood. He is repulsed by garlic, as well as sacred items and symbols such as crucifixes, and sacramental bread. Placing the branch of a wild rose upon the top of his coffin will render him unable to escape it; a sacred bullet fired into the coffin could kill him so that he remain true-dead. Mountain Ash is also described as a form of protection from a vampire although the effects are unknown. This was believed to be used as protection against evil spirits and witches during the Victorian era. Death-sleep The state of rest to which vampires are prone during the day is described in the novel as a deathlike sleep in which the vampire sleeps open-eyed, is unable to awaken or move, and also may be unaware of any presence of individuals who may be trespassing. Dracula is portrayed as being active in daylight at least once to pursue a victim. Dracula also purchases many properties throughout London 'over the counter' which shows that he does have the ability to have some type of presence in daylight. He requires Transylvanian soil to be nearby to him in a foreign land or to be entombed within his coffin within Transylvania in order to successfully rest; otherwise, he will be unable to recover his strength. This has forced him to transport many boxes of Transylvanian earth to each of his residences in London. He is most powerful when he is within his Earth-Home, Coffin-Home, Hell-Home, or any place unhallowed. Further, if Dracula or any vampire has had their fill in blood upon feeding, they will be caused to rest in this dead state even longer than usual. Other abilities While universally feared by the local people of Transylvania and even beyond, Dracula commands the loyalty of Gypsies and a band of Slovaks who transport his boxes on their way to London and to serve as an armed convoy bringing his coffin back to his castle. The Slovaks and Gypsies appear to know his true nature, for they laugh at Harker when he tries to communicate his plight, and betray Harker's attempt to send a letter through them by giving it to the Count. Dracula seems to be able to hold influence over people with mental disorders, such as Renfield, who is never bitten but who worships Dracula, referring to him over the course of the novel as "Master" and "Lord". Dracula also afflicts Lucy with chronic sleepwalking, putting her into a trance-like state that allows them not only to submit to his will but also seek him and satisfy his need to feed. Dracula's powers and weaknesses vary greatly in the many adaptations. Previous and subsequent vampires from different legends have had similar vampire characteristics. Character development subsequent to the novel Dracula has been portrayed by more actors in more visual media adaptations of the novel than any other horror character. Actors who have played him include Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, John Carradine, Lon Chaney Jr., Christopher Lee, Francis Lederer, Denholm Elliott, Jack Palance, Louis Jourdan, Rudolf Martin, Frank Langella, Klaus Kinski, Gary Oldman, Leslie Nielsen, George Hamilton, David Niven, Charles Macaulay, Keith-Lee Castle, Gerard Butler, Duncan Regehr, Richard Roxburgh, Marc Warren, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Billington, Thomas Kretschmann, Dominic Purcell, Luke Evans and Claes Bang. In 2003, Count Dracula, as portrayed by Lugosi in the 1931 film, was named as the 33rd greatest movie villain by the AFI. In 2013, Empire magazine ranked Lee's portrayal as Dracula the 7th Greatest Horror Movie Character of All Time. The character is closely associated with the western cultural archetype of the vampire, and remains a popular Halloween costume. Count Dracula appears in Mad Monster Party? voiced by Allen Swift. This version is shown to be wearing a monocle. Count Dracula is among the monsters that Baron Boris von Frankenstein invites to the Isle of Evil to show off the secret of total destruction and announce his retirement from the Worldwide Organization of Monsters. Sesame Street character Count von Count is based on Bela Lugosi's interpretation of Count Dracula and Jack Davis' design for Dracula from Mad Monster Party?. Count Dracula appears in Mad Mad Mad Monsters (a "prequel of sorts" to Mad Monster Party?) voiced again by Allen Swift. He and his son are invited by Baron Henry von Frankenstein to attend the wedding of Frankenstein's monster and its mate at the Transylvania Astoria Hotel. Dracula is the primary antagonist of the Castlevania video game series and the main protagonist of the Lords of Shadow reboot series. Count Dracula appears in the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes episode "Spatula, Prinze of Dorkness", voiced by S. Scott Bullock. He relates a tale of how he once gave Dr. Putrid T. Gangreen a serum to transform tomatoes into vampire tomatoes. Though the Doctor refused, Zoltan overheard their conversation and, mistaking the word serum for syrup, ingests the serum himself and renaming himself "Spatula, Prinze of Dorkness" who can turn people into vampires by kissing them in the neck (a stipulation that the Censor Lady put into place in fear of showing the biting and bloodshed associated with vampires on a Saturday morning cartoon). This spread to the other tomatoes and the entire town. When the sun came up and disabled the vampires, Count Dracula in sunblock appears and deemed that the town is not worthy to be vampires. He then gives Chad Finletter the antidote to the vampirism and advises that the tomatoes be squashed immediately. Dracula appears as the lead character of Dracula the Un-dead, a novel by Stoker's great-grand nephew Dacre presented as a sequel to the original. In the Supernatural episode "Monster Monster", a shapeshifter that Sam and Dean Winchester fight considers his form of Count Dracula (portrayed by Todd Stashwick) his favourite form. It is in this form that Jamie killed him with Sam's gun loaded with silver bullets. Count Dracula is the main character of the Hotel Transylvania franchise, voiced by Adam Sandler in the first three movies and by Brian Hull in the fourth movie. Dracula, going by an inversion of his name, "Alucard," serves as the main character of the anime and manga series Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate where he serves Integra Hellsing, Abraham's great-granddaughter, as an anti-vampire warrior devoted to the British Crown. Dracula is the primary antagonist of the Showtime series Penny Dreadful, portrayed by Christian Camargo. This version of the character is the brother of Lucifer and, thus, a fallen angel. Modern and postmodern analyses of the character Already in 1958, Cecil Kirtly proposed that Count Dracula shared his personal past with the historical Transylvanian-born Voivode Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia, also known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Țepeș. Following the publication of In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally in 1972, this supposed connection attracted much popular attention. This work argued that Bram Stoker based his Dracula on Vlad the Impaler. Historically, the name "Dracula" is the family name of Vlad Țepeș' family, a name derived from a fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg (king of Hungary and Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor) to uphold Christianity and defend the Empire against the Ottoman Turks. Vlad II Dracul, father of Vlad III, was admitted to the order around 1431 because of his bravery in fighting the Turks and was dubbed Dracul (dragon or devil) thus his son became Dracula (son of the dragon). From 1431 onward, Vlad II wore the emblem of the order and later, as ruler of Wallachia, his coinage bore the dragon symbol. Stoker came across the name Dracula in his reading on Romanian history, and chose this to replace the name (Count Wampyr) that he had originally intended to use for his villain. However, some Dracula scholars, led by Elizabeth Miller, have questioned the depth of this connection as early as 1998. They argue that Stoker in fact knew little of the historic Vlad III, Vlad the Impaler, and that he used only the name "Dracula" and some miscellaneous scraps of Romanian history. Also, there are no comments about Vlad III in the author's working notes. While having a conversation with Jonathan Harker in Chapter 3, Dracula refers to his own background, and these speeches show elements which Stoker directly copied from An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia: With Various Political Observations Relating to Them by William Wilkinson. Stoker mentions the Voivode of the Dracula race who fought against the Turks after the defeat in the Battle of Kosovo, and was later betrayed by his brother, historical facts which unequivocally point to Vlad III, described as "Voïvode Dracula" by Wilkinson: The Count's intended identity is later commented by Professor Van Helsing, referring to a letter from his friend Arminius: This indeed encourages the reader to identify the Count with the Voivode Dracula first mentioned by him in Chapter 3, the one betrayed by his brother: Vlad III Dracula, betrayed by his brother Radu the Handsome, who had chosen the side of the Turks. But as noted by the Dutch author Hans Corneel de Roos, in Chapter 25, Van Helsing and Mina drop this rudimentary connection to Vlad III and instead describe the Count's personal past as that of "that other of his race" who lived "in a later age". By smoothly exchanging Vlad III for a nameless double, Stoker avoided his main character being unambiguously linked to a historical person traceable in any history book. Similarly, the novelist did not want to disclose the precise site of the Count's residence, Castle Dracula. As confirmed by Stoker's own handwritten research notes, the novelist had a specific location for the Castle in mind while writing the narrative: an empty mountain top in the Transylvanian Kelemen alps near the former border with Moldavia. Efforts to promote the Poenari Castle (ca. 200 km away from the novel's place of action near the Borgo Pass) as the "real Castle Dracula" have no basis in Stoker's writing; although it bears much similarity to the fictional Castle Dracula, no written evidence shows Stoker to have heard of it. Regarding the Bran Castle near Brașov, Stoker possibly saw an illustration of Castle Bran (Törzburg) in Charles Boner's 1865 book on Transylvania, Transylvania: Its Products and Its People. Although Stoker may have been inspired by its romantic appearance, neither Boner, nor Mazuchelli nor Crosse (who also mention Terzburg or Törzburg) associate it with Vlad III; for the site of his fictitious Castle Dracula, Stoker preferred an empty mountain top. Furthermore, Stoker's detailed notes reveal that the novelist was very well aware of the ethnic and geo-political differences between the "Roumanians" or "Wallachs"/"Wallachians", descendants of the Dacians, and the Székelys or Szeklers, allies of the Magyars or Hungarians, whose interests were opposed to that of the Wallachians. In the novel's original typewritten manuscript, the Count speaks of throwing off the "Austrian yoke", which corresponds to the Szekler political point of view. This expression is crossed out, however, and replaced by "Hungarian yoke" (as appearing in the printed version), which matches the historical perspective of the Wallachians. This has been interpreted by some to mean that Stoker opted for the Wallachian, not the Szekler interpretation, thus lending more consistency to the Romanian identity of his Count: although not identical with Vlad III, the Vampire is portrayed as one of the "Dracula race". However, despite this, Stoker chose the Count to have revealed himself to be a Székely, and not a Wallachian nobleman (the region where the real "Draculas" ruled over). Screen portrayals See also Elizabeth Báthory Carmilla Clinical vampirism List of fictional vampires List of horror film antagonists References Bibliography Clive Leatherdale (1985) Dracula: the Novel and the Legend. Desert Island Books. Bram Stoker (1897) Dracula. Norton Critical Edition (1997) edited by Nina Auerbach and David J. Skal. Senf, Carol. Dracula: Between Tradition and Modernism (Twayne, 1998). Senf, Carol A. Bram Stoker. University of Wales Press, 2010. External links Bram Stoker Online Full text, PDF and audio versions of Dracula. Vlad the Impaler Literary characters introduced in 1897 Fictional characters with immortality Fictional characters with superhuman strength Fictional characters with weather abilities Fictional counts and countesses Fictional Hungarian people Fictional characters based on real people Fictional hypnotists and indoctrinators Fictional therianthropes Fictional telepaths Fictional vampires Male characters in literature Male characters in film Male characters in television Male horror film villains Male literary villains Supervillains with their own comic book titles Mythopoeia	false	[ "Wilhelmina \"Mina\" Harker (née Murray) is a fictional character and the main female character in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula.\n\nIn the novel \nShe begins the story as Miss Mina Murray, a young schoolmistress who is engaged to Jonathan Harker, and best friends with Lucy Westenra. She visits Lucy in Whitby on July 24 of that year, when schools would have closed for the summer. Unlike her best friend, Mina is an orphan, who never knew her father or mother.\n\nAfter her fiancé Jonathan escapes from Count Dracula's castle, Mina travels to Budapest and joins him there. Mina cares for him during his recovery from his traumatic encounter with the vampire and his brides, and the two return to England as husband and wife. Back home, they learn that Lucy has died from a mysterious illness stemming from severe blood loss as the result of repeated attacks by an unknown, blood-drinking animal. The animal, they learn, was none other than Dracula taking a different shape.\n\nIt is because of Mina that the party learn of the Count's plans, as she is the one who collects the journals, letters, and newspaper clippings. She assembles all of the relevant information regarding the Count, places it in chronological order, and types out multiple copies, giving them to each of the other protagonists. The result is the epistolary novel itself. Mina and Jonathan then join the coalition around Abraham Van Helsing, and turn their attention toward destroying the Count. The party uses this information to discover clues about Dracula's plans and further investigate the locations of the various residences he purchases as a means to track him and destroy him. Each subsequent action the party takes is recorded by the various members and added to the collection of events surrounding Dracula.\n\nAfter Dracula learns of this plot against him, he takes revenge by visiting — and biting — Mina at least three times. Dracula also puts Mina under his hypnotic spell, dooming her to become a vampire should she die. Afterwards, he kills Renfield and destroys all of the copies of their epistolary except for one, which Dr. Seward kept in a safe. The rest of the novel deals with the group's efforts to spare Mina a vampiric fate by tracking and attempting to kill Dracula. When Van Helsing attempts to bless her by placing a host against her forehead it burns her flesh, leaving a scar, thus proving that Dracula has made her unholy. Mina slowly succumbs to Dracula's influence, switching back and forth from a state of consciousness to one of semi-trance, during which she is telepathically connected with Dracula. Mina then uses her inherent telepathic abilities to track Dracula's movements under the hypnotism of Van Helsing. Dracula later flees back to his castle in Transylvania, followed by the entire group who split up. As Van Helsing takes Mina with him on his journey to Dracula's castle to slay the brides of Dracula, the rest of the party attempt to locate and raid the ship Dracula is using, to ambush him. As time goes on, Helsing's ability to hypnotize Mina to obtain intelligence on the whereabouts of Count Dracula diminishes significantly. Her appearance and manner become more vampire-like, to the point where she even loses her appetite as well as her ability to stay awake during the day despite multiple attempts by Van Helsing to wake her.\n\nWhile Mina and Van Helsing are at camp, Helsing finely crumbles a sacred wafer in a circle around Mina as she sleeps during the daytime. Upon waking, she is unable to cross the circle at all. Van Helsing does this as a test; if Mina is unable to exit the circle, he reasons that vampires would be unable to enter, as well. This is confirmed when, later in the night, the brides come to the camp, but are unable to cross the ring around Mina and Van Helsing. The brides beckon her to join them but fail to do so (which Van Helsing is relieved at when he notices how Mina looks at them with fear and disgust, and he realizes she isn't like them yet); with that, they fly back to Dracula's castle before sunrise, where they meet their demise at Van Helsing's hands.\n\nWhen the party kills Dracula just before sunset, Dracula's vampiric spell is lifted and Mina is freed from the curse.\n\nThe book closes with a note written seven years after these events about Mina's and Jonathan's married life and the birth of their first-born son, whom they name Quincey in remembrance of their American friend Quincey Morris, who was killed by Dracula's Szgany minions during the final confrontation. The birth of Jonathan and Mina's son signifies hope and renewal of life as the close of the novel ushers in the 20th century.\n\nIn other media\nMina has appeared in most film adaptations of Stoker's novel.\n\nIn Stoker's original novel, Mina recovers from the vampire's curse upon Dracula's death and lives on with her husband, Jonathan. However, in some media, Mina is killed at some point in the story, while in others, she becomes a full vampire and keeps her powers after the death of Dracula.\n\nBooks\nIn Dracula the Un-dead, (2009) co-written by Dacre Stoker, a great-nephew of the original author, Mina's son, Quincey, is claimed to be a product of rape and Dracula's biologically human son, conceived at some point when Dracula was attacking Mina.\nIn From the Pages of Bram Stoker's Dracula: Harker (2009), written by Tony Lee and endorsed by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt, Mina becomes bound to Dracula's spirit as his remaining allies attempt to use her unborn child as his new body.\nIn Anno Dracula, a 1992 novel by Kim Newman, the first in the Anno Dracula series, Mina Harker became a vampire and Dracula's bride. The novel tells an alternate history in which Dracula marries Queen Victoria and rules England as her consort, and vampirism is widespread.\nMina is one of the main characters in 1975 novel Dracula Tape by Fred Saberhagen, which is the retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula from Dracula's point of view. This is actually book one of a ten part book series of which Mina is a major recurring character.\nMina is the central character in the 1994 book Mina ... The Dracula Story Continues, and the 2000 sequel Blood to Blood: The Dracula Story Continues, by Marie Kiraly.\nMina Murray (returning to her maiden name after having divorced her husband) is one of the lead characters of Alan Moore's and Kevin O'Neill's comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. She is a bisexual suffragist and leader of the titular team, and is involved in a romantic relationship with Allan Quatermain. She and Allan are the only remaining members of the initial League after a Martian invasion. She subsequently becomes immortal, remaining young even in the year 2009. She is in a polyamorous relationship with the gender-changing omnisexual Orlando. It is implied that she still feels trauma over her encounter with Dracula and has disfiguring scars on her neck, which she covers with a red scarf.\nMina Murray appears in the novel European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman (2018)(the second novel in The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club series) by Theodora Goss. In the novel she is former governess of Mary Jekyll, daughter of the infamous Dr. Jekyll. Mary receives a letter from Mina, asking for her help, and sets on a mission to help Mina, discovering later that Mina Murray isn't all that she seems.\n\nOn screen\n\nFilm\n\nIn F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922), the character is renamed Ellen, due to the copyright issues surrounding this film, and is portrayed by Greta Schröder. In a significant deviation from the original novel, she sacrifices herself to Count Orlok (the film's version of Dracula) so he will be destroyed by the rising sun.\nHelen Chandler played her in Universal Pictures' Dracula (1931), directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as the Count. In this adaptation, Mina was Dr. John Seward's daughter and so it is implied that her name was Mina Seward.Lupita Tovar played Eva (Mina in this version) in Drácula (Spanish version, 1931). Her portrayal was more sexual than in English-language version.\nIn 1953 Turkish film Drakula İstanbul'da (Dracula in Istanbul) Güzin (Mina in this version) is played by Annie Ball. The events of the novel are updated to 1950s and Dracula here moves to Turkey from his castle in Transylvania. Güzin is the cabaret dancer. At one point Dracula places Güzin under his hypnotic control and has her dance for him on the stage (to the accompaniment of a supernaturally played piano) as he sits alone in the audience. As she finishes this command performance, Dracula applauds, and then tells her \"Tonight you danced better than any other night. I won't harm you. You are a beautiful being. I will drink you bit by bit\".\nIn Hammer Horror's Dracula (1958), Mina was portrayed by Melissa Stribling and was married to Arthur Holmwood instead of Jonathan Harker.\n In a 1970 Spanish-Italian-German horror film Count Dracula, Mina was portrayed by Maria Rohm and Christopher Lee played the title role, though it was not a Hammer production like his other Dracula films. This adaptation tried to stay faithful to the novel.\n In the 1978 adult horror film Dracula Sucks, Mina is portrayed by Annette Haven and it is implied that she becomes a vampire by the end of the movie.\n In 1979 romantic horror comedy Love At First Bite Dracula moves to New York in 1970s and pursues there fashion model Cindy Sondheim (played by Susan Saint James), who Dracula recognizes as a reincarnation of Mina. Cindy does retain some of the memories from her past life.\n Mina was played by Martje Grohmann in the 1979 film Nosferatu the Vampyre, remake of Murnau's classic. This adaptation switches Mina's role, here she is killed by vampire, and makes Lucy (played by Isabelle Adjani) - who here is wife of Jonathan Harker - vampire's primary victim.\nMina was played by Jan Francis in the 1979 film Dracula directed by John Badham, in which she is Van Helsing's daughter. This adaptation also switches Mina's role and makes Lucy (played by Kate Nelligan) — who here is the daughter of Dr. Seward — Jonathan Harker's fiancée and Dracula's primary victim.\nMina was portrayed by American actress Winona Ryder in Bram Stoker's Dracula, the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola film adaptation of the book, in which she is believed to be the reincarnation of Dracula's centuries-dead wife, Elisabeta.\nIn Mel Brooks' parody Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), Mina is portrayed by Amy Yasbeck. Here she is Dr. John Seward's daughter, like in 1931 film.\nIn the 2003 film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Mina Harker was portrayed by Peta Wilson. In a deviation from the comic the film was based on, the film has Mina remain a vampire after Dracula's death, and she keeps the surname Harker, having outlived her husband Jonathan rather than divorced him. Unlike the comic, there is no relationship between her and Allan Quatermain, but she attracts some interest from Doctor Henry Jekyll and Special Agent Tom Sawyer, and a past relationship with Dorian Gray is hinted at before he is revealed to be a double agent working for their enemy.\n In 2012 vampire horror film Dracula 3D by Dario Argento Mina Harker was portrayed by Marta Gastini. In this version she comes to Dracula's castle in search of her husband Jonathan Harker and turns out to look exactly like Dracula's wife, Dolingen de Gratz, who died some centuries ago.\n In 2013, Monal Gajjar portrayed Meena (Mina in this version) in the Indian Malayalam-language horror film Dracula 2012. In this film Dracula moves from Romania to India in 2010s.\nA woman named Mina appears at the end of Dracula Untold (2014), portrayed by Sarah Gadon. Following the film's climax, the movie (which mostly takes place in the 15th century) flashes forward to the present day, when a woman named Mina, who strongly resembles Dracula's long-dead wife Mirena, is approached by Dracula himself. After Dracula compliments Mina and recites Mirena's favourite piece of poetry, which turns out to be Mina's favourite poem as well, the movie ends with the two departing together.\n\nTelevision\n\nIn 1968 British TV film Dracula Mina Harker was played by Suzanne Neve. It's implied that she becomes a vampire by the end of the film.\nIn 1971 Czechoslovakian TV film Hrabě Drakula Mina Harker was played by Klára Jerneková. It was a fairly faithful adaptation of the novel. It was the first screen adaptation to show Mina drinking Dracula's blood from the cut on his chest.\nIn the 1973 television film Bram Stoker's Dracula Mina is portrayed by Penelope Horner.\nBlair Brown portrayed Mina Harker in the Dracula (Purple Playhouse).\nThe BBC produced a version entitled Count Dracula in 1977. Mina was played by Judi Bowker. The film was fairly faithful to Stoker's original novel, except that it portrayed Mina and Lucy as sisters.\nIn the 2002 Italian two-part English-language TV miniseries Dracula, Mina is portrayed by Stefania Rocca. This adaptation updates the events of the novel to the 21st century and takes place entirely in Budapest. Mina is the one who kills Dracula in the end.\nIn 2005, Sreeja Chandran portrayed the character in the Indian Malayalam-language television series Dracula, which aired on Asianet.\nIn 2006 a British television film entitled Dracula aired, with Stephanie Leonidas in the role of Mina Murray. She is depicted as a Roman Catholic.\nIn 2008, Beenu Baradwaj essayed her role in the Indian Telugu-language television series Dracula, which aired on Gemini TV.\nZoe Tapper portrayed Mina Harker in Demons (2009) as a half-vampire whose full powers come out when she ingests some of Dracula's blood, which still flows in her veins. Her 'default' state leaves her blind, with psychic abilities that she can use to sense the nature of the demons the main characters are presently facing.\nJessica De Gouw portrayed Mina Murray in the TV series Dracula (2013). In this role, she is a medical student who is engaged to Jonathan Harker, and is said to be a reincarnation of Dracula's deceased wife.\nOlivia Llewellyn portrays Mina Murray in the TV series, Penny Dreadful (2014-2016). In this continuity she is the daughter of Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) and best friend of Vanessa Ives. She is transformed into a vampire by Dracula, and her father shoots her to save Vanessa Ives.\nMorfydd Clark portrays Mina Murray in the miniseries Dracula (2020). In this continuity she is engaged to Jonathan Harker and visits him in the convent in Hungary after his escape from Dracula's castle. The convent is infiltrated by Dracula, who kills everybody and then wears Harker's skin to get to the last survivors, Sister Agatha Van Helsing and Mina. Agatha surrenders her life in exchange for Mina's, who was let go by Dracula. Later, Mina creates a foundation in Jonathan's name.\n\nCharacters based on Mina\n\nThe 2004 film Dracula 3000 features a character named Mina Murray (Alexandra Kamp), though it is a futuristic science fiction/horror film and this Mina is not intended to be the same person.\nThe 2006-2014 Young Dracula TV series feature character Mina Van Helsing (Jo-Anne Knowles), who is a vampire fighter and wife of Eric Van Helsing, hereditary vampire slayer.\n\nAnimation\nA character based on Mina appears in an American animated television series called Mina and the Count about a seven-year-old girl named Mina Harper (voiced by Ashley Johnson, and later, Tara Strong) and her encounters with Vlad the Count, a 700-year-old vampire (voiced by Mark Hamill).\n In a 2000 anime film Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust the protagonist Vampire Hunter D sees a vision of his human mother in a room filled with blood, in which she apologizes to D for birthing him as a dhampir, and states that she couldn't help it as she was a human in love with D's vampire father. D, realizing that it's a vision conjured by his enemy Carmilla, strikes this vision of his mother down with his sword. In Vampire Hunter D's lore his mother is implied to be Mina, while his father is mentioned to be Dracula.\n\nOn stage\n\n Mina was played by Edith Craig (daughter of actress Ellen Terry) in the first stage adaptation of the novel, called Dracula, or The Un-Dead, that was written and directed by Bram Stoker himself, and performed once only at the Lyceum Theatre in London for the sole purpose of securing a stage copyright on the material in England. It took place on May 18, 1897.\n Mina was played by Dora Mary Patrick and Dorothy Vernon in Hamilton Deane's 1924 play in Derby and London, England. In this version the events of the novel were updated to 1920s, happen entirely in England and were turned into drawing-room mystery drama. In 1927 the play was brought to Broadway by producer Horace Liveright, who hired John L. Balderston to revise the play for American audiences. As a result of Balderston's revision, the names of female characters were swapped, and what was Stoker's Mina character became now Lucy Seward, daughter of Dr.Seward. She was played on Broadway by Dorothy Peterson. Ann Sachs played the role of Lucy Seward in the revival of the play in 1977. Lauren Thompson replaced Sachs in the role some time later before the play closed in 1980. It was the first adaptation of the novel, where Dracula showed some romantic feelings for her, including kissing her on the lips and saying to the men in the play that she would become his consort.\nMina was played by Victoria Kingsley in 1927 play by Charles Morrell. The play was commissioned by Florence Stoker, who wanted a new stage play that she could completely own, as she was dissatisfied with royalties from Deane's play. The play had large sections of verbatim dialogue from the novel and a number of Shakespearean references. It also included the scene, where Mina drank blood from Dracula's chest (which was absent from Deane's play), with Dracula saying to her \"Come, drink of my blood, that you may become even as I\". The play premiered in Royal Court Theatre in Warrington, England and run for a few weeks.\nMina was played by Cecilia Milone in 1991 original Argentinian production of Dracula el musical. The musical is the most popular musical in Argentina and had several revivals. \nMina was played by Melissa Errico in 2004 Broadway production of Dracula, the Musical by Frank Wildhorn.\nMina was played by Andrée Watters in 2006 French Canadian musical Dracula – Entre l'amour et la mort. \nMina was played by Nathalie Fauquette in 2011 French musical Dracula, l'amour plus fort que la mort. The part was entirely dancing one.\nMina was portrayed by Abigail Prudames in 2019 Northern Ballet's production of Dracula by David Nixon. The production was recorded and showed in UK cinemas on Halloween and then broadcast on BBC4 in 2020.\n\nMusic\nGerman gothic rock darkwave band Mina Harker was named after her.\nSwiss metal band Impure Wilhelmina was named after her.\nShe is the subject of Cradle of Filth's song \"Lovesick for Mina\" on their Thornography album (2006).\nShe is the subject of Zander Nyrond's song \"Mina's Song\", told from Mina's point of view after the defeat of Dracula.\n\nJapanese media\nIn the light novels (also later adapted into two anime films and a manga series) Vampire Hunter D, the ancient vampire Count Magnus Lee refers to a \"Mina the Fair\" who was pursued by the \"Sacred Ancestor\" (revealed in the English dub of the first film to be \"our sire Count Dracula\"). It is implied that she may be the mother of D (the son of the Sacred Ancestor).\n\nIn the 1997 manga series Hellsing, a character referred to only as \"She\" is eventually revealed to be Mina Harker's corpse. She died before Dracula (later Alucard) could be defeated, but because he did not die, the curse was still active in her, which the Doctor exploited to create Millennium's vampires.\n\nThe 2003 video game Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow features Mina Hakuba, a childhood friend and love interest of protagonist Soma Cruz, who is later revealed to be the reincarnation of Dracula. Mina's given name and family name bear a clear resemblance to Mina Harker's name, and the relationship she shares with Soma parallels that of Dracula and Harker. Mina also appears in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, but cannot be interacted with, only appearing in the intro and ending, though a doppelganger of Mina is killed by the main antagonist midway into the game in order to try and force Soma into becoming the new dark lord of the castle.\n\nIn the 2005 manga series Dance in the Vampire Bund, the central female vampire protagonist is named \"Mina Țepeș\", a reference to Vlad Țepeș, one of the inspirations for Dracula.\n\nMiscellaneous\n In the radio drama Dracula by The Mercury Theatre on the Air, which was broadcast in 1938, Mina was played by Agnes Moorehead. In the drama Dracula refers to her as “my bride” and “my love” at one point. Mina is the one, who stakes him in the end. Dracula was played by Orson Welles.\nIn the web series Carmilla (2014-2016), Laura Hollis, who is subject of affections from vampire Carmilla, says: \"What would Mina Harker do? Get bitten. Mina Harker would totally try and act all alluring to the bloodsucking fiend and totally get bitten. Let's not do that.\"\n\nReferences\n\nAmerica's Best Comics characters\nLiterary characters introduced in 1897\nDracula characters\nFictional schoolteachers\nFemale characters in literature\nFemale horror film characters", "Hrabě Drakula (Count Dracula) is a Czechoslovakian 1971 TV film version of Bram Stoker's original novel Dracula.\n\nThis is the first adaptation of the novel to be directed by a woman (who also co-scripted).\n\nPlot\n\nJonathan Harker on behalf of his employer, Mr. Hawkins travels to Transylvania to close a real estate transaction with Count Dracula. Jonathan keeps a written daily journal. Harker meets fearful, superstitious people on the coach to Bukovina. They are frightened at the mention of Dracula's name, and because Jonathan plans to go to the castle by night. A woman in the carriage gives him a crucifix. The coach only takes Jonathan so far, then Dracula's own carriage picks him up. The Count himself, in disguise, drives the carriage. On their way to the castle, wolves chase the carriage. The Count sends them away. At the castle, Jonathan is greeted by the Count, who is bearded and robust. Dracula helps Jonathan with his bags and shows him to his room, making excuses as to the absence of his servants. Jonathan enjoys a supper in which the Count does not join him. Jonathan and Dracula discuss the sale of Carfax, the old London estate that the Count wants to buy. Dracula tells Jonathan he must stay at the castle for a while, in order to help the Count perfect his English. Jonathan cuts himself shaving, and in his shaving mirror he notices that the Count has no reflection. The sight of the blood excites the Count, but the crucifix repulses him. Dracula takes Harker's mirror and tosses it out of the window. Jonathan soon realizes that he is alone at the castle with Dracula and that Dracula is not human. He wonders around the castle, falls asleep in one room and is attacked by three vampire woman - who refer to each other as Marquess, Countess and Madame. Dracula stops their attack and gives the women a baby to feed on. Next evening Dracula tells Jonathan to write false letters home, in which he is to say that he already has left Transylvania. A woman comes to the castle, pleading for the return of her child, but wolves kill her. That night Jonathan sees Dracula climb head-first down the castle's wall. Getting desperate to find the key to the castle's front door and escape, Jonathan climbs out of his window and down an outer wall. He sees Romani loading coffins to the carriage in the yard. Jonathan soon finds a vault in which the three vampire women repose in coffins, each in a deathlike trance. He finds the Count, also in a coffin in a similar state. Jonathan searches Dracula for the key. Unable to find it, he tries to kill the Count with a shovel, but fails. Jonathan makes a desperate leap to escape.\n\nBack in London, Jonathan celebrates being home from the hospital. He is among his friends - Arthur Holmwood and Lucy, Dr. John Seward and Harker's own wife Mina. Jonathan is suffering from amnesia and has no recollection of what happened to him, while he was abroad and doesn't want to remember, since he only knows that it was something unpleasant. Mina says that she hid his journal from him, so he wouldn't get upset by the memories. Lucy meanwhile is disappointed that he can't remember, she was looking forward to hearing what he had to say about the Carpathians, since she's interested in going there herself someday. She says she'd like to borrow Jonathan's journal, and she seems so impatient to do so, she becomes agitated and passes out. Arthur reveals that Lucy suffers for three weeks from a mysterious illness that leaves her pale and weak. She also has two tiny wounds on her throat. Lucy's illness baffles Dr. Seward, so he sends for Professor Van Helsing to come from Holland to have a look at her. Van Helsing places garlic in Lucy's room and also prescribes her garlic cream and peppermint tea. But Lucy removes the garlic and Dracula enters her room. Lucy's mother, who was with her at that moment, dies of heart attack. Despite blood transfusion, Lucy quickly fades away and on her deathbed beckons Arthur. Her teeth appear longer and sharper. Shortly afterwards, Lucy dies and is buried. At Lucy's funeral, Mina suddenly turns around and then begins to walk, as if in trance, towards something, or somebody. Jonathan stops her and then sees the Count and recognizes him, but the Count vanishes. When Van Helsing asks him what's wrong, Jonathan says that he knows what's happened to him in the Carpathians and who is guilty of Lucy's death. Three nights after she was buried Arthur is grieving in her room, when he hears and sees Lucy calling to him outside. But he understands that she is not really Lucy anymore and repels her with garlic. Lucy leaves, but wickedly promises Arthur that she'll still get him, as he is still her groom. Van Helsing and others gather together to discuss what they are to do now. Arthur tells them that Lucy came to him. Van Helsing shows them newspaper, describing how three children have been kidnapped or wounded in the neck in the past few days after being kissed by a woman in white. While all the men are deeply concerned by these news, Mina is smiling strangely. Van Helsing tells them that they need to open the coffin of Lucy and cut her head off. Arthur is horrified and appalled, but Harker supports Professor. Van Helsing asks Jonathan to give him his journal, but when Harker asks his wife what she has done with it, Mina says that she doesn't know what he is talking about. Jonathan finds the journal hidden among Mina's things, decides that she is tired and should go to bed. Mina briefly touches her throat with her hand. Van Helsing leads Seward, Holmwood and Harker to the graveyard by night. Inside the tomb they find that Lucy's coffin is empty. Soon Lucy returns to the tomb carrying the child, which she drops when Van Helsing and others confront her. Lucy sweetly calls Arthur to come with her, but retreats from Van Helsing's crucifix and returns to her tomb. Professor seals it and they wait till daybreak. Then they re-enter Lucy's tomb and Arthur stakes Lucy, while Van Helsing reads a prayer. The peaceful expression appears on Lucy's face and Professor allows Arthur to kiss her.\n\nVan Helsing and other men discuss what they know about their enemy, Dracula. Van Helsing has written to Budapest University and from the answer knows that Count Dracula is Voivode Dracula, who became famous in battles against the Turks. He also talks about vampire's strength and weaknesses, including the need to rest in his home soil, and how Dracula wants to increase his empire of the undead by moving to London. They suddenly hear the laughter in next room, run there and find unconscious Mina on the floor. On her neck they discover two wounds. The men go to Carfax, a place Harker sold to Dracula in London, and sterilize the boxes with communion wafers. However, two boxes are missing. Dracula confronts them there, Jonathan takes a swing at him with his knife, but it only slashes the Count's coat, and gold coins spill out. Dracula grabs the coins and flees, leaping out of the window. Jonathan realizes that they left Mina at home completely alone. Meanwhile, Dracula enters Mina's room, drinks her blood, then slashes his chest and makes her drink his blood, saying that now she belongs to him and if he says to her \"come\", she will come to him. The men burst in, but are too late. Van Helsing tries to break Dracula's hold and presses wafer to Mina's forehead, but it burns her. Professor understands that now they have to rely on Mina's psychic link to Dracula to learn where he is. They find out that Dracula is on the ship and is heading back to Transylvania. The heroes go by train to win time. When they reach Dracula's castle, Mina becomes excited, behaves as if she is at home, runs from Jonathan across castle's halls, laughing wantonly and igniting the lights in the castle by the mere swish of her hand. The heroes spent night in the castle, putting garlic wreaths as barrier in the room. Three vampire women appear, but they can't enter the room. They call out to Mina, call her their sister and promise to teach her lovely things, teach her to drink blood, promise to give her all those men who are with her now. Mina wants to go to them, but is stopped by Arthur. Next morning Van Helsing and Dr.Seward stake three vampire women and they crumble into dust.\n\nAfter Dracula's wagon arrives, the Romani run away upon finding he's in the coffin-shaped box they've delivered. The men try to attack Dracula, but he gets away from them, telling Harker that Mina is his and coming with him. Mina runs off again, and Jonathan once more has to go chase her down. Dracula intercepts her, with an open arms, but Jonathan throws a dagger that pierces his heart. Dracula turns into dust, while mark disappears from Mina's forehead. Jonathan's journal ends with a note that\nall these events happened seven years ago, and that the castle still stands as it has before.\n\nCast\nIlja Racek - Count Dracula\nJan Schánilec - Jonathan Harker \nKlára Jerneková - Mina Harker \nJiří Zahajský - Arthur Holmwood \nHana Maciuchová - Lucy \nOta Sklenčka - Professor Van Helsing \nVáclav Mareš - Dr. John Seward \nOlga Jirouskova - Dracula's vampire bride\nMarie Joanovicova - Dracula's vampire bride\nVera Kresadlova - Dracula's vampire bride\n\nLegacy\nIt's the first adaptation to show a scene where Mina drinks blood from a cut on Dracula's chest. It's also the first in which Mina's forehead gets burned by communion wafer, the first to show Van Helsing placing Mina under hypnosis and learning from her that Dracula has boarded a ship back to Transylvania, and the first to show the Brides of Dracula calling Mina \"sister\" and beckoning her to join them.\n\nReferences\n\nDracula films\nFilms set in castles\n1971 films\nCzech films\nCzech thriller films\nVampires in film\n1971 horror films\nCzechoslovak films" ]
[ "Count Dracula", "Powers and weaknesses", "What does Dracula force Mina to do?", "I don't know." ]	C_520ea2c01e0d4e02bbbe6ce2ae3c1a09_1	What is Draculas weakness?	2	What is Dracula's weakness?	Count Dracula	Count Dracula is portrayed in the novel using many different supernatural abilities, and is believed to have gained his abilities through dealings with the Devil. Chapter 18 of the novel describes many of the abilities, limitations and weaknesses of vampires and Dracula in particular. Dracula has superhuman strength which, according to Van Helsing, is equivalent to that of 20 strong men. He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors. He is immune to conventional means of attack; a sailor tries to stab him in the back with a knife, but the blade goes through his body as though it is air. Why Harker's and Morris' physical attacks are able to harm him in other parts of the book is never explained although it is noteworthy that the failed stabbing by the sailor occurred at night and the successful attacks were during daylight hours. The Count can defy gravity to a certain extent and possesses superhuman agility, able to climb vertical surfaces upside down in a reptilian manner. He can travel onto "unhallowed" ground such as the graves of suicides and those of his victims. He has powerful hypnotic, telepathic and illusionary abilities. He also has the ability to "within limitations" vanish and reappear elsewhere at will. If he knows the path, he can come out from anything or into anything regardless of how close it is bound even if it is fused with fire. He has amassed cunning and wisdom throughout centuries, and he is unable to die by the mere passing of time alone. He can command animals such as rats, owls, bats, moths, foxes and wolves. However, his control over these animals is limited, as seen when the party first enters his house in London. Although Dracula is able to summon thousands of rats to swarm and attack the group, Holmwood summons his trio of terriers to do battle with the rats. The dogs prove very efficient rat killers, suggesting they are Manchester terriers trained for that purpose. Terrified by the dogs' onslaught, the rats flee and any control which Dracula had over them is gone. Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist. CANNOTANSWER	He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors.	Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Some aspects of the character are believed to have been inspired by the 15th-century Wallachian Prince Vlad the Impaler, who was also known as Dracula, and by Sir Henry Irving, an actor for whom Stoker was a personal assistant. One of Dracula's most iconic powers is his ability to turn others into vampires by biting them and infecting them with the vampiric disease. Other character aspects have been added or altered in subsequent popular fictional works. The character has appeared frequently in popular culture, from films to animated media to breakfast cereals. Stoker's creation Bram Stoker's novel takes the form of an epistolary tale, in which Count Dracula's characteristics, powers, abilities and weaknesses are narrated by multiple narrators, from different perspectives. Count Dracula is an undead, centuries-old vampire, and a Transylvanian nobleman who claims to be a Székely descended from Attila the Hun. He inhabits a decaying castle in the Carpathian Mountains near the Borgo Pass. Unlike the vampires of Eastern European folklore, which are portrayed as repulsive, corpse-like creatures, Dracula is handsome and charismatic, with a veneer of aristocratic charm. In his conversations with Jonathan Harker, he reveals himself as deeply proud of his boyar heritage and nostalgic for the past, which he admits has become only a memory of heroism, honour and valour in modern times. Early life Details of his early life are undisclosed, but it is mentioned that Dracula studied the black arts at the academy of Scholomance in the Carpathian Mountains, overlooking the town of Sibiu (also known as Hermannstadt) and has a deep knowledge of alchemy and magic. Taking up arms, as befitting his rank and status as a voivode, he led troops against the Turks across the Danube. According to his nemesis Abraham Van Helsing, "He must indeed have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk, over the great river on the very frontier of Turkey-land. If it be so, then was he no common man: for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the land beyond the forest." Dead and buried in a great tomb in the chapel of his castle, Dracula returns from death as a vampire and lives for several centuries in his castle with three terrifyingly beautiful female vampires beside him. Narrative Short story In "Dracula's Guest", the narrative follows an unnamed Englishman traveller as he wanders around Munich before leaving for Transylvania. It is Walpurgis Night and the young Englishman foolishly leaves his hotel, in spite of the coachman's warnings, and wanders through a dense forest alone. Along the way, he feels that he is being watched by a tall and thin stranger. The short story climaxes in an old graveyard, where the Englishman encounters a sleeping female vampire called Countess Dolingen in a marble tomb with a large iron stake driven into it. This malevolent and beautiful vampire awakens from her marble bier to conjure a snowstorm before being struck by lightning and returning to her eternal prison. However, the Englishman's troubles are not quite over, as he is dragged away by an unseen force and rendered unconscious. He awakens to find a "gigantic" wolf lying on his chest and licking at his throat; however, the wolf merely keeps him warm and protects him until help arrives. When the Englishman is finally taken back to his hotel, a telegram awaits him from his expectant host Dracula, with a warning about "dangers from snow and wolves and night". Novel In Dracula, the eponymous vampire has decided to move from Transylvania to London. He summons Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English solicitor, to provide legal support for a real estate transaction overseen by Harker's employer. Dracula at first charms Harker with his cordiality and historical knowledge, and even rescues him from the clutches of the three female vampires in the castle. In truth, however, Dracula merely wishes to keep Harker alive long enough to complete the legal transaction and to learn as much as possible about England. Dracula leaves his castle and boards a Russian ship, the Demeter, taking along with him 50 boxes of Transylvanian soil, which he needs to regain his strength and rest during daylight. During the voyage to Whitby, a coastal town in northern England, he sustains himself on the ship's crew members. Only one body is later found, that of the captain, who is found tied up to the ship's helm. The captain's log is recovered and tells of strange events that had taken place during the ship's journey. Dracula leaves the ship in the form of a dog and runs up the 199 steps to the graveyard of St Mary's Church in the shadow of the Whitby Abbey ruins. Soon the Count begins menacing Harker's fiancée, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray, and her friend, Lucy Westenra. There is also a notable link between Dracula and Renfield, a patient in an insane asylum overseen by John Seward, who is compelled to consume spiders, birds, and other creatures—in ascending order of size—to absorb their "life force". Renfield acts as a kind of sensor, reacting to Dracula's proximity and supplying clues accordingly. Dracula visits Lucy's bed chamber on a nightly basis, draining her of blood while simultaneously infecting her with the curse of vampirism. Not knowing the cause for Lucy's deterioration, her three suitors – Seward, Arthur Holmwood and Quincey Morris – call upon Seward's mentor, the Dutch doctor Abraham Van Helsing. Van Helsing soon deduces her condition's supernatural origins, and tries to keep the vampire at bay with garlic. Nevertheless, Dracula attacks Lucy's house one final time, killing her mother and transforming Lucy herself into one of the undead. Harker escapes Dracula's castle and returns to England, barely alive and deeply traumatized. On Seward's suggestion, Mina seeks Van Helsing's assistance in assessing Harker's health. She reads his journal and passes it along to Van Helsing. This unfolds the first clue to the identity of Lucy's assailant, which later prompts Mina to collect all of the events of Dracula's appearance in news articles, saved letters, newspaper clippings and the journals of each member of the group. This assists the group in investigating Dracula's movements and later discovering that Renfield's behaviour is directly influenced by Dracula. They then discover that Dracula has purchased a residence next door to Seward's. The group gathers intelligence to track down Dracula and destroy him. After the undead Lucy attacks several children, Van Helsing, Seward, Holmwood and Morris enter her crypt and destroy her to save her soul. Later, Harker joins them and the party work to discover Dracula's intentions. Harker aids the party in tracking down the locations of the boxes to the various residences of Dracula and discovers that Dracula purchased multiple real estate properties throughout London under the alias 'Count De Ville'. Dracula's main plan was to move each of his 50 boxes of earth to his various properties in order to arrange multiple lairs throughout and around the perimeter of London. The party pries open each of the graves, places sacramental wafers within each of them, and seals them shut. This deprives Dracula of his ability to seek safety in those boxes. Dracula gains entry into Seward's residence by coercing an invitation out of Renfield. As he attempts to enter the room in which Harker and Mina are staying, Renfield tries to stop him; Dracula then mortally wounds him. With his dying breath, Renfield tells Seward and Van Helsing that Dracula is after Mina. Van Helsing and Seward discover Dracula biting Mina and forcing her to drink his blood. The group repel Dracula using crucifixes and sacramental bread, forcing him to flee by turning into a dark vapour. The party continue to hunt Dracula to search for his remaining lairs. Although Dracula's 'baptism' of Mina grants him a telepathic link to her, it backfires when Van Helsing hypnotizes Mina and uses her supernatural link with Dracula to track him as he flees back to Transylvania. The heroes follow Dracula back to Transylvania, and in a climactic battle with Dracula's Romani bodyguards, finally destroy him. Despite the popular image of Dracula having a stake driven through his heart to kill him, Mina's narrative describes his decapitation by Harker's kukri while Morris simultaneously pierces his heart with a Bowie knife (Mina Harker's Journal, 6 November, Dracula Chapter 27). His body then turns into dust, but not before Mina sees an expression of peace on his face. Characteristics Although early in the novel Dracula dons a mask of cordiality, he often flies into fits of rage when his plans are frustrated. When Dracula's brides attempt to seduce Jonathan Harker, Dracula physically assaults one and ferociously berates them for their insubordination. He has an appreciation for ancient architecture, and when purchasing a home he prefers them to be aged, saying "A new home would kill me", and that to make a new home habitable to him would take a century. Dracula is very proud of his warrior heritage, proclaiming his pride to Harker on how the Székely people are infused with the blood of heroes. He also expresses an interest in the history of the British Empire, speaking admiringly of its people. He has a somewhat primal and predatory worldview; he pities ordinary humans for their revulsion to their darker impulses. He is not without human emotions, however; he often says that he too can love. Though usually portrayed as having a strong Eastern European accent, the original novel only specifies that his spoken English is excellent, though strangely toned. His appearance varies in age. He is described early in the novel as thin, with a long white moustache, pointed ears and sharp teeth. It is also noted later in the novel (Chapter 11 subsection "The Escaped Wolf") by a zookeeper who sees him that he has a hooked nose and a pointed beard with a streak of white in it. He is dressed all in black and has hair on his palms. Harker describes him as an old man, "cruel looking" and giving an effect of "extraordinary pallor". As the novel progresses, Dracula is described as taking on a more and more youthful appearance. After Harker strikes him with a shovel, he is left with a scar on his forehead which he bears throughout the course of the novel. Dracula also possesses great wealth, and has Romani people in his homeland who are loyal to him as servants and protectors. Powers and weaknesses Count Dracula is portrayed in the novel using many different supernatural abilities, and is believed to have gained his abilities through dealings with the Devil. Chapter 18 of the novel describes many of the abilities, limitations and weaknesses of vampires and Dracula in particular. Dracula has superhuman strength which, according to Van Helsing, is equivalent to that of 20 strong men. He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors. He is immune to conventional means of attack; a sailor tries to stab him in the back with a knife, but the blade goes through his body as though it is air. He can defy gravity to a certain extent and possesses superhuman agility, able to climb vertical surfaces upside down in a reptilian manner. He can travel onto "unhallowed" ground, such as the graves of suicides and those of his victims. He has powerful hypnotic, telepathic and illusionary abilities. He also has the ability to "within limitations" vanish and reappear elsewhere at will. If he knows the path, he can come out from anything or into anything regardless of how close it is bound or even if it is soldered shut. He has amassed cunning and wisdom throughout centuries, and he is unable to die by the mere passing of time alone. He can command animals such as rats, owls, bats, moths, foxes and wolves. However, his control over these animals is limited, as seen when the party first enters his house in London. Although Dracula is able to summon thousands of rats to swarm and attack the group, Holmwood summons his trio of terriers to do battle with the rats. The dogs prove very efficient rat killers, suggesting they are Manchester Terriers trained for that purpose. Terrified by the dogs' onslaught, the rats flee, and any control which Dracula had over them is gone. Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist. Shapeshifting Dracula can change form at will, able to grow and become small, his featured forms in the novel being that of a bat, a wolf, a large dog and a fog or mist. When the moonlight is shining, he can travel as elemental dust within its rays. He is able to pass through tiny cracks or crevices while retaining his human form or in the form of a vapour; described by Van Helsing as the ability to slip through a hairbreadth space of a tomb door or coffin. This is also an ability used by his victim Lucy as a vampire. When the party breaks into her tomb, they open the sealed coffin to find her corpse is no longer located within. Vampirism One of Dracula's powers is the ability to turn others into vampires by biting them. According to Van Helsing: The vampire bite itself does not cause death. It is the method vampires use to drain blood of the victim and to increase their influence over them. This is described by Van Helsing: Victims who are bitten by a vampire and do not die, are hypnotically influenced by them: Van Helsing later describes the aftermath of a bitten victim when the vampire has been killed: As Dracula slowly drains Lucy's blood, she dies from acute blood loss and later transforms into a vampire, despite the efforts of Seward and Van Helsing to provide her with blood transfusions. He is aided by powers of necromancy and divination of the dead, that all who die by his hand may reanimate and do his bidding. Bloodletting Dracula requires no other sustenance but fresh human blood, which has the effect of rejuvenating him and allowing him to grow younger. His power is drawn from the blood of others, and he cannot survive without it. Although drinking blood can rejuvenate his youth and strength, it does not give him the ability to regenerate; months after being struck on the head by a shovel, he still bears a scar from the impact. Dracula's preferred victims are women. Harker states that he believes Dracula has a state of fasting as well as a state of feeding. Dracula does state to Mina, however, that exerting his abilities causes a desire to feed. Vampire's Baptism of Blood Count Dracula is depicted as the "King Vampire", and can control other vampires. To punish Mina and the party for their efforts against him, Dracula bites her on at least three occasions. He also forces her to drink his blood; this act curses her with the effects of vampirism and gives him a telepathic link to her thoughts. However, hypnotism was only able to be done before dawn. Van Helsing refers to the act of drinking blood by both the vampire and the victim "the Vampire's Baptism of Blood". The effects changes Mina physically and mentally over time. A few moments after Dracula attacks her, Van Helsing takes a wafer of sacramental bread and places it on her forehead to bless her; when the bread touches her skin, it burns her and leaves a scar on her forehead. Her teeth start growing longer but do not grow sharper. She begins to lose her appetite, feeling repulsed by normal food, begins to sleep more and more during the day; cannot wake unless at sunset and stops writing in her diary. When Van Helsing later crumbles the same bread in a circle around her, she is unable to cross or leave the circle, discovering a new form of protection. Dracula's death can release the curse on any living victim of eventual transformation into vampire. However, Van Helsing reveals that were he to escape, his continued existence would ensure that even if he did not victimize Mina further, she would transform into a vampire upon her eventual natural death. Limitations of his powers Dracula is much less powerful in daylight and is only able to shift his form at dawn, noon, and dusk (he can shift his form freely at night or if he is at his grave). The sun is not fatal to him, as sunlight does not burn and destroy him upon contact, though most of his abilities cease. Later interpretations of the character, and vampires in general, would amplify this trait into an outright fatal weakness, making it so that even the first rays of sunrise are capable of reducing a vampire to ash. He is also limited in his ability to travel, as he can only cross running water at low or high tide. Owing to this, he is unable to fly across a river in the form of a bat or mist or even by himself board a boat or step off a boat onto a dock unless he is physically carried over with assistance. He is also unable to enter a place unless invited to do so by someone of the household, even a visitor; once invited, he can enter and leave the premises at will. Weaknesses Thirst Dracula is commonly depicted with a bloodlust which he is seemingly unable to control. Adaptations sometimes call this uncontrollable state 'the thirst'. Religious symbolism There are items which afflict him to the point he has no power and can even calm him from his insatiable appetite for blood. He is repulsed by garlic, as well as sacred items and symbols such as crucifixes, and sacramental bread. Placing the branch of a wild rose upon the top of his coffin will render him unable to escape it; a sacred bullet fired into the coffin could kill him so that he remain true-dead. Mountain Ash is also described as a form of protection from a vampire although the effects are unknown. This was believed to be used as protection against evil spirits and witches during the Victorian era. Death-sleep The state of rest to which vampires are prone during the day is described in the novel as a deathlike sleep in which the vampire sleeps open-eyed, is unable to awaken or move, and also may be unaware of any presence of individuals who may be trespassing. Dracula is portrayed as being active in daylight at least once to pursue a victim. Dracula also purchases many properties throughout London 'over the counter' which shows that he does have the ability to have some type of presence in daylight. He requires Transylvanian soil to be nearby to him in a foreign land or to be entombed within his coffin within Transylvania in order to successfully rest; otherwise, he will be unable to recover his strength. This has forced him to transport many boxes of Transylvanian earth to each of his residences in London. He is most powerful when he is within his Earth-Home, Coffin-Home, Hell-Home, or any place unhallowed. Further, if Dracula or any vampire has had their fill in blood upon feeding, they will be caused to rest in this dead state even longer than usual. Other abilities While universally feared by the local people of Transylvania and even beyond, Dracula commands the loyalty of Gypsies and a band of Slovaks who transport his boxes on their way to London and to serve as an armed convoy bringing his coffin back to his castle. The Slovaks and Gypsies appear to know his true nature, for they laugh at Harker when he tries to communicate his plight, and betray Harker's attempt to send a letter through them by giving it to the Count. Dracula seems to be able to hold influence over people with mental disorders, such as Renfield, who is never bitten but who worships Dracula, referring to him over the course of the novel as "Master" and "Lord". Dracula also afflicts Lucy with chronic sleepwalking, putting her into a trance-like state that allows them not only to submit to his will but also seek him and satisfy his need to feed. Dracula's powers and weaknesses vary greatly in the many adaptations. Previous and subsequent vampires from different legends have had similar vampire characteristics. Character development subsequent to the novel Dracula has been portrayed by more actors in more visual media adaptations of the novel than any other horror character. Actors who have played him include Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, John Carradine, Lon Chaney Jr., Christopher Lee, Francis Lederer, Denholm Elliott, Jack Palance, Louis Jourdan, Rudolf Martin, Frank Langella, Klaus Kinski, Gary Oldman, Leslie Nielsen, George Hamilton, David Niven, Charles Macaulay, Keith-Lee Castle, Gerard Butler, Duncan Regehr, Richard Roxburgh, Marc Warren, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Billington, Thomas Kretschmann, Dominic Purcell, Luke Evans and Claes Bang. In 2003, Count Dracula, as portrayed by Lugosi in the 1931 film, was named as the 33rd greatest movie villain by the AFI. In 2013, Empire magazine ranked Lee's portrayal as Dracula the 7th Greatest Horror Movie Character of All Time. The character is closely associated with the western cultural archetype of the vampire, and remains a popular Halloween costume. Count Dracula appears in Mad Monster Party? voiced by Allen Swift. This version is shown to be wearing a monocle. Count Dracula is among the monsters that Baron Boris von Frankenstein invites to the Isle of Evil to show off the secret of total destruction and announce his retirement from the Worldwide Organization of Monsters. Sesame Street character Count von Count is based on Bela Lugosi's interpretation of Count Dracula and Jack Davis' design for Dracula from Mad Monster Party?. Count Dracula appears in Mad Mad Mad Monsters (a "prequel of sorts" to Mad Monster Party?) voiced again by Allen Swift. He and his son are invited by Baron Henry von Frankenstein to attend the wedding of Frankenstein's monster and its mate at the Transylvania Astoria Hotel. Dracula is the primary antagonist of the Castlevania video game series and the main protagonist of the Lords of Shadow reboot series. Count Dracula appears in the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes episode "Spatula, Prinze of Dorkness", voiced by S. Scott Bullock. He relates a tale of how he once gave Dr. Putrid T. Gangreen a serum to transform tomatoes into vampire tomatoes. Though the Doctor refused, Zoltan overheard their conversation and, mistaking the word serum for syrup, ingests the serum himself and renaming himself "Spatula, Prinze of Dorkness" who can turn people into vampires by kissing them in the neck (a stipulation that the Censor Lady put into place in fear of showing the biting and bloodshed associated with vampires on a Saturday morning cartoon). This spread to the other tomatoes and the entire town. When the sun came up and disabled the vampires, Count Dracula in sunblock appears and deemed that the town is not worthy to be vampires. He then gives Chad Finletter the antidote to the vampirism and advises that the tomatoes be squashed immediately. Dracula appears as the lead character of Dracula the Un-dead, a novel by Stoker's great-grand nephew Dacre presented as a sequel to the original. In the Supernatural episode "Monster Monster", a shapeshifter that Sam and Dean Winchester fight considers his form of Count Dracula (portrayed by Todd Stashwick) his favourite form. It is in this form that Jamie killed him with Sam's gun loaded with silver bullets. Count Dracula is the main character of the Hotel Transylvania franchise, voiced by Adam Sandler in the first three movies and by Brian Hull in the fourth movie. Dracula, going by an inversion of his name, "Alucard," serves as the main character of the anime and manga series Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate where he serves Integra Hellsing, Abraham's great-granddaughter, as an anti-vampire warrior devoted to the British Crown. Dracula is the primary antagonist of the Showtime series Penny Dreadful, portrayed by Christian Camargo. This version of the character is the brother of Lucifer and, thus, a fallen angel. Modern and postmodern analyses of the character Already in 1958, Cecil Kirtly proposed that Count Dracula shared his personal past with the historical Transylvanian-born Voivode Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia, also known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Țepeș. Following the publication of In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally in 1972, this supposed connection attracted much popular attention. This work argued that Bram Stoker based his Dracula on Vlad the Impaler. Historically, the name "Dracula" is the family name of Vlad Țepeș' family, a name derived from a fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg (king of Hungary and Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor) to uphold Christianity and defend the Empire against the Ottoman Turks. Vlad II Dracul, father of Vlad III, was admitted to the order around 1431 because of his bravery in fighting the Turks and was dubbed Dracul (dragon or devil) thus his son became Dracula (son of the dragon). From 1431 onward, Vlad II wore the emblem of the order and later, as ruler of Wallachia, his coinage bore the dragon symbol. Stoker came across the name Dracula in his reading on Romanian history, and chose this to replace the name (Count Wampyr) that he had originally intended to use for his villain. However, some Dracula scholars, led by Elizabeth Miller, have questioned the depth of this connection as early as 1998. They argue that Stoker in fact knew little of the historic Vlad III, Vlad the Impaler, and that he used only the name "Dracula" and some miscellaneous scraps of Romanian history. Also, there are no comments about Vlad III in the author's working notes. While having a conversation with Jonathan Harker in Chapter 3, Dracula refers to his own background, and these speeches show elements which Stoker directly copied from An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia: With Various Political Observations Relating to Them by William Wilkinson. Stoker mentions the Voivode of the Dracula race who fought against the Turks after the defeat in the Battle of Kosovo, and was later betrayed by his brother, historical facts which unequivocally point to Vlad III, described as "Voïvode Dracula" by Wilkinson: The Count's intended identity is later commented by Professor Van Helsing, referring to a letter from his friend Arminius: This indeed encourages the reader to identify the Count with the Voivode Dracula first mentioned by him in Chapter 3, the one betrayed by his brother: Vlad III Dracula, betrayed by his brother Radu the Handsome, who had chosen the side of the Turks. But as noted by the Dutch author Hans Corneel de Roos, in Chapter 25, Van Helsing and Mina drop this rudimentary connection to Vlad III and instead describe the Count's personal past as that of "that other of his race" who lived "in a later age". By smoothly exchanging Vlad III for a nameless double, Stoker avoided his main character being unambiguously linked to a historical person traceable in any history book. Similarly, the novelist did not want to disclose the precise site of the Count's residence, Castle Dracula. As confirmed by Stoker's own handwritten research notes, the novelist had a specific location for the Castle in mind while writing the narrative: an empty mountain top in the Transylvanian Kelemen alps near the former border with Moldavia. Efforts to promote the Poenari Castle (ca. 200 km away from the novel's place of action near the Borgo Pass) as the "real Castle Dracula" have no basis in Stoker's writing; although it bears much similarity to the fictional Castle Dracula, no written evidence shows Stoker to have heard of it. Regarding the Bran Castle near Brașov, Stoker possibly saw an illustration of Castle Bran (Törzburg) in Charles Boner's 1865 book on Transylvania, Transylvania: Its Products and Its People. Although Stoker may have been inspired by its romantic appearance, neither Boner, nor Mazuchelli nor Crosse (who also mention Terzburg or Törzburg) associate it with Vlad III; for the site of his fictitious Castle Dracula, Stoker preferred an empty mountain top. Furthermore, Stoker's detailed notes reveal that the novelist was very well aware of the ethnic and geo-political differences between the "Roumanians" or "Wallachs"/"Wallachians", descendants of the Dacians, and the Székelys or Szeklers, allies of the Magyars or Hungarians, whose interests were opposed to that of the Wallachians. In the novel's original typewritten manuscript, the Count speaks of throwing off the "Austrian yoke", which corresponds to the Szekler political point of view. This expression is crossed out, however, and replaced by "Hungarian yoke" (as appearing in the printed version), which matches the historical perspective of the Wallachians. This has been interpreted by some to mean that Stoker opted for the Wallachian, not the Szekler interpretation, thus lending more consistency to the Romanian identity of his Count: although not identical with Vlad III, the Vampire is portrayed as one of the "Dracula race". However, despite this, Stoker chose the Count to have revealed himself to be a Székely, and not a Wallachian nobleman (the region where the real "Draculas" ruled over). Screen portrayals See also Elizabeth Báthory Carmilla Clinical vampirism List of fictional vampires List of horror film antagonists References Bibliography Clive Leatherdale (1985) Dracula: the Novel and the Legend. Desert Island Books. Bram Stoker (1897) Dracula. Norton Critical Edition (1997) edited by Nina Auerbach and David J. Skal. Senf, Carol. Dracula: Between Tradition and Modernism (Twayne, 1998). Senf, Carol A. Bram Stoker. University of Wales Press, 2010. External links Bram Stoker Online Full text, PDF and audio versions of Dracula. Vlad the Impaler Literary characters introduced in 1897 Fictional characters with immortality Fictional characters with superhuman strength Fictional characters with weather abilities Fictional counts and countesses Fictional Hungarian people Fictional characters based on real people Fictional hypnotists and indoctrinators Fictional therianthropes Fictional telepaths Fictional vampires Male characters in literature Male characters in film Male characters in television Male horror film villains Male literary villains Supervillains with their own comic book titles Mythopoeia	true	[ "Draculas ring (1978) is a Danish TV-miniseries produced by Danmarks Radio and shown only once, with daily episodes from October 15 to October 21, 1978.\n\nThe series consists of seven 15-minute episodes, written and directed by Flemming la Cour and Edmondt Jensen, with theme music by Willy Grevelund.\n\nThe plot concerns three young Danes spending a vacation in Malta, where they find a coffin sealed with the ring of Count Dracula. They take the ring back home to Denmark, but Dracula rises from his coffin and follows them to reclaim it.\n\nBent Børgesen starred as Dracula, and local celebrities Anniqa, Rolv Wesenlund and Jørgen de Mylius had cameo roles as vampire victims.\n\nDraculas ring was the world's first Dracula-based television series (BBC's Count Dracula (1977) has been aired in two parts on separate dates, thus changing its format from TV-movie to mini-series, but originally premiered complete in one evening with a ten minute intermission).\n\nSee also\nVampire film\nErotic horror\nList of vampire television series\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nEpisode guide and credits\nDraculas Ring Revisited\nFinal scene on YouTube\n\nDracula television shows\nVampires in television\n1970s Danish television series\n1978 Danish television series debuts\nDanish-language television shows", "is a side-scrolling horror-action video game developed and published by Sega, released for the Master System in 1986. Ghost House is loosely based on Sega's 1982 arcade game, Monster Bash.\n\nThe game was originally released in the short-lived Sega Card format, but was re-released on cartridge.\n\nPlot\nThe player controls Mick, a young vampire hunter out to destroy five vampires (or \"Draculas\" as the instruction book calls them), which on later levels one or two Draculas might re-spawn after being defeated, in each stage before proceeding to the next.\n\nEverything is out to stop Mick from completing this tasks and making his way out of the mansion. The player has to punch, or jump on, his enemies to defeat them. Arrows fly from either direction after Mick passes a fireplace and will attempt to hit Mick, and he must either duck or jump on them for extra points and eventually gain invincibility as per the amount jumped on (25). Players can jump to touch lights to freeze everything on screen for a few seconds. Rather than punching, the player can collect a sword on any level, after jumping in front of a candelabra, by jumping on it as it flies past him. Exploiting the game's backgrounds and tricks provide for a unique experience as well as facilitating the expulsions of all the Draculas. The sword is useful when the player fights Dracula or needs to get rid of Fire Blowers and Mummies.\n\nThe player starts the game with three lives, and receives an additional life every 50,000 and 150,000 points. He also has an energy meter and he loses energy after touching one of the monsters. When the player runs out of energy, he ends up losing a life. He can gain energy by collecting treasures scattered throughout the mansion, and it is restored when he kills a Dracula.\n\nRegional version\nGhost House has been released in Brazil as Chapolim X Dracula: Um Duelo Assustador by Tectoy. The sprite of Mick was replaced by the Mexican character, El Chapulín Colorado, to the point of starring in his own comic book.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1986 video games\nMaster System games\nMaster System-only games\nPlatform games\nVideo games about vampires\nVideo games developed in Japan\nVideo games scored by Hiroshi Kawaguchi\nAction video games\nSega video games\nSingle-player video games" ]
[ "Count Dracula", "Powers and weaknesses", "What does Dracula force Mina to do?", "I don't know.", "What is Draculas weakness?", "He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors." ]	C_520ea2c01e0d4e02bbbe6ce2ae3c1a09_1	Dacula's death releases what curse?	3	Dacula's death releases what curse?	Count Dracula	Count Dracula is portrayed in the novel using many different supernatural abilities, and is believed to have gained his abilities through dealings with the Devil. Chapter 18 of the novel describes many of the abilities, limitations and weaknesses of vampires and Dracula in particular. Dracula has superhuman strength which, according to Van Helsing, is equivalent to that of 20 strong men. He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors. He is immune to conventional means of attack; a sailor tries to stab him in the back with a knife, but the blade goes through his body as though it is air. Why Harker's and Morris' physical attacks are able to harm him in other parts of the book is never explained although it is noteworthy that the failed stabbing by the sailor occurred at night and the successful attacks were during daylight hours. The Count can defy gravity to a certain extent and possesses superhuman agility, able to climb vertical surfaces upside down in a reptilian manner. He can travel onto "unhallowed" ground such as the graves of suicides and those of his victims. He has powerful hypnotic, telepathic and illusionary abilities. He also has the ability to "within limitations" vanish and reappear elsewhere at will. If he knows the path, he can come out from anything or into anything regardless of how close it is bound even if it is fused with fire. He has amassed cunning and wisdom throughout centuries, and he is unable to die by the mere passing of time alone. He can command animals such as rats, owls, bats, moths, foxes and wolves. However, his control over these animals is limited, as seen when the party first enters his house in London. Although Dracula is able to summon thousands of rats to swarm and attack the group, Holmwood summons his trio of terriers to do battle with the rats. The dogs prove very efficient rat killers, suggesting they are Manchester terriers trained for that purpose. Terrified by the dogs' onslaught, the rats flee and any control which Dracula had over them is gone. Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Some aspects of the character are believed to have been inspired by the 15th-century Wallachian Prince Vlad the Impaler, who was also known as Dracula, and by Sir Henry Irving, an actor for whom Stoker was a personal assistant. One of Dracula's most iconic powers is his ability to turn others into vampires by biting them and infecting them with the vampiric disease. Other character aspects have been added or altered in subsequent popular fictional works. The character has appeared frequently in popular culture, from films to animated media to breakfast cereals. Stoker's creation Bram Stoker's novel takes the form of an epistolary tale, in which Count Dracula's characteristics, powers, abilities and weaknesses are narrated by multiple narrators, from different perspectives. Count Dracula is an undead, centuries-old vampire, and a Transylvanian nobleman who claims to be a Székely descended from Attila the Hun. He inhabits a decaying castle in the Carpathian Mountains near the Borgo Pass. Unlike the vampires of Eastern European folklore, which are portrayed as repulsive, corpse-like creatures, Dracula is handsome and charismatic, with a veneer of aristocratic charm. In his conversations with Jonathan Harker, he reveals himself as deeply proud of his boyar heritage and nostalgic for the past, which he admits has become only a memory of heroism, honour and valour in modern times. Early life Details of his early life are undisclosed, but it is mentioned that Dracula studied the black arts at the academy of Scholomance in the Carpathian Mountains, overlooking the town of Sibiu (also known as Hermannstadt) and has a deep knowledge of alchemy and magic. Taking up arms, as befitting his rank and status as a voivode, he led troops against the Turks across the Danube. According to his nemesis Abraham Van Helsing, "He must indeed have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk, over the great river on the very frontier of Turkey-land. If it be so, then was he no common man: for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the land beyond the forest." Dead and buried in a great tomb in the chapel of his castle, Dracula returns from death as a vampire and lives for several centuries in his castle with three terrifyingly beautiful female vampires beside him. Narrative Short story In "Dracula's Guest", the narrative follows an unnamed Englishman traveller as he wanders around Munich before leaving for Transylvania. It is Walpurgis Night and the young Englishman foolishly leaves his hotel, in spite of the coachman's warnings, and wanders through a dense forest alone. Along the way, he feels that he is being watched by a tall and thin stranger. The short story climaxes in an old graveyard, where the Englishman encounters a sleeping female vampire called Countess Dolingen in a marble tomb with a large iron stake driven into it. This malevolent and beautiful vampire awakens from her marble bier to conjure a snowstorm before being struck by lightning and returning to her eternal prison. However, the Englishman's troubles are not quite over, as he is dragged away by an unseen force and rendered unconscious. He awakens to find a "gigantic" wolf lying on his chest and licking at his throat; however, the wolf merely keeps him warm and protects him until help arrives. When the Englishman is finally taken back to his hotel, a telegram awaits him from his expectant host Dracula, with a warning about "dangers from snow and wolves and night". Novel In Dracula, the eponymous vampire has decided to move from Transylvania to London. He summons Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English solicitor, to provide legal support for a real estate transaction overseen by Harker's employer. Dracula at first charms Harker with his cordiality and historical knowledge, and even rescues him from the clutches of the three female vampires in the castle. In truth, however, Dracula merely wishes to keep Harker alive long enough to complete the legal transaction and to learn as much as possible about England. Dracula leaves his castle and boards a Russian ship, the Demeter, taking along with him 50 boxes of Transylvanian soil, which he needs to regain his strength and rest during daylight. During the voyage to Whitby, a coastal town in northern England, he sustains himself on the ship's crew members. Only one body is later found, that of the captain, who is found tied up to the ship's helm. The captain's log is recovered and tells of strange events that had taken place during the ship's journey. Dracula leaves the ship in the form of a dog and runs up the 199 steps to the graveyard of St Mary's Church in the shadow of the Whitby Abbey ruins. Soon the Count begins menacing Harker's fiancée, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray, and her friend, Lucy Westenra. There is also a notable link between Dracula and Renfield, a patient in an insane asylum overseen by John Seward, who is compelled to consume spiders, birds, and other creatures—in ascending order of size—to absorb their "life force". Renfield acts as a kind of sensor, reacting to Dracula's proximity and supplying clues accordingly. Dracula visits Lucy's bed chamber on a nightly basis, draining her of blood while simultaneously infecting her with the curse of vampirism. Not knowing the cause for Lucy's deterioration, her three suitors – Seward, Arthur Holmwood and Quincey Morris – call upon Seward's mentor, the Dutch doctor Abraham Van Helsing. Van Helsing soon deduces her condition's supernatural origins, and tries to keep the vampire at bay with garlic. Nevertheless, Dracula attacks Lucy's house one final time, killing her mother and transforming Lucy herself into one of the undead. Harker escapes Dracula's castle and returns to England, barely alive and deeply traumatized. On Seward's suggestion, Mina seeks Van Helsing's assistance in assessing Harker's health. She reads his journal and passes it along to Van Helsing. This unfolds the first clue to the identity of Lucy's assailant, which later prompts Mina to collect all of the events of Dracula's appearance in news articles, saved letters, newspaper clippings and the journals of each member of the group. This assists the group in investigating Dracula's movements and later discovering that Renfield's behaviour is directly influenced by Dracula. They then discover that Dracula has purchased a residence next door to Seward's. The group gathers intelligence to track down Dracula and destroy him. After the undead Lucy attacks several children, Van Helsing, Seward, Holmwood and Morris enter her crypt and destroy her to save her soul. Later, Harker joins them and the party work to discover Dracula's intentions. Harker aids the party in tracking down the locations of the boxes to the various residences of Dracula and discovers that Dracula purchased multiple real estate properties throughout London under the alias 'Count De Ville'. Dracula's main plan was to move each of his 50 boxes of earth to his various properties in order to arrange multiple lairs throughout and around the perimeter of London. The party pries open each of the graves, places sacramental wafers within each of them, and seals them shut. This deprives Dracula of his ability to seek safety in those boxes. Dracula gains entry into Seward's residence by coercing an invitation out of Renfield. As he attempts to enter the room in which Harker and Mina are staying, Renfield tries to stop him; Dracula then mortally wounds him. With his dying breath, Renfield tells Seward and Van Helsing that Dracula is after Mina. Van Helsing and Seward discover Dracula biting Mina and forcing her to drink his blood. The group repel Dracula using crucifixes and sacramental bread, forcing him to flee by turning into a dark vapour. The party continue to hunt Dracula to search for his remaining lairs. Although Dracula's 'baptism' of Mina grants him a telepathic link to her, it backfires when Van Helsing hypnotizes Mina and uses her supernatural link with Dracula to track him as he flees back to Transylvania. The heroes follow Dracula back to Transylvania, and in a climactic battle with Dracula's Romani bodyguards, finally destroy him. Despite the popular image of Dracula having a stake driven through his heart to kill him, Mina's narrative describes his decapitation by Harker's kukri while Morris simultaneously pierces his heart with a Bowie knife (Mina Harker's Journal, 6 November, Dracula Chapter 27). His body then turns into dust, but not before Mina sees an expression of peace on his face. Characteristics Although early in the novel Dracula dons a mask of cordiality, he often flies into fits of rage when his plans are frustrated. When Dracula's brides attempt to seduce Jonathan Harker, Dracula physically assaults one and ferociously berates them for their insubordination. He has an appreciation for ancient architecture, and when purchasing a home he prefers them to be aged, saying "A new home would kill me", and that to make a new home habitable to him would take a century. Dracula is very proud of his warrior heritage, proclaiming his pride to Harker on how the Székely people are infused with the blood of heroes. He also expresses an interest in the history of the British Empire, speaking admiringly of its people. He has a somewhat primal and predatory worldview; he pities ordinary humans for their revulsion to their darker impulses. He is not without human emotions, however; he often says that he too can love. Though usually portrayed as having a strong Eastern European accent, the original novel only specifies that his spoken English is excellent, though strangely toned. His appearance varies in age. He is described early in the novel as thin, with a long white moustache, pointed ears and sharp teeth. It is also noted later in the novel (Chapter 11 subsection "The Escaped Wolf") by a zookeeper who sees him that he has a hooked nose and a pointed beard with a streak of white in it. He is dressed all in black and has hair on his palms. Harker describes him as an old man, "cruel looking" and giving an effect of "extraordinary pallor". As the novel progresses, Dracula is described as taking on a more and more youthful appearance. After Harker strikes him with a shovel, he is left with a scar on his forehead which he bears throughout the course of the novel. Dracula also possesses great wealth, and has Romani people in his homeland who are loyal to him as servants and protectors. Powers and weaknesses Count Dracula is portrayed in the novel using many different supernatural abilities, and is believed to have gained his abilities through dealings with the Devil. Chapter 18 of the novel describes many of the abilities, limitations and weaknesses of vampires and Dracula in particular. Dracula has superhuman strength which, according to Van Helsing, is equivalent to that of 20 strong men. He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors. He is immune to conventional means of attack; a sailor tries to stab him in the back with a knife, but the blade goes through his body as though it is air. He can defy gravity to a certain extent and possesses superhuman agility, able to climb vertical surfaces upside down in a reptilian manner. He can travel onto "unhallowed" ground, such as the graves of suicides and those of his victims. He has powerful hypnotic, telepathic and illusionary abilities. He also has the ability to "within limitations" vanish and reappear elsewhere at will. If he knows the path, he can come out from anything or into anything regardless of how close it is bound or even if it is soldered shut. He has amassed cunning and wisdom throughout centuries, and he is unable to die by the mere passing of time alone. He can command animals such as rats, owls, bats, moths, foxes and wolves. However, his control over these animals is limited, as seen when the party first enters his house in London. Although Dracula is able to summon thousands of rats to swarm and attack the group, Holmwood summons his trio of terriers to do battle with the rats. The dogs prove very efficient rat killers, suggesting they are Manchester Terriers trained for that purpose. Terrified by the dogs' onslaught, the rats flee, and any control which Dracula had over them is gone. Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist. Shapeshifting Dracula can change form at will, able to grow and become small, his featured forms in the novel being that of a bat, a wolf, a large dog and a fog or mist. When the moonlight is shining, he can travel as elemental dust within its rays. He is able to pass through tiny cracks or crevices while retaining his human form or in the form of a vapour; described by Van Helsing as the ability to slip through a hairbreadth space of a tomb door or coffin. This is also an ability used by his victim Lucy as a vampire. When the party breaks into her tomb, they open the sealed coffin to find her corpse is no longer located within. Vampirism One of Dracula's powers is the ability to turn others into vampires by biting them. According to Van Helsing: The vampire bite itself does not cause death. It is the method vampires use to drain blood of the victim and to increase their influence over them. This is described by Van Helsing: Victims who are bitten by a vampire and do not die, are hypnotically influenced by them: Van Helsing later describes the aftermath of a bitten victim when the vampire has been killed: As Dracula slowly drains Lucy's blood, she dies from acute blood loss and later transforms into a vampire, despite the efforts of Seward and Van Helsing to provide her with blood transfusions. He is aided by powers of necromancy and divination of the dead, that all who die by his hand may reanimate and do his bidding. Bloodletting Dracula requires no other sustenance but fresh human blood, which has the effect of rejuvenating him and allowing him to grow younger. His power is drawn from the blood of others, and he cannot survive without it. Although drinking blood can rejuvenate his youth and strength, it does not give him the ability to regenerate; months after being struck on the head by a shovel, he still bears a scar from the impact. Dracula's preferred victims are women. Harker states that he believes Dracula has a state of fasting as well as a state of feeding. Dracula does state to Mina, however, that exerting his abilities causes a desire to feed. Vampire's Baptism of Blood Count Dracula is depicted as the "King Vampire", and can control other vampires. To punish Mina and the party for their efforts against him, Dracula bites her on at least three occasions. He also forces her to drink his blood; this act curses her with the effects of vampirism and gives him a telepathic link to her thoughts. However, hypnotism was only able to be done before dawn. Van Helsing refers to the act of drinking blood by both the vampire and the victim "the Vampire's Baptism of Blood". The effects changes Mina physically and mentally over time. A few moments after Dracula attacks her, Van Helsing takes a wafer of sacramental bread and places it on her forehead to bless her; when the bread touches her skin, it burns her and leaves a scar on her forehead. Her teeth start growing longer but do not grow sharper. She begins to lose her appetite, feeling repulsed by normal food, begins to sleep more and more during the day; cannot wake unless at sunset and stops writing in her diary. When Van Helsing later crumbles the same bread in a circle around her, she is unable to cross or leave the circle, discovering a new form of protection. Dracula's death can release the curse on any living victim of eventual transformation into vampire. However, Van Helsing reveals that were he to escape, his continued existence would ensure that even if he did not victimize Mina further, she would transform into a vampire upon her eventual natural death. Limitations of his powers Dracula is much less powerful in daylight and is only able to shift his form at dawn, noon, and dusk (he can shift his form freely at night or if he is at his grave). The sun is not fatal to him, as sunlight does not burn and destroy him upon contact, though most of his abilities cease. Later interpretations of the character, and vampires in general, would amplify this trait into an outright fatal weakness, making it so that even the first rays of sunrise are capable of reducing a vampire to ash. He is also limited in his ability to travel, as he can only cross running water at low or high tide. Owing to this, he is unable to fly across a river in the form of a bat or mist or even by himself board a boat or step off a boat onto a dock unless he is physically carried over with assistance. He is also unable to enter a place unless invited to do so by someone of the household, even a visitor; once invited, he can enter and leave the premises at will. Weaknesses Thirst Dracula is commonly depicted with a bloodlust which he is seemingly unable to control. Adaptations sometimes call this uncontrollable state 'the thirst'. Religious symbolism There are items which afflict him to the point he has no power and can even calm him from his insatiable appetite for blood. He is repulsed by garlic, as well as sacred items and symbols such as crucifixes, and sacramental bread. Placing the branch of a wild rose upon the top of his coffin will render him unable to escape it; a sacred bullet fired into the coffin could kill him so that he remain true-dead. Mountain Ash is also described as a form of protection from a vampire although the effects are unknown. This was believed to be used as protection against evil spirits and witches during the Victorian era. Death-sleep The state of rest to which vampires are prone during the day is described in the novel as a deathlike sleep in which the vampire sleeps open-eyed, is unable to awaken or move, and also may be unaware of any presence of individuals who may be trespassing. Dracula is portrayed as being active in daylight at least once to pursue a victim. Dracula also purchases many properties throughout London 'over the counter' which shows that he does have the ability to have some type of presence in daylight. He requires Transylvanian soil to be nearby to him in a foreign land or to be entombed within his coffin within Transylvania in order to successfully rest; otherwise, he will be unable to recover his strength. This has forced him to transport many boxes of Transylvanian earth to each of his residences in London. He is most powerful when he is within his Earth-Home, Coffin-Home, Hell-Home, or any place unhallowed. Further, if Dracula or any vampire has had their fill in blood upon feeding, they will be caused to rest in this dead state even longer than usual. Other abilities While universally feared by the local people of Transylvania and even beyond, Dracula commands the loyalty of Gypsies and a band of Slovaks who transport his boxes on their way to London and to serve as an armed convoy bringing his coffin back to his castle. The Slovaks and Gypsies appear to know his true nature, for they laugh at Harker when he tries to communicate his plight, and betray Harker's attempt to send a letter through them by giving it to the Count. Dracula seems to be able to hold influence over people with mental disorders, such as Renfield, who is never bitten but who worships Dracula, referring to him over the course of the novel as "Master" and "Lord". Dracula also afflicts Lucy with chronic sleepwalking, putting her into a trance-like state that allows them not only to submit to his will but also seek him and satisfy his need to feed. Dracula's powers and weaknesses vary greatly in the many adaptations. Previous and subsequent vampires from different legends have had similar vampire characteristics. Character development subsequent to the novel Dracula has been portrayed by more actors in more visual media adaptations of the novel than any other horror character. Actors who have played him include Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, John Carradine, Lon Chaney Jr., Christopher Lee, Francis Lederer, Denholm Elliott, Jack Palance, Louis Jourdan, Rudolf Martin, Frank Langella, Klaus Kinski, Gary Oldman, Leslie Nielsen, George Hamilton, David Niven, Charles Macaulay, Keith-Lee Castle, Gerard Butler, Duncan Regehr, Richard Roxburgh, Marc Warren, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Billington, Thomas Kretschmann, Dominic Purcell, Luke Evans and Claes Bang. In 2003, Count Dracula, as portrayed by Lugosi in the 1931 film, was named as the 33rd greatest movie villain by the AFI. In 2013, Empire magazine ranked Lee's portrayal as Dracula the 7th Greatest Horror Movie Character of All Time. The character is closely associated with the western cultural archetype of the vampire, and remains a popular Halloween costume. Count Dracula appears in Mad Monster Party? voiced by Allen Swift. This version is shown to be wearing a monocle. Count Dracula is among the monsters that Baron Boris von Frankenstein invites to the Isle of Evil to show off the secret of total destruction and announce his retirement from the Worldwide Organization of Monsters. Sesame Street character Count von Count is based on Bela Lugosi's interpretation of Count Dracula and Jack Davis' design for Dracula from Mad Monster Party?. Count Dracula appears in Mad Mad Mad Monsters (a "prequel of sorts" to Mad Monster Party?) voiced again by Allen Swift. He and his son are invited by Baron Henry von Frankenstein to attend the wedding of Frankenstein's monster and its mate at the Transylvania Astoria Hotel. Dracula is the primary antagonist of the Castlevania video game series and the main protagonist of the Lords of Shadow reboot series. Count Dracula appears in the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes episode "Spatula, Prinze of Dorkness", voiced by S. Scott Bullock. He relates a tale of how he once gave Dr. Putrid T. Gangreen a serum to transform tomatoes into vampire tomatoes. Though the Doctor refused, Zoltan overheard their conversation and, mistaking the word serum for syrup, ingests the serum himself and renaming himself "Spatula, Prinze of Dorkness" who can turn people into vampires by kissing them in the neck (a stipulation that the Censor Lady put into place in fear of showing the biting and bloodshed associated with vampires on a Saturday morning cartoon). This spread to the other tomatoes and the entire town. When the sun came up and disabled the vampires, Count Dracula in sunblock appears and deemed that the town is not worthy to be vampires. He then gives Chad Finletter the antidote to the vampirism and advises that the tomatoes be squashed immediately. Dracula appears as the lead character of Dracula the Un-dead, a novel by Stoker's great-grand nephew Dacre presented as a sequel to the original. In the Supernatural episode "Monster Monster", a shapeshifter that Sam and Dean Winchester fight considers his form of Count Dracula (portrayed by Todd Stashwick) his favourite form. It is in this form that Jamie killed him with Sam's gun loaded with silver bullets. Count Dracula is the main character of the Hotel Transylvania franchise, voiced by Adam Sandler in the first three movies and by Brian Hull in the fourth movie. Dracula, going by an inversion of his name, "Alucard," serves as the main character of the anime and manga series Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate where he serves Integra Hellsing, Abraham's great-granddaughter, as an anti-vampire warrior devoted to the British Crown. Dracula is the primary antagonist of the Showtime series Penny Dreadful, portrayed by Christian Camargo. This version of the character is the brother of Lucifer and, thus, a fallen angel. Modern and postmodern analyses of the character Already in 1958, Cecil Kirtly proposed that Count Dracula shared his personal past with the historical Transylvanian-born Voivode Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia, also known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Țepeș. Following the publication of In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally in 1972, this supposed connection attracted much popular attention. This work argued that Bram Stoker based his Dracula on Vlad the Impaler. Historically, the name "Dracula" is the family name of Vlad Țepeș' family, a name derived from a fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg (king of Hungary and Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor) to uphold Christianity and defend the Empire against the Ottoman Turks. Vlad II Dracul, father of Vlad III, was admitted to the order around 1431 because of his bravery in fighting the Turks and was dubbed Dracul (dragon or devil) thus his son became Dracula (son of the dragon). From 1431 onward, Vlad II wore the emblem of the order and later, as ruler of Wallachia, his coinage bore the dragon symbol. Stoker came across the name Dracula in his reading on Romanian history, and chose this to replace the name (Count Wampyr) that he had originally intended to use for his villain. However, some Dracula scholars, led by Elizabeth Miller, have questioned the depth of this connection as early as 1998. They argue that Stoker in fact knew little of the historic Vlad III, Vlad the Impaler, and that he used only the name "Dracula" and some miscellaneous scraps of Romanian history. Also, there are no comments about Vlad III in the author's working notes. While having a conversation with Jonathan Harker in Chapter 3, Dracula refers to his own background, and these speeches show elements which Stoker directly copied from An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia: With Various Political Observations Relating to Them by William Wilkinson. Stoker mentions the Voivode of the Dracula race who fought against the Turks after the defeat in the Battle of Kosovo, and was later betrayed by his brother, historical facts which unequivocally point to Vlad III, described as "Voïvode Dracula" by Wilkinson: The Count's intended identity is later commented by Professor Van Helsing, referring to a letter from his friend Arminius: This indeed encourages the reader to identify the Count with the Voivode Dracula first mentioned by him in Chapter 3, the one betrayed by his brother: Vlad III Dracula, betrayed by his brother Radu the Handsome, who had chosen the side of the Turks. But as noted by the Dutch author Hans Corneel de Roos, in Chapter 25, Van Helsing and Mina drop this rudimentary connection to Vlad III and instead describe the Count's personal past as that of "that other of his race" who lived "in a later age". By smoothly exchanging Vlad III for a nameless double, Stoker avoided his main character being unambiguously linked to a historical person traceable in any history book. Similarly, the novelist did not want to disclose the precise site of the Count's residence, Castle Dracula. As confirmed by Stoker's own handwritten research notes, the novelist had a specific location for the Castle in mind while writing the narrative: an empty mountain top in the Transylvanian Kelemen alps near the former border with Moldavia. Efforts to promote the Poenari Castle (ca. 200 km away from the novel's place of action near the Borgo Pass) as the "real Castle Dracula" have no basis in Stoker's writing; although it bears much similarity to the fictional Castle Dracula, no written evidence shows Stoker to have heard of it. Regarding the Bran Castle near Brașov, Stoker possibly saw an illustration of Castle Bran (Törzburg) in Charles Boner's 1865 book on Transylvania, Transylvania: Its Products and Its People. Although Stoker may have been inspired by its romantic appearance, neither Boner, nor Mazuchelli nor Crosse (who also mention Terzburg or Törzburg) associate it with Vlad III; for the site of his fictitious Castle Dracula, Stoker preferred an empty mountain top. Furthermore, Stoker's detailed notes reveal that the novelist was very well aware of the ethnic and geo-political differences between the "Roumanians" or "Wallachs"/"Wallachians", descendants of the Dacians, and the Székelys or Szeklers, allies of the Magyars or Hungarians, whose interests were opposed to that of the Wallachians. In the novel's original typewritten manuscript, the Count speaks of throwing off the "Austrian yoke", which corresponds to the Szekler political point of view. This expression is crossed out, however, and replaced by "Hungarian yoke" (as appearing in the printed version), which matches the historical perspective of the Wallachians. This has been interpreted by some to mean that Stoker opted for the Wallachian, not the Szekler interpretation, thus lending more consistency to the Romanian identity of his Count: although not identical with Vlad III, the Vampire is portrayed as one of the "Dracula race". However, despite this, Stoker chose the Count to have revealed himself to be a Székely, and not a Wallachian nobleman (the region where the real "Draculas" ruled over). Screen portrayals See also Elizabeth Báthory Carmilla Clinical vampirism List of fictional vampires List of horror film antagonists References Bibliography Clive Leatherdale (1985) Dracula: the Novel and the Legend. Desert Island Books. Bram Stoker (1897) Dracula. Norton Critical Edition (1997) edited by Nina Auerbach and David J. Skal. Senf, Carol. Dracula: Between Tradition and Modernism (Twayne, 1998). Senf, Carol A. Bram Stoker. University of Wales Press, 2010. External links Bram Stoker Online Full text, PDF and audio versions of Dracula. Vlad the Impaler Literary characters introduced in 1897 Fictional characters with immortality Fictional characters with superhuman strength Fictional characters with weather abilities Fictional counts and countesses Fictional Hungarian people Fictional characters based on real people Fictional hypnotists and indoctrinators Fictional therianthropes Fictional telepaths Fictional vampires Male characters in literature Male characters in film Male characters in television Male horror film villains Male literary villains Supervillains with their own comic book titles Mythopoeia	false	[ "Dacula High School is a high school in Dacula, Georgia, United States, serving students in grades 9–12. It is operated by Gwinnett County Public Schools. It is a part of the Dacula cluster and is fed from Dacula Middle School.\n\nThe school's colors are old gold, white, and navy blue, and its mascot is the Falcon.\n\nAthletics\nDacula High School has produced many athletes. The school has had major success in nearly all the athletics it offers.\n\nDacula's 2014-2015 football team was the first to become Region Champions in Class 6A Region-8 since 2005. After going 1–4 in non-region play, the Falcons of Dacula were determined to turn their season around, thus leading to their eventual claim of being the GHSA Region 8-AAAAAA champions, in 2016. The Dacula Falcons would go on to finishing their 2017 regular season with a dominating win against Region 8-AAAAAA foe, Winder-Barrow, by a score of 47–14. After starting the season 1–4, the Falcons would go on to win another region championship, and will prepare for the state playoffs, for the second consecutive year.\n\nThe Dacula Falcons baseball program made the GHSA State Playoff appearances in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1992, 2004, 2007, 2011, and 2014.\n\nThe Dacula basketball program won the 1938, 1945, 1954, and 1979 GHSA State Championships.\n\nIn 1993 the Dacula wrestling program took home its first State Championship.\n\nIn 2014 the school added lacrosse as part of the athletic program.\n\nIn 2016 Dacula launched its stadium renovation project. Parent volunteers and Boyce Design and Contracting pitched in on the work and supplies, saving the school thousands of dollars and giving the stadium an impressive reconstruction.\n\nBand\nThe Dacula Falcons Marching Band wears navy blue and white uniforms with matching gauntlets and gloves. The Marching Band is composed of Concert Band members, Symphonic Band members, and Percussionists, but members of these bands are not required to join Marching Band. The marching band is also composed of the color guard, the visual for the band. Together, the band and color guard performs performances during half time at football games and compete for competitions, the performance lasting about 10 minutes.\n\nNotable alumni\n Alex Armah, NFL player\n David Irons, former NFL player\n Kenny Irons, former NFL player\n Corey Levin, NFL player\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Dacula High School\n About the Dacula Band Staff\n\nPublic high schools in Georgia (U.S. state)\nEducational institutions established in 1905\nSchools in Gwinnett County, Georgia\n1905 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)", "Dacula ( ) is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is an exurb of Atlanta, located approximately northeast of downtown. The population as of the 2010 census was 4,442, and the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population to be 6,255 as of 2018.\n\nHistory \nThe vicinity of Dacula was one of the first areas in present-day metropolitan Atlanta to be claimed by white settlers (around the time of the War of 1812), but the area remained mostly undeveloped until the late 20th century. The Dacula area is home to some of the oldest buildings in greater Atlanta, such as the Elisha Winn House, which originally acted as the courthouse for Gwinnett County. Dacula itself began in the late 1800s under the name of Chinquapin Grove, where Dacula Elementary now stands. The town was renamed named \"Hoke\", in 1891 after a Seaboard Air Line Railroad executive, but that name was changed due to the Post Office Department's protest. Dacula's name was formed from letters in Decatur and Atlanta, two cities to the west that were already prospering at the time of Dacula's founding. The city was once home to a train station on a CSX line through northeast Georgia, although the station closed in the mid-1950s.\n\nGeography\nDacula is located in eastern Gwinnett County, with U.S. Route 29 Business/Georgia State Route 8 (Winder Highway) the main road through the center of town. Business 29/SR 8 leads west to Lawrenceville, the county seat, and east to Winder. U.S. Route 29 (University Parkway) is a four-lane highway that bypasses Dacula to the south, with access from Harbins Road. University Parkway leads east to Athens and west to Interstate 85, which leads an additional southwest to downtown Atlanta.\n\nAccording to the United States Census Bureau, Dacula has a total area of , of which , or 0.59%, is water.\n\nThe Dacula 30019 ZIP Code goes well beyond the city limits, resulting in mail delivery as far north as the unincorporated community of Hamilton Mill, south of Interstate 85.\n\nDemographics\n\n2020 census\n\nAs of the 2020 United States census, there were 6,882 people, 1,902 households, and 1,529 families residing in the city.\n\n2010 census\nAs of 2010 Dacula had a population of 4,442. the median age was 35.2. There were 1,472 households with 92.0% of housing units occupied. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 76.6% white (70.3% non-Hispanic white), 11.3% black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.4% Asian Indian, 2.8% other Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 5.4% from some other race (0.1% non-Hispanic from some other race) and 3.1% from two or more races. 13.6% of the population was Hispanic or Latino.\n\n2000 census\nAs of the census of 2000, there were 3,848 people, 1,283 households, and 1,077 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,333.0 people per square mile (514.1/km2). There were 1,320 housing units at an average density of 456.9 per square mile (176.2/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 91.37% White, 4.24% African American, 0.34% Native American, 1.53% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.25% from other races, and 1.25% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.72% of the population.\n\nThere were 1,283 households, out of which 44.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.9% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.0% were non-families. 12.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. 0.5% of all households were lesbian couples, and 0.2% of all households were gay male couples. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.27.\n\nIn the city, the population was spread out, with 29.2% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 36.9% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males.\n\nThe median income for a household in the city was $57,525, and the median income for a family was $58,603. Males had a median income of $40,616 versus $27,380 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,720. About 0.9% of families and 1.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.0% of those under age 18 and 2.3% of those age 65 or over.\n\nDacula has experienced rapid growth, and with the addition of commercial businesses, commerce has exploded. A 2008 demographic study completed by the developers of the Dacula Town Center showed the population has increased greatly. According to the study, the population is now 31,466 in a 3-mile radius around Dacula. The same survey reveals that in a 5-mile radius within the 30019 zipcode the population is 82,719.\n\nGovernment\n\nLocal government\nThe current mayor and council members are:\n Mayor: Trey King \n Council Members: Ann Mitchell, Daniel Spain, and Sean Williams\n\nEducation\nThe county operates Gwinnett County Public Schools. The following GCPS schools have Dacula mail addresses:\nAlcova Elementary School (Dacula cluster)\nDacula Elementary School (Dacula cluster)\nDyer Elementary School (Mountain View cluster)\nFort Daniel Elementary School (Mill Creek cluster)\nHarbins Elementary School (Archer cluster)\nPuckett's Mill Elementary School (Mill Creek Cluster)\nDacula Middle School (Dacula cluster)\nDacula High School (Dacula cluster)\n\nGwinnett County Public Library operates the Dacula and Hamilton Mill Branch in the nearby unincorporated area of Hamilton Mill.\n\nMedia\nThe town of Dacula is served by two newspapers: the Gwinnett Daily Post (based in nearby Lawrenceville) and the Hamilton Mill Neighborhood News.\n\nNotable people \n Donna Sheldon - Politician. Founder and former director of Dacula Classical Academy. Member of Georgia House of Representatives for District 71, 104 and 105.\n Roba Stanley - Country singer.\n Gid Tanner - Country singer.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \nCity of Dacula official website\nDacula at City-data.com\n\nCities in Georgia (U.S. state)\nCities in Gwinnett County, Georgia\nDacula" ]
[ "Count Dracula", "Powers and weaknesses", "What does Dracula force Mina to do?", "I don't know.", "What is Draculas weakness?", "He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors.", "Dacula's death releases what curse?", "I don't know." ]	C_520ea2c01e0d4e02bbbe6ce2ae3c1a09_1	What did you find interesting about draucla?	4	What did you find interesting about Dracula?	Count Dracula	Count Dracula is portrayed in the novel using many different supernatural abilities, and is believed to have gained his abilities through dealings with the Devil. Chapter 18 of the novel describes many of the abilities, limitations and weaknesses of vampires and Dracula in particular. Dracula has superhuman strength which, according to Van Helsing, is equivalent to that of 20 strong men. He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors. He is immune to conventional means of attack; a sailor tries to stab him in the back with a knife, but the blade goes through his body as though it is air. Why Harker's and Morris' physical attacks are able to harm him in other parts of the book is never explained although it is noteworthy that the failed stabbing by the sailor occurred at night and the successful attacks were during daylight hours. The Count can defy gravity to a certain extent and possesses superhuman agility, able to climb vertical surfaces upside down in a reptilian manner. He can travel onto "unhallowed" ground such as the graves of suicides and those of his victims. He has powerful hypnotic, telepathic and illusionary abilities. He also has the ability to "within limitations" vanish and reappear elsewhere at will. If he knows the path, he can come out from anything or into anything regardless of how close it is bound even if it is fused with fire. He has amassed cunning and wisdom throughout centuries, and he is unable to die by the mere passing of time alone. He can command animals such as rats, owls, bats, moths, foxes and wolves. However, his control over these animals is limited, as seen when the party first enters his house in London. Although Dracula is able to summon thousands of rats to swarm and attack the group, Holmwood summons his trio of terriers to do battle with the rats. The dogs prove very efficient rat killers, suggesting they are Manchester terriers trained for that purpose. Terrified by the dogs' onslaught, the rats flee and any control which Dracula had over them is gone. Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist. CANNOTANSWER	Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist.	Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Some aspects of the character are believed to have been inspired by the 15th-century Wallachian Prince Vlad the Impaler, who was also known as Dracula, and by Sir Henry Irving, an actor for whom Stoker was a personal assistant. One of Dracula's most iconic powers is his ability to turn others into vampires by biting them and infecting them with the vampiric disease. Other character aspects have been added or altered in subsequent popular fictional works. The character has appeared frequently in popular culture, from films to animated media to breakfast cereals. Stoker's creation Bram Stoker's novel takes the form of an epistolary tale, in which Count Dracula's characteristics, powers, abilities and weaknesses are narrated by multiple narrators, from different perspectives. Count Dracula is an undead, centuries-old vampire, and a Transylvanian nobleman who claims to be a Székely descended from Attila the Hun. He inhabits a decaying castle in the Carpathian Mountains near the Borgo Pass. Unlike the vampires of Eastern European folklore, which are portrayed as repulsive, corpse-like creatures, Dracula is handsome and charismatic, with a veneer of aristocratic charm. In his conversations with Jonathan Harker, he reveals himself as deeply proud of his boyar heritage and nostalgic for the past, which he admits has become only a memory of heroism, honour and valour in modern times. Early life Details of his early life are undisclosed, but it is mentioned that Dracula studied the black arts at the academy of Scholomance in the Carpathian Mountains, overlooking the town of Sibiu (also known as Hermannstadt) and has a deep knowledge of alchemy and magic. Taking up arms, as befitting his rank and status as a voivode, he led troops against the Turks across the Danube. According to his nemesis Abraham Van Helsing, "He must indeed have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk, over the great river on the very frontier of Turkey-land. If it be so, then was he no common man: for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the land beyond the forest." Dead and buried in a great tomb in the chapel of his castle, Dracula returns from death as a vampire and lives for several centuries in his castle with three terrifyingly beautiful female vampires beside him. Narrative Short story In "Dracula's Guest", the narrative follows an unnamed Englishman traveller as he wanders around Munich before leaving for Transylvania. It is Walpurgis Night and the young Englishman foolishly leaves his hotel, in spite of the coachman's warnings, and wanders through a dense forest alone. Along the way, he feels that he is being watched by a tall and thin stranger. The short story climaxes in an old graveyard, where the Englishman encounters a sleeping female vampire called Countess Dolingen in a marble tomb with a large iron stake driven into it. This malevolent and beautiful vampire awakens from her marble bier to conjure a snowstorm before being struck by lightning and returning to her eternal prison. However, the Englishman's troubles are not quite over, as he is dragged away by an unseen force and rendered unconscious. He awakens to find a "gigantic" wolf lying on his chest and licking at his throat; however, the wolf merely keeps him warm and protects him until help arrives. When the Englishman is finally taken back to his hotel, a telegram awaits him from his expectant host Dracula, with a warning about "dangers from snow and wolves and night". Novel In Dracula, the eponymous vampire has decided to move from Transylvania to London. He summons Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English solicitor, to provide legal support for a real estate transaction overseen by Harker's employer. Dracula at first charms Harker with his cordiality and historical knowledge, and even rescues him from the clutches of the three female vampires in the castle. In truth, however, Dracula merely wishes to keep Harker alive long enough to complete the legal transaction and to learn as much as possible about England. Dracula leaves his castle and boards a Russian ship, the Demeter, taking along with him 50 boxes of Transylvanian soil, which he needs to regain his strength and rest during daylight. During the voyage to Whitby, a coastal town in northern England, he sustains himself on the ship's crew members. Only one body is later found, that of the captain, who is found tied up to the ship's helm. The captain's log is recovered and tells of strange events that had taken place during the ship's journey. Dracula leaves the ship in the form of a dog and runs up the 199 steps to the graveyard of St Mary's Church in the shadow of the Whitby Abbey ruins. Soon the Count begins menacing Harker's fiancée, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray, and her friend, Lucy Westenra. There is also a notable link between Dracula and Renfield, a patient in an insane asylum overseen by John Seward, who is compelled to consume spiders, birds, and other creatures—in ascending order of size—to absorb their "life force". Renfield acts as a kind of sensor, reacting to Dracula's proximity and supplying clues accordingly. Dracula visits Lucy's bed chamber on a nightly basis, draining her of blood while simultaneously infecting her with the curse of vampirism. Not knowing the cause for Lucy's deterioration, her three suitors – Seward, Arthur Holmwood and Quincey Morris – call upon Seward's mentor, the Dutch doctor Abraham Van Helsing. Van Helsing soon deduces her condition's supernatural origins, and tries to keep the vampire at bay with garlic. Nevertheless, Dracula attacks Lucy's house one final time, killing her mother and transforming Lucy herself into one of the undead. Harker escapes Dracula's castle and returns to England, barely alive and deeply traumatized. On Seward's suggestion, Mina seeks Van Helsing's assistance in assessing Harker's health. She reads his journal and passes it along to Van Helsing. This unfolds the first clue to the identity of Lucy's assailant, which later prompts Mina to collect all of the events of Dracula's appearance in news articles, saved letters, newspaper clippings and the journals of each member of the group. This assists the group in investigating Dracula's movements and later discovering that Renfield's behaviour is directly influenced by Dracula. They then discover that Dracula has purchased a residence next door to Seward's. The group gathers intelligence to track down Dracula and destroy him. After the undead Lucy attacks several children, Van Helsing, Seward, Holmwood and Morris enter her crypt and destroy her to save her soul. Later, Harker joins them and the party work to discover Dracula's intentions. Harker aids the party in tracking down the locations of the boxes to the various residences of Dracula and discovers that Dracula purchased multiple real estate properties throughout London under the alias 'Count De Ville'. Dracula's main plan was to move each of his 50 boxes of earth to his various properties in order to arrange multiple lairs throughout and around the perimeter of London. The party pries open each of the graves, places sacramental wafers within each of them, and seals them shut. This deprives Dracula of his ability to seek safety in those boxes. Dracula gains entry into Seward's residence by coercing an invitation out of Renfield. As he attempts to enter the room in which Harker and Mina are staying, Renfield tries to stop him; Dracula then mortally wounds him. With his dying breath, Renfield tells Seward and Van Helsing that Dracula is after Mina. Van Helsing and Seward discover Dracula biting Mina and forcing her to drink his blood. The group repel Dracula using crucifixes and sacramental bread, forcing him to flee by turning into a dark vapour. The party continue to hunt Dracula to search for his remaining lairs. Although Dracula's 'baptism' of Mina grants him a telepathic link to her, it backfires when Van Helsing hypnotizes Mina and uses her supernatural link with Dracula to track him as he flees back to Transylvania. The heroes follow Dracula back to Transylvania, and in a climactic battle with Dracula's Romani bodyguards, finally destroy him. Despite the popular image of Dracula having a stake driven through his heart to kill him, Mina's narrative describes his decapitation by Harker's kukri while Morris simultaneously pierces his heart with a Bowie knife (Mina Harker's Journal, 6 November, Dracula Chapter 27). His body then turns into dust, but not before Mina sees an expression of peace on his face. Characteristics Although early in the novel Dracula dons a mask of cordiality, he often flies into fits of rage when his plans are frustrated. When Dracula's brides attempt to seduce Jonathan Harker, Dracula physically assaults one and ferociously berates them for their insubordination. He has an appreciation for ancient architecture, and when purchasing a home he prefers them to be aged, saying "A new home would kill me", and that to make a new home habitable to him would take a century. Dracula is very proud of his warrior heritage, proclaiming his pride to Harker on how the Székely people are infused with the blood of heroes. He also expresses an interest in the history of the British Empire, speaking admiringly of its people. He has a somewhat primal and predatory worldview; he pities ordinary humans for their revulsion to their darker impulses. He is not without human emotions, however; he often says that he too can love. Though usually portrayed as having a strong Eastern European accent, the original novel only specifies that his spoken English is excellent, though strangely toned. His appearance varies in age. He is described early in the novel as thin, with a long white moustache, pointed ears and sharp teeth. It is also noted later in the novel (Chapter 11 subsection "The Escaped Wolf") by a zookeeper who sees him that he has a hooked nose and a pointed beard with a streak of white in it. He is dressed all in black and has hair on his palms. Harker describes him as an old man, "cruel looking" and giving an effect of "extraordinary pallor". As the novel progresses, Dracula is described as taking on a more and more youthful appearance. After Harker strikes him with a shovel, he is left with a scar on his forehead which he bears throughout the course of the novel. Dracula also possesses great wealth, and has Romani people in his homeland who are loyal to him as servants and protectors. Powers and weaknesses Count Dracula is portrayed in the novel using many different supernatural abilities, and is believed to have gained his abilities through dealings with the Devil. Chapter 18 of the novel describes many of the abilities, limitations and weaknesses of vampires and Dracula in particular. Dracula has superhuman strength which, according to Van Helsing, is equivalent to that of 20 strong men. He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors. He is immune to conventional means of attack; a sailor tries to stab him in the back with a knife, but the blade goes through his body as though it is air. He can defy gravity to a certain extent and possesses superhuman agility, able to climb vertical surfaces upside down in a reptilian manner. He can travel onto "unhallowed" ground, such as the graves of suicides and those of his victims. He has powerful hypnotic, telepathic and illusionary abilities. He also has the ability to "within limitations" vanish and reappear elsewhere at will. If he knows the path, he can come out from anything or into anything regardless of how close it is bound or even if it is soldered shut. He has amassed cunning and wisdom throughout centuries, and he is unable to die by the mere passing of time alone. He can command animals such as rats, owls, bats, moths, foxes and wolves. However, his control over these animals is limited, as seen when the party first enters his house in London. Although Dracula is able to summon thousands of rats to swarm and attack the group, Holmwood summons his trio of terriers to do battle with the rats. The dogs prove very efficient rat killers, suggesting they are Manchester Terriers trained for that purpose. Terrified by the dogs' onslaught, the rats flee, and any control which Dracula had over them is gone. Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist. Shapeshifting Dracula can change form at will, able to grow and become small, his featured forms in the novel being that of a bat, a wolf, a large dog and a fog or mist. When the moonlight is shining, he can travel as elemental dust within its rays. He is able to pass through tiny cracks or crevices while retaining his human form or in the form of a vapour; described by Van Helsing as the ability to slip through a hairbreadth space of a tomb door or coffin. This is also an ability used by his victim Lucy as a vampire. When the party breaks into her tomb, they open the sealed coffin to find her corpse is no longer located within. Vampirism One of Dracula's powers is the ability to turn others into vampires by biting them. According to Van Helsing: The vampire bite itself does not cause death. It is the method vampires use to drain blood of the victim and to increase their influence over them. This is described by Van Helsing: Victims who are bitten by a vampire and do not die, are hypnotically influenced by them: Van Helsing later describes the aftermath of a bitten victim when the vampire has been killed: As Dracula slowly drains Lucy's blood, she dies from acute blood loss and later transforms into a vampire, despite the efforts of Seward and Van Helsing to provide her with blood transfusions. He is aided by powers of necromancy and divination of the dead, that all who die by his hand may reanimate and do his bidding. Bloodletting Dracula requires no other sustenance but fresh human blood, which has the effect of rejuvenating him and allowing him to grow younger. His power is drawn from the blood of others, and he cannot survive without it. Although drinking blood can rejuvenate his youth and strength, it does not give him the ability to regenerate; months after being struck on the head by a shovel, he still bears a scar from the impact. Dracula's preferred victims are women. Harker states that he believes Dracula has a state of fasting as well as a state of feeding. Dracula does state to Mina, however, that exerting his abilities causes a desire to feed. Vampire's Baptism of Blood Count Dracula is depicted as the "King Vampire", and can control other vampires. To punish Mina and the party for their efforts against him, Dracula bites her on at least three occasions. He also forces her to drink his blood; this act curses her with the effects of vampirism and gives him a telepathic link to her thoughts. However, hypnotism was only able to be done before dawn. Van Helsing refers to the act of drinking blood by both the vampire and the victim "the Vampire's Baptism of Blood". The effects changes Mina physically and mentally over time. A few moments after Dracula attacks her, Van Helsing takes a wafer of sacramental bread and places it on her forehead to bless her; when the bread touches her skin, it burns her and leaves a scar on her forehead. Her teeth start growing longer but do not grow sharper. She begins to lose her appetite, feeling repulsed by normal food, begins to sleep more and more during the day; cannot wake unless at sunset and stops writing in her diary. When Van Helsing later crumbles the same bread in a circle around her, she is unable to cross or leave the circle, discovering a new form of protection. Dracula's death can release the curse on any living victim of eventual transformation into vampire. However, Van Helsing reveals that were he to escape, his continued existence would ensure that even if he did not victimize Mina further, she would transform into a vampire upon her eventual natural death. Limitations of his powers Dracula is much less powerful in daylight and is only able to shift his form at dawn, noon, and dusk (he can shift his form freely at night or if he is at his grave). The sun is not fatal to him, as sunlight does not burn and destroy him upon contact, though most of his abilities cease. Later interpretations of the character, and vampires in general, would amplify this trait into an outright fatal weakness, making it so that even the first rays of sunrise are capable of reducing a vampire to ash. He is also limited in his ability to travel, as he can only cross running water at low or high tide. Owing to this, he is unable to fly across a river in the form of a bat or mist or even by himself board a boat or step off a boat onto a dock unless he is physically carried over with assistance. He is also unable to enter a place unless invited to do so by someone of the household, even a visitor; once invited, he can enter and leave the premises at will. Weaknesses Thirst Dracula is commonly depicted with a bloodlust which he is seemingly unable to control. Adaptations sometimes call this uncontrollable state 'the thirst'. Religious symbolism There are items which afflict him to the point he has no power and can even calm him from his insatiable appetite for blood. He is repulsed by garlic, as well as sacred items and symbols such as crucifixes, and sacramental bread. Placing the branch of a wild rose upon the top of his coffin will render him unable to escape it; a sacred bullet fired into the coffin could kill him so that he remain true-dead. Mountain Ash is also described as a form of protection from a vampire although the effects are unknown. This was believed to be used as protection against evil spirits and witches during the Victorian era. Death-sleep The state of rest to which vampires are prone during the day is described in the novel as a deathlike sleep in which the vampire sleeps open-eyed, is unable to awaken or move, and also may be unaware of any presence of individuals who may be trespassing. Dracula is portrayed as being active in daylight at least once to pursue a victim. Dracula also purchases many properties throughout London 'over the counter' which shows that he does have the ability to have some type of presence in daylight. He requires Transylvanian soil to be nearby to him in a foreign land or to be entombed within his coffin within Transylvania in order to successfully rest; otherwise, he will be unable to recover his strength. This has forced him to transport many boxes of Transylvanian earth to each of his residences in London. He is most powerful when he is within his Earth-Home, Coffin-Home, Hell-Home, or any place unhallowed. Further, if Dracula or any vampire has had their fill in blood upon feeding, they will be caused to rest in this dead state even longer than usual. Other abilities While universally feared by the local people of Transylvania and even beyond, Dracula commands the loyalty of Gypsies and a band of Slovaks who transport his boxes on their way to London and to serve as an armed convoy bringing his coffin back to his castle. The Slovaks and Gypsies appear to know his true nature, for they laugh at Harker when he tries to communicate his plight, and betray Harker's attempt to send a letter through them by giving it to the Count. Dracula seems to be able to hold influence over people with mental disorders, such as Renfield, who is never bitten but who worships Dracula, referring to him over the course of the novel as "Master" and "Lord". Dracula also afflicts Lucy with chronic sleepwalking, putting her into a trance-like state that allows them not only to submit to his will but also seek him and satisfy his need to feed. Dracula's powers and weaknesses vary greatly in the many adaptations. Previous and subsequent vampires from different legends have had similar vampire characteristics. Character development subsequent to the novel Dracula has been portrayed by more actors in more visual media adaptations of the novel than any other horror character. Actors who have played him include Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, John Carradine, Lon Chaney Jr., Christopher Lee, Francis Lederer, Denholm Elliott, Jack Palance, Louis Jourdan, Rudolf Martin, Frank Langella, Klaus Kinski, Gary Oldman, Leslie Nielsen, George Hamilton, David Niven, Charles Macaulay, Keith-Lee Castle, Gerard Butler, Duncan Regehr, Richard Roxburgh, Marc Warren, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Billington, Thomas Kretschmann, Dominic Purcell, Luke Evans and Claes Bang. In 2003, Count Dracula, as portrayed by Lugosi in the 1931 film, was named as the 33rd greatest movie villain by the AFI. In 2013, Empire magazine ranked Lee's portrayal as Dracula the 7th Greatest Horror Movie Character of All Time. The character is closely associated with the western cultural archetype of the vampire, and remains a popular Halloween costume. Count Dracula appears in Mad Monster Party? voiced by Allen Swift. This version is shown to be wearing a monocle. Count Dracula is among the monsters that Baron Boris von Frankenstein invites to the Isle of Evil to show off the secret of total destruction and announce his retirement from the Worldwide Organization of Monsters. Sesame Street character Count von Count is based on Bela Lugosi's interpretation of Count Dracula and Jack Davis' design for Dracula from Mad Monster Party?. Count Dracula appears in Mad Mad Mad Monsters (a "prequel of sorts" to Mad Monster Party?) voiced again by Allen Swift. He and his son are invited by Baron Henry von Frankenstein to attend the wedding of Frankenstein's monster and its mate at the Transylvania Astoria Hotel. Dracula is the primary antagonist of the Castlevania video game series and the main protagonist of the Lords of Shadow reboot series. Count Dracula appears in the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes episode "Spatula, Prinze of Dorkness", voiced by S. Scott Bullock. He relates a tale of how he once gave Dr. Putrid T. Gangreen a serum to transform tomatoes into vampire tomatoes. Though the Doctor refused, Zoltan overheard their conversation and, mistaking the word serum for syrup, ingests the serum himself and renaming himself "Spatula, Prinze of Dorkness" who can turn people into vampires by kissing them in the neck (a stipulation that the Censor Lady put into place in fear of showing the biting and bloodshed associated with vampires on a Saturday morning cartoon). This spread to the other tomatoes and the entire town. When the sun came up and disabled the vampires, Count Dracula in sunblock appears and deemed that the town is not worthy to be vampires. He then gives Chad Finletter the antidote to the vampirism and advises that the tomatoes be squashed immediately. Dracula appears as the lead character of Dracula the Un-dead, a novel by Stoker's great-grand nephew Dacre presented as a sequel to the original. In the Supernatural episode "Monster Monster", a shapeshifter that Sam and Dean Winchester fight considers his form of Count Dracula (portrayed by Todd Stashwick) his favourite form. It is in this form that Jamie killed him with Sam's gun loaded with silver bullets. Count Dracula is the main character of the Hotel Transylvania franchise, voiced by Adam Sandler in the first three movies and by Brian Hull in the fourth movie. Dracula, going by an inversion of his name, "Alucard," serves as the main character of the anime and manga series Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate where he serves Integra Hellsing, Abraham's great-granddaughter, as an anti-vampire warrior devoted to the British Crown. Dracula is the primary antagonist of the Showtime series Penny Dreadful, portrayed by Christian Camargo. This version of the character is the brother of Lucifer and, thus, a fallen angel. Modern and postmodern analyses of the character Already in 1958, Cecil Kirtly proposed that Count Dracula shared his personal past with the historical Transylvanian-born Voivode Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia, also known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Țepeș. Following the publication of In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally in 1972, this supposed connection attracted much popular attention. This work argued that Bram Stoker based his Dracula on Vlad the Impaler. Historically, the name "Dracula" is the family name of Vlad Țepeș' family, a name derived from a fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg (king of Hungary and Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor) to uphold Christianity and defend the Empire against the Ottoman Turks. Vlad II Dracul, father of Vlad III, was admitted to the order around 1431 because of his bravery in fighting the Turks and was dubbed Dracul (dragon or devil) thus his son became Dracula (son of the dragon). From 1431 onward, Vlad II wore the emblem of the order and later, as ruler of Wallachia, his coinage bore the dragon symbol. Stoker came across the name Dracula in his reading on Romanian history, and chose this to replace the name (Count Wampyr) that he had originally intended to use for his villain. However, some Dracula scholars, led by Elizabeth Miller, have questioned the depth of this connection as early as 1998. They argue that Stoker in fact knew little of the historic Vlad III, Vlad the Impaler, and that he used only the name "Dracula" and some miscellaneous scraps of Romanian history. Also, there are no comments about Vlad III in the author's working notes. While having a conversation with Jonathan Harker in Chapter 3, Dracula refers to his own background, and these speeches show elements which Stoker directly copied from An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia: With Various Political Observations Relating to Them by William Wilkinson. Stoker mentions the Voivode of the Dracula race who fought against the Turks after the defeat in the Battle of Kosovo, and was later betrayed by his brother, historical facts which unequivocally point to Vlad III, described as "Voïvode Dracula" by Wilkinson: The Count's intended identity is later commented by Professor Van Helsing, referring to a letter from his friend Arminius: This indeed encourages the reader to identify the Count with the Voivode Dracula first mentioned by him in Chapter 3, the one betrayed by his brother: Vlad III Dracula, betrayed by his brother Radu the Handsome, who had chosen the side of the Turks. But as noted by the Dutch author Hans Corneel de Roos, in Chapter 25, Van Helsing and Mina drop this rudimentary connection to Vlad III and instead describe the Count's personal past as that of "that other of his race" who lived "in a later age". By smoothly exchanging Vlad III for a nameless double, Stoker avoided his main character being unambiguously linked to a historical person traceable in any history book. Similarly, the novelist did not want to disclose the precise site of the Count's residence, Castle Dracula. As confirmed by Stoker's own handwritten research notes, the novelist had a specific location for the Castle in mind while writing the narrative: an empty mountain top in the Transylvanian Kelemen alps near the former border with Moldavia. Efforts to promote the Poenari Castle (ca. 200 km away from the novel's place of action near the Borgo Pass) as the "real Castle Dracula" have no basis in Stoker's writing; although it bears much similarity to the fictional Castle Dracula, no written evidence shows Stoker to have heard of it. Regarding the Bran Castle near Brașov, Stoker possibly saw an illustration of Castle Bran (Törzburg) in Charles Boner's 1865 book on Transylvania, Transylvania: Its Products and Its People. Although Stoker may have been inspired by its romantic appearance, neither Boner, nor Mazuchelli nor Crosse (who also mention Terzburg or Törzburg) associate it with Vlad III; for the site of his fictitious Castle Dracula, Stoker preferred an empty mountain top. Furthermore, Stoker's detailed notes reveal that the novelist was very well aware of the ethnic and geo-political differences between the "Roumanians" or "Wallachs"/"Wallachians", descendants of the Dacians, and the Székelys or Szeklers, allies of the Magyars or Hungarians, whose interests were opposed to that of the Wallachians. In the novel's original typewritten manuscript, the Count speaks of throwing off the "Austrian yoke", which corresponds to the Szekler political point of view. This expression is crossed out, however, and replaced by "Hungarian yoke" (as appearing in the printed version), which matches the historical perspective of the Wallachians. This has been interpreted by some to mean that Stoker opted for the Wallachian, not the Szekler interpretation, thus lending more consistency to the Romanian identity of his Count: although not identical with Vlad III, the Vampire is portrayed as one of the "Dracula race". However, despite this, Stoker chose the Count to have revealed himself to be a Székely, and not a Wallachian nobleman (the region where the real "Draculas" ruled over). Screen portrayals See also Elizabeth Báthory Carmilla Clinical vampirism List of fictional vampires List of horror film antagonists References Bibliography Clive Leatherdale (1985) Dracula: the Novel and the Legend. Desert Island Books. Bram Stoker (1897) Dracula. Norton Critical Edition (1997) edited by Nina Auerbach and David J. Skal. Senf, Carol. Dracula: Between Tradition and Modernism (Twayne, 1998). Senf, Carol A. Bram Stoker. University of Wales Press, 2010. External links Bram Stoker Online Full text, PDF and audio versions of Dracula. Vlad the Impaler Literary characters introduced in 1897 Fictional characters with immortality Fictional characters with superhuman strength Fictional characters with weather abilities Fictional counts and countesses Fictional Hungarian people Fictional characters based on real people Fictional hypnotists and indoctrinators Fictional therianthropes Fictional telepaths Fictional vampires Male characters in literature Male characters in film Male characters in television Male horror film villains Male literary villains Supervillains with their own comic book titles Mythopoeia	true	[ "a TEN Talk (originally 10Talk) is a short presentation on a topic of the speaker's choosing given at a BarCamp type conference. It derives from a TED Talk and originated at the 2012 RefreshCache v4 developer conference (now defunct) in Gilbert, Arizona during the open floor demo time with a description of \"Fast paced 10 minute presentations by the you and the other leaders among us.\" Since the term was still somewhat new at the time, a \"What is a Ten-Talk?\" page was created on the RefreshCache site with the following abbreviated description so potential Ten-Talk presenters would know exactly what was expected of them:\n \n A Ten-Talk is a fast-paced, ten minute POLISHED presentation on an interesting topic that you think will appeal to the Church IT / Web Developer audiences.\n \n Here are some examples of Ten-Talk topics:\n (1) Have you implemented something at your church that has been a radical success or epic failure? We can learn from either of these!\n (2) Do you have an inspirational message that can lead others to action? Even better if you can share how this message inspired you to action and then show us what you did.\n (3) Have you spent time researching and understanding something in the world of ministry software or Church IT? Maybe you are an expert in [redacted]. Present this to the Church IT Network /RefreshCache community and share what you know. Your research may help another church find the solution to a problem they are facing, or save them the trouble of doing all the research you just did by realizing it won't work for them.\n\nIt was later adopted at the national Church IT Round Table conference held in February 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona when the two events began to intermingle and used again in 2014 at the Peoria, Illinois event where it was re-described as \"10Talks (or TEN-Talks) are 10 minute, fast paced talks on a topic. These are perfect sessions for raising awareness about a topic, tool, or idea that you think your peers should know.\"\n\nIts use outside of CITRT conferences is thought to begin with the WLAN professionals summit in February 2014.\n\nReferences\n\nPresentation", "\"Find What You Love and Let It Kill You\" may refer to:\n\nMusic \n Find What You Love and Let It Kill You (Jonny Craig album)\n Find What You Love and Let It Kill You (Hurricane No. 1 album)\n \"Find What You Love and Let It Kill You\", a song by Linus Pauling Quartet\n Find What You Love and Let It Kill You, a 2019 short film" ]
[ "Count Dracula", "Powers and weaknesses", "What does Dracula force Mina to do?", "I don't know.", "What is Draculas weakness?", "He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors.", "Dacula's death releases what curse?", "I don't know.", "What did you find interesting about draucla?", "Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist." ]	C_520ea2c01e0d4e02bbbe6ce2ae3c1a09_1	How many powers does Drucula have?	5	How many powers does Dracula have?	Count Dracula	Count Dracula is portrayed in the novel using many different supernatural abilities, and is believed to have gained his abilities through dealings with the Devil. Chapter 18 of the novel describes many of the abilities, limitations and weaknesses of vampires and Dracula in particular. Dracula has superhuman strength which, according to Van Helsing, is equivalent to that of 20 strong men. He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors. He is immune to conventional means of attack; a sailor tries to stab him in the back with a knife, but the blade goes through his body as though it is air. Why Harker's and Morris' physical attacks are able to harm him in other parts of the book is never explained although it is noteworthy that the failed stabbing by the sailor occurred at night and the successful attacks were during daylight hours. The Count can defy gravity to a certain extent and possesses superhuman agility, able to climb vertical surfaces upside down in a reptilian manner. He can travel onto "unhallowed" ground such as the graves of suicides and those of his victims. He has powerful hypnotic, telepathic and illusionary abilities. He also has the ability to "within limitations" vanish and reappear elsewhere at will. If he knows the path, he can come out from anything or into anything regardless of how close it is bound even if it is fused with fire. He has amassed cunning and wisdom throughout centuries, and he is unable to die by the mere passing of time alone. He can command animals such as rats, owls, bats, moths, foxes and wolves. However, his control over these animals is limited, as seen when the party first enters his house in London. Although Dracula is able to summon thousands of rats to swarm and attack the group, Holmwood summons his trio of terriers to do battle with the rats. The dogs prove very efficient rat killers, suggesting they are Manchester terriers trained for that purpose. Terrified by the dogs' onslaught, the rats flee and any control which Dracula had over them is gone. Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Some aspects of the character are believed to have been inspired by the 15th-century Wallachian Prince Vlad the Impaler, who was also known as Dracula, and by Sir Henry Irving, an actor for whom Stoker was a personal assistant. One of Dracula's most iconic powers is his ability to turn others into vampires by biting them and infecting them with the vampiric disease. Other character aspects have been added or altered in subsequent popular fictional works. The character has appeared frequently in popular culture, from films to animated media to breakfast cereals. Stoker's creation Bram Stoker's novel takes the form of an epistolary tale, in which Count Dracula's characteristics, powers, abilities and weaknesses are narrated by multiple narrators, from different perspectives. Count Dracula is an undead, centuries-old vampire, and a Transylvanian nobleman who claims to be a Székely descended from Attila the Hun. He inhabits a decaying castle in the Carpathian Mountains near the Borgo Pass. Unlike the vampires of Eastern European folklore, which are portrayed as repulsive, corpse-like creatures, Dracula is handsome and charismatic, with a veneer of aristocratic charm. In his conversations with Jonathan Harker, he reveals himself as deeply proud of his boyar heritage and nostalgic for the past, which he admits has become only a memory of heroism, honour and valour in modern times. Early life Details of his early life are undisclosed, but it is mentioned that Dracula studied the black arts at the academy of Scholomance in the Carpathian Mountains, overlooking the town of Sibiu (also known as Hermannstadt) and has a deep knowledge of alchemy and magic. Taking up arms, as befitting his rank and status as a voivode, he led troops against the Turks across the Danube. According to his nemesis Abraham Van Helsing, "He must indeed have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk, over the great river on the very frontier of Turkey-land. If it be so, then was he no common man: for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the land beyond the forest." Dead and buried in a great tomb in the chapel of his castle, Dracula returns from death as a vampire and lives for several centuries in his castle with three terrifyingly beautiful female vampires beside him. Narrative Short story In "Dracula's Guest", the narrative follows an unnamed Englishman traveller as he wanders around Munich before leaving for Transylvania. It is Walpurgis Night and the young Englishman foolishly leaves his hotel, in spite of the coachman's warnings, and wanders through a dense forest alone. Along the way, he feels that he is being watched by a tall and thin stranger. The short story climaxes in an old graveyard, where the Englishman encounters a sleeping female vampire called Countess Dolingen in a marble tomb with a large iron stake driven into it. This malevolent and beautiful vampire awakens from her marble bier to conjure a snowstorm before being struck by lightning and returning to her eternal prison. However, the Englishman's troubles are not quite over, as he is dragged away by an unseen force and rendered unconscious. He awakens to find a "gigantic" wolf lying on his chest and licking at his throat; however, the wolf merely keeps him warm and protects him until help arrives. When the Englishman is finally taken back to his hotel, a telegram awaits him from his expectant host Dracula, with a warning about "dangers from snow and wolves and night". Novel In Dracula, the eponymous vampire has decided to move from Transylvania to London. He summons Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English solicitor, to provide legal support for a real estate transaction overseen by Harker's employer. Dracula at first charms Harker with his cordiality and historical knowledge, and even rescues him from the clutches of the three female vampires in the castle. In truth, however, Dracula merely wishes to keep Harker alive long enough to complete the legal transaction and to learn as much as possible about England. Dracula leaves his castle and boards a Russian ship, the Demeter, taking along with him 50 boxes of Transylvanian soil, which he needs to regain his strength and rest during daylight. During the voyage to Whitby, a coastal town in northern England, he sustains himself on the ship's crew members. Only one body is later found, that of the captain, who is found tied up to the ship's helm. The captain's log is recovered and tells of strange events that had taken place during the ship's journey. Dracula leaves the ship in the form of a dog and runs up the 199 steps to the graveyard of St Mary's Church in the shadow of the Whitby Abbey ruins. Soon the Count begins menacing Harker's fiancée, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray, and her friend, Lucy Westenra. There is also a notable link between Dracula and Renfield, a patient in an insane asylum overseen by John Seward, who is compelled to consume spiders, birds, and other creatures—in ascending order of size—to absorb their "life force". Renfield acts as a kind of sensor, reacting to Dracula's proximity and supplying clues accordingly. Dracula visits Lucy's bed chamber on a nightly basis, draining her of blood while simultaneously infecting her with the curse of vampirism. Not knowing the cause for Lucy's deterioration, her three suitors – Seward, Arthur Holmwood and Quincey Morris – call upon Seward's mentor, the Dutch doctor Abraham Van Helsing. Van Helsing soon deduces her condition's supernatural origins, and tries to keep the vampire at bay with garlic. Nevertheless, Dracula attacks Lucy's house one final time, killing her mother and transforming Lucy herself into one of the undead. Harker escapes Dracula's castle and returns to England, barely alive and deeply traumatized. On Seward's suggestion, Mina seeks Van Helsing's assistance in assessing Harker's health. She reads his journal and passes it along to Van Helsing. This unfolds the first clue to the identity of Lucy's assailant, which later prompts Mina to collect all of the events of Dracula's appearance in news articles, saved letters, newspaper clippings and the journals of each member of the group. This assists the group in investigating Dracula's movements and later discovering that Renfield's behaviour is directly influenced by Dracula. They then discover that Dracula has purchased a residence next door to Seward's. The group gathers intelligence to track down Dracula and destroy him. After the undead Lucy attacks several children, Van Helsing, Seward, Holmwood and Morris enter her crypt and destroy her to save her soul. Later, Harker joins them and the party work to discover Dracula's intentions. Harker aids the party in tracking down the locations of the boxes to the various residences of Dracula and discovers that Dracula purchased multiple real estate properties throughout London under the alias 'Count De Ville'. Dracula's main plan was to move each of his 50 boxes of earth to his various properties in order to arrange multiple lairs throughout and around the perimeter of London. The party pries open each of the graves, places sacramental wafers within each of them, and seals them shut. This deprives Dracula of his ability to seek safety in those boxes. Dracula gains entry into Seward's residence by coercing an invitation out of Renfield. As he attempts to enter the room in which Harker and Mina are staying, Renfield tries to stop him; Dracula then mortally wounds him. With his dying breath, Renfield tells Seward and Van Helsing that Dracula is after Mina. Van Helsing and Seward discover Dracula biting Mina and forcing her to drink his blood. The group repel Dracula using crucifixes and sacramental bread, forcing him to flee by turning into a dark vapour. The party continue to hunt Dracula to search for his remaining lairs. Although Dracula's 'baptism' of Mina grants him a telepathic link to her, it backfires when Van Helsing hypnotizes Mina and uses her supernatural link with Dracula to track him as he flees back to Transylvania. The heroes follow Dracula back to Transylvania, and in a climactic battle with Dracula's Romani bodyguards, finally destroy him. Despite the popular image of Dracula having a stake driven through his heart to kill him, Mina's narrative describes his decapitation by Harker's kukri while Morris simultaneously pierces his heart with a Bowie knife (Mina Harker's Journal, 6 November, Dracula Chapter 27). His body then turns into dust, but not before Mina sees an expression of peace on his face. Characteristics Although early in the novel Dracula dons a mask of cordiality, he often flies into fits of rage when his plans are frustrated. When Dracula's brides attempt to seduce Jonathan Harker, Dracula physically assaults one and ferociously berates them for their insubordination. He has an appreciation for ancient architecture, and when purchasing a home he prefers them to be aged, saying "A new home would kill me", and that to make a new home habitable to him would take a century. Dracula is very proud of his warrior heritage, proclaiming his pride to Harker on how the Székely people are infused with the blood of heroes. He also expresses an interest in the history of the British Empire, speaking admiringly of its people. He has a somewhat primal and predatory worldview; he pities ordinary humans for their revulsion to their darker impulses. He is not without human emotions, however; he often says that he too can love. Though usually portrayed as having a strong Eastern European accent, the original novel only specifies that his spoken English is excellent, though strangely toned. His appearance varies in age. He is described early in the novel as thin, with a long white moustache, pointed ears and sharp teeth. It is also noted later in the novel (Chapter 11 subsection "The Escaped Wolf") by a zookeeper who sees him that he has a hooked nose and a pointed beard with a streak of white in it. He is dressed all in black and has hair on his palms. Harker describes him as an old man, "cruel looking" and giving an effect of "extraordinary pallor". As the novel progresses, Dracula is described as taking on a more and more youthful appearance. After Harker strikes him with a shovel, he is left with a scar on his forehead which he bears throughout the course of the novel. Dracula also possesses great wealth, and has Romani people in his homeland who are loyal to him as servants and protectors. Powers and weaknesses Count Dracula is portrayed in the novel using many different supernatural abilities, and is believed to have gained his abilities through dealings with the Devil. Chapter 18 of the novel describes many of the abilities, limitations and weaknesses of vampires and Dracula in particular. Dracula has superhuman strength which, according to Van Helsing, is equivalent to that of 20 strong men. He does not cast a shadow or have a reflection from mirrors. He is immune to conventional means of attack; a sailor tries to stab him in the back with a knife, but the blade goes through his body as though it is air. He can defy gravity to a certain extent and possesses superhuman agility, able to climb vertical surfaces upside down in a reptilian manner. He can travel onto "unhallowed" ground, such as the graves of suicides and those of his victims. He has powerful hypnotic, telepathic and illusionary abilities. He also has the ability to "within limitations" vanish and reappear elsewhere at will. If he knows the path, he can come out from anything or into anything regardless of how close it is bound or even if it is soldered shut. He has amassed cunning and wisdom throughout centuries, and he is unable to die by the mere passing of time alone. He can command animals such as rats, owls, bats, moths, foxes and wolves. However, his control over these animals is limited, as seen when the party first enters his house in London. Although Dracula is able to summon thousands of rats to swarm and attack the group, Holmwood summons his trio of terriers to do battle with the rats. The dogs prove very efficient rat killers, suggesting they are Manchester Terriers trained for that purpose. Terrified by the dogs' onslaught, the rats flee, and any control which Dracula had over them is gone. Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist. Shapeshifting Dracula can change form at will, able to grow and become small, his featured forms in the novel being that of a bat, a wolf, a large dog and a fog or mist. When the moonlight is shining, he can travel as elemental dust within its rays. He is able to pass through tiny cracks or crevices while retaining his human form or in the form of a vapour; described by Van Helsing as the ability to slip through a hairbreadth space of a tomb door or coffin. This is also an ability used by his victim Lucy as a vampire. When the party breaks into her tomb, they open the sealed coffin to find her corpse is no longer located within. Vampirism One of Dracula's powers is the ability to turn others into vampires by biting them. According to Van Helsing: The vampire bite itself does not cause death. It is the method vampires use to drain blood of the victim and to increase their influence over them. This is described by Van Helsing: Victims who are bitten by a vampire and do not die, are hypnotically influenced by them: Van Helsing later describes the aftermath of a bitten victim when the vampire has been killed: As Dracula slowly drains Lucy's blood, she dies from acute blood loss and later transforms into a vampire, despite the efforts of Seward and Van Helsing to provide her with blood transfusions. He is aided by powers of necromancy and divination of the dead, that all who die by his hand may reanimate and do his bidding. Bloodletting Dracula requires no other sustenance but fresh human blood, which has the effect of rejuvenating him and allowing him to grow younger. His power is drawn from the blood of others, and he cannot survive without it. Although drinking blood can rejuvenate his youth and strength, it does not give him the ability to regenerate; months after being struck on the head by a shovel, he still bears a scar from the impact. Dracula's preferred victims are women. Harker states that he believes Dracula has a state of fasting as well as a state of feeding. Dracula does state to Mina, however, that exerting his abilities causes a desire to feed. Vampire's Baptism of Blood Count Dracula is depicted as the "King Vampire", and can control other vampires. To punish Mina and the party for their efforts against him, Dracula bites her on at least three occasions. He also forces her to drink his blood; this act curses her with the effects of vampirism and gives him a telepathic link to her thoughts. However, hypnotism was only able to be done before dawn. Van Helsing refers to the act of drinking blood by both the vampire and the victim "the Vampire's Baptism of Blood". The effects changes Mina physically and mentally over time. A few moments after Dracula attacks her, Van Helsing takes a wafer of sacramental bread and places it on her forehead to bless her; when the bread touches her skin, it burns her and leaves a scar on her forehead. Her teeth start growing longer but do not grow sharper. She begins to lose her appetite, feeling repulsed by normal food, begins to sleep more and more during the day; cannot wake unless at sunset and stops writing in her diary. When Van Helsing later crumbles the same bread in a circle around her, she is unable to cross or leave the circle, discovering a new form of protection. Dracula's death can release the curse on any living victim of eventual transformation into vampire. However, Van Helsing reveals that were he to escape, his continued existence would ensure that even if he did not victimize Mina further, she would transform into a vampire upon her eventual natural death. Limitations of his powers Dracula is much less powerful in daylight and is only able to shift his form at dawn, noon, and dusk (he can shift his form freely at night or if he is at his grave). The sun is not fatal to him, as sunlight does not burn and destroy him upon contact, though most of his abilities cease. Later interpretations of the character, and vampires in general, would amplify this trait into an outright fatal weakness, making it so that even the first rays of sunrise are capable of reducing a vampire to ash. He is also limited in his ability to travel, as he can only cross running water at low or high tide. Owing to this, he is unable to fly across a river in the form of a bat or mist or even by himself board a boat or step off a boat onto a dock unless he is physically carried over with assistance. He is also unable to enter a place unless invited to do so by someone of the household, even a visitor; once invited, he can enter and leave the premises at will. Weaknesses Thirst Dracula is commonly depicted with a bloodlust which he is seemingly unable to control. Adaptations sometimes call this uncontrollable state 'the thirst'. Religious symbolism There are items which afflict him to the point he has no power and can even calm him from his insatiable appetite for blood. He is repulsed by garlic, as well as sacred items and symbols such as crucifixes, and sacramental bread. Placing the branch of a wild rose upon the top of his coffin will render him unable to escape it; a sacred bullet fired into the coffin could kill him so that he remain true-dead. Mountain Ash is also described as a form of protection from a vampire although the effects are unknown. This was believed to be used as protection against evil spirits and witches during the Victorian era. Death-sleep The state of rest to which vampires are prone during the day is described in the novel as a deathlike sleep in which the vampire sleeps open-eyed, is unable to awaken or move, and also may be unaware of any presence of individuals who may be trespassing. Dracula is portrayed as being active in daylight at least once to pursue a victim. Dracula also purchases many properties throughout London 'over the counter' which shows that he does have the ability to have some type of presence in daylight. He requires Transylvanian soil to be nearby to him in a foreign land or to be entombed within his coffin within Transylvania in order to successfully rest; otherwise, he will be unable to recover his strength. This has forced him to transport many boxes of Transylvanian earth to each of his residences in London. He is most powerful when he is within his Earth-Home, Coffin-Home, Hell-Home, or any place unhallowed. Further, if Dracula or any vampire has had their fill in blood upon feeding, they will be caused to rest in this dead state even longer than usual. Other abilities While universally feared by the local people of Transylvania and even beyond, Dracula commands the loyalty of Gypsies and a band of Slovaks who transport his boxes on their way to London and to serve as an armed convoy bringing his coffin back to his castle. The Slovaks and Gypsies appear to know his true nature, for they laugh at Harker when he tries to communicate his plight, and betray Harker's attempt to send a letter through them by giving it to the Count. Dracula seems to be able to hold influence over people with mental disorders, such as Renfield, who is never bitten but who worships Dracula, referring to him over the course of the novel as "Master" and "Lord". Dracula also afflicts Lucy with chronic sleepwalking, putting her into a trance-like state that allows them not only to submit to his will but also seek him and satisfy his need to feed. Dracula's powers and weaknesses vary greatly in the many adaptations. Previous and subsequent vampires from different legends have had similar vampire characteristics. Character development subsequent to the novel Dracula has been portrayed by more actors in more visual media adaptations of the novel than any other horror character. Actors who have played him include Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, John Carradine, Lon Chaney Jr., Christopher Lee, Francis Lederer, Denholm Elliott, Jack Palance, Louis Jourdan, Rudolf Martin, Frank Langella, Klaus Kinski, Gary Oldman, Leslie Nielsen, George Hamilton, David Niven, Charles Macaulay, Keith-Lee Castle, Gerard Butler, Duncan Regehr, Richard Roxburgh, Marc Warren, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Billington, Thomas Kretschmann, Dominic Purcell, Luke Evans and Claes Bang. In 2003, Count Dracula, as portrayed by Lugosi in the 1931 film, was named as the 33rd greatest movie villain by the AFI. In 2013, Empire magazine ranked Lee's portrayal as Dracula the 7th Greatest Horror Movie Character of All Time. The character is closely associated with the western cultural archetype of the vampire, and remains a popular Halloween costume. Count Dracula appears in Mad Monster Party? voiced by Allen Swift. This version is shown to be wearing a monocle. Count Dracula is among the monsters that Baron Boris von Frankenstein invites to the Isle of Evil to show off the secret of total destruction and announce his retirement from the Worldwide Organization of Monsters. Sesame Street character Count von Count is based on Bela Lugosi's interpretation of Count Dracula and Jack Davis' design for Dracula from Mad Monster Party?. Count Dracula appears in Mad Mad Mad Monsters (a "prequel of sorts" to Mad Monster Party?) voiced again by Allen Swift. He and his son are invited by Baron Henry von Frankenstein to attend the wedding of Frankenstein's monster and its mate at the Transylvania Astoria Hotel. Dracula is the primary antagonist of the Castlevania video game series and the main protagonist of the Lords of Shadow reboot series. Count Dracula appears in the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes episode "Spatula, Prinze of Dorkness", voiced by S. Scott Bullock. He relates a tale of how he once gave Dr. Putrid T. Gangreen a serum to transform tomatoes into vampire tomatoes. Though the Doctor refused, Zoltan overheard their conversation and, mistaking the word serum for syrup, ingests the serum himself and renaming himself "Spatula, Prinze of Dorkness" who can turn people into vampires by kissing them in the neck (a stipulation that the Censor Lady put into place in fear of showing the biting and bloodshed associated with vampires on a Saturday morning cartoon). This spread to the other tomatoes and the entire town. When the sun came up and disabled the vampires, Count Dracula in sunblock appears and deemed that the town is not worthy to be vampires. He then gives Chad Finletter the antidote to the vampirism and advises that the tomatoes be squashed immediately. Dracula appears as the lead character of Dracula the Un-dead, a novel by Stoker's great-grand nephew Dacre presented as a sequel to the original. In the Supernatural episode "Monster Monster", a shapeshifter that Sam and Dean Winchester fight considers his form of Count Dracula (portrayed by Todd Stashwick) his favourite form. It is in this form that Jamie killed him with Sam's gun loaded with silver bullets. Count Dracula is the main character of the Hotel Transylvania franchise, voiced by Adam Sandler in the first three movies and by Brian Hull in the fourth movie. Dracula, going by an inversion of his name, "Alucard," serves as the main character of the anime and manga series Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate where he serves Integra Hellsing, Abraham's great-granddaughter, as an anti-vampire warrior devoted to the British Crown. Dracula is the primary antagonist of the Showtime series Penny Dreadful, portrayed by Christian Camargo. This version of the character is the brother of Lucifer and, thus, a fallen angel. Modern and postmodern analyses of the character Already in 1958, Cecil Kirtly proposed that Count Dracula shared his personal past with the historical Transylvanian-born Voivode Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia, also known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Țepeș. Following the publication of In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally in 1972, this supposed connection attracted much popular attention. This work argued that Bram Stoker based his Dracula on Vlad the Impaler. Historically, the name "Dracula" is the family name of Vlad Țepeș' family, a name derived from a fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg (king of Hungary and Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor) to uphold Christianity and defend the Empire against the Ottoman Turks. Vlad II Dracul, father of Vlad III, was admitted to the order around 1431 because of his bravery in fighting the Turks and was dubbed Dracul (dragon or devil) thus his son became Dracula (son of the dragon). From 1431 onward, Vlad II wore the emblem of the order and later, as ruler of Wallachia, his coinage bore the dragon symbol. Stoker came across the name Dracula in his reading on Romanian history, and chose this to replace the name (Count Wampyr) that he had originally intended to use for his villain. However, some Dracula scholars, led by Elizabeth Miller, have questioned the depth of this connection as early as 1998. They argue that Stoker in fact knew little of the historic Vlad III, Vlad the Impaler, and that he used only the name "Dracula" and some miscellaneous scraps of Romanian history. Also, there are no comments about Vlad III in the author's working notes. While having a conversation with Jonathan Harker in Chapter 3, Dracula refers to his own background, and these speeches show elements which Stoker directly copied from An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia: With Various Political Observations Relating to Them by William Wilkinson. Stoker mentions the Voivode of the Dracula race who fought against the Turks after the defeat in the Battle of Kosovo, and was later betrayed by his brother, historical facts which unequivocally point to Vlad III, described as "Voïvode Dracula" by Wilkinson: The Count's intended identity is later commented by Professor Van Helsing, referring to a letter from his friend Arminius: This indeed encourages the reader to identify the Count with the Voivode Dracula first mentioned by him in Chapter 3, the one betrayed by his brother: Vlad III Dracula, betrayed by his brother Radu the Handsome, who had chosen the side of the Turks. But as noted by the Dutch author Hans Corneel de Roos, in Chapter 25, Van Helsing and Mina drop this rudimentary connection to Vlad III and instead describe the Count's personal past as that of "that other of his race" who lived "in a later age". By smoothly exchanging Vlad III for a nameless double, Stoker avoided his main character being unambiguously linked to a historical person traceable in any history book. Similarly, the novelist did not want to disclose the precise site of the Count's residence, Castle Dracula. As confirmed by Stoker's own handwritten research notes, the novelist had a specific location for the Castle in mind while writing the narrative: an empty mountain top in the Transylvanian Kelemen alps near the former border with Moldavia. Efforts to promote the Poenari Castle (ca. 200 km away from the novel's place of action near the Borgo Pass) as the "real Castle Dracula" have no basis in Stoker's writing; although it bears much similarity to the fictional Castle Dracula, no written evidence shows Stoker to have heard of it. Regarding the Bran Castle near Brașov, Stoker possibly saw an illustration of Castle Bran (Törzburg) in Charles Boner's 1865 book on Transylvania, Transylvania: Its Products and Its People. Although Stoker may have been inspired by its romantic appearance, neither Boner, nor Mazuchelli nor Crosse (who also mention Terzburg or Törzburg) associate it with Vlad III; for the site of his fictitious Castle Dracula, Stoker preferred an empty mountain top. Furthermore, Stoker's detailed notes reveal that the novelist was very well aware of the ethnic and geo-political differences between the "Roumanians" or "Wallachs"/"Wallachians", descendants of the Dacians, and the Székelys or Szeklers, allies of the Magyars or Hungarians, whose interests were opposed to that of the Wallachians. In the novel's original typewritten manuscript, the Count speaks of throwing off the "Austrian yoke", which corresponds to the Szekler political point of view. This expression is crossed out, however, and replaced by "Hungarian yoke" (as appearing in the printed version), which matches the historical perspective of the Wallachians. This has been interpreted by some to mean that Stoker opted for the Wallachian, not the Szekler interpretation, thus lending more consistency to the Romanian identity of his Count: although not identical with Vlad III, the Vampire is portrayed as one of the "Dracula race". However, despite this, Stoker chose the Count to have revealed himself to be a Székely, and not a Wallachian nobleman (the region where the real "Draculas" ruled over). Screen portrayals See also Elizabeth Báthory Carmilla Clinical vampirism List of fictional vampires List of horror film antagonists References Bibliography Clive Leatherdale (1985) Dracula: the Novel and the Legend. Desert Island Books. Bram Stoker (1897) Dracula. Norton Critical Edition (1997) edited by Nina Auerbach and David J. Skal. Senf, Carol. Dracula: Between Tradition and Modernism (Twayne, 1998). Senf, Carol A. Bram Stoker. University of Wales Press, 2010. External links Bram Stoker Online Full text, PDF and audio versions of Dracula. Vlad the Impaler Literary characters introduced in 1897 Fictional characters with immortality Fictional characters with superhuman strength Fictional characters with weather abilities Fictional counts and countesses Fictional Hungarian people Fictional characters based on real people Fictional hypnotists and indoctrinators Fictional therianthropes Fictional telepaths Fictional vampires Male characters in literature Male characters in film Male characters in television Male horror film villains Male literary villains Supervillains with their own comic book titles Mythopoeia	false	[ "In additive combinatorics and number theory, a subset A of an abelian group G is said to be sum-free if the sumset A⊕A is disjoint from A. In other words, A is sum-free if the equation has no solution with .\n\nFor example, the set of odd numbers is a sum-free subset of the integers, and the set {N+1, ..., 2N} forms a large sum-free subset of the set {1,...,2N}. Fermat's Last Theorem is the statement that, for a given integer n > 2, the set of all nonzero nth powers of the integers is a sum-free subset.\n\nSome basic questions that have been asked about sum-free sets are:\n\n How many sum-free subsets of {1, ..., N} are there, for an integer N? Ben Green has shown that the answer is , as predicted by the Cameron–Erdős conjecture (see Sloane's ).\n How many sum-free sets does an abelian group G contain? \n What is the size of the largest sum-free set that an abelian group G contains?\n\nA sum-free set is said to be maximal if it is not a proper subset of another sum-free set.\n\nReferences\n\nSumsets\nAdditive combinatorics", "A superpower is a currently fictional superhuman ability. Superpowers are typically displayed in science fiction comic books, television programs, video games, and films as the key attribute of a superhero. The concept originated in American comic books and pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s, and has gradually worked its way into other genres and media.\n\nDefinition \nThere is no rigid definition of a \"superpower.\" In popular culture, it is often associated with unusual abilities such as flight, enhanced strength, invulnerability, or enhanced speed. However, it can also describe natural abilities that reach peak human potential, such as enhanced intelligence or weapon proficiency.\n\nGenerally speaking, superheroes like Batman and Iron Man may be classified as superheroes even though they have no actual superhuman abilities beyond their exceptional talent and advanced technology. Similarly, characters with superhuman abilities derived from artificial, external sources, like Green Lantern's power ring and Tony Stark's Iron Man armor may be described as superpowers, but the wearer is not necessarily superhuman.\n\nIn fiction, superpowers are often given scientific, technological, pseudoscientific, or supernatural explanations. They come from sources such as magic, technology, or the character's own physiological nature (being an alien, a supernatural being, or a mutant).\n\nIn manga and anime\nSuperpowers are a commonly used concept in manga and anime, particularly in the shonen genre. They are often featured in popular manga and anime such as Dragon Ball Z, Saint Seiya, YuYu Hakusho, One Piece, Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, Bleach, Code Geass, Fairy Tail, Hunter × Hunter, Attack on Titan, and My Hero Academia. \n\nThe types of powers featured vary from series to series. Some, such as Dragon Ball and Fullmetal Alchemist, feature many different characters who have the same types of powers. Others, like One Piece and Bleach, feature characters with a wide range of different powers, with many powers being unique to only one or a few characters.\n\nList of common superpowers\nBelow is a list of common superpowers depicted in fiction. This list is not exhaustive, and only covers the most frequently depicted powers from the most well-known superheroes.\n\nAlmighty powers\nPowers that can manipulate, control, create, or reshape everything and anything.\n\nSuperpower manipulations\nSuperpowers that interact with other superhumans' powers.\n\nPersonal physical powers\nPowers that affect the user's physical body.\n\nMental powers\nPowers that manipulate the mental capabilities of the mind.\n\nSpiritual powers\nControl over supernatural forces including ghosts, demons, or the astral plane.\n\nElemental powers\nPowers related to manipulating the elements of nature.\n\nTransportation powers\nPowers that are mainly used for transportation.\n\nOther powers\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Superpower List - A growing list of user-submitted superpowers. \n Superhero Database: Superpowers\n 8 Super Powers, an online Wired Magazine article on how certain superpowers might work\n The Physics of Superheroes, by James Kakalios- a book examining how the powers of several comic book characters would work if they were real.\n\nFictional superhuman features or abilities\nSuperhero fiction themes" ]
[ "Dennis Trillo", "2002-2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso" ]	C_494eb3090880475a9b84ecc703d90e09_1	Who is Kapuso?	1	Who is Kapuso?	Dennis Trillo	After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show' Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-Human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz' (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Abelardo Dennis Florencio Ho (born 12 May 1981), widely known as Dennis Trillo, is a Filipino actor, model and recording artist. He is currently a contract star of GMA Network. He was known for his role as Eric del Mundo in the first ever gay-themed series on Philippine TV, My Husband's Lover aired on GMA Network in 2013. Trillo received his first acting award in 2004 for his role as a cross-dressing spy in the 2004 war film Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita. In April 2016, he appeared in another primetime television series, Juan Happy Love Story, opposite his Dwarfina leading lady Heart Evangelista. Now being recognized both locally and internationally, he still continues to work as GMA Network's "Drama King". Personal life Trillo was born on May 12, 1981, in Quezon City to Florita Florencio Ho, a Filipino, and Abelardo Leslie Ho, a Chinese Filipino from Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. He finished high school at Jose Abad Santos Memorial School, Quezon City and spent his grade school years (grades 1–7) at the Ateneo De Manila University. He pursued a college education at Miriam College and received a B.A. in International Studies. He has a son with his ex-girlfriend Carlene Aguilar, born in 2007. In 2021, he married his longtime girlfriend Jennylyn Mercado. Career Early years Prior to starting his career in show business, Trillo was once a member of a band called Moyg. For a short period, he played the drums for the DIY band in Baguio. His career in entertainment started in ABS-CBN in 2001 when he was introduced as part of ABS-CBN's Star Circle (now known as Star Magic) batch 10 along with Bea Alonzo, Alfred Vargas and TJ Trinidad. He took part in ABS-CBN's hit television soap operas Pangako Sa 'Yo as Ruel and Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan as Jojo; both were minor characters. 2003–2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. 2006–2010: Kapuso leading man and music debut In 2005, in GMA Network fantasy series Encantadia, Trillo was cast as lead character in Etheria, where he portrayed the Sapirian prince, Raquim. Midway through the series, GMA Network management announced that Trillo would be pulled out from the said show to once again star in another fantasy-themed television series Majika, in the end Trillo was allowed to complete Etheria. He also starred in the horror-suspense film Pamahiin and was included in the network's noontime show SOP as a co-host where he also played drums as part of the show's "Starband". Trillo released his self-titled debut album in 2007 under IndiMusic. It was in the same year when he made his fourth Lenten drama special for GMA Network under APT Entertainment entitled Unico Hijo. On August 21, 2007, he started taping for the fantasy series Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan with Aljur Abrenica and Marky Cielo. On April 27, 2008, five thousand spectators witnessed the Battle of Mactan play, with Trillo playing Ferdinand Magellan at the Mactan, Cebu Shrine. The same year, Trillo joined the stellar cast of Magdusa Ka, an afternoon soap opera which later earned an International Emmy nomination the following year. Late 2008 when he starred in the comic-based superhero series Gagambino, playing as the main character. The following year after Gagambino, he starred into two more primetime dramas: Adik Sa'Yo and the 2009 remake of Darna. Trillo's hosting roles continued when he replaced Dingdong Dantes as a co-host in the new installment of StarStruck V in 2009. In 2010, he also began co-hosting the variety show, Party Pilipinas. He appeared in Sine Novela Presents: Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak opposite Jennylyn Mercado and portrayed Andrew Tantoco in the Philippine adaptation of the hit Korean series Endless Love. 2011–present: GMA's Drama King; My Husband's Lover In 2011, Trillo appeared in the romantic-fantasy series Dwarfina where he teamed-up with Heart Evangelista. After playing the lead role in the Philippine adaptation of Temptation of Wife, Trillo lead his most controversial role to date as Eric del Mundo in his second International Emmy nominee drama series My Husband's Lover where he received one acting award from two nominations and a commendation from Asian TV Awards. After the success of the series, the cast of My Husband's Lover held a concert at Araneta Coliseum named "One More Try: My Husband's Lover The Concert". The same year, Trillo and his screen partner Tom Rodriguez released their album titled TomDen, which is now a certified Platinum record according to the PARI with over 15,000 copies sold. In 2014, he top-billed the Primetime drama series Hiram na Alaala with Kapuso actress Kris Bernal. He also had a weekly medical drama with Bela Padilla entitled Sa Puso ni Dok under GMA News & Public Affairs department. Trillo visited ABS-CBN via his guesting in Kris TV to promote his 2015 movie You're Still The One alongside Maja Salvador, Ellen Adarna and Richard Yap under Regal Entertainment Inc. and Star Cinema. The same year, Trillo launched his first VIVA Films movie, Felix Manalo where he received a Movie Actor of the Year award from PMPC Star Awards for Movies. After doing several heavy drama soap operas, Trillo starred in a light drama series with Heart Evangelista, Juan Happy Love Story. Discography Studio albums TomDen (2013, GMA Records) (PARI: Platinum) Dennis Trillo (2007, IndiMusic) Singles "Overdrive" (Lakbay 2 love theme song with Solenn Heussaff) (2016) "Sa Iyo na Lang Ako" (Hiram na Alaala theme song) (2014) "Tibok ng Puso" (Sa Puso ni Dok theme song) (2014) "Kailan Man" (A 100-Year Legacy theme song) (2014) "Forever" (with Tom Rodriguez) (2014) "Hinahanap-Hanap Kita" (Adik Sa'Yo theme song) (2009) "Lumilipad" (2007) "All About Love" (2007) Compilation albums Seasons of Love (2014, GMA Records) Track 6: "Tibok ng Puso" Filmography Television Television series Television shows Drama anthologies TV specials Film Accolades References External links Dennis Trillo - GMA homepage 1981 births Living people Filipino male television actors Filipino male film actors Ateneo de Manila University alumni 21st-century Filipino male actors Filipino television personalities 21st-century Filipino male singers Filipino male models Filipino male comedians People from Quezon City Male actors from Metro Manila Star Magic Batch 10 Sparkle GMA Artist Center Filipino people of Chinese descent Miriam College alumni GMA Network personalities GMA Music artists Viva Artists Agency	false	[ "GMA Music (formerly known as Infiniti Music and GMA Records) is a subsidiary of GMA Network Inc. and is engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of music and concerts. GMA Music is a member of PARI and has the distinction of having two Diamond Record awards in the highly competitive music scene.\n\nCurrent local artists\nMale\nAlden Richards\nAnthony Rosaldo\nBryan Chong\nDerrick Monasterio\nGarrett Bolden\nJeric Gonzales\nJong Madaliday\nKen Chan\nKristofer Martin\nMigo Adecer\nNar Cabico\nPsalms David\nRuru Madrid\n\nFemale\nAngel Guardian\nArra San Agustin \nBianca Umali\nGolden Cañedo\nHannah Precillas\nJessica Villarubin\nJillian Ward\nKyline Alcantara\nKyryll\nMaricris Garcia\nMikee Misalucha\nMikee Quintos\nMirriam Manalo\nPrincess Velasco \nRoxanne Miranda \nXOXO\n\nFormer artists\n 3LOGY (2015–2016)\n Aicelle Santos (2005–2014)\n Gerald Santos (2006–2011)\n Dingdong Avanzado (1996–1999)\n Frencheska Farr (2009–2016)\n Geoff Taylor (2009–2011)\n James Wright (2013–2016)\n Janno Gibbs (2004–2018)\n Jaya (2007–2011)\n Jessa Zaragoza (2012–2014)\n Jolina Magdangal (2004–2009)\n Jona (2005–2013)\n Julie Anne San Jose (2012–2017)\n Kitchie Nadal (2007–2008)\n Kris Lawrence (2012–2014)\n One Up (2016–2020)\n Sunshine Cruz (1999)\n The Tux\n Yasmien Kurdi (2005–2008)\n\nCompilations of GMA Music\n All About Love (2009)\n Isang Kinabukasan: A Kapuso Benefit Album (collaboration with GMA Kapuso Foundation) (2007)\n Tunog Kapuso: The Best of GMA TV Themes Vol. 1 (2005)\n Metropop Song Festival compilation album (1996–2002)\n Mga Awit Kapuso Vol. 5 (2008)\n Mga Awit Mula Sa Puso: The Best of GMA TV Themes Vol. 2 (2006)\n Mga Awit ng Kapuso: The Best of GMA TV Themes Vol. 3 (2007)\n Mga Awiting Kapuso: Best of GMA TV Soundtracks Vol. 4 (2008)\n Mga Awit Mula Sa Puso: The Best of GMA TV Themes Vol. 6 (2013)\n Mga Awit Kapuso Volume 7 (2016)\n Kapuso Sa Pasko: The GMA Records All Star Christmas Album (2005)\n Pinoy Pop Superstar Grand Contender Vol. 1 (2005)\n Pinoy Pop Superstar Grand Contender Vol. 2 (2006)\n Pinoy Pop Superstar Grand Contender Vol. 3 (2007)\n Seasons of Love: The Best of Mga Awit Kapuso Vol. 7 (2014)\n The Best Of Mga Awit Kapuso (2009)\n Awit Kapuso: Kay Sarap Maging Kapuso (2011)\n Take1: The Best Of Awit Kapuso Originals (2013)\n\nMovie soundtracks on GMA Music\n Mulawin The Movie Soundtrack (2005)\n Lovestruck (2008) \n Moments Of Love (2006)\n Pers Lab: The Music of First Time (2010)\n Tween Academy: Class of 2012 (Official Movie Soundtrack) (2011)\n\nGMA Records Home Video\n\nMovies and TV movies\nSome movies are released with GMA Films partners (most being Regal Entertainment or Viva Films) but the following are solely released by GMA Records Home Video:\n\nTV series\n\nDiscography\n\nGallery\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n \nPhilippine record labels\nPop record labels\nRecord labels established in 1995\nRecord labels established in 2003\nRecord labels established in 2019\nCompanies based in Quezon City\nEntertainment companies of the Philippines\nPhilippine music\nPhilippine companies established in 1995\nPhilippine companies established in 2003\nPhilippine companies established in 2019", "GMA Kapuso Foundation Inc. (formerly Bisig Bayan Foundation and GMA Foundation) is a socio-civic organization organized by GMA Network Inc. to facilitate social programs and outreach to the public.\n\nSince it was founded in 1991, GMA Kapuso Foundation has been touching the lives of communities everywhere. Its projects help uplift the life of countless beneficiaries.\n\nImplemented singly or in partnership with other agencies, the foundation's thrusts are focused on helping and supporting impoverished families, needy children, calamity victims, prisoners and ex-prisoners, aspiring singers and songwriters, including dependents of GMA employees.\n\nProjects\n\nHealth \n Bisig Bayan Medical Assistance (BB)\n Kalusugan Karavan (KK)\n\nEducation \n Kapuso School Development (KSD) Project\n Unang Hakbang sa Kinabukasan (UHSK)\n\nDisaster Relief \n Operation Bayanihan (OpsBay)\n\nValues Formation \n Kapuso ng Kalikasan (KNK) Project\n Sagip Dugtong Buhay\n Give-A-Gift: Alay sa Batang Pinoy\n\nAwards\n\n53rd Anvil Awards \n\n Silver Anvil Award (Public Relations Tools – Publications category): \n‘20 Years of Serbisyong Totoo: The GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc. 2016 Annual Report’\n Silver Anvil Award (Public Relations Tools: Multimedia/Digital Online Video/Online News): \n‘Kapuso Para sa Kawal Project,’ Layong Matulungan ang mga Sundalong Lumalaban sa Marawi\n Silver Anvil Award (Public Relations Tools: Multimedia/Digital Online Video/Online News):\nRebuild Marawi MTV\n\n52nd Anvil Awards \n\n Silver Anvil Award (Public Relations Tools – Publications category):\nEmpowering the Youth: The GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc. 2015 Annual Report\n\n34th Agora Awards\n\n Outstanding Achievement In Advocacy Marketing\nGMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.\n\nPhilippine Quill Awards \n\n Merit Award\nThe Worst of Times. The Best of Times: The GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc. 2009 Annual Report\n\n45th Anvil Awards \n Anvil Award of Excellence\nGMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc. Annual Report\n\nReferences \n\nGMA Network (company)\nFoundations based in the Philippines\nOrganizations established in 1991\n1991 establishments in the Philippines" ]
[ "Dennis Trillo", "2002-2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso", "Who is Kapuso?", "I don't know." ]	C_494eb3090880475a9b84ecc703d90e09_1	What was his breakthrough?	2	What was Dennis Trillo's breakthrough?	Dennis Trillo	After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show' Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-Human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz' (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. CANNOTANSWER	he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan	Abelardo Dennis Florencio Ho (born 12 May 1981), widely known as Dennis Trillo, is a Filipino actor, model and recording artist. He is currently a contract star of GMA Network. He was known for his role as Eric del Mundo in the first ever gay-themed series on Philippine TV, My Husband's Lover aired on GMA Network in 2013. Trillo received his first acting award in 2004 for his role as a cross-dressing spy in the 2004 war film Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita. In April 2016, he appeared in another primetime television series, Juan Happy Love Story, opposite his Dwarfina leading lady Heart Evangelista. Now being recognized both locally and internationally, he still continues to work as GMA Network's "Drama King". Personal life Trillo was born on May 12, 1981, in Quezon City to Florita Florencio Ho, a Filipino, and Abelardo Leslie Ho, a Chinese Filipino from Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. He finished high school at Jose Abad Santos Memorial School, Quezon City and spent his grade school years (grades 1–7) at the Ateneo De Manila University. He pursued a college education at Miriam College and received a B.A. in International Studies. He has a son with his ex-girlfriend Carlene Aguilar, born in 2007. In 2021, he married his longtime girlfriend Jennylyn Mercado. Career Early years Prior to starting his career in show business, Trillo was once a member of a band called Moyg. For a short period, he played the drums for the DIY band in Baguio. His career in entertainment started in ABS-CBN in 2001 when he was introduced as part of ABS-CBN's Star Circle (now known as Star Magic) batch 10 along with Bea Alonzo, Alfred Vargas and TJ Trinidad. He took part in ABS-CBN's hit television soap operas Pangako Sa 'Yo as Ruel and Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan as Jojo; both were minor characters. 2003–2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. 2006–2010: Kapuso leading man and music debut In 2005, in GMA Network fantasy series Encantadia, Trillo was cast as lead character in Etheria, where he portrayed the Sapirian prince, Raquim. Midway through the series, GMA Network management announced that Trillo would be pulled out from the said show to once again star in another fantasy-themed television series Majika, in the end Trillo was allowed to complete Etheria. He also starred in the horror-suspense film Pamahiin and was included in the network's noontime show SOP as a co-host where he also played drums as part of the show's "Starband". Trillo released his self-titled debut album in 2007 under IndiMusic. It was in the same year when he made his fourth Lenten drama special for GMA Network under APT Entertainment entitled Unico Hijo. On August 21, 2007, he started taping for the fantasy series Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan with Aljur Abrenica and Marky Cielo. On April 27, 2008, five thousand spectators witnessed the Battle of Mactan play, with Trillo playing Ferdinand Magellan at the Mactan, Cebu Shrine. The same year, Trillo joined the stellar cast of Magdusa Ka, an afternoon soap opera which later earned an International Emmy nomination the following year. Late 2008 when he starred in the comic-based superhero series Gagambino, playing as the main character. The following year after Gagambino, he starred into two more primetime dramas: Adik Sa'Yo and the 2009 remake of Darna. Trillo's hosting roles continued when he replaced Dingdong Dantes as a co-host in the new installment of StarStruck V in 2009. In 2010, he also began co-hosting the variety show, Party Pilipinas. He appeared in Sine Novela Presents: Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak opposite Jennylyn Mercado and portrayed Andrew Tantoco in the Philippine adaptation of the hit Korean series Endless Love. 2011–present: GMA's Drama King; My Husband's Lover In 2011, Trillo appeared in the romantic-fantasy series Dwarfina where he teamed-up with Heart Evangelista. After playing the lead role in the Philippine adaptation of Temptation of Wife, Trillo lead his most controversial role to date as Eric del Mundo in his second International Emmy nominee drama series My Husband's Lover where he received one acting award from two nominations and a commendation from Asian TV Awards. After the success of the series, the cast of My Husband's Lover held a concert at Araneta Coliseum named "One More Try: My Husband's Lover The Concert". The same year, Trillo and his screen partner Tom Rodriguez released their album titled TomDen, which is now a certified Platinum record according to the PARI with over 15,000 copies sold. In 2014, he top-billed the Primetime drama series Hiram na Alaala with Kapuso actress Kris Bernal. He also had a weekly medical drama with Bela Padilla entitled Sa Puso ni Dok under GMA News & Public Affairs department. Trillo visited ABS-CBN via his guesting in Kris TV to promote his 2015 movie You're Still The One alongside Maja Salvador, Ellen Adarna and Richard Yap under Regal Entertainment Inc. and Star Cinema. The same year, Trillo launched his first VIVA Films movie, Felix Manalo where he received a Movie Actor of the Year award from PMPC Star Awards for Movies. After doing several heavy drama soap operas, Trillo starred in a light drama series with Heart Evangelista, Juan Happy Love Story. Discography Studio albums TomDen (2013, GMA Records) (PARI: Platinum) Dennis Trillo (2007, IndiMusic) Singles "Overdrive" (Lakbay 2 love theme song with Solenn Heussaff) (2016) "Sa Iyo na Lang Ako" (Hiram na Alaala theme song) (2014) "Tibok ng Puso" (Sa Puso ni Dok theme song) (2014) "Kailan Man" (A 100-Year Legacy theme song) (2014) "Forever" (with Tom Rodriguez) (2014) "Hinahanap-Hanap Kita" (Adik Sa'Yo theme song) (2009) "Lumilipad" (2007) "All About Love" (2007) Compilation albums Seasons of Love (2014, GMA Records) Track 6: "Tibok ng Puso" Filmography Television Television series Television shows Drama anthologies TV specials Film Accolades References External links Dennis Trillo - GMA homepage 1981 births Living people Filipino male television actors Filipino male film actors Ateneo de Manila University alumni 21st-century Filipino male actors Filipino television personalities 21st-century Filipino male singers Filipino male models Filipino male comedians People from Quezon City Male actors from Metro Manila Star Magic Batch 10 Sparkle GMA Artist Center Filipino people of Chinese descent Miriam College alumni GMA Network personalities GMA Music artists Viva Artists Agency	true	[ "The year 1999 is the seventh year in the history of Pancrase, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. In 1999 Pancrase held 14 events beginning with Pancrase: Breakthrough 1.\n\nTitle fights\n\nEvents list\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 1\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 1 was an event held on January 19, 1999, at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 2\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 2 was an event held on February 11, 1999, at Umeda Stella Hall in Osaka, Osaka, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 3\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 3 was an event held on March 9, 1999, at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 4\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 4 was an event held on April 18, 1999, at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 5\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 5 was an event held on May 23, 1999, at Chikusa Sport Center in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 6\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 6 was an event held on June 11, 1999, at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 7\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 7 was an event held on July 6, 1999, at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nPancrase: 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament Opening Round\n\nPancrase: 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament Opening Round was an event held on August 1, 1999, at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nPancrase: 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament Second Round\n\nPancrase: 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament Second Round was an event held on August 1, 1999, at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 8\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 8 was an event held on September 4, 1999, at the Sendai Spring General Gymnasium in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nPancrase: 1999 Anniversary Show\n\nPancrase: 1999 Anniversary Show was an event held on September 18, 1999, at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 9\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 9 was an event held on October 25, 1999, at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 10\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 10 was an event held on November 28, 1999, at the Namihaya Dome in Kadoma, Osaka, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 11\n\nPancrase: Breakthrough 11 was an event held on December 18, 1999, at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.\n\nResults\n\nSee also \n Pancrase\n List of Pancrase champions\n List of Pancrase events\n\nReferences\n\nPancrase events\n1999 in mixed martial arts", "Olga Paterova (Cyrillic: Ольга Патерова) is a politician in Transnistria. She was born in Tiraspol, today the capital of Transnistria, in 1984 in what was then part of the Moldovan SSR. She is the press secretary for the political youth organization Breakthrough (Russian: Proriv).\n\nAlong with fellow Breakthrough-leader Alena Arshinova, she was interviewed in December 2005 by Der Spiegel, a German news magazine.\n\nExternal links \n Olga Paterova webpage\n Open mike: Youth activists speak out\n\nYouth activists\n1984 births\nLiving people\nPeople from Tiraspol" ]
[ "Dennis Trillo", "2002-2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso", "Who is Kapuso?", "I don't know.", "What was his breakthrough?", "he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan" ]	C_494eb3090880475a9b84ecc703d90e09_1	For what network?	3	For what network did Dennis Trillo land his first role?	Dennis Trillo	After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show' Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-Human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz' (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. CANNOTANSWER	GMA Network	Abelardo Dennis Florencio Ho (born 12 May 1981), widely known as Dennis Trillo, is a Filipino actor, model and recording artist. He is currently a contract star of GMA Network. He was known for his role as Eric del Mundo in the first ever gay-themed series on Philippine TV, My Husband's Lover aired on GMA Network in 2013. Trillo received his first acting award in 2004 for his role as a cross-dressing spy in the 2004 war film Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita. In April 2016, he appeared in another primetime television series, Juan Happy Love Story, opposite his Dwarfina leading lady Heart Evangelista. Now being recognized both locally and internationally, he still continues to work as GMA Network's "Drama King". Personal life Trillo was born on May 12, 1981, in Quezon City to Florita Florencio Ho, a Filipino, and Abelardo Leslie Ho, a Chinese Filipino from Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. He finished high school at Jose Abad Santos Memorial School, Quezon City and spent his grade school years (grades 1–7) at the Ateneo De Manila University. He pursued a college education at Miriam College and received a B.A. in International Studies. He has a son with his ex-girlfriend Carlene Aguilar, born in 2007. In 2021, he married his longtime girlfriend Jennylyn Mercado. Career Early years Prior to starting his career in show business, Trillo was once a member of a band called Moyg. For a short period, he played the drums for the DIY band in Baguio. His career in entertainment started in ABS-CBN in 2001 when he was introduced as part of ABS-CBN's Star Circle (now known as Star Magic) batch 10 along with Bea Alonzo, Alfred Vargas and TJ Trinidad. He took part in ABS-CBN's hit television soap operas Pangako Sa 'Yo as Ruel and Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan as Jojo; both were minor characters. 2003–2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. 2006–2010: Kapuso leading man and music debut In 2005, in GMA Network fantasy series Encantadia, Trillo was cast as lead character in Etheria, where he portrayed the Sapirian prince, Raquim. Midway through the series, GMA Network management announced that Trillo would be pulled out from the said show to once again star in another fantasy-themed television series Majika, in the end Trillo was allowed to complete Etheria. He also starred in the horror-suspense film Pamahiin and was included in the network's noontime show SOP as a co-host where he also played drums as part of the show's "Starband". Trillo released his self-titled debut album in 2007 under IndiMusic. It was in the same year when he made his fourth Lenten drama special for GMA Network under APT Entertainment entitled Unico Hijo. On August 21, 2007, he started taping for the fantasy series Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan with Aljur Abrenica and Marky Cielo. On April 27, 2008, five thousand spectators witnessed the Battle of Mactan play, with Trillo playing Ferdinand Magellan at the Mactan, Cebu Shrine. The same year, Trillo joined the stellar cast of Magdusa Ka, an afternoon soap opera which later earned an International Emmy nomination the following year. Late 2008 when he starred in the comic-based superhero series Gagambino, playing as the main character. The following year after Gagambino, he starred into two more primetime dramas: Adik Sa'Yo and the 2009 remake of Darna. Trillo's hosting roles continued when he replaced Dingdong Dantes as a co-host in the new installment of StarStruck V in 2009. In 2010, he also began co-hosting the variety show, Party Pilipinas. He appeared in Sine Novela Presents: Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak opposite Jennylyn Mercado and portrayed Andrew Tantoco in the Philippine adaptation of the hit Korean series Endless Love. 2011–present: GMA's Drama King; My Husband's Lover In 2011, Trillo appeared in the romantic-fantasy series Dwarfina where he teamed-up with Heart Evangelista. After playing the lead role in the Philippine adaptation of Temptation of Wife, Trillo lead his most controversial role to date as Eric del Mundo in his second International Emmy nominee drama series My Husband's Lover where he received one acting award from two nominations and a commendation from Asian TV Awards. After the success of the series, the cast of My Husband's Lover held a concert at Araneta Coliseum named "One More Try: My Husband's Lover The Concert". The same year, Trillo and his screen partner Tom Rodriguez released their album titled TomDen, which is now a certified Platinum record according to the PARI with over 15,000 copies sold. In 2014, he top-billed the Primetime drama series Hiram na Alaala with Kapuso actress Kris Bernal. He also had a weekly medical drama with Bela Padilla entitled Sa Puso ni Dok under GMA News & Public Affairs department. Trillo visited ABS-CBN via his guesting in Kris TV to promote his 2015 movie You're Still The One alongside Maja Salvador, Ellen Adarna and Richard Yap under Regal Entertainment Inc. and Star Cinema. The same year, Trillo launched his first VIVA Films movie, Felix Manalo where he received a Movie Actor of the Year award from PMPC Star Awards for Movies. After doing several heavy drama soap operas, Trillo starred in a light drama series with Heart Evangelista, Juan Happy Love Story. Discography Studio albums TomDen (2013, GMA Records) (PARI: Platinum) Dennis Trillo (2007, IndiMusic) Singles "Overdrive" (Lakbay 2 love theme song with Solenn Heussaff) (2016) "Sa Iyo na Lang Ako" (Hiram na Alaala theme song) (2014) "Tibok ng Puso" (Sa Puso ni Dok theme song) (2014) "Kailan Man" (A 100-Year Legacy theme song) (2014) "Forever" (with Tom Rodriguez) (2014) "Hinahanap-Hanap Kita" (Adik Sa'Yo theme song) (2009) "Lumilipad" (2007) "All About Love" (2007) Compilation albums Seasons of Love (2014, GMA Records) Track 6: "Tibok ng Puso" Filmography Television Television series Television shows Drama anthologies TV specials Film Accolades References External links Dennis Trillo - GMA homepage 1981 births Living people Filipino male television actors Filipino male film actors Ateneo de Manila University alumni 21st-century Filipino male actors Filipino television personalities 21st-century Filipino male singers Filipino male models Filipino male comedians People from Quezon City Male actors from Metro Manila Star Magic Batch 10 Sparkle GMA Artist Center Filipino people of Chinese descent Miriam College alumni GMA Network personalities GMA Music artists Viva Artists Agency	true	[ "A network security policy (NSP) is a generic document that outlines rules for computer network access, determines how policies are enforced and lays out some of the basic architecture of the company security/ network security environment. The document itself is usually several pages long and written by a committee. \n\nA security policy a very complex document, meant to govern data access, web-browsing habits, use of passwords and encryption, email attachments and more. It specifies these rules for individuals or groups of individuals throughout the company.\n\nSecurity policy should keep the malicious users out and also exert control over potential risky users within an organization. The first step in creating a policy is to understand what information and services are available (and to which users), what the potential is for damage, and whether any protection is already in place to prevent misuse.\n\nIn addition, the security policy should dictate a hierarchy of access permissions; that is, grant users access only to what is necessary for the completion of their work.\n\nWhile writing the security document can be a major undertaking, a good start can be achieved by using a template. National Institute of Standards and Technology provides a security-policy guideline.\n\nThe policies could be expressed as a set of instructions that could be understood by special purpose network hardware dedicated for securing the network.\n\nSee also\nInternet security\nSecurity engineering\nComputer security\nCybersecurity information technology list\nNetwork security\nIndustrial espionage\nInformation security\nSecurity policy\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nComputer Security Resource Center at National Institute of Standards and Technology\n\nComputer security procedures\nComputer network security", "ntop (stylized as ) is computer software that probes a computer network to show network use in a way similar to what the program top does for processes. In interactive mode, it displays the network status on the user's terminal. In Web mode, it acts as a web server, creating a HTML dump of the network status. It supports a NetFlow-sFlow emitter-collector, a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) based client interface for creating ntop-centric monitoring applications, and RRDtool (RRD) for persistently storing traffic statistics.\n\nntop is available for both Unix and Win32-based platforms. It has been developed by Luca Deri, an Italian research scientist and network manager at University of Pisa.\n\nCommon usage on a Linux system is to start the ntop daemon (), then one can use the web interface to ntop via visiting provided the loopback device has been started () and the listening port for ntop is 3000 (look out for the option in ).\n\nSee also\n Netsniff-ng\n iftop\n ntopng\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nNetwork analyzers\nUnix network-related software\nLinux security software" ]
[ "Dennis Trillo", "2002-2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso", "Who is Kapuso?", "I don't know.", "What was his breakthrough?", "he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan", "For what network?", "GMA Network" ]	C_494eb3090880475a9b84ecc703d90e09_1	What role did he play in Kahi Kailan?	4	What role did Dennis Trillo play in Kahi Kailan?	Dennis Trillo	After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show' Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-Human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz' (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. CANNOTANSWER	a supporting character named David.	Abelardo Dennis Florencio Ho (born 12 May 1981), widely known as Dennis Trillo, is a Filipino actor, model and recording artist. He is currently a contract star of GMA Network. He was known for his role as Eric del Mundo in the first ever gay-themed series on Philippine TV, My Husband's Lover aired on GMA Network in 2013. Trillo received his first acting award in 2004 for his role as a cross-dressing spy in the 2004 war film Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita. In April 2016, he appeared in another primetime television series, Juan Happy Love Story, opposite his Dwarfina leading lady Heart Evangelista. Now being recognized both locally and internationally, he still continues to work as GMA Network's "Drama King". Personal life Trillo was born on May 12, 1981, in Quezon City to Florita Florencio Ho, a Filipino, and Abelardo Leslie Ho, a Chinese Filipino from Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. He finished high school at Jose Abad Santos Memorial School, Quezon City and spent his grade school years (grades 1–7) at the Ateneo De Manila University. He pursued a college education at Miriam College and received a B.A. in International Studies. He has a son with his ex-girlfriend Carlene Aguilar, born in 2007. In 2021, he married his longtime girlfriend Jennylyn Mercado. Career Early years Prior to starting his career in show business, Trillo was once a member of a band called Moyg. For a short period, he played the drums for the DIY band in Baguio. His career in entertainment started in ABS-CBN in 2001 when he was introduced as part of ABS-CBN's Star Circle (now known as Star Magic) batch 10 along with Bea Alonzo, Alfred Vargas and TJ Trinidad. He took part in ABS-CBN's hit television soap operas Pangako Sa 'Yo as Ruel and Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan as Jojo; both were minor characters. 2003–2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. 2006–2010: Kapuso leading man and music debut In 2005, in GMA Network fantasy series Encantadia, Trillo was cast as lead character in Etheria, where he portrayed the Sapirian prince, Raquim. Midway through the series, GMA Network management announced that Trillo would be pulled out from the said show to once again star in another fantasy-themed television series Majika, in the end Trillo was allowed to complete Etheria. He also starred in the horror-suspense film Pamahiin and was included in the network's noontime show SOP as a co-host where he also played drums as part of the show's "Starband". Trillo released his self-titled debut album in 2007 under IndiMusic. It was in the same year when he made his fourth Lenten drama special for GMA Network under APT Entertainment entitled Unico Hijo. On August 21, 2007, he started taping for the fantasy series Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan with Aljur Abrenica and Marky Cielo. On April 27, 2008, five thousand spectators witnessed the Battle of Mactan play, with Trillo playing Ferdinand Magellan at the Mactan, Cebu Shrine. The same year, Trillo joined the stellar cast of Magdusa Ka, an afternoon soap opera which later earned an International Emmy nomination the following year. Late 2008 when he starred in the comic-based superhero series Gagambino, playing as the main character. The following year after Gagambino, he starred into two more primetime dramas: Adik Sa'Yo and the 2009 remake of Darna. Trillo's hosting roles continued when he replaced Dingdong Dantes as a co-host in the new installment of StarStruck V in 2009. In 2010, he also began co-hosting the variety show, Party Pilipinas. He appeared in Sine Novela Presents: Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak opposite Jennylyn Mercado and portrayed Andrew Tantoco in the Philippine adaptation of the hit Korean series Endless Love. 2011–present: GMA's Drama King; My Husband's Lover In 2011, Trillo appeared in the romantic-fantasy series Dwarfina where he teamed-up with Heart Evangelista. After playing the lead role in the Philippine adaptation of Temptation of Wife, Trillo lead his most controversial role to date as Eric del Mundo in his second International Emmy nominee drama series My Husband's Lover where he received one acting award from two nominations and a commendation from Asian TV Awards. After the success of the series, the cast of My Husband's Lover held a concert at Araneta Coliseum named "One More Try: My Husband's Lover The Concert". The same year, Trillo and his screen partner Tom Rodriguez released their album titled TomDen, which is now a certified Platinum record according to the PARI with over 15,000 copies sold. In 2014, he top-billed the Primetime drama series Hiram na Alaala with Kapuso actress Kris Bernal. He also had a weekly medical drama with Bela Padilla entitled Sa Puso ni Dok under GMA News & Public Affairs department. Trillo visited ABS-CBN via his guesting in Kris TV to promote his 2015 movie You're Still The One alongside Maja Salvador, Ellen Adarna and Richard Yap under Regal Entertainment Inc. and Star Cinema. The same year, Trillo launched his first VIVA Films movie, Felix Manalo where he received a Movie Actor of the Year award from PMPC Star Awards for Movies. After doing several heavy drama soap operas, Trillo starred in a light drama series with Heart Evangelista, Juan Happy Love Story. Discography Studio albums TomDen (2013, GMA Records) (PARI: Platinum) Dennis Trillo (2007, IndiMusic) Singles "Overdrive" (Lakbay 2 love theme song with Solenn Heussaff) (2016) "Sa Iyo na Lang Ako" (Hiram na Alaala theme song) (2014) "Tibok ng Puso" (Sa Puso ni Dok theme song) (2014) "Kailan Man" (A 100-Year Legacy theme song) (2014) "Forever" (with Tom Rodriguez) (2014) "Hinahanap-Hanap Kita" (Adik Sa'Yo theme song) (2009) "Lumilipad" (2007) "All About Love" (2007) Compilation albums Seasons of Love (2014, GMA Records) Track 6: "Tibok ng Puso" Filmography Television Television series Television shows Drama anthologies TV specials Film Accolades References External links Dennis Trillo - GMA homepage 1981 births Living people Filipino male television actors Filipino male film actors Ateneo de Manila University alumni 21st-century Filipino male actors Filipino television personalities 21st-century Filipino male singers Filipino male models Filipino male comedians People from Quezon City Male actors from Metro Manila Star Magic Batch 10 Sparkle GMA Artist Center Filipino people of Chinese descent Miriam College alumni GMA Network personalities GMA Music artists Viva Artists Agency	true	[ "Park Ji-young (born December 25, 1980), professionally known as Kahi, is a South Korean singer, dancer, and actress known for her work as a former leader of South Korean girl group After School. As of June 2012, Kahi graduated from After School and continued her career as a solo singer and actress with Pledis before her contract ended in January 2015.\n\nEarly life\nKahi was born in Daegu on December 25, 1980. She was raised by her grandparents. She found her passion for dancing when she was 16 and also around this time became fascinated by the hip hop group Roo'ra, which would motivate her to become a singer. However, due to family opposition and practical conditions, she could not receive professional training, so during high school, she trained herself in singing and dancing. Her father prevailed upon her to go to a university in a rural area. At first, she obeyed his wishes, however, she was unable to endure being a college student and eventually left her hometown to pursue a dancing career. She did not speak with her father for the next seven years. She went to Seoul alone and without funds. One day a friend took her to an interview to be a backup dancer. She did well at the audition and got the job. She started her dancing career at age 18.\n\nCareer\n\n2000–2007: Dancing and S.Blush\nIn 2000, Kahi was chosen as the main dancer for DJ Doc's mega-hit, \"Run to You\". However, this instant success also brought her huge stress and eventually forced her to leave for a period of time. To make an income, she worked as a cleaner, waitress, and sales clerk. A choreographer in SM Entertainment gave her a chance to become a temporary dancer for BoA, which became a full-time position. She gradually gained fame as a dancer and her work with BoA lasted more than three years. Besides BoA, she was also an important backup dancer for Country Kko Kko, Jinusean, 1TYM, Lexy, Chae Yeon, Eun Ji Won, and many others. She was also the dance teacher for Son Dam Bi, May Doni, and Kim Jung Ah, her former bandmate.\n\nAround 2006, after more than five years career as a professional dancer, she began working also as a singer. She joined the Korean American girl group \"S. Blush\", whose first digital single peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Dance Chart in May 2007. However, due to various reasons, the band soon disbanded.\n\n2007–2012: Debut with After School\nIn late 2007, Kahi contacted some friends in the industry at Pledis Entertainment. Together, they planned for and produced a new group. In January 2009, after years of work and selection of members, the group After School was introduced. After School would undergo many member changes and image changes, but Kahi remained as the leader. Rumours of her leaving the group had begun as early as 2010 when Pledis Entertainment initially announced she would release a solo album. In 2010, Kahi joined the cast of reality-variety series Yeongunghogeol (, \"Heroes\").\n\nThe promotional campaign for Kahi's solo debut started in mid-February 2011, with the album jacket photos released on February 9 and a teaser video on February 12. The album photos were noted for highlighting the singer's \"S-line\", while netizens and news articles commented on the contrasting \"black vs. white\" images and \"charisma\" in the teaser. The mini-album was then released on February 14, 2011. The music video for \"Come Back, You Bad Person\" was released on February 14, 2011 and Kahi began promotional activities on 18th. In early 2012, Kahi was cast in Dream High 2, playing a teacher at Kirin Art School.\n\n2012–present: Solo career\nIn June 2012, it was announced Kahi would be leaving After School to pursue a solo singing and acting career. In March 2013, Kahi was rumoured to be having a solo comeback, but it was put on hold. Later over a year from her last solo release, Pledis Entertainment announced on September 25, 2013 that Kahi would be releasing her second mini album, titled \"Who Are You?\", on October 10.\n\nIn 2014, Kahi acted as the lead role of Bonnie in the musical and Korean adaptation of Bonnie & Clyde alongside ZE:A's Hyungsik. Following After School's sixth anniversary in January 2015, Kahi announced that she was leaving Pledis Entertainment. In 2016, she was a dance trainer on the girl group survival show Produce 101. In late 2016, it was announced that she would return as a judge and dance trainer for the male version of Produce 101 titled Produce 101 Season 2. In June 2018, she also became a one-day dance trainer/judge for Produce 48.\n\nPersonal life\nOn March 26, 2016, Kahi married entrepreneur Yang Jun-mu (CEO of Incase Korea) in a private ceremony in Hawaii. In May 2016, Kahi announced that she and her husband were expecting their first child. On October 3, Kahi gave birth to a son, Yang No-ah. Kahi welcomed a second son, Yang Si-on, on June 16, 2018.\n\nDiscography\n\nCompilation albums\n\nExtended plays\n\nSingles\n\nCollaborations\n\nMusic videos\n\nWriting credits\n After School - \"When I Fall\" (2009)\n After School - \"With U\" (2010)\n Suki - \"One Love\" (2010)\n Son Dam-bi - \"Beat Up by a Girl\" (2010)\n After School - \"Someone Is You\" (2010)\n Kahi - \"Slow\" (2013)\n Kahi - \"Sinister\" (2013)\n Kahi - \"Hey Boy\"(2013)\n\nFilmography\n\nVariety shows\n\nTV drama\n\nMusical\n\nAwards\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nKahi on Instagrm\n\nAfter School (band) members\n1980 births\nLiving people\nK-pop singers\nSouth Korean female idols\nSouth Korean dance musicians\nSouth Korean women pop singers\nSouth Korean television actresses\nSouth Korean musical theatre actresses\nPledis Entertainment artists\nSeokyeong University alumni\n21st-century South Korean singers\n21st-century South Korean women singers", "Kahi Lee (born 30 December 1979) is an interior designer and television host. She was born in Washington, DC to Korean parents and raised in Palos Verdes Estates, California.\n\nKahi has appeared as an interior design expert and television host on Design on a Dime on HGTV, Merge on Lifetime Network, Renovate My Family on Fox, The Ultimate Gamer on Spike TV, FreeStyle on HGTV, My Celebrity Home and What I Hate About Me on Style Network. \n\nKahi is also a contributing design expert and \"buddy\" on the Daytime Emmy Award winning Rachael Ray (TV series). Kahi has also made guest appearances on The Early Show on CBS, The Tyra Banks Show and G4's Attack of the Show among others. In 2011, she host the reality competition show \"The Apartment\". \n\nKahi Lee married Jeff T. Thomas in 2010. The couple has a daughter (March 2013) and son (2017).\n\nWorks\n2011: \"Rough Luxe Design\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nofficial website of Kahi Lee\n\nAmerican interior designers\nLiving people\n1979 births\nPeople from Palos Verdes Estates, California" ]
[ "Dennis Trillo", "2002-2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso", "Who is Kapuso?", "I don't know.", "What was his breakthrough?", "he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan", "For what network?", "GMA Network", "What role did he play in Kahi Kailan?", "a supporting character named David." ]	C_494eb3090880475a9b84ecc703d90e09_1	What other shows did he act in?	5	What other shows did Dennis Trillo act in besides Kahit Kailan?	Dennis Trillo	After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show' Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-Human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz' (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. CANNOTANSWER	the fantasy show' Mulawin.	Abelardo Dennis Florencio Ho (born 12 May 1981), widely known as Dennis Trillo, is a Filipino actor, model and recording artist. He is currently a contract star of GMA Network. He was known for his role as Eric del Mundo in the first ever gay-themed series on Philippine TV, My Husband's Lover aired on GMA Network in 2013. Trillo received his first acting award in 2004 for his role as a cross-dressing spy in the 2004 war film Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita. In April 2016, he appeared in another primetime television series, Juan Happy Love Story, opposite his Dwarfina leading lady Heart Evangelista. Now being recognized both locally and internationally, he still continues to work as GMA Network's "Drama King". Personal life Trillo was born on May 12, 1981, in Quezon City to Florita Florencio Ho, a Filipino, and Abelardo Leslie Ho, a Chinese Filipino from Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. He finished high school at Jose Abad Santos Memorial School, Quezon City and spent his grade school years (grades 1–7) at the Ateneo De Manila University. He pursued a college education at Miriam College and received a B.A. in International Studies. He has a son with his ex-girlfriend Carlene Aguilar, born in 2007. In 2021, he married his longtime girlfriend Jennylyn Mercado. Career Early years Prior to starting his career in show business, Trillo was once a member of a band called Moyg. For a short period, he played the drums for the DIY band in Baguio. His career in entertainment started in ABS-CBN in 2001 when he was introduced as part of ABS-CBN's Star Circle (now known as Star Magic) batch 10 along with Bea Alonzo, Alfred Vargas and TJ Trinidad. He took part in ABS-CBN's hit television soap operas Pangako Sa 'Yo as Ruel and Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan as Jojo; both were minor characters. 2003–2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. 2006–2010: Kapuso leading man and music debut In 2005, in GMA Network fantasy series Encantadia, Trillo was cast as lead character in Etheria, where he portrayed the Sapirian prince, Raquim. Midway through the series, GMA Network management announced that Trillo would be pulled out from the said show to once again star in another fantasy-themed television series Majika, in the end Trillo was allowed to complete Etheria. He also starred in the horror-suspense film Pamahiin and was included in the network's noontime show SOP as a co-host where he also played drums as part of the show's "Starband". Trillo released his self-titled debut album in 2007 under IndiMusic. It was in the same year when he made his fourth Lenten drama special for GMA Network under APT Entertainment entitled Unico Hijo. On August 21, 2007, he started taping for the fantasy series Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan with Aljur Abrenica and Marky Cielo. On April 27, 2008, five thousand spectators witnessed the Battle of Mactan play, with Trillo playing Ferdinand Magellan at the Mactan, Cebu Shrine. The same year, Trillo joined the stellar cast of Magdusa Ka, an afternoon soap opera which later earned an International Emmy nomination the following year. Late 2008 when he starred in the comic-based superhero series Gagambino, playing as the main character. The following year after Gagambino, he starred into two more primetime dramas: Adik Sa'Yo and the 2009 remake of Darna. Trillo's hosting roles continued when he replaced Dingdong Dantes as a co-host in the new installment of StarStruck V in 2009. In 2010, he also began co-hosting the variety show, Party Pilipinas. He appeared in Sine Novela Presents: Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak opposite Jennylyn Mercado and portrayed Andrew Tantoco in the Philippine adaptation of the hit Korean series Endless Love. 2011–present: GMA's Drama King; My Husband's Lover In 2011, Trillo appeared in the romantic-fantasy series Dwarfina where he teamed-up with Heart Evangelista. After playing the lead role in the Philippine adaptation of Temptation of Wife, Trillo lead his most controversial role to date as Eric del Mundo in his second International Emmy nominee drama series My Husband's Lover where he received one acting award from two nominations and a commendation from Asian TV Awards. After the success of the series, the cast of My Husband's Lover held a concert at Araneta Coliseum named "One More Try: My Husband's Lover The Concert". The same year, Trillo and his screen partner Tom Rodriguez released their album titled TomDen, which is now a certified Platinum record according to the PARI with over 15,000 copies sold. In 2014, he top-billed the Primetime drama series Hiram na Alaala with Kapuso actress Kris Bernal. He also had a weekly medical drama with Bela Padilla entitled Sa Puso ni Dok under GMA News & Public Affairs department. Trillo visited ABS-CBN via his guesting in Kris TV to promote his 2015 movie You're Still The One alongside Maja Salvador, Ellen Adarna and Richard Yap under Regal Entertainment Inc. and Star Cinema. The same year, Trillo launched his first VIVA Films movie, Felix Manalo where he received a Movie Actor of the Year award from PMPC Star Awards for Movies. After doing several heavy drama soap operas, Trillo starred in a light drama series with Heart Evangelista, Juan Happy Love Story. Discography Studio albums TomDen (2013, GMA Records) (PARI: Platinum) Dennis Trillo (2007, IndiMusic) Singles "Overdrive" (Lakbay 2 love theme song with Solenn Heussaff) (2016) "Sa Iyo na Lang Ako" (Hiram na Alaala theme song) (2014) "Tibok ng Puso" (Sa Puso ni Dok theme song) (2014) "Kailan Man" (A 100-Year Legacy theme song) (2014) "Forever" (with Tom Rodriguez) (2014) "Hinahanap-Hanap Kita" (Adik Sa'Yo theme song) (2009) "Lumilipad" (2007) "All About Love" (2007) Compilation albums Seasons of Love (2014, GMA Records) Track 6: "Tibok ng Puso" Filmography Television Television series Television shows Drama anthologies TV specials Film Accolades References External links Dennis Trillo - GMA homepage 1981 births Living people Filipino male television actors Filipino male film actors Ateneo de Manila University alumni 21st-century Filipino male actors Filipino television personalities 21st-century Filipino male singers Filipino male models Filipino male comedians People from Quezon City Male actors from Metro Manila Star Magic Batch 10 Sparkle GMA Artist Center Filipino people of Chinese descent Miriam College alumni GMA Network personalities GMA Music artists Viva Artists Agency	false	[ "The Act on Health Sector Database, also known as Act on Health Sector Database, No. 139/1998, the Health Sector Database Act and in media by other colloquial names, was a 1998 act of the Icelandic Parliament which allowed the Icelandic government to grant a license to a private company for the creation of a national biological database to store health information which could be used for research. The act was noted for boldly introducing policy related to biobanks and was the subject of controversy.\n\ndeCODE genetics did most of the lobbying for the act and was the beneficiary of the license to create the database.\n\nControversies\nThe passing of this act spurred international discussion about what policies were already in place and what differences in policy existed among biobanks.\n\nThe establishment of a national database for all Icelandic citizens raised discussion about the nature of the informed consent process for the project.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n{{official website\|https://web.archive.org/web/20120402000839/http://eng.velferdarraduneyti.is/acts-of-Parliament/nr/17659%7D%7D, English translation\nWorld Health Organization summary\n\nBiobanks\nHealth law in Iceland\nGovernment databases\nBiological databases\nDatabase law\nDatabases in Iceland\n1998 in Iceland\n1998 in law", "Shawn Mendes: The Tour was the fourth concert tour by Canadian singer Shawn Mendes, in support of his self-titled third studio album (2018). The tour began in Amsterdam, Netherlands at the Ziggo Dome on March 7, 2019, and concluded in Mexico City, Mexico at the Palacio de los Deportes on December 21, 2019.\n\nThe September 6 show at the Rogers Centre in Mendes' hometown of Toronto, Canada, was recorded and released as a Netflix-original concert film titled, \"Shawn Mendes: Live In Concert\", on November 25, 2020.\n\nBackground and development\nAfter the announcement of his self-titled third studio album, Mendes announced he would embark his fourth concert tour. Dates were first announced for Europe and North America on May 8, 2018. Due to overwhelming demand, extra dates were added to Amsterdam, Dublin, and London. On July 17, 2018, dates were announced for Oceania. Extra dates were added in Melbourne and Sydney due to high demand. On December 3, 2018, Mendes announced he would headline his first stadium show in his hometown of Toronto. In a matter of minutes, the show was sold out, marking his biggest show to date.\n\nOn January 16, 2019, dates were announced for Latin America. Additional dates in São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Santiago and Mexico City were added due to the high demand. On February 21, 2019, Mendes announced that the R&B singer and friend, Alessia Cara, would be the opening act for Europe and selected dates in North America. He also added 16 additional shows in North America that included new dates in Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Milwaukee, Ottawa, Columbus, Philadelphia, two shows in Uncasville, and second shows in Rosemont, Los Angeles, Oakland, Newark, Boston, Montreal, and Brooklyn. On March 28, 2019, Mendes announced American country duo Dan + Shay as the opening act for Oceania, with the exception of the Brisbane and Auckland shows where Australian singer-songwriter Ruel will perform. On April 22, 2019, dates were announced for Asia. On May 28, Mendes announced Alessia Cara as the opening act for the Canadian dates of the tour, making Alessia the opening act for all the North American concerts.\n\nCritical reception\nIn a positive review, Graeme Virtue, writing for The Guardian gave the concert 4 out of 5 stars, stating, “The unstoppable rise of the clean-cut Canadian continues with a set of confessional ballads and grand romantic gestures”, for the show at SSE Hydro, Glasgow. Leslie Ken Chu from Exclaim! praised Mendes for sharing \"uplifting, motivational messages about self-empowerment, but he bucked convention by keeping his verbiage short\", for the concert at Rogers Arena, Vancouver.\n\nAccolades\n\nSet list\nThis set list is representative of the show on July 6, 2019 in Los Angeles. It is not intended to represent all shows throughout the tour.\n \"Lost in Japan\"\n \"There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back\"\n \"Nervous\"\n \"Stitches\"\n \"Señorita\" / \"I Know What You Did Last Summer\" / \"Mutual\"\n \"Bad Reputation\"\n \"Never Be Alone\"\n \"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)\" / \"Because I Had You\" / \"A Little Too Much\" / \"Patience\" / \"When You’re Ready\"\n \"Life of the Party\"\n \"Like to Be You\"\n \"Ruin\"\n \"Treat You Better\"\n \"Particular Taste\"\n \"Where Were You in the Morning?\"\n \"Fallin’ All in You\"\n \"Youth\"\n \"If I Can't Have You\"\n \"Why\"\n \"Mercy\"\nEncore\n \"Fix You\" / \"In My Blood\"\n\nTour dates\n\nCancelled shows\n\nReferences\n\n2019 concert tours\nShawn Mendes concert tours" ]
[ "Dennis Trillo", "2002-2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso", "Who is Kapuso?", "I don't know.", "What was his breakthrough?", "he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan", "For what network?", "GMA Network", "What role did he play in Kahi Kailan?", "a supporting character named David.", "What other shows did he act in?", "the fantasy show' Mulawin." ]	C_494eb3090880475a9b84ecc703d90e09_1	When did the show air?	6	When did the show Mulawin air?	Dennis Trillo	After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show' Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-Human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz' (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. CANNOTANSWER	In 2004,	Abelardo Dennis Florencio Ho (born 12 May 1981), widely known as Dennis Trillo, is a Filipino actor, model and recording artist. He is currently a contract star of GMA Network. He was known for his role as Eric del Mundo in the first ever gay-themed series on Philippine TV, My Husband's Lover aired on GMA Network in 2013. Trillo received his first acting award in 2004 for his role as a cross-dressing spy in the 2004 war film Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita. In April 2016, he appeared in another primetime television series, Juan Happy Love Story, opposite his Dwarfina leading lady Heart Evangelista. Now being recognized both locally and internationally, he still continues to work as GMA Network's "Drama King". Personal life Trillo was born on May 12, 1981, in Quezon City to Florita Florencio Ho, a Filipino, and Abelardo Leslie Ho, a Chinese Filipino from Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. He finished high school at Jose Abad Santos Memorial School, Quezon City and spent his grade school years (grades 1–7) at the Ateneo De Manila University. He pursued a college education at Miriam College and received a B.A. in International Studies. He has a son with his ex-girlfriend Carlene Aguilar, born in 2007. In 2021, he married his longtime girlfriend Jennylyn Mercado. Career Early years Prior to starting his career in show business, Trillo was once a member of a band called Moyg. For a short period, he played the drums for the DIY band in Baguio. His career in entertainment started in ABS-CBN in 2001 when he was introduced as part of ABS-CBN's Star Circle (now known as Star Magic) batch 10 along with Bea Alonzo, Alfred Vargas and TJ Trinidad. He took part in ABS-CBN's hit television soap operas Pangako Sa 'Yo as Ruel and Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan as Jojo; both were minor characters. 2003–2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. 2006–2010: Kapuso leading man and music debut In 2005, in GMA Network fantasy series Encantadia, Trillo was cast as lead character in Etheria, where he portrayed the Sapirian prince, Raquim. Midway through the series, GMA Network management announced that Trillo would be pulled out from the said show to once again star in another fantasy-themed television series Majika, in the end Trillo was allowed to complete Etheria. He also starred in the horror-suspense film Pamahiin and was included in the network's noontime show SOP as a co-host where he also played drums as part of the show's "Starband". Trillo released his self-titled debut album in 2007 under IndiMusic. It was in the same year when he made his fourth Lenten drama special for GMA Network under APT Entertainment entitled Unico Hijo. On August 21, 2007, he started taping for the fantasy series Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan with Aljur Abrenica and Marky Cielo. On April 27, 2008, five thousand spectators witnessed the Battle of Mactan play, with Trillo playing Ferdinand Magellan at the Mactan, Cebu Shrine. The same year, Trillo joined the stellar cast of Magdusa Ka, an afternoon soap opera which later earned an International Emmy nomination the following year. Late 2008 when he starred in the comic-based superhero series Gagambino, playing as the main character. The following year after Gagambino, he starred into two more primetime dramas: Adik Sa'Yo and the 2009 remake of Darna. Trillo's hosting roles continued when he replaced Dingdong Dantes as a co-host in the new installment of StarStruck V in 2009. In 2010, he also began co-hosting the variety show, Party Pilipinas. He appeared in Sine Novela Presents: Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak opposite Jennylyn Mercado and portrayed Andrew Tantoco in the Philippine adaptation of the hit Korean series Endless Love. 2011–present: GMA's Drama King; My Husband's Lover In 2011, Trillo appeared in the romantic-fantasy series Dwarfina where he teamed-up with Heart Evangelista. After playing the lead role in the Philippine adaptation of Temptation of Wife, Trillo lead his most controversial role to date as Eric del Mundo in his second International Emmy nominee drama series My Husband's Lover where he received one acting award from two nominations and a commendation from Asian TV Awards. After the success of the series, the cast of My Husband's Lover held a concert at Araneta Coliseum named "One More Try: My Husband's Lover The Concert". The same year, Trillo and his screen partner Tom Rodriguez released their album titled TomDen, which is now a certified Platinum record according to the PARI with over 15,000 copies sold. In 2014, he top-billed the Primetime drama series Hiram na Alaala with Kapuso actress Kris Bernal. He also had a weekly medical drama with Bela Padilla entitled Sa Puso ni Dok under GMA News & Public Affairs department. Trillo visited ABS-CBN via his guesting in Kris TV to promote his 2015 movie You're Still The One alongside Maja Salvador, Ellen Adarna and Richard Yap under Regal Entertainment Inc. and Star Cinema. The same year, Trillo launched his first VIVA Films movie, Felix Manalo where he received a Movie Actor of the Year award from PMPC Star Awards for Movies. After doing several heavy drama soap operas, Trillo starred in a light drama series with Heart Evangelista, Juan Happy Love Story. Discography Studio albums TomDen (2013, GMA Records) (PARI: Platinum) Dennis Trillo (2007, IndiMusic) Singles "Overdrive" (Lakbay 2 love theme song with Solenn Heussaff) (2016) "Sa Iyo na Lang Ako" (Hiram na Alaala theme song) (2014) "Tibok ng Puso" (Sa Puso ni Dok theme song) (2014) "Kailan Man" (A 100-Year Legacy theme song) (2014) "Forever" (with Tom Rodriguez) (2014) "Hinahanap-Hanap Kita" (Adik Sa'Yo theme song) (2009) "Lumilipad" (2007) "All About Love" (2007) Compilation albums Seasons of Love (2014, GMA Records) Track 6: "Tibok ng Puso" Filmography Television Television series Television shows Drama anthologies TV specials Film Accolades References External links Dennis Trillo - GMA homepage 1981 births Living people Filipino male television actors Filipino male film actors Ateneo de Manila University alumni 21st-century Filipino male actors Filipino television personalities 21st-century Filipino male singers Filipino male models Filipino male comedians People from Quezon City Male actors from Metro Manila Star Magic Batch 10 Sparkle GMA Artist Center Filipino people of Chinese descent Miriam College alumni GMA Network personalities GMA Music artists Viva Artists Agency	true	[ "The Wonsan International Friendship Air Festival or Wonsan Air Festival is an air show first held in September 2016 at Kalma Airport in Wonsan, North Korea.\n\n2016\nAt the 2016 edition the Korean People's Army Air Force displayed a number of its aircraft, including Su-25, MiG-21 and MiG-29 combat aircraft. In addition Tu-134, Tu-154, An-24, Il-62 and Il-76 aircraft of Air Koryo, the North Korean national airline, also participated. Around 10,000-15,000 local spectators watched the show, as did a number of international journalists and around 200 international aviation enthusiasts.\n\n2017\nInitially there were plans to hold the air show every two years, but in March 2017 it was announced that a second edition of the air show would be held between 23 and 24 September 2017. It was announced that the MiG-23 fighter would appear.\n\nIn August 2017, a month before the event, the 2017 edition of the show was cancelled for \"geopolitical reasons\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nAir shows\nAviation in North Korea\n2016 establishments in North Korea", "The Kecskemét International Air Show is a two-day-long air show held since the early 1990s at the Kecskemét Air Base of the Hungarian Defence Force. In 2008, when the annual Royal International Air Tattoo was cancelled, the Kecskemét Air Show became that year's biggest air show held in Europe. It was last held in August 2021.\n\nHistory\n\nThe first air show at Kecskemét was held on 18 and 19 August 1990. The show became the first occasion that NATO and Warsaw Pact military aircraft met in peaceful conditions, when two Soviet Air Force Mikoyan MiG-29s and two United States Air Force General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons arrived together.\n\nAfter a seven-year break, during which two air shows were held at Taszár Air Base, the Air Show was again held at Kecskemét, on 24 and 25 May 1997. The next show, held the following year, celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Hungarian Defense Force, and the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian Air Force. As well as Hungarian Air Force MiG-29s, the show featured the Turkish Stars aerobatic team. The 2000 show, held on 20 and 21 May, saw the first appearance of the Slovakian White Albatrosses and the Italian Frecce Tricolori aerobatic teams. \n\nOn 16 and 17 August 2003, Kecskemét Air Base hosted the biggest air show ever held in Hungary so far. Three air force aerobatic teams accepted invitations to attend: the Frecce Tricolori, the Patrouille de France and the Turkish Stars. After a planned two-year recess, the Air Show was held again in 2005, on 6 and 7 August. The organisers planned a huge gathering of Mikoyan-Gurevich aircraft. All air arms operating MiG aircraft were invited, but very few actually accepted, so the reunion was cancelled.\n\nThe 2007 Air Show was held on 11 and 12 August. The Krila Oluje aerobatic team from Croatia performed for the first time. The next show was held the following year, on 16 and 17 August. This was the first occasion the Eurofighter Typhoon visited Hungary to participate at an air show. Also, one of the world's biggest military cargo aircraft, the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III made its first appearance at a Hungarian air show.\n\nThe next show was two years later, on 7 and 8 August 2010. The French Dassault Rafale visited Hungary for the first time. This year's show provided the last opportunity for the public to see MiG-29s in Hungarian colors, as the Hungarian Air Force had announced it would retire its MiG-29s from active service, replacing them with Saab JAS 39 Gripens. At the end of the show, Hungarian MiG-29s simulated a dogfight situation against Gripen aircraft.\n\nIn 2021 the Air Show was held on the weekend of 28-29 August.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official site of the Kecskemét Air Show in 2013, in english\n Pictures from the 2005 Air Show\n\nAir shows\nTrade fairs in Hungary\nKecskemét" ]
[ "Dennis Trillo", "2002-2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso", "Who is Kapuso?", "I don't know.", "What was his breakthrough?", "he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan", "For what network?", "GMA Network", "What role did he play in Kahi Kailan?", "a supporting character named David.", "What other shows did he act in?", "the fantasy show' Mulawin.", "When did the show air?", "In 2004," ]	C_494eb3090880475a9b84ecc703d90e09_1	What role did he play in that show?	7	What role did Dennis Trillo play in Mulawin show?	Dennis Trillo	After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show' Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-Human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz' (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. CANNOTANSWER	He played Gabriel, a half-Human and half-Ravena	Abelardo Dennis Florencio Ho (born 12 May 1981), widely known as Dennis Trillo, is a Filipino actor, model and recording artist. He is currently a contract star of GMA Network. He was known for his role as Eric del Mundo in the first ever gay-themed series on Philippine TV, My Husband's Lover aired on GMA Network in 2013. Trillo received his first acting award in 2004 for his role as a cross-dressing spy in the 2004 war film Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita. In April 2016, he appeared in another primetime television series, Juan Happy Love Story, opposite his Dwarfina leading lady Heart Evangelista. Now being recognized both locally and internationally, he still continues to work as GMA Network's "Drama King". Personal life Trillo was born on May 12, 1981, in Quezon City to Florita Florencio Ho, a Filipino, and Abelardo Leslie Ho, a Chinese Filipino from Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. He finished high school at Jose Abad Santos Memorial School, Quezon City and spent his grade school years (grades 1–7) at the Ateneo De Manila University. He pursued a college education at Miriam College and received a B.A. in International Studies. He has a son with his ex-girlfriend Carlene Aguilar, born in 2007. In 2021, he married his longtime girlfriend Jennylyn Mercado. Career Early years Prior to starting his career in show business, Trillo was once a member of a band called Moyg. For a short period, he played the drums for the DIY band in Baguio. His career in entertainment started in ABS-CBN in 2001 when he was introduced as part of ABS-CBN's Star Circle (now known as Star Magic) batch 10 along with Bea Alonzo, Alfred Vargas and TJ Trinidad. He took part in ABS-CBN's hit television soap operas Pangako Sa 'Yo as Ruel and Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan as Jojo; both were minor characters. 2003–2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. 2006–2010: Kapuso leading man and music debut In 2005, in GMA Network fantasy series Encantadia, Trillo was cast as lead character in Etheria, where he portrayed the Sapirian prince, Raquim. Midway through the series, GMA Network management announced that Trillo would be pulled out from the said show to once again star in another fantasy-themed television series Majika, in the end Trillo was allowed to complete Etheria. He also starred in the horror-suspense film Pamahiin and was included in the network's noontime show SOP as a co-host where he also played drums as part of the show's "Starband". Trillo released his self-titled debut album in 2007 under IndiMusic. It was in the same year when he made his fourth Lenten drama special for GMA Network under APT Entertainment entitled Unico Hijo. On August 21, 2007, he started taping for the fantasy series Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan with Aljur Abrenica and Marky Cielo. On April 27, 2008, five thousand spectators witnessed the Battle of Mactan play, with Trillo playing Ferdinand Magellan at the Mactan, Cebu Shrine. The same year, Trillo joined the stellar cast of Magdusa Ka, an afternoon soap opera which later earned an International Emmy nomination the following year. Late 2008 when he starred in the comic-based superhero series Gagambino, playing as the main character. The following year after Gagambino, he starred into two more primetime dramas: Adik Sa'Yo and the 2009 remake of Darna. Trillo's hosting roles continued when he replaced Dingdong Dantes as a co-host in the new installment of StarStruck V in 2009. In 2010, he also began co-hosting the variety show, Party Pilipinas. He appeared in Sine Novela Presents: Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak opposite Jennylyn Mercado and portrayed Andrew Tantoco in the Philippine adaptation of the hit Korean series Endless Love. 2011–present: GMA's Drama King; My Husband's Lover In 2011, Trillo appeared in the romantic-fantasy series Dwarfina where he teamed-up with Heart Evangelista. After playing the lead role in the Philippine adaptation of Temptation of Wife, Trillo lead his most controversial role to date as Eric del Mundo in his second International Emmy nominee drama series My Husband's Lover where he received one acting award from two nominations and a commendation from Asian TV Awards. After the success of the series, the cast of My Husband's Lover held a concert at Araneta Coliseum named "One More Try: My Husband's Lover The Concert". The same year, Trillo and his screen partner Tom Rodriguez released their album titled TomDen, which is now a certified Platinum record according to the PARI with over 15,000 copies sold. In 2014, he top-billed the Primetime drama series Hiram na Alaala with Kapuso actress Kris Bernal. He also had a weekly medical drama with Bela Padilla entitled Sa Puso ni Dok under GMA News & Public Affairs department. Trillo visited ABS-CBN via his guesting in Kris TV to promote his 2015 movie You're Still The One alongside Maja Salvador, Ellen Adarna and Richard Yap under Regal Entertainment Inc. and Star Cinema. The same year, Trillo launched his first VIVA Films movie, Felix Manalo where he received a Movie Actor of the Year award from PMPC Star Awards for Movies. After doing several heavy drama soap operas, Trillo starred in a light drama series with Heart Evangelista, Juan Happy Love Story. Discography Studio albums TomDen (2013, GMA Records) (PARI: Platinum) Dennis Trillo (2007, IndiMusic) Singles "Overdrive" (Lakbay 2 love theme song with Solenn Heussaff) (2016) "Sa Iyo na Lang Ako" (Hiram na Alaala theme song) (2014) "Tibok ng Puso" (Sa Puso ni Dok theme song) (2014) "Kailan Man" (A 100-Year Legacy theme song) (2014) "Forever" (with Tom Rodriguez) (2014) "Hinahanap-Hanap Kita" (Adik Sa'Yo theme song) (2009) "Lumilipad" (2007) "All About Love" (2007) Compilation albums Seasons of Love (2014, GMA Records) Track 6: "Tibok ng Puso" Filmography Television Television series Television shows Drama anthologies TV specials Film Accolades References External links Dennis Trillo - GMA homepage 1981 births Living people Filipino male television actors Filipino male film actors Ateneo de Manila University alumni 21st-century Filipino male actors Filipino television personalities 21st-century Filipino male singers Filipino male models Filipino male comedians People from Quezon City Male actors from Metro Manila Star Magic Batch 10 Sparkle GMA Artist Center Filipino people of Chinese descent Miriam College alumni GMA Network personalities GMA Music artists Viva Artists Agency	true	[ "Rajat Tokas (born 19 July 1991) is an Indian television actor known for his roles in Dharti Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan,Dharam Veer, Tere Liye, Jodha Akbar, Chandra Nandini and Naagin 3.He also played the role of Kabir and Vikrant in Naagin season 1 and 3\n\nCareer\n\nTokas started his television career with show Bongo as Ashu on DD national. He then did many shows including Lighthouse for children, Jadui Chirag, Tarang, and Ye Hawayan. In 2005, he came to Mumbai with his father & bagged the role of Tantya, who was Sai Baba's brother, in Sai Baba.\n\nIn 2006, Tokas was selected by Sagar Arts to play his first lead role of young Prithviraj Chauhan in the series Dharti Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan for which he won best actor in ITA 2007.\n\nIn 2008 he was again selected by Sagar Arts to play Veer in the NDTV imagine show Dharam Veer.\n\nIn 2010-11, Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms chose Rajat to play the parallel lead in Tere Liye where he played the character of Robindo Ganguly. Later, he did episodic roles in Bandini and Fear Files: Darr Ki Sacchi Tasvirein.\n\nIn 2013, he was once again selected by Kapoor to reprise the role of the Mughal Emperor Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar in her historical drama, Jodha Akbar for which he went on to win BIG Star Most Entertaining Television Actor - Male, Star Guild Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series, Boroplus Gold Award for Best Actor in Lead Role (Critics), Indian Telly Award for Best Actor in a Lead Role. In 2016, he played the negative role of Kabir (Icchadhari Nevla) in Naagin, a fantasy drama which was aired on Colors TV. \n\nAlso in 2016 he was selected by Balaji Telefilms to play the lead role of Chandragupta Maurya in Star Plus show Chandra Nandini. He also played the role Vikrant on Naagin 3, again produced by Balaji Telefilms.\n\nEarly life\nHe studied in the Hope Hall Foundation School, R. K. Puram, Delhi and later on completed his graduation through distance mode.\n\nPersonal life\nOn 30 January 2015, he married Shrishti Nayyar, a theatre actor.\n\nFilmography\n\nAwards\n\nSee also \n List of Indian television actors\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n21st-century Indian male actors\nLiving people\nIndian male television actors\nPeople from South West Delhi district\nIndian male soap opera actors\nMale actors from Delhi\n1991 births", "Varun Sharma is an Indian television actor from New Delhi. He is well known for his roles of Anshuman Prajapati in Bhagyalaxmi and Piyush Bharadwaj in Sasural Simar Ka.\n\nEarly life\nVarun Sharma was born in a Punjabi family and is from Delhi. He studied mass communication from Asian Academy of Film and Television from Marwah Institute, Noida. He did modelling and theatre.\n\nCareer\nSharma started his acting career with shows like Saraswatichandra and Doli Armaanon Ki. He played a villain as Sameer in the Channel V series Sadda Haq. In 2015, he signed on the lead role of Anshumaan Prajapati in the Show Bhagyalaxmi. He played the lead role of Aditya Rawat in Udaan in 2016. In the same year, he also appeared in the long running-show Sasural Simar Ka as Piyush Bharadwaj, Simar's son. The show ended in 2018. In 2020, he did a cameo in the film Darbaan. In early September 2021, he was cast to play a negative cameo Rohan, Nandini's(Anagha Bhosale) ex boyfriend and obsessive lover who wants to win her back and get rid of Samar (Paras Kalnawat), her current love from their lives in Star Plus show Anupamaa and completed his role in mid October 2021.\n\nTelevision\n\nReferences\n\nExternal Links\n\nLiving people\nMale actors from Delhi\nActors from Mumbai\nPunjabi people" ]
[ "Dennis Trillo", "2002-2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso", "Who is Kapuso?", "I don't know.", "What was his breakthrough?", "he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan", "For what network?", "GMA Network", "What role did he play in Kahi Kailan?", "a supporting character named David.", "What other shows did he act in?", "the fantasy show' Mulawin.", "When did the show air?", "In 2004,", "What role did he play in that show?", "He played Gabriel, a half-Human and half-Ravena" ]	C_494eb3090880475a9b84ecc703d90e09_1	What other shows did he act in?	8	What other shows did Dennis Trillo act in besides Mulawin and Kahit kailan?	Dennis Trillo	After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show' Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-Human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz' (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. CANNOTANSWER	the fantasy show' Mulawin.	Abelardo Dennis Florencio Ho (born 12 May 1981), widely known as Dennis Trillo, is a Filipino actor, model and recording artist. He is currently a contract star of GMA Network. He was known for his role as Eric del Mundo in the first ever gay-themed series on Philippine TV, My Husband's Lover aired on GMA Network in 2013. Trillo received his first acting award in 2004 for his role as a cross-dressing spy in the 2004 war film Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita. In April 2016, he appeared in another primetime television series, Juan Happy Love Story, opposite his Dwarfina leading lady Heart Evangelista. Now being recognized both locally and internationally, he still continues to work as GMA Network's "Drama King". Personal life Trillo was born on May 12, 1981, in Quezon City to Florita Florencio Ho, a Filipino, and Abelardo Leslie Ho, a Chinese Filipino from Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. He finished high school at Jose Abad Santos Memorial School, Quezon City and spent his grade school years (grades 1–7) at the Ateneo De Manila University. He pursued a college education at Miriam College and received a B.A. in International Studies. He has a son with his ex-girlfriend Carlene Aguilar, born in 2007. In 2021, he married his longtime girlfriend Jennylyn Mercado. Career Early years Prior to starting his career in show business, Trillo was once a member of a band called Moyg. For a short period, he played the drums for the DIY band in Baguio. His career in entertainment started in ABS-CBN in 2001 when he was introduced as part of ABS-CBN's Star Circle (now known as Star Magic) batch 10 along with Bea Alonzo, Alfred Vargas and TJ Trinidad. He took part in ABS-CBN's hit television soap operas Pangako Sa 'Yo as Ruel and Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan as Jojo; both were minor characters. 2003–2005: Breakthrough as Kapuso After transferring to GMA Network and becoming a contract star, he landed his first role for the network in the youth-oriented drama Kahit Kailan where he played a supporting character named David. He was also cast in several outings like Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he had his first main character role in the fantasy show Mulawin. He played Gabriel, a half-human and half-Ravena who became the third wheel in Alwina (Angel Locsin) and Agiluz (Richard Gutierrez) romance. The same year, he had his breakthrough performance when he starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival official entry Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita as a transgender woman during World War II. In this film he received his first acting award as Best Supporting Actor in the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival. Following this recognition, he received five more Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. The following year, 2005, Trillo officially became a leading man when he was paired with Angel Locsin in the television adaptation of the iconic superhero Darna. He also starred in an afternoon family drama Now and Forever: Agos where he received a Best Drama Actor nomination from PMPC Star Awards for TV. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and appeared in the film Blue Moon. 2006–2010: Kapuso leading man and music debut In 2005, in GMA Network fantasy series Encantadia, Trillo was cast as lead character in Etheria, where he portrayed the Sapirian prince, Raquim. Midway through the series, GMA Network management announced that Trillo would be pulled out from the said show to once again star in another fantasy-themed television series Majika, in the end Trillo was allowed to complete Etheria. He also starred in the horror-suspense film Pamahiin and was included in the network's noontime show SOP as a co-host where he also played drums as part of the show's "Starband". Trillo released his self-titled debut album in 2007 under IndiMusic. It was in the same year when he made his fourth Lenten drama special for GMA Network under APT Entertainment entitled Unico Hijo. On August 21, 2007, he started taping for the fantasy series Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan with Aljur Abrenica and Marky Cielo. On April 27, 2008, five thousand spectators witnessed the Battle of Mactan play, with Trillo playing Ferdinand Magellan at the Mactan, Cebu Shrine. The same year, Trillo joined the stellar cast of Magdusa Ka, an afternoon soap opera which later earned an International Emmy nomination the following year. Late 2008 when he starred in the comic-based superhero series Gagambino, playing as the main character. The following year after Gagambino, he starred into two more primetime dramas: Adik Sa'Yo and the 2009 remake of Darna. Trillo's hosting roles continued when he replaced Dingdong Dantes as a co-host in the new installment of StarStruck V in 2009. In 2010, he also began co-hosting the variety show, Party Pilipinas. He appeared in Sine Novela Presents: Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak opposite Jennylyn Mercado and portrayed Andrew Tantoco in the Philippine adaptation of the hit Korean series Endless Love. 2011–present: GMA's Drama King; My Husband's Lover In 2011, Trillo appeared in the romantic-fantasy series Dwarfina where he teamed-up with Heart Evangelista. After playing the lead role in the Philippine adaptation of Temptation of Wife, Trillo lead his most controversial role to date as Eric del Mundo in his second International Emmy nominee drama series My Husband's Lover where he received one acting award from two nominations and a commendation from Asian TV Awards. After the success of the series, the cast of My Husband's Lover held a concert at Araneta Coliseum named "One More Try: My Husband's Lover The Concert". The same year, Trillo and his screen partner Tom Rodriguez released their album titled TomDen, which is now a certified Platinum record according to the PARI with over 15,000 copies sold. In 2014, he top-billed the Primetime drama series Hiram na Alaala with Kapuso actress Kris Bernal. He also had a weekly medical drama with Bela Padilla entitled Sa Puso ni Dok under GMA News & Public Affairs department. Trillo visited ABS-CBN via his guesting in Kris TV to promote his 2015 movie You're Still The One alongside Maja Salvador, Ellen Adarna and Richard Yap under Regal Entertainment Inc. and Star Cinema. The same year, Trillo launched his first VIVA Films movie, Felix Manalo where he received a Movie Actor of the Year award from PMPC Star Awards for Movies. After doing several heavy drama soap operas, Trillo starred in a light drama series with Heart Evangelista, Juan Happy Love Story. Discography Studio albums TomDen (2013, GMA Records) (PARI: Platinum) Dennis Trillo (2007, IndiMusic) Singles "Overdrive" (Lakbay 2 love theme song with Solenn Heussaff) (2016) "Sa Iyo na Lang Ako" (Hiram na Alaala theme song) (2014) "Tibok ng Puso" (Sa Puso ni Dok theme song) (2014) "Kailan Man" (A 100-Year Legacy theme song) (2014) "Forever" (with Tom Rodriguez) (2014) "Hinahanap-Hanap Kita" (Adik Sa'Yo theme song) (2009) "Lumilipad" (2007) "All About Love" (2007) Compilation albums Seasons of Love (2014, GMA Records) Track 6: "Tibok ng Puso" Filmography Television Television series Television shows Drama anthologies TV specials Film Accolades References External links Dennis Trillo - GMA homepage 1981 births Living people Filipino male television actors Filipino male film actors Ateneo de Manila University alumni 21st-century Filipino male actors Filipino television personalities 21st-century Filipino male singers Filipino male models Filipino male comedians People from Quezon City Male actors from Metro Manila Star Magic Batch 10 Sparkle GMA Artist Center Filipino people of Chinese descent Miriam College alumni GMA Network personalities GMA Music artists Viva Artists Agency	false	[ "The Act on Health Sector Database, also known as Act on Health Sector Database, No. 139/1998, the Health Sector Database Act and in media by other colloquial names, was a 1998 act of the Icelandic Parliament which allowed the Icelandic government to grant a license to a private company for the creation of a national biological database to store health information which could be used for research. The act was noted for boldly introducing policy related to biobanks and was the subject of controversy.\n\ndeCODE genetics did most of the lobbying for the act and was the beneficiary of the license to create the database.\n\nControversies\nThe passing of this act spurred international discussion about what policies were already in place and what differences in policy existed among biobanks.\n\nThe establishment of a national database for all Icelandic citizens raised discussion about the nature of the informed consent process for the project.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n{{official website\|https://web.archive.org/web/20120402000839/http://eng.velferdarraduneyti.is/acts-of-Parliament/nr/17659%7D%7D, English translation\nWorld Health Organization summary\n\nBiobanks\nHealth law in Iceland\nGovernment databases\nBiological databases\nDatabase law\nDatabases in Iceland\n1998 in Iceland\n1998 in law", "Shawn Mendes: The Tour was the fourth concert tour by Canadian singer Shawn Mendes, in support of his self-titled third studio album (2018). The tour began in Amsterdam, Netherlands at the Ziggo Dome on March 7, 2019, and concluded in Mexico City, Mexico at the Palacio de los Deportes on December 21, 2019.\n\nThe September 6 show at the Rogers Centre in Mendes' hometown of Toronto, Canada, was recorded and released as a Netflix-original concert film titled, \"Shawn Mendes: Live In Concert\", on November 25, 2020.\n\nBackground and development\nAfter the announcement of his self-titled third studio album, Mendes announced he would embark his fourth concert tour. Dates were first announced for Europe and North America on May 8, 2018. Due to overwhelming demand, extra dates were added to Amsterdam, Dublin, and London. On July 17, 2018, dates were announced for Oceania. Extra dates were added in Melbourne and Sydney due to high demand. On December 3, 2018, Mendes announced he would headline his first stadium show in his hometown of Toronto. In a matter of minutes, the show was sold out, marking his biggest show to date.\n\nOn January 16, 2019, dates were announced for Latin America. Additional dates in São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Santiago and Mexico City were added due to the high demand. On February 21, 2019, Mendes announced that the R&B singer and friend, Alessia Cara, would be the opening act for Europe and selected dates in North America. He also added 16 additional shows in North America that included new dates in Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Milwaukee, Ottawa, Columbus, Philadelphia, two shows in Uncasville, and second shows in Rosemont, Los Angeles, Oakland, Newark, Boston, Montreal, and Brooklyn. On March 28, 2019, Mendes announced American country duo Dan + Shay as the opening act for Oceania, with the exception of the Brisbane and Auckland shows where Australian singer-songwriter Ruel will perform. On April 22, 2019, dates were announced for Asia. On May 28, Mendes announced Alessia Cara as the opening act for the Canadian dates of the tour, making Alessia the opening act for all the North American concerts.\n\nCritical reception\nIn a positive review, Graeme Virtue, writing for The Guardian gave the concert 4 out of 5 stars, stating, “The unstoppable rise of the clean-cut Canadian continues with a set of confessional ballads and grand romantic gestures”, for the show at SSE Hydro, Glasgow. Leslie Ken Chu from Exclaim! praised Mendes for sharing \"uplifting, motivational messages about self-empowerment, but he bucked convention by keeping his verbiage short\", for the concert at Rogers Arena, Vancouver.\n\nAccolades\n\nSet list\nThis set list is representative of the show on July 6, 2019 in Los Angeles. It is not intended to represent all shows throughout the tour.\n \"Lost in Japan\"\n \"There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back\"\n \"Nervous\"\n \"Stitches\"\n \"Señorita\" / \"I Know What You Did Last Summer\" / \"Mutual\"\n \"Bad Reputation\"\n \"Never Be Alone\"\n \"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)\" / \"Because I Had You\" / \"A Little Too Much\" / \"Patience\" / \"When You’re Ready\"\n \"Life of the Party\"\n \"Like to Be You\"\n \"Ruin\"\n \"Treat You Better\"\n \"Particular Taste\"\n \"Where Were You in the Morning?\"\n \"Fallin’ All in You\"\n \"Youth\"\n \"If I Can't Have You\"\n \"Why\"\n \"Mercy\"\nEncore\n \"Fix You\" / \"In My Blood\"\n\nTour dates\n\nCancelled shows\n\nReferences\n\n2019 concert tours\nShawn Mendes concert tours" ]
[ "Monty Python", "Associate Pythons" ]	C_b73ea799479f4df5aa67c44bf5186fe9_0	What are the associate pythons?	1	What are the associate pythons?	Monty Python	Several people have been accorded unofficial "Associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would certainly be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978). By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes has remained silent on the dispute. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. Her common portrayal as the stereotypical "blonde bimbo" eventually earned her the sobriquet "Carol Cleavage" from the other Pythons, but she felt that the variety of her roles should not be described in such a pejorative way. CANNOTANSWER	Several people have been accorded unofficial "Associate Python" status over the years.	Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy". Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result. At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30. Before Flying Circus Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players. The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus: I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers) The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers) At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer) Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes) We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation) How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member) The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers) The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles. Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold. By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions. Monty Python's Flying Circus Development of the series The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television." After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work." Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush. While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship). Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts. Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent". Style of the show Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python". Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly". Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film. The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments. The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme. The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men. Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street". Introduction to North America and the world The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s. Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success. The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences. Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly". In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case. With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies. In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner. Departure of Cleese Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat." The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People". Life beyond the Flying Circus Filmography And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums). The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love". The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus". Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend". The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons. Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it." Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four. Going solo Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films. Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman. Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole. Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part. After Python reunions Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live. Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event. The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks. In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques. Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms." The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie. A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman. Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material. In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth. Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved. On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast. Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill. On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans. Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link. Python members Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012. John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin. Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life). When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony. Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia. Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018. Associate Pythons Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail. Other contributors Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python. Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python". Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne. Cultural influence and legacy By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence." A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python." Comedy stylists Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent. Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else." Places In space Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python. In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python. Terrestrial After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese". "Pythonesque" Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language. The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed". The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night). Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points. Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque." TV The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons. Things named after Monty Python Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways. The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!". The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch. In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team. In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour. In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire. The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese. Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. World records On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt. On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!". Timeline Media Television Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes. Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing. Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work. Films Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films: And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah. Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond. Albums Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970) Another Monty Python Record (1971) Monty Python's Previous Record (1972) The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973) Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974) The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Monty Python Live at City Center (1976) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977) Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979) Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983) The Final Rip Off (1987) Monty Python Sings (1989) The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994) Monty Python Sings Again (2014) The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased) Theatre Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series. Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011. Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good". Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Books Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) . The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) . Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) . Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) . The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) . Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) . The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986) Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) . Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) . The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994) Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998) Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002) The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions) Monty Python Live! (2009) Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014) So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014) Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) . Games Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level. Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc. Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game. The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game See also List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus Python (Monty) Pictures The Firesign Theatre References Further reading The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009) Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary) External links Monty Python – Official YouTube page 40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine 2014 interview on return to live shows Monty Python on youtube British comedy troupes British television comedy British surrealist artists British surrealist writers Surreal comedy Surrealist groups Virgin Records artists Arista Records artists BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award European Film Awards winners (people) Charisma Records artists 1969 establishments in England 1983 disestablishments in England British comedy musicians British novelty song performers Black comedy Religious comedy and humour	true	[ "Invasion of the Giant Pythons: Florida with Nigel Marven is one-hour nature documentary which premiered in 2009 on Channel 5. It was later broadcast as Giant Pythons with Nigel Marven on Animal Planet in the United Kingdom. Presented by Nigel Marven, the film takes a look at Burmese pythons invasion in Florida.\n\nThe snakes, originally from southeast Asia, escape from pet shops due to hurricanes or they are released into the wild of Florida by irresponsible keepers. The documentary also shows how Florida's native wildlife deals with this problem. Additionally, Nigel Marven meets a group of scientists studying and catching Burmese pythons in Florida.\n\nThe film aired in the USA in 2010 under the title Invasion of the Giant Pythons as a part of long-running PBS series Nature. In this version, Nigel Marven does not present and narrate the film, instead the narrator is F. Murray Abraham.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Invasion of the Giant Pythons: Florida on Nigel Marven's official website\n Giant Pythons with Nigel Marven on Discovery Press Web\n\nNature educational television series", "Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) are native to Southeast Asia. However, since the end of the 20th century, they have become an established breeding population in South Florida. Although Burmese pythons were first sighted in Everglades National Park in the 1990s, they were not officially recognized as a reproducing population until 2000. Since then, the number of python sightings has exponentially increased with over 300 sightings from 2008 to 2010.\n\nBurmese pythons prey on a wide variety of birds, mammals, and crocodilian species occupying the Everglades. Pronounced declines in several mammalian species have coincided spatially and temporally with the proliferation of pythons in South Florida, indicating the already devastating impacts upon native animals. Although the low detectability of pythons makes population estimates difficult, most researchers propose that at least 30,000 and upwards of 300,000 pythons likely occupy South Florida, and that this population will only continue to grow. The importation of Burmese pythons was banned in the United States in January 2012 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.\n\nInvasive impact\n\nBurmese pythons in the state of Florida are classified as an invasive species. They disrupt the ecosystem by preying on native species, outcompeting native species for food or other resources, and/or disrupting the physical nature of the environment. They are comparable in size or even larger than adult native snake species and quickly reach sizes that reduce their vulnerability to predation. It is, however, important to note that they have often been targeted by the native American alligator as prey when invading into its territory. \n\nThe high reproductive potential, rapid sexual development, and longevity of Burmese pythons clarify why controlling the population through removal of individuals would be difficult. A typical female breeds every other year, produces a clutch of between twenty and fifty eggs, and can live for twenty years or more.\n\nAdditionally, as apex predators and dietary generalists, Burmese pythons target a wide array of taxonomic groups. Thus, they are not dependent upon a specific prey species. The flexible dietary requirements of Burmese pythons enable them to survive for long periods of time without food, but when prey is readily available, they will eat regularly. Consequently, Burmese pythons pose a great threat to wildlife, especially mid-sized mammals.\n\nSevere declines in mammalian populations across the Everglades may be tied to the proliferation of pythons. Comparisons of road surveys conducted in 1996-1997 (prior to proliferation) and 2003-2011 (after proliferation) indicated declines from 88% to 100% in the frequency of raccoon, opossum, bobcat, rabbit, fox, and other mammalian species sightings. These declines were concordant with the spatial geography of python spread. Most of these species are well known to have increased in numbers following human disturbance, however.\n\nSmaller declines were observed where pythons were only recently documented and the greatest mammalian abundances were observed outside of the python's current range. Burmese pythons were the dominant predator of reintroduced marsh rabbits (Sylvilagus palustris) in Everglades National Park, and predation by pythons extirpated the rabbit population in less than 11 months. The overall extent to which the greatly reduced mammalian populations will disrupt the complex food web of the Everglades by indirectly affecting other native species, however, is unclear.\n\nIn the Everglades\n\nThe Everglades is a region of subtropical wetlands comprising the lower third of the Florida peninsula. Only 25% of the original Everglades remains, protected within Everglades National Park (ENP). The climate of South Florida and the location of the Everglades, surrounded by a metropolitan area to the east, Naples to the west, and Florida Bay to the south, make it particularly vulnerable to infestations of exotic species. Miami, in particular, is the hub for trade in exotic pets within the United States. Although the exact origin of Burmese pythons in the Everglades is unknown, it is likely that many were once pets released by owners who found them too difficult to care for. However, the majority of experts concur that the python population grew particularly after Hurricane Andrew. The category 5 storm destroyed a python breeding facility, which released numerous snakes into the adjacent swamps. An evaluation of the genetic structure of Burmese pythons sampled from Everglades National Park determined that the population is genetically distinct from pythons sampled in their native range, but within the Everglades population, there is little genetic diversity. \n\nIn 2001, the United States Geological Survey began a 10-year period analysis of 400 pythons captured in the Everglades. The survey discovered that there existed a tangled genetic tree between these captured snakes, and that hybrid pythons were manifesting within the Everglades. 13 out of the 400 pythons analyzed had genetic signatures of the Indian rock python within their DNA. Indian rock pythons are notorious for being a smaller, faster, and more aggressive species than the Burmese python. It can be suggested that this interbreeding allows the invasive hybrid species to adapt more rapidly to the Everglades ecosystem. \n\nEstimating the population of Burmese pythons in the Everglades is challenging because of the secretive nature of this species and the limited ability to conduct traditional mark-recapture assessments. Namely, it is counterintuitive to the primary goal of python removal to return captured pythons to the wild.\n\nFurthermore, the low detectability of pythons means that even if mark-recapture studies could be conducted, they would require a greater research effort than is currently possible. Pythons spend a majority of their day in hiding, whether in burrows or aquatic habitats, and one study indicated that even seasoned herpetologists showed only a 1% efficacy in detecting pythons housed in a seminatural environment. Consequently, estimates of python populations range from at least 30,000 to more than 300,000.\n\nSpatial ecology\nSeveral attempts have been made at better understanding the spatial ecology of Burmese pythons in the Everglades, including capture analysis and radiotelemetry studies. Since the recognition of the breeding population of pythons, researchers have made an effort to note the capture history (date, location, and time) as well as characteristics (mass, length, sex, reproduction condition, and gut contents) of each animal to better characterize the python's activity patterns, spread, and ecology. More than 2,000 pythons have been captured since 2005, including hatchling pythons, gravid females, and adults in excess of () in total length. Gut analyses indicate that captured pythons consume nearly any bird, mammal, or alligator found in the Everglades, including nationally endangered Key Largo woodrats (Neotoma floridana smalli) and wood storks (Mycteria americana).\n \nRadiotelemetry includes the use of small, surgically implanted radiotransmitters to track the movement patterns of captured and released animals over extended periods of time. A 2014 study suggests that Burmese pythons have navigational map and compass senses. In contrast to previous research that documented the poor navigational abilities of terrestrial snakes, the movement behavior of the Burmese python seems to be nonrandom. The movements of twelve adult Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park were tracked after they were translocated from their initial locations. Five of the six snakes that were displaced from their capture sites displayed oriented movement by returning to within of their original location. This homing ability of the Burmese python is therefore an additional factor that must be considered in predictions of the future range of the python within the southern US and the management of the current population within South Florida.\n\nThey have carried Raillietiella orientalis (a pentastome parasitic disease) with them from SE Asia. Other reptiles in Florida have become infested and the parasite appears to have become endemic.\n\nRisk assessment\nOne of the most contentious issues related to the Burmese python population in Florida is the potential spread to other areas of the southern United States. A potential limitation to a species's habitat range is climate. In February 2008, USGS scientists published a projected range map for the US, based on average climate data of the snake's home range and global warming projections, which predicted that by the end of the 21st century, these snakes could migrate to and flourish in as much as a third of the continental United States, including all three coasts. Numerous climate matching models have indicated that most of Florida and vast portions of the coast of the rest of Southeastern United States provide hospitable habitats for Burmese pythons. The original model takes into account only the fundamental climate space of the python and thus disregards other factors that could limit python spread. Furthermore, most of the data set was obtained from localities outside of the Burmese python's native range.\n\nHowever, a subsequent study produced a map incorporating both climatic extremes and averages which projected that the Burmese python's range as limited to southern Florida and extreme south Texas, though this projection was criticized in an unsigned Axcess News article as not having been peer-reviewed. Burmese pythons kept throughout winter in an experimental enclosure in South Carolina all died during the study, apparently because they could not properly acclimate to the cold, but most survived extended periods at temperatures below those typical of southern Florida. The report concluded, \"Regarding areas of putative suitability and potential expansion within the United States, we find, remarkably, that the area in which the snakes are known to have colonized (south Florida) is essentially the only region where the climatic conditions are suitable for the pythons. Almost no potential for further continental expansion is predicted based on the results from the ecological niche models\".\n\nIn contrast to the 2009 proposal, the more conservative niche model identifies regions of suitable climate in South Florida, extreme southern Texas, and spotty areas across the Central and Southern Americas. However, the use of this model has been criticized for the overfitting of data from excess variables and the misidentification of four Blood pythons as Burmese pythons. A model corrected for these miscalculations showed a greater projected range of Burmese python climate match including nearly all of Florida, much of the lower Coastal Plain of the southeast United States, and southern Texas.\n\nA severe freeze in the southeastern United States during January 2010 provided additional insight into the threat of Burmese python range extension. In the wake of this extended cold spell, several investigators reported dead snakes coiled along canal banks and in outdoor enclosures. However, numerous snakes survived this cold spell, potentially by using behavioral mechanisms (such as seeking refuge underground). If these behavioral traits are heritable, it is possible that the winter of 2009-2010 served as a selection event for more cold-tolerant pythons. This selected population of pythons would have an enhanced ability to spread northwards and extend the python's invasive range. In addition to behavioral traits, a study in 2018 showed that the surviving pythons showed evidence of: directional selection in genomic regions enriched for genes associated with thermosensation, behavior, and physiology...several of these genes are linked to regenerative organ growth, an adaptive response that modulates organ size and function with feeding and fasting in pythons.If these traits continue to be passed on then they would enable pythons to continue digestion during colder periods of time, which would be useful in geographic regions further north. \n\nData published in 2012 contradict the initial USGS study which claimed that non-native Burmese pythons could expand as far north as the southern third of the United States. The Burmese python will remain in the Everglades. Furthermore, other reputable herpetologists have commented on the controversial theory positing future migration past the Florida Everglades. The National Geographic Society's resident herpetologist, Dr. Brady Barr, said, \"Climate data reveal that temperatures found in southern Florida simply are not conducive to the long-term survival of large tropical snakes. When it gets cold, these snakes die.\" Dr. Barr also said \"Feral hogs are a bigger problem for the Everglades than pythons. The press has sensationalized this story to the point that people think the sky is falling. Hopefully, comprehensive research such as Jacobson et al. will put an end to the hysteria.\"\n\nControl\nSeveral methods have been proposed to control the thriving Burmese python population in Florida because much of the python's introduced range includes areas inaccessible to humans. Unfortunately, all strategies proposed thus far have resulted in only limited success. For example, numerous people have suggested using dogs to detect pythons. A 2011 assessment of detection dogs as a mode of python removal determined that the success of a dog search team (73%) was not significantly greater when compared to human search teams (69%) in controlled plot searches. Thick vegetation, which can both reduce visibility and hold odors, limited the efficacy of both human and dog searchers within the plots. However, the dog search team was significantly more successful in canal searches (92%) and was capable of covering three times the distance of human searchers. Despite the potential of dog search teams to detect free-ranging pythons, several impracticalities prevent the widespread use of dog search teams, including the danger posed to released dogs in the Everglades, limited efficacy of chemoreceptive cues in the shallow waters of the Everglades, and extensive limestone substrate that would hinder movement. The greater cost of a dog search team as compared to human searchers is an additional consideration. In the second week of December, 2020, this program had its first success.\n\nThe Burmese python system also poses challenges to trapping efforts. Trapping, a traditional method of snake capture, can include both the use of a device with an inescapable funnel and a drift fence that directs snake movement towards the trap. It is crucial that drift fences are inserted several inches into the ground in order to ensure that snakes cannot bypass them, but the hard limestone foundation of the area would make the construction of adequate drift fences difficult. Additionally, a python moves infrequently because of its predation habits and thus is less likely to crawl into a trap. Finally, the immense area occupied by the Burmese python undermines the utility of extensive trapping. Trapping could be practical on a smaller scale if critical areas were targeted.\n\nBiocontrol, or biological control, of pythons, has also been proposed by several scientists, likely because of the low detectability of pythons. Traditionally, biocontrols use a virus, parasite, or a bacterium that is selective to the target species in order to reduce the population's size. If the pathogen is not species-specific, it could harm other species. Given that biocontrol methods present a nontrivial and somewhat unpredictable risk to the area's delicate ecosystem, additional research and careful deliberation are necessary before such techniques are used. One of the possible ways of biocontrol is reintroduction of native predators. For example, jaguars had lived in Florida during the Pleistocene, but became locally extinct. These big cats can kill and eat large snakes (their diet in South America includes anacondas).\n\nBeyond the scientific community, the use of bounty hunters has received a great deal of support from officials and the media, but results have been disappointing. The 2013 Python Challenge, a month-long event with cash incentives for python captures sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, resulted in only 68 total python captures by 1,600 registered participants. Another hunt was nonetheless held in 2016, resulting in 106 pythons captured by over 1,000 participants.\n\nSome participants in the state-sponsored hunts have had snakeskin products made from the carcasses, but hunting the animals for food is not recommended, as many top level predators of the Everglades have dangerously high levels of mercury through bioaccumulation, the pythons being no exception. Environmental chemist Dr. David Krabbenhoft of the U.S. Geological Survey tested tissue samples from a collection of frozen python tails maintained by scientists at Everglades National Park. Analysis of more than 50 samples yielded up to 3.5 ppm of mercury. The state of Florida considers fish containing more than 1.5 ppm of mercury unsafe to eat. However the FWC is studying mercury levels again in order to make recommendations about what size, age, and location of origin might be safe to eat. The eggs are edible.\n\nIn July 2020 the South Florida Water Management District and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced that the 5000th python had been removed from the Everglades.\n\nLegislation \nWhile an effective and practical control method for South Florida's Burmese python population has yet to be proposed, regulatory measures are in place to prevent its further spread. Recently, Florida legislators have also put into place provisions targeted at the release of exotic snakes into the wild. Specifically, in 2008 the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission instituted regulations requiring permits for boas and pythons greater than 2 in. in diameter as well as PIT tags implanted in the snake's skin for identification purposes. This measure aims to prevent the introduction of snake species such as the Burmese python to other regions beyond South Florida. Further, the United States Department of the Interior placed four additional species of snakes, including the Burmese python, under the Lacey Act provisions. According to these provisions, importation of Burmese pythons to the United States is illegal as of January 2012.\n\nSee also\nInvasive species in the United States\nList of invasive species in the Everglades\nList of invasive species in Florida\nList of invasive plant species in Florida\nList of invasive marine fish in Florida\nSqueeze Me (novel)\n\nReferences\n\nLuscombe, Richard. “Florida Hunters Capture More than 80 Giant Snakes in Python Bowl.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 30 Jan. 2020, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/30/florida-python-bowl-challenge-capture-snakes.\n\nExternal links\n Removing Pythons in Florida , Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission \n PBS Nature Video: Invasion of the Giant Pythons\nTracking the Big Snakes Devouring the Everglades: Interview with Michael Dorcas\nInvasive Snakes\n Burmese python (Python molurus) - EDDMapS State Distribution - EDDMapS\n\nInvasive species in Florida\nInvasive animal species in the United States\nEverglades\nFeral animals\nNatural history of Florida\nPython (genus)\nReptiles of the United States\nSnakes of North America" ]
[ "Monty Python", "Associate Pythons", "What are the associate pythons?", "Several people have been accorded unofficial \"Associate Python\" status over the years." ]	C_b73ea799479f4df5aa67c44bf5186fe9_0	Who are the associate pythons?	2	Who are the associate pythons?	Monty Python	Several people have been accorded unofficial "Associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would certainly be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978). By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes has remained silent on the dispute. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. Her common portrayal as the stereotypical "blonde bimbo" eventually earned her the sobriquet "Carol Cleavage" from the other Pythons, but she felt that the variety of her roles should not be described in such a pejorative way. CANNOTANSWER	Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland.	Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy". Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result. At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30. Before Flying Circus Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players. The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus: I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers) The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers) At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer) Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes) We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation) How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member) The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers) The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles. Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold. By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions. Monty Python's Flying Circus Development of the series The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television." After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work." Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush. While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship). Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts. Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent". Style of the show Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python". Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly". Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film. The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments. The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme. The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men. Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street". Introduction to North America and the world The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s. Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success. The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences. Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly". In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case. With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies. In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner. Departure of Cleese Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat." The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People". Life beyond the Flying Circus Filmography And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums). The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love". The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus". Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend". The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons. Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it." Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four. Going solo Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films. Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman. Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole. Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part. After Python reunions Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live. Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event. The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks. In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques. Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms." The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie. A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman. Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material. In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth. Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved. On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast. Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill. On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans. Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link. Python members Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012. John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin. Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life). When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony. Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia. Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018. Associate Pythons Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail. Other contributors Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python. Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python". Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne. Cultural influence and legacy By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence." A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python." Comedy stylists Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent. Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else." Places In space Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python. In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python. Terrestrial After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese". "Pythonesque" Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language. The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed". The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night). Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points. Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque." TV The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons. Things named after Monty Python Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways. The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!". The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch. In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team. In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour. In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire. The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese. Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. World records On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt. On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!". Timeline Media Television Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes. Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing. Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work. Films Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films: And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah. Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond. Albums Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970) Another Monty Python Record (1971) Monty Python's Previous Record (1972) The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973) Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974) The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Monty Python Live at City Center (1976) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977) Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979) Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983) The Final Rip Off (1987) Monty Python Sings (1989) The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994) Monty Python Sings Again (2014) The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased) Theatre Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series. Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011. Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good". Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Books Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) . The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) . Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) . Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) . The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) . Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) . The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986) Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) . Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) . The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994) Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998) Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002) The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions) Monty Python Live! (2009) Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014) So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014) Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) . Games Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level. Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc. Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game. The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game See also List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus Python (Monty) Pictures The Firesign Theatre References Further reading The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009) Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary) External links Monty Python – Official YouTube page 40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine 2014 interview on return to live shows Monty Python on youtube British comedy troupes British television comedy British surrealist artists British surrealist writers Surreal comedy Surrealist groups Virgin Records artists Arista Records artists BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award European Film Awards winners (people) Charisma Records artists 1969 establishments in England 1983 disestablishments in England British comedy musicians British novelty song performers Black comedy Religious comedy and humour	true	[ "Invasion of the Giant Pythons: Florida with Nigel Marven is one-hour nature documentary which premiered in 2009 on Channel 5. It was later broadcast as Giant Pythons with Nigel Marven on Animal Planet in the United Kingdom. Presented by Nigel Marven, the film takes a look at Burmese pythons invasion in Florida.\n\nThe snakes, originally from southeast Asia, escape from pet shops due to hurricanes or they are released into the wild of Florida by irresponsible keepers. The documentary also shows how Florida's native wildlife deals with this problem. Additionally, Nigel Marven meets a group of scientists studying and catching Burmese pythons in Florida.\n\nThe film aired in the USA in 2010 under the title Invasion of the Giant Pythons as a part of long-running PBS series Nature. In this version, Nigel Marven does not present and narrate the film, instead the narrator is F. Murray Abraham.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Invasion of the Giant Pythons: Florida on Nigel Marven's official website\n Giant Pythons with Nigel Marven on Discovery Press Web\n\nNature educational television series", "Tracy Jo Barker (née Miller) (born December 10, 1957) is an American herpetologist specializing in pythons.\n\nBarker grew up in Washington, D.C., as the daughter of J. Jefferson Miller who was Curator of ceramics and glass at the Smithsonian Institution. After an undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Colorado, she graduated in biology at the Central Michigan University. She also worked as a reptile keeper at Buffalo Zoological Gardens. Already in her early years, she specialized in herpetology and focused on animal behavior. She worked as a field biologist for repopulating Green Iguanas in Panama and studied the reproductive behavior of Tuatara on Stephens Island in New Zealand.\n\nIn 1990 she and her husband, biologist David G. Barker, founded Vida Preciosa International, Inc. (VPI), an enterprise dedicated to the research necessary to establish self-sustaining captive populations of pythons and boas. This facility became one of the largest and most diverse collection of pythons in the world; in 1997, the Barkers and their work at VPI were featured in a National Geographic Television documentary titled “Passion for Pythons”. They managed to reproduce 32 of the 52 recognized taxa of pythons. Among them, the first ever reproduction of 12 taxa.\n\nBarker has written numerous papers in scientific journals as well as dozens of popular publications. In 1979, Barker described a new species of python Python saxuloides, which is currently regarded as a slightly distinct Kenyan population of the later re-erected Python natalensis. One of her five books, Pythons of the World, Volume 2: Ball Pythons, was certified as “The Best Animal Book of 2006” by the Independent Publisher Book Awards.\n\nIn 2000 a new species of python, Morelia tracyae, was named in her honor.\n\nBooks\nPythons of the World, Volume 3: The Pythons of Asia and the Malay Archipelago. with David G. Barker and Mark Auliya. VPI Library, Boerne, Texas, 2018. 371 pp.\nThe Invisible Ark – In Defense of Captivity. with David G. Barker. VPI Library, Boerne, Texas, 2014. 169 pp.\nPythons of the World, Volume 2: Ball Pythons: The History, Natural History, Care and Breeding. with David G. Barker. VPI Library, Boerne, Texas, 2006. 321pp.\nPythons of the World, Volume 1, Australia. with David G. Barker. The Herpetocultural Library, Advanced Vivarium Systems, Lakeside, California, 1994. 171 pp.\nThe Ball Python Manual. with Philippe de Vosjoli, Roger Klingenberg and David G. Barker. The Herpetocultural Library, Advanced Vivarium Systems, Lakeside, California, 1994. 76 pp.\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican herpetologists\nWomen herpetologists\n1957 births\nLiving people\nScientists from Washington, D.C.\n20th-century American zoologists\n20th-century American women scientists\n21st-century American zoologists\n21st-century American women scientists" ]
[ "Monty Python", "Associate Pythons", "What are the associate pythons?", "Several people have been accorded unofficial \"Associate Python\" status over the years.", "Who are the associate pythons?", "Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland." ]	C_b73ea799479f4df5aa67c44bf5186fe9_0	What Monty Python films or shows did they work on?	3	What Monty Python films or shows did Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland work on?	Monty Python	Several people have been accorded unofficial "Associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would certainly be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978). By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes has remained silent on the dispute. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. Her common portrayal as the stereotypical "blonde bimbo" eventually earned her the sobriquet "Carol Cleavage" from the other Pythons, but she felt that the variety of her roles should not be described in such a pejorative way. CANNOTANSWER	Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films,	Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy". Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result. At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30. Before Flying Circus Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players. The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus: I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers) The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers) At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer) Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes) We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation) How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member) The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers) The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles. Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold. By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions. Monty Python's Flying Circus Development of the series The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television." After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work." Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush. While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship). Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts. Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent". Style of the show Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python". Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly". Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film. The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments. The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme. The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men. Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street". Introduction to North America and the world The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s. Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success. The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences. Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly". In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case. With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies. In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner. Departure of Cleese Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat." The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People". Life beyond the Flying Circus Filmography And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums). The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love". The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus". Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend". The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons. Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it." Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four. Going solo Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films. Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman. Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole. Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part. After Python reunions Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live. Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event. The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks. In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques. Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms." The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie. A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman. Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material. In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth. Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved. On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast. Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill. On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans. Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link. Python members Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012. John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin. Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life). When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony. Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia. Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018. Associate Pythons Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail. Other contributors Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python. Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python". Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne. Cultural influence and legacy By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence." A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python." Comedy stylists Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent. Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else." Places In space Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python. In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python. Terrestrial After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese". "Pythonesque" Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language. The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed". The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night). Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points. Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque." TV The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons. Things named after Monty Python Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways. The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!". The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch. In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team. In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour. In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire. The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese. Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. World records On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt. On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!". Timeline Media Television Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes. Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing. Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work. Films Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films: And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah. Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond. Albums Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970) Another Monty Python Record (1971) Monty Python's Previous Record (1972) The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973) Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974) The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Monty Python Live at City Center (1976) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977) Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979) Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983) The Final Rip Off (1987) Monty Python Sings (1989) The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994) Monty Python Sings Again (2014) The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased) Theatre Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series. Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011. Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good". Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Books Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) . The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) . Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) . Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) . The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) . Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) . The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986) Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) . Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) . The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994) Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998) Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002) The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions) Monty Python Live! (2009) Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014) So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014) Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) . Games Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level. Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc. Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game. The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game See also List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus Python (Monty) Pictures The Firesign Theatre References Further reading The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009) Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary) External links Monty Python – Official YouTube page 40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine 2014 interview on return to live shows Monty Python on youtube British comedy troupes British television comedy British surrealist artists British surrealist writers Surreal comedy Surrealist groups Virgin Records artists Arista Records artists BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award European Film Awards winners (people) Charisma Records artists 1969 establishments in England 1983 disestablishments in England British comedy musicians British novelty song performers Black comedy Religious comedy and humour	true	[ "The Monty Python comedy troupe branched off into a variety of different media after the success of their sketch comedy television series, Monty Python's Flying Circus.\n\nTelevision\nMonty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974)\nMonty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972)\nParrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python (1989)\nMonty Python Live at Aspen (1998)\nPython Night – 30 Years of Monty Python (1999)\nMonty Python's Personal Best (2006)\n\nFilms\n And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)\n Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)\n Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)\n Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)\n Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)\n Monty Python Live (Mostly) (2014)\n\nBooks\nThe following official Monty Python books authored by the team members have been published, mostly in large format:\n\n Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) – Hardcover and paperback. Covers vary.\n The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) (Paperback edition issued as The Brand New Monty Python Papperbok)\n Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Book) (1977) (First draft and shooting scripts, with Gilliam pictures, lobby cards, stills, correspondence and cost breakdown - the film script later republished separately as a standard paperback)\n Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979) (Expanded film script plus a lot of extra material published back-to-back with it - the film script later published separately as a standard paperback)\n The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python: Vol. 1 – Monty Python (1981) (a repackaging of both the Big Red Book and the Brand New Bok)\n Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) (Expanded film script with photos)\n The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986) (Reissues of paperback editions of Big Red Book and the Brand New Papperbok wrapped in a mini poster)\n Monty Python's Flying Circus: Just the Words (1989) (Mostly complete transcripts of all 4 television series. Originally published in two volumes)\n The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994)\n Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus - Sämtliche Deutschen Shows (1998) (Germany-only scriptbook for the two Fliegender Zirkus specials)\n A Pocketful of Python - Picked by Terry Jones (1999) (Terry Jones's favorite Python moments.)\n A Pocketful of Python - Picked by John Cleese (1999) (John Cleese's favorite Python moments.)\n A Pocketful of Python - Picked by Terry Gilliam (2000) (Terry Gilliam's favorite Python moments.)\n A Pocketful of Python - Picked by Michael Palin (2000) (Michael Palin's favorite Python moments.)\n A Pocketful of Python - Picked by Eric Idle (2002) (Eric Idle's favorite Python moments.)\n The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003) (Edited by Bob McCabe - a large-format, illustrated coffee table book, oral history of Monty Python told through collection of interviews from Python members and friends; later reissued as small, text-only paperback.)\n The Very Best of Monty Python (2006) (Full-colour paperback combining the five volumes of A Pocketful of Python)\n Monty Python Live! (2009) (A combination of oral history and new Python comedy book including the complete illustrated libretto of Python's live shows)\n\nRecords\nOriginal UK Monty Python album releases:\n Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970)\n Another Monty Python Record (1971)\n Monty Python's Previous Record (1972)\n The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973)\n Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974)\n The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)\n Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)\n Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980)\n Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)\n\nUS-only album release:\n Monty Python Live at City Center (1976)\n\nUK compilation albums:\n The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977)\n The Final Rip Off (1987)\n Monty Python Sings (1989)\n The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994)\n\nUS-only compilation album:\n The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1981)\n\nUK singles:\n Spam Song (1972)\n Eric The Half A Bee (1972)\n Teach Yourself Heath (1972)\n Monty Python's Tiny Black Round Thing (1974)\n Lumberjack Song (1975)\n Python on Song (1976)\n Brian/Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (1979)\n I Like Chinese (1980)\n Galaxy Song (1983)\n Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (1988)\n Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (1991)\n Galaxy Song (1991)\n Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (2014)\n Galaxy Song (2015)\n\nUS-only single:\n The Single (1975)\n\nDocumentaries\n Film Night - On Location with Monty Python and the Holy Grail (BBC 2, 1974)\n The Pythons (BBC 1, 1979)\n The Meaning of Monty Python's Meaning of Life (ITV, 1983)\n Life of Python (US version) (Showtime, 1990)\n Life of Python (UK version) (BBC 1, 1990)\n 30 Years of Monty Python - A Revelation (Paramount Comedy Channel, 1999)\n It's...The Monty Python Story (BBC 2, 1999)\n Pythonland (BBC 2, 1999)\n From Spam To Sperm - Monty Python's Greatest Hits (BBC 2, 1999)\n The Quest for the Holy Grail Locations (DVD, 2001)\n The Meaning of Making The Meaning of Life (DVD, 2003)\n Comedy Connections - Monty Python's Flying Circus (BBC 1, 2005)\n The Secret Life of Brian (Channel 4, 2007)\n What The Pythons Did Next... (Channel 4, 2007)\n The Story of Brian (Alternate extended edit of The Secret Life of Brian) (DVD/Blu-ray, 2007) \n Before the Flying Circus (DVD, 2008)\n Monty Python Conquers America (DVD, 2008)\n Movie Connections - Monty Python and the Holy Grail (BBC 1, 2009)\n Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) (DVD/Blu-ray, 2009)\n The Meaning of Monty Python (Blu-ray, 2013)\n Monty Python: And Now for Something Rather Similar (BBC 1, 2014)\n Monty Python: The Meaning of Live (UKTV Gold, 2014)\n Python at 50: Silly Talks and Holy Grails (BBC 2, 2019)\n\nStage productions\n Spamalot (2004)\n Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy) (2007)\n An Evening Without Monty Python (2009)\n Monty Python Live (Mostly) (2014)\n\nComputer and video games\n\n Monty Python's Flying Circus: The Computer Game (1991)\n Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994)\n Live With(out) Monty Python (1994)\n Monty Python's More Naughty Bits (1994)\n Monty Python's Invasion from the Planet Skyron (1995)\n Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996)\n Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997)\n\nOther collaborations outside Monty Python\nIn addition to their work as a group, the six members have collaborated with each other on numerous other film and television projects outside Monty Python.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n From Fringe to Flying Circus – Roger Wilmut (1980)\n Monty Python: The Case Against Irreverence, Scurrility, Profanity, Vilification, and Licentious Abuse – Robert Hewison (1981)\n Monty Python: Complete and Utter Theory of the Grotesque – John O. Thompson (1982)\n Life of Python – George Perry (1983)\n The First 20 Years of Monty Python – Kim \"Howard\" Johnson (1989)\n And Now for Something Completely Trivial: The Monty Python Trivia and Quiz Book – Kim \"Howard\" Johnson (1991)\n Monty Python: A Chronological Listing of the Troupe's Creative Output and Articles and Reviews About Them, 1969–89 – Douglas L. McCall (1992)\n Life Before and After Monty Python: The Solo Flights of the Flying Circus – Kim \"Howard\" Johnson (1993)\n Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time : An Official Compendium of Answers to Ruddy Questions Not Normally Considered Relevant to Mounties! – Rusel Demaria (1995)\n The First 28 Years of Monty Python – Kim \"Howard\" Johnson (1998)\n Monty Python Speaks! – David Morgan (1999)\n The (Non-Inflatable) Monty Python TV Companion – Jim Yoakum (1999)\n The Pythons' Autobiography by The Pythons (2003)\n Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge, Nudge, Think, Think! – Gary L. Hardcastle and George A. Reisch (2006)\n And Now For Something Completely Digital: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Monty Python – Alan Parker & Mick O'Shea (2006)\n Monty Python's Tunisian Holiday – Kim \"Howard\" Johnson (2008)\n\nMonty Python", "And Now for Something Rather Similar is a documentary about the Monty Python team as they prepare for their first live performances in 34 years. Airing on BBC 1 on 29 June 2014 as part of the Imagine series, the programme is presented by Alan Yentob, who tracks down the five surviving Pythons in the months leading up to their Monty Python Live (Mostly) shows at the O arena in July 2014.\n\nFollowing the press conference announcing the shows and the team’s subsequent appearance on The Graham Norton Show at the end of 2013, Yentob catches up with each Python as they go their separate ways before reuniting in mid 2014. John Cleese is seen performing solo on his Alimony Tour and attending a book launch for his upcoming memoirs, So, Anyway. Michael Palin is in Yorkshire filming the supernatural drama Remember Me for the BBC. Like Cleese, he is also preparing for the launch of a book, in this case his third volume of diaries, Travelling To Work. Meanwhile, Terry Gilliam introduces a private screening of his new film The Zero Theorem and is also busy directing another opera, this time Hector Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini, while Terry Jones is shown directing his first film in almost 20 years, Absolutely Anything.\n\nWhile all this is happening, Yentob charts the progress of Eric Idle, who has taken on the job of directing the reunion shows. At one point they drive through Hollywood to collect Monty Python’s famous albatross from storage to return it to England - the stuffed bird having previously been transported to the US for one of Idle’s solo tours. Choreographer Arlene Philips and composer John Du Prez are seen rehearsing the dance routines and musical numbers respectively, while Idle works out the show's running order. Some sketches originally considered for inclusion, including \"Gumby Brain Specialist\" and \"Custard Pie\", would be cut from the final line-up.\n\nThe documentary ends with the five Pythons beginning a full dress rehearsal. The ten night run of shows began two days after the programme aired.\n\nCast\n Alan Yentob\n John Cleese\n Terry Gilliam\n Eric Idle\n Terry Jones\n Michael Palin\n Arlene Philips\n John Du Prez\n Simon Pegg\n Jennifer Wade\n\nCredits\n Jack Cocker - Cinematographer, Producer & Director\n Holly Gilliam - Associate Producer\n Valentine Douglas, Andrew Quigley - Film Editors\n Alan Yentob - Series Editor\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2014 documentary films\n2014 television films\n2014 films\nBritish documentary films\nBritish films\nDocumentary films about comedy and comedians\nEnglish-language films\nMonty Python films" ]
[ "Monty Python", "Associate Pythons", "What are the associate pythons?", "Several people have been accorded unofficial \"Associate Python\" status over the years.", "Who are the associate pythons?", "Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland.", "What Monty Python films or shows did they work on?", "Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films," ]	C_b73ea799479f4df5aa67c44bf5186fe9_0	What were Carol Cleveland's contribution to Monty Python?	4	What were Carol Cleveland's contributions to Monty Python?	Monty Python	Several people have been accorded unofficial "Associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would certainly be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978). By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes has remained silent on the dispute. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. Her common portrayal as the stereotypical "blonde bimbo" eventually earned her the sobriquet "Carol Cleavage" from the other Pythons, but she felt that the variety of her roles should not be described in such a pejorative way. CANNOTANSWER	Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows,	Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy". Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result. At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30. Before Flying Circus Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players. The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus: I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers) The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers) At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer) Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes) We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation) How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member) The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers) The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles. Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold. By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions. Monty Python's Flying Circus Development of the series The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television." After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work." Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush. While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship). Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts. Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent". Style of the show Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python". Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly". Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film. The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments. The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme. The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men. Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street". Introduction to North America and the world The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s. Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success. The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences. Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly". In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case. With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies. In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner. Departure of Cleese Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat." The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People". Life beyond the Flying Circus Filmography And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums). The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love". The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus". Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend". The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons. Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it." Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four. Going solo Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films. Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman. Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole. Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part. After Python reunions Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live. Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event. The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks. In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques. Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms." The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie. A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman. Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material. In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth. Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved. On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast. Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill. On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans. Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link. Python members Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012. John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin. Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life). When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony. Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia. Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018. Associate Pythons Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail. Other contributors Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python. Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python". Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne. Cultural influence and legacy By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence." A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python." Comedy stylists Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent. Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else." Places In space Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python. In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python. Terrestrial After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese". "Pythonesque" Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language. The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed". The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night). Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points. Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque." TV The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons. Things named after Monty Python Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways. The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!". The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch. In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team. In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour. In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire. The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese. Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. World records On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt. On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!". Timeline Media Television Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes. Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing. Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work. Films Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films: And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah. Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond. Albums Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970) Another Monty Python Record (1971) Monty Python's Previous Record (1972) The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973) Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974) The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Monty Python Live at City Center (1976) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977) Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979) Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983) The Final Rip Off (1987) Monty Python Sings (1989) The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994) Monty Python Sings Again (2014) The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased) Theatre Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series. Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011. Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good". Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Books Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) . The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) . Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) . Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) . The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) . Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) . The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986) Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) . Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) . The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994) Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998) Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002) The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions) Monty Python Live! (2009) Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014) So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014) Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) . Games Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level. Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc. Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game. The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game See also List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus Python (Monty) Pictures The Firesign Theatre References Further reading The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009) Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary) External links Monty Python – Official YouTube page 40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine 2014 interview on return to live shows Monty Python on youtube British comedy troupes British television comedy British surrealist artists British surrealist writers Surreal comedy Surrealist groups Virgin Records artists Arista Records artists BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award European Film Awards winners (people) Charisma Records artists 1969 establishments in England 1983 disestablishments in England British comedy musicians British novelty song performers Black comedy Religious comedy and humour	true	[ "Monty Python Live! is a book detailing the various live performances of the Monty Python team between 1971 and 1980. \n\nEdited by Eric Idle, the book was released in 2009 as part of the team’s 40th anniversary celebrations and features recollections from surviving members John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, alongside archive interviews with Graham Chapman. Also contributing are Python regulars Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes, promoter Tony Smith, US manager Nancy Lewis, biographer Kim Howard Johnson and also Carl Reiner.\n\nThe book also contains the script for the 1980 Hollywood Bowl shows (minus the animation and Neil Innes songs), alongside a selection of lesser performed sketches plus some new comedy pieces written specially for the book.\n\nContents\n\nForeplay by Eric Idle\nPythons on the Road – An Oral History…Origins – 1971, The Lancaster Arts Festival, CoventryUK Tour – April-May 24, 1973, Monty Python’s First Farewell TourCanada – Summer 1973, Monty Python’s First Farewell Tour of CanadaLondon – March 1974, Monty Python Live at Drury Lane New York – April 14-May 2, 1976, Monty Python Live at City Center Hollywood – September 26-29, 1980, Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl\nMonty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl – Official Programme\nMonty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl – Act IThe LlamaGumby Flower ArrangingMichelangelo and the PopeInternational WrestlingThe Silly OlympicsWorld ForumThe Ministry of Silly WalksThe BrucesCrunchy FrogTravel AgentCustard PieMonty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl – Act IISit On My FaceCamp JudgesAlbatrossNudge NudgePepperpotsInternational PhilosophyNever Be Rude to an ArabInternational Philosophy Part 2ArgumentI've Got Two LegsFour YorkshiremenFairy TaleParrotSalvation FuzzThe Lumberjack Song\nIn Their Own Words – the Pythons Recall the Touring YearsJohn Cleese: What I RememberMichael Palin: What I RememberTerry Jones: What I RememberEric Idle: What I RememberGraham Chapman: What He RememberedTerry Gilliam: What I RememberNeil Innes: What I RememberCarol Cleveland: What I RememberCarol Cleveland FAQPython on Broadway\nHow to be a Great Fucking Actor\nOccasionally Performed Pieces – Act IIIAnagramsBee KeeperChildren’s StoryButcher’s ShopHungarian Phrase BookThe Dirty ForkThe Death of Mary, Queen of ScotsHearing AidKen ShabbyMichael Miles Game ShowMinister Falling to PiecesSecret ServiceCocktail BarUndertakerBlackmailCourtroomR.A.F. BanterSilly Election\nBook Credits by Stanley Baldwin\nMonty Python would like to thank…\nSpot the Difference\nAt Booksellers Near You!\n\nCredits\nWriters – Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin\nContributing writers – Carol Cleveland, Neil Innes, Tony Smith, Nancy Lewis, Kim Howard Johnson, Carl Reiner\nEditor – Eric Idle\nArt editor – Steve Kirwan\n\nReferences\n\nMonty Python literature\nSimon & Schuster books\n2009 books", "Carol Cleveland (born 13 January 1942) is a British-American actress and comedian, particularly known for her work with Monty Python.\n\nEarly life\nBorn in East Sheen, London, she moved to the United States with her mother and U.S. Air Force stepfather at an early age. She was brought up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Lubbock, Texas; and later Pasadena, California, where she attended John Marshall Junior High School and Pasadena High School. She is a former Miss California Navy and appeared as Miss Teen Queen in MAD Magazine at age 15. Carol was Miss Teen in the August 1958 issue of Dig magazine.\n\nCleveland returned with her family to London in 1960, and studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.\n\nCareer\nA stage actress and model who had appeared as an extra in The Persuaders!, a secretary in The Saint, and other TV shows and films, she started to appear as an extra in BBC comedy productions, including The Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise, and various vehicles for Spike Milligan.\n\nMonty Python\nHer comedy acting brought her to the attention of the production team of Monty Python's Flying Circus. She appeared in 30 of the 45 episodes in the series, plus all four Monty Python movies. Cleveland has contributed to many post-Python projects including the Concert for George and Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy). She has also appeared in many documentaries about the group's history, including Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut).\n\nOther work\nCleveland was voted number three in Splendor magazine's \"100 Most Beautiful Entertainers\" list in 1972.\n\nIn 1986, Cleveland played an American television journalist in Only Fools and Horses, in the episode \"The Miracle of Peckham\"; then in 1995, Cleveland had a small cameo in a sketch within Fist of Fun, a BBC comedy show featuring Stewart Lee and Richard Herring. In 2022, Cleveland appeared on an episode of First Dates.\n\nFilmography\n\nFilm\n\nTelevision\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nApril 2012 interview Monty Python and the Holy Grail Blu-ray\nJune 2014 interview Monty Python Reunion\n Carol Cleveland - Getty Images\n\n1942 births\nLiving people\nEnglish film actresses\nEnglish television actresses\nActresses from London\nEnglish women comedians\nAlumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art\nComedians from London\nMonty Python\nEnglish emigrants to the United States\nPeople from East Sheen\nPasadena High School (California) alumni" ]
[ "Monty Python", "Associate Pythons", "What are the associate pythons?", "Several people have been accorded unofficial \"Associate Python\" status over the years.", "Who are the associate pythons?", "Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland.", "What Monty Python films or shows did they work on?", "Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films,", "What were Carol Cleveland's contribution to Monty Python?", "Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows," ]	C_b73ea799479f4df5aa67c44bf5186fe9_0	Does it mention if Adams is the Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy author?	5	Does the article mention if Adams is the Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy author?	Monty Python	Several people have been accorded unofficial "Associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would certainly be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978). By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes has remained silent on the dispute. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. Her common portrayal as the stereotypical "blonde bimbo" eventually earned her the sobriquet "Carol Cleavage" from the other Pythons, but she felt that the variety of her roles should not be described in such a pejorative way. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy". Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result. At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30. Before Flying Circus Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players. The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus: I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers) The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers) At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer) Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes) We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation) How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member) The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers) The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles. Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold. By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions. Monty Python's Flying Circus Development of the series The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television." After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work." Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush. While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship). Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts. Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent". Style of the show Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python". Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly". Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film. The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments. The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme. The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men. Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street". Introduction to North America and the world The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s. Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success. The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences. Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly". In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case. With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies. In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner. Departure of Cleese Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat." The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People". Life beyond the Flying Circus Filmography And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums). The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love". The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus". Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend". The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons. Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it." Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four. Going solo Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films. Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman. Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole. Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part. After Python reunions Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live. Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event. The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks. In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques. Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms." The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie. A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman. Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material. In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth. Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved. On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast. Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill. On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans. Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link. Python members Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012. John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin. Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life). When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony. Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia. Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018. Associate Pythons Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail. Other contributors Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python. Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python". Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne. Cultural influence and legacy By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence." A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python." Comedy stylists Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent. Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else." Places In space Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python. In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python. Terrestrial After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese". "Pythonesque" Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language. The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed". The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night). Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points. Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque." TV The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons. Things named after Monty Python Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways. The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!". The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch. In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team. In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour. In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire. The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese. Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. World records On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt. On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!". Timeline Media Television Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes. Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing. Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work. Films Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films: And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah. Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond. Albums Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970) Another Monty Python Record (1971) Monty Python's Previous Record (1972) The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973) Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974) The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Monty Python Live at City Center (1976) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977) Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979) Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983) The Final Rip Off (1987) Monty Python Sings (1989) The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994) Monty Python Sings Again (2014) The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased) Theatre Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series. Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011. Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good". Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Books Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) . The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) . Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) . Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) . The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) . Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) . The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986) Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) . Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) . The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994) Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998) Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002) The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions) Monty Python Live! (2009) Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014) So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014) Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) . Games Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level. Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc. Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game. The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game See also List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus Python (Monty) Pictures The Firesign Theatre References Further reading The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009) Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary) External links Monty Python – Official YouTube page 40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine 2014 interview on return to live shows Monty Python on youtube British comedy troupes British television comedy British surrealist artists British surrealist writers Surreal comedy Surrealist groups Virgin Records artists Arista Records artists BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award European Film Awards winners (people) Charisma Records artists 1969 establishments in England 1983 disestablishments in England British comedy musicians British novelty song performers Black comedy Religious comedy and humour	false	[ "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams.\n\nThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy may also refer to:\n\n The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), a 1978 radio series\n The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (novel), a 1979 novel\n The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series), a 1981 BBC TV series \n The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (video game), a 1984 text-based computer game by Infocom\n The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film), a 2005 film by Garth Jennings\n The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (fictional), the book as it appears in the franchise\n\nSee also\n H2g2, a British-based collaborative online encyclopedia project founded by Douglas Adams in 1999", "Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion is a book by Neil Gaiman about Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The book was originally published in 1986 in the United States and United Kingdom () by Titan Books.\n\nA second edition, retitled Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy was published in the United Kingdom in July 1993, containing additional material by David K. Dickson ().\n\nA third edition, with another slight title revision (now known as Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) was published in the UK by Titan Books in June 2002, and contains further additional material, this time by M. J. Simpson ().\n\nAn updated edition was published by Titan Books in October 2003 ().\n\nA further edition was published by Titan Books in September 2009 ().\n\nThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy\n1988 books\nBooks by Neil Gaiman" ]
[ "Monty Python", "Associate Pythons", "What are the associate pythons?", "Several people have been accorded unofficial \"Associate Python\" status over the years.", "Who are the associate pythons?", "Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland.", "What Monty Python films or shows did they work on?", "Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films,", "What were Carol Cleveland's contribution to Monty Python?", "Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows,", "Does it mention if Adams is the Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy author?", "I don't know." ]	C_b73ea799479f4df5aa67c44bf5186fe9_0	What films did Neil Innes work on?	6	What films did Neil Innes work on?	Monty Python	Several people have been accorded unofficial "Associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would certainly be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978). By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes has remained silent on the dispute. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. Her common portrayal as the stereotypical "blonde bimbo" eventually earned her the sobriquet "Carol Cleavage" from the other Pythons, but she felt that the variety of her roles should not be described in such a pejorative way. CANNOTANSWER	Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch,	Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy". Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result. At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30. Before Flying Circus Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players. The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus: I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers) The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers) At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer) Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes) We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation) How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member) The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers) The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles. Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold. By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions. Monty Python's Flying Circus Development of the series The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television." After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work." Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush. While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship). Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts. Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent". Style of the show Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python". Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly". Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film. The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments. The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme. The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men. Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street". Introduction to North America and the world The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s. Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success. The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences. Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly". In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case. With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies. In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner. Departure of Cleese Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat." The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People". Life beyond the Flying Circus Filmography And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums). The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love". The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus". Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend". The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons. Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it." Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four. Going solo Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films. Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman. Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole. Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part. After Python reunions Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live. Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event. The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks. In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques. Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms." The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie. A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman. Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material. In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth. Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved. On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast. Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill. On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans. Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link. Python members Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012. John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin. Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life). When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony. Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia. Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018. Associate Pythons Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail. Other contributors Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python. Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python". Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne. Cultural influence and legacy By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence." A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python." Comedy stylists Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent. Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else." Places In space Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python. In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python. Terrestrial After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese". "Pythonesque" Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language. The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed". The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night). Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points. Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque." TV The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons. Things named after Monty Python Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways. The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!". The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch. In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team. In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour. In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire. The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese. Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. World records On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt. On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!". Timeline Media Television Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes. Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing. Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work. Films Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films: And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah. Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond. Albums Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970) Another Monty Python Record (1971) Monty Python's Previous Record (1972) The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973) Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974) The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Monty Python Live at City Center (1976) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977) Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979) Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983) The Final Rip Off (1987) Monty Python Sings (1989) The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994) Monty Python Sings Again (2014) The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased) Theatre Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series. Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011. Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good". Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Books Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) . The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) . Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) . Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) . The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) . Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) . The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986) Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) . Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) . The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994) Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998) Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002) The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions) Monty Python Live! (2009) Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014) So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014) Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) . Games Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level. Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc. Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game. The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game See also List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus Python (Monty) Pictures The Firesign Theatre References Further reading The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009) Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary) External links Monty Python – Official YouTube page 40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine 2014 interview on return to live shows Monty Python on youtube British comedy troupes British television comedy British surrealist artists British surrealist writers Surreal comedy Surrealist groups Virgin Records artists Arista Records artists BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award European Film Awards winners (people) Charisma Records artists 1969 establishments in England 1983 disestablishments in England British comedy musicians British novelty song performers Black comedy Religious comedy and humour	true	[ "How Sweet to Be an Idiot is the first solo album by Neil Innes, formerly of the Bonzo Dog Band, and was released in 1973. Innes later said of this time \n\nStewart Mason, reviewing the album for Allmusic, described it as \"split between tongue-in-cheek parody and straight pop songs\" and containing \"solidly melodic Beatlesque pop\", but was critical of the \"unfortunate sterility to Innes' self-production\".\n\nThe title track was released as a single (with B-side \"The Age of Desperation\") but failed to chart. It was a more instrumented version than on the album, arranged by Richard Hewson. Its melody was borrowed by Oasis for their single \"Whatever\", released in 1994; Innes claimed plagiarism and as a result received royalties and a co-writing credit.\n\nThe album was re-released by United Artists in 1980 under the title Neil Innes A-Go-Go and by EMI in 1994 with additional tracks – most of which had been released on singles – under the title Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues. This edition of the album was dedicated to Ollie Halsall, who had died in 1992, and former Bonzo Dog bassist Dennis Cowan, who had died in 1972; it featured a guest appearance by Michael Palin on the title track.\n\nA review of the release by Mark Deming of Allmusic was more appreciative than that of his predecessor, saying that \"most [of the tracks] walk a graceful tightrope between sly humor and solid pop-friendly rock & roll\" and recommending that \"anyone who digs a great hook played with heart should get to know the music of Neil Innes\".\n\nInnes performed the title song on Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl and on Monty Python Live at Drury Lane. Surviving members of Monty Python performed the song for Terry Jones's funeral at Golders Green Cemetery.\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs written by Neil Innes\nHow Sweet to Be an Idiot and Neil Innes-A-Go-Go have identical track listings\n\nSide one\n \"Prologue\" – 0:49\n \"Momma Bee\" – 2:47\n \"Immortal Invisible\" – 4:04\n \"Topless A-Go-Go\" – 4:08\n \"Feel No Shame\" – 6:12\n\nSide two\n \"How Sweet To Be An Idiot\" – 2:45\n \"Dream On\" – 3:04 [listed as \"Dream\" on Neil Innes-A-Go-Go]\n \"L'Amour Perdu\" – 2:10\n \"Song For Yvonne\" – 2:52\n \"This Love of Ours\" – 2:57\n \"Singing A Song Is Easy\" – 5:08\n\nTrack listing for Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues\n \"Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues\" – 3:33\n \"Angelina\" – 2:50\n \"Come Out into the Open\" – 3:42\n \"Prologue\" – 0:51\n \"Momma Bee\" – 2:54\n \"Lie Down and Be Counted\" – 3:09\n \"Immortal Invisible\" – 4:12\n \"Age of Desperation\" – 2:34\n \"Topless-A-Go-Go\" – 4:04\n \"Feel No Shame\" – 6:24\n \"How Sweet To Be an Idiot\" – 2:51\n \"Dream On\" – 3:05\n \"L'Amour Perdu\" – 2:17\n \"Song for Yvonne\" – 2:57\n \"This Love of Ours\" – 3:04\n \"Fluff on the Needle\" – 5:36\n \"Singing a Song Is Easy\" – 5:04\n \"Bandwagon\" (Live) – 4:31\n\nPersonnel\n Neil Innes – vocals, guitar, piano\n Andy Roberts – rhythm guitar\n Mike Kellie – drums\n Dave Richards – bass guitar\n Ollie Halsall – lead guitar, organ\n Gerry Conway – drums on *\n The Mucrons – backing vocals\n Dennis Cowan – guitar on additional tracks for re-release\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links \nNeill Innes Solo albums page\n\n1973 debut albums\nUnited Artists Records albums\nEMI Records albums\nNeil Innes albums\nAlbums produced by Neil Innes", "Taking Off is the second solo album by Neil Innes and was released in 1977.\n\nIn 2005 the album was released on CD, paired with The Innes Book of Records.\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs written by Neil Innes\n \"Crystal Balls\" - 2:57\n \"Catch Phrase\" - 2:48\n \"God is Love\" - 3:42\n \"Randy Raquel\" - 3:23\n \"Shangri-La\" - 3:51\n \"Drama On a Saturday Night\" - 4:59\n \"Dreams Shine Through\" - 3:50\n \"Busy Day\" - 3:26\n \"Three Piece Suite\" - 3:35\n \"La Vie En Rose\" - 3:15\n\nPersonnel\n Neil Innes - vocals, piano, arrangements\n John Halsey - drums\n Timi Donald - drums\n Brian Hodgson - bass guitar\n Alan James - bass guitar\n Richard Lee - double bass\n Billy Bremner - guitar\n Roger Rettig - guitar, steel guitar\n John Megginson - piano, arrangements\n Julian Smedley - vocals, violin \n Keith Nelson - banjo\n Willie Fahey - flute, saxophone\n Jon Field - congas\n Brian Bowles - vocals\n Sue Jones-Davies - vocals\nTechnical\nHugh Jones, Dave Charles - engineer\n\nReferences \n\n1977 albums\nArista Records albums\nNeil Innes albums\nAlbums produced by Neil Innes\nAlbums recorded at Rockfield Studios" ]
[ "Monty Python", "Associate Pythons", "What are the associate pythons?", "Several people have been accorded unofficial \"Associate Python\" status over the years.", "Who are the associate pythons?", "Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland.", "What Monty Python films or shows did they work on?", "Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films,", "What were Carol Cleveland's contribution to Monty Python?", "Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows,", "Does it mention if Adams is the Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy author?", "I don't know.", "What films did Neil Innes work on?", "Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch," ]	C_b73ea799479f4df5aa67c44bf5186fe9_0	Are there any famous sketches Innes wrote or appeared in for Monty Python?	7	Are there any famous sketches Innes wrote or appeared in for Monty Python?	Monty Python	Several people have been accorded unofficial "Associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would certainly be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978). By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes has remained silent on the dispute. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. Her common portrayal as the stereotypical "blonde bimbo" eventually earned her the sobriquet "Carol Cleavage" from the other Pythons, but she felt that the variety of her roles should not be described in such a pejorative way. CANNOTANSWER	He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash	Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy". Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result. At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30. Before Flying Circus Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players. The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus: I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers) The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers) At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer) Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes) We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation) How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member) The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers) The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles. Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold. By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions. Monty Python's Flying Circus Development of the series The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television." After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work." Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush. While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship). Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts. Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent". Style of the show Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python". Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly". Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film. The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments. The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme. The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men. Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street". Introduction to North America and the world The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s. Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success. The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences. Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly". In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case. With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies. In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner. Departure of Cleese Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat." The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People". Life beyond the Flying Circus Filmography And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums). The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love". The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus". Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend". The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons. Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it." Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four. Going solo Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films. Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman. Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole. Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part. After Python reunions Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live. Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event. The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks. In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques. Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms." The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie. A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman. Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material. In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth. Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved. On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast. Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill. On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans. Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link. Python members Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012. John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin. Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life). When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony. Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia. Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018. Associate Pythons Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years. Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail. Other contributors Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python. Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python". Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne. Cultural influence and legacy By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence." A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python." Comedy stylists Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent. Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else." Places In space Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python. In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python. Terrestrial After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese". "Pythonesque" Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language. The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed". The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night). Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points. Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque." TV The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons. Things named after Monty Python Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways. The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!". The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch. In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team. In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour. In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire. The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese. Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. World records On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt. On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!". Timeline Media Television Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes. Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing. Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work. Films Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films: And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah. Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond. Albums Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970) Another Monty Python Record (1971) Monty Python's Previous Record (1972) The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973) Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974) The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Monty Python Live at City Center (1976) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977) Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979) Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980) The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983) The Final Rip Off (1987) Monty Python Sings (1989) The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994) Monty Python Sings Again (2014) The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased) Theatre Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series. Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011. Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good". Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Books Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) . The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) . Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) . Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) . The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) . Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981) Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) . The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986) Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) . Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) . The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994) Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998) Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999) A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000) A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002) The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions) Monty Python Live! (2009) Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014) So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014) Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) . Games Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level. Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc. Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game. The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game See also List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus Python (Monty) Pictures The Firesign Theatre References Further reading The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009) Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary) External links Monty Python – Official YouTube page 40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine 2014 interview on return to live shows Monty Python on youtube British comedy troupes British television comedy British surrealist artists British surrealist writers Surreal comedy Surrealist groups Virgin Records artists Arista Records artists BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award European Film Awards winners (people) Charisma Records artists 1969 establishments in England 1983 disestablishments in England British comedy musicians British novelty song performers Black comedy Religious comedy and humour	true	[ "Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He collaborated with Monty Python and played in the Rutles and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.\n\nEarly life\nInnes was born in Danbury in Essex. His Scottish father was a warrant officer in the British Army, and Innes spent his childhood in West Germany where his father was deployed with the British Army of the Rhine. He took piano lessons from age 7 to 14 and taught himself to play guitar. His parents were supportive of their children's artistic leanings, and his father also drew and painted. After returning to the United Kingdom, Innes received his formal education at Thorpe Grammar School, the Norwich School of Art and Goldsmiths College, London, where he studied fine art. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from Goldsmiths in 1966.\n\nCareer\n\nThe Bonzo Dog (Doo-dah) Band\n\nWhile still at Goldsmiths, Innes joined a semi-professional college band originally called the Bonzo Dog Dada Band (after Bonzo the dog, an illustrated cartoon character from the 1920s, and the art movement Dada), which was later renamed the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band after the group tired of constantly explaining the concept of Dada to confused onlookers (and later still the band name was officially shortened to the Bonzo Dog Band). At this point the band, which then had a revolving membership of anything up to a dozen players at a time, largely performed a dada-influenced, deliberately shambolic, comedic repertoire of trad-jazz cover versions at local public houses and college events, to the delight and occasional bemusement of audiences. Innes had met the band's co-founders Vivian Stanshall and Rodney Slater some time earlier when they and bandmate \"Legs\" Larry Smith were studying at the Central School of Art, but Innes' official entry into the band was actually facilitated by his then-landlord and college tutor, Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell, who just happened to also be the band's bass guitarist at the time. Innes' induction into the band proved to be fundamental to their eventual success when he brought a more focused and disciplined musical direction to their efforts, with his talents as a composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist. At the band's creative peak in 1968 and 1969, Innes, alone and together with Stanshall, composed most of the band's original material, including his solo composition (and sole Bonzos hit) \"I'm the Urban Spaceman\", (produced by Apollo C. Vermouth, a collective alias for Paul McCartney and Gus Dudgeon), and \"Death Cab for Cutie\" (with lyrics by Stanshall), which featured in the Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour (1967). Innes won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Novel(ty) Song in 1968 for \"I'm the Urban Spaceman\".\n\nDuring the same creatively-fertile 1968/69 period, Innes and the Bonzo Dog Band also appeared each week in both seasons of the British children's television series Do Not Adjust Your Set which also featured future Monty Python members Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam. Although initially intended to appeal solely to children, the show's surreal and absurdist nature soon also attracted a large adult following.\n\nAfter the break-up of the Bonzo Dog Band in early 1970, Innes joined with former Dog Band bassist Dennis Cowan, drummer Ian Wallace and guitarist Roger McKew to form The World, a band hoping for \"more commercial\" success with music ranging from rock to pure pop, yet still retaining some Doo-Dah flavour and even some of the humour. However, by the time their sole album, Lucky Planet, was released in late 1970 the members had already disbanded and were moving on to other projects.\n\nGRIMMS and Monty Python\nThe 1970s proved to be a highly prolific decade for Innes as a solo artist, band member and live stage and television performer.\n\nIn 1971, Innes briefly reunited with most of his former Bonzo Dog Band colleagues to record their reunion/contractual obligation album Let's Make Up and Be Friendly, and he, Vivian Stanshall and Dennis Cowan also formed a short-lived touring band named Freaks with Keith Moon on drums. This in turn led Innes and Stanshall to a union with The Scaffold and other musicians, poets and performers later that year as GRIMMS. While Stanshall effectively bowed out of this group soon after its formation, Innes remained as one of the permanent core members for the next five years, working with Andy Roberts, Roger McGough, John Gorman, Mike McGear, Dave Richards, Brian Patten, Adrian Henri, John Megginson, future Rutles bandmates Ollie Halsall and John Halsey, and Gerry Conway (among many others). Although GRIMMS was initially conceived purely as a touring revue-type ensemble, early 1973 saw the release of their self-titled live album, followed by a second studio-recorded album Rockin' Duck at the end of the same year. GRIMMS remained an informal enough setup throughout this period to allow the various members to come and go as they pleased and continue with their own outside musical, performing and literary careers, and in 1973 Innes also recorded his debut solo album How Sweet To Be An Idiot, aided and abetted by various GRIMMS. The group also undertook regular and extensive tours of the UK university and theatre circuit throughout its existence, releasing a book of humorous poetry, lyrics and photographs in 1974 entitled Clowns On The Road detailing some of their experiences. The final GRIMMS studio LP Sleepers was released in 1976, after which their activities as a group ceased.\n\nIn the mid-1970s, Innes became closely associated with the Monty Python team, having first worked with Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Eric Idle on the 1960s television show Do Not Adjust Your Set. He contributed music to the Monty Python albums Monty Python's Previous Record (1972) and The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973), and played a major role in performing and writing songs and sketches for their final TV series in 1974, after John Cleese temporarily left the troupe. He wrote a squib of a song called \"George III\" for the episode \"The Golden Age of Ballooning\", which was sung by the Flirtations but billed onscreen as the Ronettes. He also wrote the song \"When Does a Dream Begin?\", used in \"Anything Goes: The Light Entertainment War\". He co-wrote the \"Most Awful Family in Britain\" sketch and played a humorous stilted guitar version of the theme song, \"The Liberty Bell\" march, during the credits of the last episode, \"Party Political Broadcast\". He is one of only two non-Pythons ever to be credited writers for the TV series, the other being Douglas Adams (who co-wrote the \"Patient Abuse\" sketch, also featured in \"Party Political Broadcast\").\n\nHe appeared on stage with the Pythons in the UK and Canada in 1973, in London in 1974 and in New York City in 1976, performing the Bob Dylanesque \"Protest Song\" (complete with harmonica) on the album Monty Python Live at City Center. He was introduced as Raymond Scum. After his introduction he told the audience, \"I've suffered for my music. Now it's your turn.\" In 1980, he travelled to the States with the Pythons again, subsequently appearing in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He performed the songs \"How Sweet to Be an Idiot\" and \"I'm the Urban Spaceman\". He also appeared as one of the singing \"Bruces\" in the Philosopher Sketch and as a Church Policeman in the \"Salvation Fuzz\" sketch.\n\nInnes wrote original songs for the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), such as \"Knights of the Round Table\" and \"Brave Sir Robin\". He appeared in the film as a head-bashing monk, the serf crushed by the giant wooden rabbit, and the leader of Sir Robin's minstrels. He also had small roles in Terry Gilliam's Jabberwocky (1977) and Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), and performed the whistling on the latter's hit song, \"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life\". His collaborations with Monty Python and other artists were documented in the musical film The Seventh Python (2008), which premiered at the Mods & Rockers Film Festival on 26 June 2008.\n\nRutland Weekend Television, The Rutles, and The Innes Book of Records\n\nAfter Monty Python finished its original run on UK television, Innes joined Eric Idle on the series Rutland Weekend Television. This was a Pythonesque sketch show based in a fictional low-budget regional television station, which ran for two series in 1975–76. Songs and sketches from the series appeared on a 1976 BBC LP, The Rutland Weekend Songbook. One short sketch on the show spawned the Rutles (the \"prefab four\"), which was an affectionate pastiche of the Beatles. In the sketch Innes portrayed the character of Ron Nasty, a character based on John Lennon, while Idle portrayed Dirk McQuickly (a character based on Paul McCartney), and the fictional group briefly performed 'I Must Be In Love', a suitably Beatlesque pastiche written by Innes.\n\nEric Idle later played a videotape of the Rutles sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1976 during an appearance as guest host, and the favourable response led to a 1978 American-made spin-off TV movie, All You Need Is Cash, with Innes and Idle again playing Nasty and McQuickly. While Idle and Innes co-created the original Rutles sketch concept, Idle wrote the screenplay for the film on his own, and Innes composed all of the songs for the project without any input from Idle (Dirk McQuickly's musical contributions on the soundtrack were performed by guitarist/singer Ollie Halsall while Idle lip-synched them in the film). Innes' songs consequently appeared on the soundtrack album The Rutles, released by Warner Bros in 1978.\n\nThe songs written by Innes so closely pastiched the original source material that he was consequently taken to court by the owners of the Beatles' catalogue. Innes had to testify under oath that he had not listened to the songs at all while composing the Rutles' songs, but had created them completely originally based on what he remembered various songs by the Beatles sounding like at different times. Many years later, Innes' own music publisher demanded a co-writing credit for Innes from Beatles-influenced band Oasis, for their 1994 song \"Whatever\", as it directly lifted parts of its melody from Innes' 1973 song \"How Sweet to Be an Idiot\". This event was subsequently referenced in the Rutles' song \"Shangri-La\" on their 1996 reunion album The Rutles Archaeology, which was itself a parody of The Beatles Anthology.\n\nAfter Rutland Weekend Television, Innes made a solo series in 1979 on BBC television, The Innes Book of Records, which ran for three series until 1981. The series offered an early example of music-video presentation, albeit on a shoestring BBC budget, centred around new recordings of many of Innes' older compositions along with new material written specially for the show. In keeping with Innes' usual whimsically surreal style, each episode was linked by a loose and often absurdist theme and also featured an eccentric guest performer (such as Stanley Unwin or Percy Edwards) or musician (such as Ivor Cutler or Jake Thackray). Innes' former bandmate Vivian Stanshall also appeared in one episode, reciting his own surrealist monologue about the English seaside.\n\nOther television work\nDuring the 1980s, Innes delved into children's entertainment. This new career path began when he took over from Tom Baker as host of Yorkshire TV's The Book Tower for the ITV network. He went on to play the role of the Magician in the live-action children's television series Puddle Lane, also made by Yorkshire Television. He also wrote and voiced the 1980s children's cartoon adventures of The Raggy Dolls, a motley collection of \"rejects\" from a toy factory. The 65 episodes for Yorkshire Television included the characters Sad Sack, Hi-Fi, Lucy, Dotty, Back-to-Front, Princess and Claude.\n\nHe also composed and performed original music and songs for children's television, including Puddle Lane, The Raggy Dolls, The Riddlers and Tumbledown Farm. He brought Monty Python's Terry Jones's book Fairy Tales to television as East of the Moon. He contributed all the stories and music on this production. He was also involved with the popular children's show Tiswas.\n\nReunion concerts\nAt the time of The Beatles Anthology CDs, there was a revival of interest in the Rutles and a new album was released in 1996 entitled Archaeology.\n\nIn 1998, Innes hosted a 13-episode television series for Anglia Television, called Away with Words, in which he travelled to different areas of Britain to explore the origins of well-known words and phrases.\n\nInnes took part, along with the remaining Monty Python members, in the 2002 Concert for George, in memory of George Harrison.\n\nInnes was occasionally heard (often as the butt of jokes) standing in as the pianist for the BBC Radio 4 panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.\n\nInnes toured the UK in 2006 and produced a new Bonzo CD as part of the Bonzo Dog Band's 40th Anniversary tour. In 2008 he undertook the Neil Innes and Fatso 30th Anniversary tour, playing predominantly Rutles numbers with a few Bonzos and Python items.\n\nThe Idiot Bastard Band\nIn late 2010, Innes announced the formation of the Idiot Bastard Band, a comedy musical collective featuring himself, Adrian Edmondson, Phill Jupitus, Simon Brint and Rowland Rivron. The band debuted, with an 8-week residency, at the Wilmington Arms in Clerkenwell, London in December, playing a range of comedy songs old and new, with deliberately little rehearsal.\n\nNew concerts were scheduled in 2011. Jupitus was unable to attend due to prior commitments and was replaced by several special guests, including Paul Whitehouse, Barry Cryer and Nigel Planer. Following the death of Brint, the band performed a further tour in 2012.\n\nPersonal life and death\nWhile a student at Goldsmiths College, London, in the mid-1960s Innes met Yvonne Catherine Hilton; they married on 3 March 1966. The couple had three sons, Miles (b. 1967), Luke (b. 1971), and Barney (b. 1978).\n\nInnes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years. Fellow entertainers, including John Cleese and Stephen Fry, paid tribute to him. The League of Gentlemen star Mark Gatiss also paid tribute to Innes. Comedian Diane Morgan called him \"one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and a towering talent,\" and director Edgar Wright said he was \"forever a fan\" of Innes.\n\nDiscography\nSingles\n\nSolo albums\n\nHow Sweet to Be an Idiot (1973)\nThe Rutland Weekend Songbook (with Eric Idle) (1976)\nTaking Off (1977)\nThe Innes Book of Records (1979)\nOff the Record (1982)\nErik the Viking (soundtrack) (1989)\nRe-Cycled Vinyl Blues (compilation LP, 1994)\nRecollections 1 (2000)\nRecollections 2 (2001)\nRecollections 3 (2001)\nWorks in Progress (2005)\nDogman (A Comedy Musical Story For Children) (2005)\nInnes Own World – Best Bits Part One (2010)\nInnes Own World – Best Bits Part Two (2010)\nBack Catalogue: Silly Songs (2010)\nBack Catalogue: Love Songs (2010)\nBack Catalogue: Protest Songs (2010)\nBack Catalogue: Party Songs (2010)\nFarewell Posterity Tour (with Fatso) (2014)\nNearly Really (2019)\n\nThe Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band\nGorilla (1967)\nThe Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse (1968)\nTadpoles (1969)\nKeynsham (1969)\nLet's Make Up and Be Friendly (1972)\nPour l'Amour des Chiens (2007)\n\nThe World\nLucky Planet (1970)\n\nGRIMMS\n\nGrimms (1973)\nRockin' Duck (1973)\nSleepers (1976)\n\nBooks\n\"Gloom, Doom & Very Funny Money: Economics For Half-wits\"\npublished:29 October 1992 (Hardback & Paperback)\npublisher:Piccadilly Press Ltd.\n\nwith GRIMMS:\n\n\"Clowns On The Road\"\npublished: 3 October 1974 (Paperback)\npublisher: Methuen Publishing Ltd.\n\nThe Raggy Dolls series with Melvyn Jacobsen:\n\n\"Hot Air Balloon\" (25 January 1990)\n\"Moving House\" (25 January 1990)\n\"Royal Tour\" (25 January 1990)\n\"A Trip To The Sea\" (25 January 1990)\n\"In Days Of Old\" (18 October 1990)\n\"Stolen Parrot\" (18 October 1990)\n\"Treehouse\" (18 October 1990)\n\"We Are Not Amused\" (18 October 1990)\n\"The Raggy Dolls Activity Book\" (30 November 1990)\nall published in paperback\nall published by:Boxtree Ltd.\n\nwith John Dowie:\n\n\"Dogman: A Comedy Musical Story For Children\"\npublished:4 April 2007 ( Audio book with paperback book edition)\npublished by:Laughing Stock Productions Ltd.\nstory by John Dowie, narrated by Phil Jupitus, with songs by Neil innes\n\nReferences\nCitations\n\nSources\n\nExternal links \n\n NeilinnesOrg channel at YouTube\n The Rutles website\n Doo Dah Diaries – The project to compile the complete history of the Bonzos\n \n \n - 2011\n \"Neil Innes, 1944-2019: A ninja of comedy and melody who touched Python, The Beatles, Oasis and beyond\" at nme.com\n\n1944 births\n2019 deaths\n20th-century English comedians\n20th-century English writers\n21st-century English comedians\n21st-century English writers\nAlumni of Goldsmiths, University of London\nAlumni of Norwich University of the Arts\nAlumni of the Central School of Art and Design\nBonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band members\nBritish novelty song performers\nBritish surrealist artists\nEnglish comedy musicians\nEnglish expatriates in France\nEnglish male comedians\nEnglish people of Scottish descent\nEnglish pianists\nEnglish songwriters\nIvor Novello Award winners\nMonty Python\nParody musicians\nPeople from Danbury, Essex\nThe Rutles members\nWriters from Essex\nGrimms members", "The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the first film soundtrack album by Monty Python, released in 1975. It features selected scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail interspersed with a large volume of new studio material, much of which centers on a spoof screening of the film at the Classic Silbury Hill Theatre. Also among the new items is the \"Marilyn Monroe\" sketch, which Graham Chapman co-wrote with Douglas Adams - the pair having recently collaborated on the fourth series of Monty Python.\n\nThe album is billed as the 'Executive Version' as a joke on popular 'special editions\"' of albums that contained extra tracks unavailable on earlier versions. Naturally, no other version of this album existed when it was originally released. On the A-side of the original UK vinyl release, the engraved text by George Peckham around the label reads: \"AN EXECUTIVE PORKY PRIME CUT\", while on the B-side it reads: \"THIS IS THE SMALL DETAILED WRITING ON THE RECORD OF THE ALBUM OF THE SOUNDTRACK OF THE TRAILER OF THE FILM OF MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL - THIS WRITING IS NOT INCLUDED ON THE EXECUTIVE VERSION OF THE ALBUM OF THE SOUNDTRACK OF THE TRAILER OF THE FILM OF MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL\".\n\nThe album reached No. 45 in the UK album charts.\n\nA CD reissue in 1997 contains extended versions of two sketches, \"Arrival At Castle\" and \"French Taunter\"; this CD reissue also contains \"The Bridge of Death\". These additions are not available on any other version of the album.\n\nIn 2006, a special edition was released containing three bonus tracks, consisting of two demos of unused Neil Innes songs and an audio extract of a documentary from the film's DVD release. This version of the CD does not contain \"The Bridge of Death\" or the two extended sketches.\n\nAlso in 2006, yet another CD reissue was included within Monty Python and the Holy Grail: 'The Extraordinarily Deluxe DVD Edition'. The bonus features disc had instructions on how to play the record; this CD does not contain \"The Bridge of Death\", the bonus tracks, or the two extended versions.\n\nA limited edition picture disc of the album was released on 29 August 2020, as part of Record Store Day. This added the film's 40th anniversary trailer to the start of the album.\n\nTrack listing\n\nSide One\nIntroduction To The Executive Version\nTour Of The Classic Silbury Hill Theatre\nLive Broadcast From London: Premiere Of The Film\nNarration From The Silbury Hill Gentlemen's Room \nArrival At Castle (extended version on 1997 CD)\nBring Out Your Dead\nConstitutional Peasants\nWitch Burning\nLogician\nCamelot Song\nThe Quest For The Holy Grail\nLive From The Parking Lot At The Silbury Hill Theatre\nFrench Taunter (extended version on 1997 CD)\nBomb Scare\n\nSide Two\nThis Is Side Two!\nExecutive Version Announcement - Apology\nThe Story So Far\nBrave Sir Robin\nThe Knights Who Say Ni!\nMarilyn Monroe\nSwamp Castle\nTim the Enchanter\nDrama Critique\nHoly Hand Grenade of Antioch\nThe Bridge of Death (1997 CD version only)\nExecutive Version Addendum\nFrench Taunter - Part 2\nLast Word\n\nBonus Tracks on the 2006 special edition\nArthur's Song\nDocumentary - Terry Jones And Michael Palin\nRun Away Song\n\nMusic credits\nThe following is the list of musical works included on the album. They comprise a mixture of De Wolfe library music, self-penned Python songs and specially composed music by Neil Innes.\n\n Jeunesse (A. Mawer)\n Honours List (K. Papworth)\n Big Country (K. Papworth)\n Homeward Bound (T. Trombey)\n God Choir (Neil Innes)\n Fanfare (Neil Innes)\n Camelot Song (Graham Chapman, John Cleese & Neil Innes)\n Sunrise Music (Neil Innes)\n Magic Finger (K. Papworth)\n Sir Robin's Song (Eric Idle & Neil Innes)\n In The Shadows (No.3) (Paul Ferris)\n Desperate Moment (K. Essex)\n Knights Of Ni (Neil Innes)\n Circle Of Danger (B. Holmes)\n Love Theme (P. Knight)\n Magenta (R. Webb)\n Starlet In The Starlight (K. Essex)\n Monks Chant (Neil Innes)\n The Promised Land (S. Black)\n\nReferences \n\nMonty Python soundtracks\nMonty Python and the Holy Grail\n1975 soundtrack albums\nArista Records soundtracks\nCharisma Records soundtracks" ]
[ "Harry Houdini", "Buried alive stunt" ]	C_06b9531629e14f8c8797fd4dc6caf543_0	what year did he do the buried alive stunt?	1	What year did Harry Houdini do the buried alive stunt?	Harry Houdini	Houdini performed at least three variations on a buried alive stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost Houdini his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing." Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing. He repeated the feat at the YMCA in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes. Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed buried alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit to New York following his death on Halloween. CANNOTANSWER	The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost Houdini his life.	Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, illusionist, stunt performer and mysteriarch, noted for his escape acts. He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the United States and then as "Harry 'Handcuff' Houdini" on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it. In 1904, thousands watched as he tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by London's Daily Mirror, keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state of near-breakdown. While many suspected that these escapes were faked, Houdini presented himself as the scourge of fake spiritualists. As President of the Society of American Magicians, he was keen to uphold professional standards and expose fraudulent artists. He was also quick to sue anyone who imitated his escape stunts. Houdini made several movies but quit acting when it failed to bring in money. He was also a keen aviator and aimed to become the first man to fly a powered aircraft in Australia. Early life Erik Weisz was born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary to a Jewish family. His parents were rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz (1829–1892) and Cecília Steiner (1841–1913). Houdini was one of seven children: Herman M. (1863–1885), who was Houdini's half-brother by Rabbi Weisz's first marriage; Nathan J. (1870–1927); Gottfried William (1872–1925); Theodore (1876–1945); Leopold D. (1879–1962); and Carrie Gladys (1882–1959), who was left almost blind after a childhood accident. Weisz arrived in the United States on July 3, 1878, on the SS Fresia with his mother (who was pregnant) and his four brothers. The family changed their name to the German spelling Weiss, and Erik became Ehrich. The family lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his father served as rabbi of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation. According to the 1880 census, the family lived on Appleton Street in an area that is now known as Houdini Plaza. On June 6, 1882, Rabbi Weiss became an American citizen. Losing his job at Zion in 1882, Rabbi Weiss and family moved to Milwaukee and fell into dire poverty. In 1887, Rabbi Weiss moved with Ehrich to New York City, where they lived in a boarding house on East 79th Street. He was joined by the rest of the family once rabbi Weiss found permanent housing. As a child, Ehrich Weiss took several jobs, making his public début as a nine-year-old trapeze artist, calling himself "Ehrich, the Prince of the Air". He was also a champion cross country runner in his youth. Magic career When Weiss became a professional magician he began calling himself "Harry Houdini", after the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, after reading Robert-Houdin's autobiography in 1890. Weiss incorrectly believed that an i at the end of a name meant "like" in French. In later life, Houdini claimed that the first part of his new name, Harry, was an homage to American magician Harry Kellar, whom he also admired, though it was likely adapted from "Ehri", a nickname for "Ehrich", which is how he was known to his family. When he was a teenager, Houdini was coached by the magician Joseph Rinn at the Pastime Athletic Club. Houdini began his magic career in 1891, but had little success. He appeared in a tent act with strongman Emil Jarrow. He performed in dime museums and sideshows, and even doubled as "The Wild Man" at a circus. Houdini focused initially on traditional card tricks. At one point, he billed himself as the "King of Cards". Some – but not all – professional magicians would come to regard Houdini as a competent but not particularly skilled sleight-of-hand artist, lacking the grace and finesse required to achieve excellence in that craft. He soon began experimenting with escape acts. In 1894, while performing with his brother "Dash" (Theodore) at Coney Island as "The Brothers Houdini", Houdini met a fellow performer, Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner. Bess was initially courted by Dash, but she and Houdini married, with Bess replacing Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis". For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess worked as his stage assistant. Houdini's big break came in 1899 when he met manager Martin Beck in St. Paul, Minnesota. Impressed by Houdini's handcuffs act, Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts and booked him on the Orpheum vaudeville circuit. Within months, he was performing at the top vaudeville houses in the country. In 1900, Beck arranged for Houdini to tour Europe. After some days of unsuccessful interviews in London, Houdini's British agent Harry Day helped him to get an interview with C. Dundas Slater, then manager of the Alhambra Theatre. He was introduced to William Melville and gave a demonstration of escape from handcuffs at Scotland Yard. He succeeded in baffling the police so effectively that he was booked at the Alhambra for six months. His show was an immediate hit and his salary rose to $300 a week (). Between 1900 and 1920 he appeared in theatres all over Great Britain performing escape acts, illusions, card tricks and outdoor stunts, becoming one of the world's highest paid entertainers. He also toured the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Russia and became widely known as "The Handcuff King". In each city, Houdini challenged local police to restrain him with shackles and lock him in their jails. In many of these challenge escapes, he was first stripped nude and searched. In Moscow, he escaped from a Siberian prison transport van, claiming that, had he been unable to free himself, he would have had to travel to Siberia, where the only key was kept. In Cologne, he sued a police officer, Werner Graff, who alleged that he made his escapes via bribery. Houdini won the case when he opened the judge's safe (he later said the judge had forgotten to lock it). With his new-found wealth, Houdini purchased a dress said to have been made for Queen Victoria. He then arranged a grand reception where he presented his mother in the dress to all their relatives. Houdini said it was the happiest day of his life. In 1904, Houdini returned to the U.S. and purchased a house for $25,000 (), a brownstone at 278 W. 113th Street in Harlem, New York City. While on tour in Europe in 1902, Houdini visited Blois with the aim of meeting the widow of Emile Houdin, the son of Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, for an interview and permission to visit his grave. He did not receive permission but still visited the grave. Houdini believed that he had been treated unfairly and later wrote a negative account of the incident in his magazine, claiming he was "treated most discourteously by Madame W. Emile Robert-Houdin". In 1906, he sent a letter to the French magazine L'Illusionniste stating: "You will certainly enjoy the article on Robert Houdin I am about to publish in my magazine. Yes, my dear friend, I think I can finally demolish your idol, who has so long been placed on a pedestal that he did not deserve." In 1906, Houdini created his own publication, the Conjurers' Monthly Magazine. It was a competitor to The Sphinx, but was short-lived and only two volumes were released until August 1908. Magic historian Jim Steinmeyer has noted that "Houdini couldn't resist using the journal for his own crusades, attacking his rivals, praising his own appearances, and subtly rewriting history to favor his view of magic." From 1907 and throughout the 1910s, Houdini performed with great success in the United States. He freed himself from jails, handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjackets, often while hanging from a rope in sight of street audiences. Because of imitators, Houdini put his "handcuff act" behind him on January 25, 1908, and began escaping from a locked, water-filled milk can. The possibility of failure and death thrilled his audiences. Houdini also expanded his repertoire with his escape challenge act, in which he invited the public to devise contraptions to hold him. These included nailed packing crates (sometimes lowered into water), riveted boilers, wet sheets, mail bags, and even the belly of a whale that had washed ashore in Boston. Brewers in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and other cities challenged Houdini to escape from a barrel after they filled it with beer. Many of these challenges were arranged with local merchants in one of the first uses of mass tie-in marketing . Rather than promote the idea that he was assisted by spirits, as did the Davenport Brothers and others, Houdini's advertisements showed him making his escapes via dematerializing, although Houdini himself never claimed to have supernatural powers. After much research, Houdini wrote a collection of articles on the history of magic, which were expanded into The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin published in 1908. In this book he attacked his former idol Robert-Houdin as a liar and a fraud for having claimed the invention of automata and effects such as aerial suspension, which had been in existence for many years. Many of the allegations in the book were dismissed by magicians and researchers who defended Robert-Houdin. Magician Jean Hugard would later write a full rebuttal to Houdini's book. Houdini introduced the Chinese Water Torture Cell at the Circus Busch in Berlin, Germany, on September 21, 1912. He was suspended upside-down in a locked glass-and-steel cabinet full to overflowing with water, holding his breath for more than three minutes. He would go on performing this escape for the rest of his life. During his career, Houdini explained some of his tricks in books written for the magic brotherhood. In Handcuff Secrets (1909), he revealed how many locks and handcuffs could be opened with properly applied force, others with shoestrings. Other times, he carried concealed lockpicks or keys. When tied down in ropes or straitjackets, he gained wiggle room by enlarging his shoulders and chest, moving his arms slightly away from his body. His straitjacket escape was originally performed behind curtains, with him popping out free at the end. Houdini's brother (who was also an escape artist, billing himself as Theodore Hardeen) discovered that audiences were more impressed when the curtains were eliminated so they could watch him struggle to get out. On more than one occasion, they both performed straitjacket escapes while dangling upside-down from the roof of a building in the same city. For most of his career, Houdini was a headline act in vaudeville. For many years, he was the highest-paid performer in American vaudeville. One of Houdini's most notable non-escape stage illusions was performed at the New York Hippodrome, when he vanished a full-grown elephant from the stage. He had purchased this trick from the magician Charles Morritt. In 1923, Houdini became president of Martinka & Co., America's oldest magic company. The business is still in operation today. He also served as president of the Society of American Magicians ( S.A.M.) from 1917 until his death in 1926. Founded on May 10, 1902, in the back room of Martinka's magic shop in New York, the Society expanded under the leadership of Harry Houdini during his term as national president from 1917 to 1926. Houdini was magic's greatest visionary. He sought to create a large, unified national network of professional and amateur magicians. Wherever he traveled, he gave a lengthy formal address to the local magic club, made speeches, and usually threw a banquet for the members at his own expense. He said "The Magicians Clubs as a rule are small: they are weak ... but if we were amalgamated into one big body the society would be stronger, and it would mean making the small clubs powerful and worthwhile. Members would find a welcome wherever they happened to be and, conversely, the safeguard of a city-to-city hotline to track exposers and other undesirables". For most of 1916, while on his vaudeville tour, Houdini had been recruiting—at his own expense—local magic clubs to join the S.A.M. in an effort to revitalize what he felt was a weak organization. Houdini persuaded groups in Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City to join. As had happened in London, he persuaded magicians to join. The Buffalo club joined as the first branch, (later assembly) of the Society. Chicago Assembly No. 3 was, as the name implies, the third regional club to be established by the S.A.M., whose assemblies now number in the hundreds. In 1917, he signed Assembly Number Three's charter into existence, and that charter and this club continue to provide Chicago magicians with a connection to each other and to their past. Houdini dined with, addressed, and got pledges from similar clubs in Detroit, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Cincinnati and elsewhere. This was the biggest movement ever in the history of magic. In places where no clubs existed, he rounded up individual magicians, introduced them to each other, and urged them into the fold. By the end of 1916, magicians' clubs in San Francisco and other cities that Houdini had not visited were offering to become assemblies. He had created the richest and longest-surviving organization of magicians in the world. It now embraces almost 6,000 dues-paying members and almost 300 assemblies worldwide. In July 1926, Houdini was elected for the ninth successive time President of the Society of American Magicians. Every other president has only served for one year. He also was President of the Magicians' Club of London. In the final years of his life (1925/26), Houdini launched his own full-evening show, which he billed as "Three Shows in One: Magic, Escapes, and Fraud Mediums Exposed". Notable escapes Daily Mirror challenge In 1904, the London Daily Mirror newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from special handcuffs that it claimed had taken Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from Birmingham, five years to make. Houdini accepted the challenge for March 17 during a matinée performance at London's Hippodrome theatre. It was reported that 4000 people and more than 100 journalists turned out for the much-hyped event. The escape attempt dragged on for over an hour, during which Houdini emerged from his "ghost house" (a small screen used to conceal the method of his escape) several times. On one occasion he asked if the cuffs could be removed so he could take off his coat. The Mirror representative, Frank Parker, refused, saying Houdini could gain an advantage if he saw how the cuffs were unlocked. Houdini promptly took out a penknife and, holding the knife in his teeth, used it to cut his coat from his body. Some 56 minutes later, Houdini's wife appeared on stage and gave him a kiss. Many thought that in her mouth was the key to unlock the special handcuffs. However, it has since been suggested that Bess did not in fact enter the stage at all, and that this theory is unlikely due to the size of the six-inch key. Houdini then went back behind the curtain. After an hour and ten minutes, Houdini emerged free. As he was paraded on the shoulders of the cheering crowd, he broke down and wept. Houdini later said it was the most difficult escape of his career. After Houdini's death, his friend Martin Beck was quoted in Will Goldston's book, Sensational Tales of Mystery Men, as admitting that Houdini was bested that day and had appealed to his wife, Bess, for help. Goldston goes on to claim that Bess begged the key from the Mirror representative, then slipped it to Houdini in a glass of water. It was stated in the book The Secret Life of Houdini that the key required to open the specially designed Mirror handcuffs was six inches long, and could not have been smuggled to Houdini in a glass of water. Goldston offered no proof of his account, and many modern biographers have found evidence (notably in the custom design of the handcuffs) that the Mirror challenge may have been arranged by Houdini and that his long struggle to escape was pure showmanship. This escape was discussed in depth on the Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum in an interview with Houdini expert, magician and escape artist Dorothy Dietrich of Scranton's Houdini Museum. A full-sized design of the same Mirror Handcuffs, as well as a replica of the Bramah style key for it, is on display to the public at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This set of cuffs is believed to be one of only six in the world, some of which are not on display. Milk Can Escape In 1908, Houdini introduced his own original act, the Milk Can Escape. In this act, Houdini was handcuffed and sealed inside an oversized milk can filled with water and made his escape behind a curtain. As part of the effect, Houdini invited members of the audience to hold their breath along with him while he was inside the can. Advertised with dramatic posters that proclaimed "Failure Means A Drowning Death", the escape proved to be a sensation. Houdini soon modified the escape to include the milk can being locked inside a wooden chest, being chained or padlocked. Houdini performed the milk can escape as a regular part of his act for only four years, but it has remained one of the acts most associated with him. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, continued to perform the milk can escape and its wooden chest variant into the 1940s. The American Museum of Magic has the milk can and overboard box used by Houdini. After other magicians proposed variations on the Milk Can Escape, Houdini claimed that the act was copyrighted and settled out of court in 1906 a case with John Clempert, one of the most persistent imitators, who agreed to publish an apology. Chinese water torture cell Around 1912, the vast number of imitators prompted Houdini to replace his milk can act with the Chinese water torture cell. In this escape, Houdini's feet were locked in stocks, and he was lowered upside down into a tank filled with water. The mahogany and metal cell featured a glass front, through which audiences could clearly see Houdini. The stocks were locked to the top of the cell, and a curtain concealed his escape. In the earliest version of the torture cell, a metal cage was lowered into the cell, and Houdini was enclosed inside that. While making the escape more difficult – the cage prevented Houdini from turning – the cage bars also offered protection should the front glass break. The original cell was built in England, where Houdini first performed the escape for an audience of one person as part of a one-act play he called "Houdini Upside Down". This was so he could copyright the effect and have grounds to sue imitators, which he did. While the escape was advertised as "The Chinese Water Torture Cell" or "The Water Torture Cell", Houdini always referred to it as "the Upside Down" or "USD". The first public performance of the USD was at the Circus Busch in Berlin, on September 21, 1912. Houdini continued to perform the escape until his death in 1926. Suspended straitjacket escape One of Houdini's most popular publicity stunts was to have himself strapped into a regulation straitjacket and suspended by his ankles from a tall building or crane. Houdini would then make his escape in full view of the assembled crowd. In many cases, Houdini drew tens of thousands of onlookers who brought city traffic to a halt. Houdini would sometimes ensure press coverage by performing the escape from the office building of a local newspaper. In New York City, Houdini performed the suspended straitjacket escape from a crane being used to build the subway. After flinging his body in the air, he escaped from the straitjacket. Starting from when he was hoisted up in the air by the crane, to when the straitjacket was completely off, it took him two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. There is film footage in the Library of Congress of Houdini performing the escape. Films of his escapes are also shown at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. After being battered against a building in high winds during one escape, Houdini performed the escape with a visible safety wire on his ankle so that he could be pulled away from the building if necessary. The idea for the upside-down escape was given to Houdini by a young boy named Randolph Osborne Douglas (March 31, 1895 – December 5, 1956), when the two met at a performance at Sheffield's Empire Theatre. Overboard box escape Another of Houdini's most famous publicity stunts was to escape from a nailed and roped packing crate after it had been lowered into water. He first performed the escape in New York's East River on July 7, 1912. Police forbade him from using one of the piers, so he hired a tugboat and invited press on board. Houdini was locked in handcuffs and leg-irons, then nailed into the crate which was roped and weighed down with two hundred pounds of lead. The crate was then lowered into the water. He escaped in 57 seconds. The crate was pulled to the surface and found still to be intact, with the manacles inside. Houdini performed this escape many times, and even performed a version on stage, first at Hamerstein's Roof Garden where a tank was specially built, and later at the New York Hippodrome. Buried alive stunt Houdini performed at least three variations on a buried alive stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost him his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing". Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing. He repeated the feat at the YMCA in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes. Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed buried alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit to New York following his death on Halloween. Movie career In 1906, Houdini started showing films of his outside escapes as part of his vaudeville act. In Boston, he presented a short film called Houdini Defeats Hackenschmidt. Georg Hackenschmidt was a famous wrestler of the day, but the nature of their contest is unknown as the film is lost. In 1909, Houdini made a film in Paris for Cinema Lux titled Merveilleux Exploits du Célèbre Houdini à Paris (Marvellous Exploits of the Famous Houdini in Paris). It featured a loose narrative designed to showcase several of Houdini's famous escapes, including his straitjacket and underwater handcuff escapes. That same year Houdini got an offer to star as Captain Nemo in a silent version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but the project never made it into production. It is often erroneously reported that Houdini served as special-effects consultant on the Wharton/International cliffhanger serial, The Mysteries of Myra, shot in Ithaca, New York, because Harry Grossman, director of The Master Mystery also filmed a serial in Ithaca at about the same time. The consultants on the serial were pioneering Hereward Carrington and Aleister Crowley. In 1918, Houdini signed a contract with film producer B. A. Rolfe to star in a 15-part serial, The Master Mystery (released in November 1918). As was common at the time, the film serial was released simultaneously with a novel. Financial difficulties resulted in B. A. Rolfe Productions going out of business, but The Master Mystery led to Houdini being signed by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation/Paramount Pictures, for whom he made two pictures, The Grim Game (1919) and Terror Island (1920). The Grim Game was Houdini's first full-length movie and is reputed to be his best. Because of the flammable nature of nitrate film and their low rate of survival, film historians considered the film lost. One copy did exist hidden in the collection of a private collector only known to a tiny group of magicians that saw it. Dick Brookz and Dorothy Dietrich of The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, had seen it twice on the invitation of the collector. After many years of trying, they finally got him to agree to sell the film to Turner Classic Movies who restored the complete 71-minute film. The film, not seen by the general public for 96 years was shown by TCM on March 29, 2015, as a highlight of their yearly 4-day festival in Hollywood. While filming an aerial stunt for The Grim Game, two biplanes collided in mid-air with a stuntman doubling Houdini dangling by a rope from one of the planes. Publicity was geared heavily toward promoting this dramatic "caught on film" moment, claiming it was Houdini himself dangling from the plane. While filming these movies in Los Angeles, Houdini rented a home in Laurel Canyon. Following his two-picture stint in Hollywood, Houdini returned to New York and started his own film production company called the "Houdini Picture Corporation". He produced and starred in two films, The Man from Beyond (1921) and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923). He also founded his own film laboratory business called The Film Development Corporation (FDC), gambling on a new process for developing motion picture film. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, left his own career as a magician and escape artist to run the company. Magician Harry Kellar was a major investor. In 1919 Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a residence owned by Ralph M. Walker. The Houdini Estate, a tribute to Houdini, is located on on 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Previously home to Walker himself. The Houdini Estate is subject to controversy, in that it is disputed whether Houdini ever actually made it his home. While there are claims it was Houdini's house, others counter that "he never set foot" on the property. It is rooted in Bess's parties or seances, etc. held across the street, she would do so at the Walker mansion. In fact, the guesthouse featured an elevator connecting to a tunnel that crossed under Laurel Canyon to the big house grounds (though capped, the tunnel still exists)./ Neither Houdini's acting career nor FDC found success, and he gave up on the movie business in 1923, complaining that "the profits are too meager". In April 2008, Kino International released a DVD box set of Houdini's surviving silent films, including The Master Mystery, Terror Island, The Man From Beyond, Haldane of the Secret Service, and five minutes from The Grim Game. The set also includes newsreel footage of Houdini's escapes from 1907 to 1923, and a section from Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à Paris, although it is not identified as such. Aviator In 1909, Houdini became fascinated with aviation. He purchased a French Voisin biplane for $5,000 () and hired a full-time mechanic, Antonio Brassac. After crashing once, he made his first successful flight on November 26 in Hamburg, Germany. The following year, Houdini toured Australia. He brought along his Voisin biplane with the intention to be the first person in Australia to fly. Falsely reported as pioneer On March 18, 1910, he made three flights at Diggers Rest, Victoria, near Melbourne. It was reported at the time that this was the first aerial flight in Australia, and a century later, some major news outlets still credit him with this feat. Wing Commander Harry Cobby wrote in Aircraft in March 1938 that "the first aeroplane flight in the Southern Hemisphere was made on December 9, 1909, by Mr Colin Defries, a Londoner, at Victoria Park Racecourse, Sydney, in a Wilbur Wright aeroplane". Colin Defries was a trained pilot, having learnt to fly in Cannes, France. By modern standards his flight time was minimal, but in 1909 he had accumulated enough to become an instructor. On his first flight he took off, maintained straight and level flight, albeit briefly, and landed safely. His crash landing on his second flight, when he tried to retrieve his hat which was blown off, demonstrated what a momentary lack of attention could cause while flying a Wright Model A. It is accepted by Australian historians and the Aviation Historical Society of Australia that the definition of flight established by the Gorell Committee on behalf of the Aero Club of Great Britain dictates the acceptance of a flight or its rejection, giving Colin Defries credit as the first to make an aeroplane flight in Australia, and the Southern Hemisphere. Additionally, aviation pioneer Richard Pearse is believed by many New Zealand historians to have undertaken his first flight as early as 1902, which would give him not only the Southern Hemisphere but the World record, although this is disputed. In 1965, aviation journalist Stanley Brogden formed the view that the first powered flight in Australia took place at Bolivar in South Australia; the aircraft was a Bleriot monoplane with Fred Custance as the pilot. The flight took place on March 17, 1910. The next day when Houdini took to the air, the Herald newspaper reported Custance's flight, stating it had lasted 5 minutes 25 seconds at a height of between 12 and 15 feet. In 2010, Australia Post issued stamps commemorating Colin Defries, Houdini and John Robertson Duigan, crediting only Defries and Duigan with historical firsts. Duigan was an Australian pioneer aviator who built and flew the first Australian-made aircraft. Australia Post did acknowledge the part Houdini played in their article "Harry Houdini can't escape being part of Australia's history" but did not attribute any record to him. After Australia After completing his Australia tour, Houdini put the Voisin into storage in England. He announced he would use it to fly from city to city during his next music hall tour, and even promised to leap from it handcuffed, but he never flew again. Debunking spiritualists In the 1920s, Houdini turned his energies toward debunking psychics and mediums, a pursuit that was in line with the debunkings by stage magicians since the late nineteenth century. Houdini's training in magic allowed him to expose frauds who had successfully fooled many scientists and academics. He was a member of a Scientific American committee that offered a cash prize to any medium who could successfully demonstrate supernatural abilities. None was able to do so, and the prize was never collected. The first to be tested was medium George Valiantine of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. As his fame as a "ghostbuster" grew, Houdini took to attending séances in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and police officer. Possibly the most famous medium whom he debunked was Mina Crandon, also known as "Margery". Joaquín Argamasilla, known as the "Spaniard with X-ray Eyes", claimed to be able to read handwriting or numbers on dice through closed metal boxes. In 1924, he was exposed by Houdini as a fraud. Argamasilla peeked through his simple blindfold and lifted up the edge of the box so he could look inside it without others noticing. Houdini also investigated the Italian medium Nino Pecoraro, whom he considered to be fraudulent. Houdini's exposing of phony mediums has inspired other magicians to follow suit, including The Amazing Randi, Dorothy Dietrich, Penn & Teller, and Dick Brookz. Houdini chronicled his debunking exploits in his book, A Magician Among the Spirits, co-authored with C. M. Eddy, Jr., who was not credited. These activities compromised Houdini's friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle, a firm believer in spiritualism during his later years, refused to believe any of Houdini's exposés. Doyle came to believe that Houdini was a powerful spiritualist medium, and had performed many of his stunts by means of paranormal abilities and was using these abilities to block those of other mediums that he was "debunking". This disagreement led to the two men becoming public antagonists and Sir Arthur came to view Houdini as a dangerous enemy. Before Houdini died, he and his wife agreed that if Houdini found it possible to communicate after death, he would communicate the message "Rosabelle believe", a secret code which they agreed to use. Rosabelle was their favorite song. Bess held yearly séances on Halloween for ten years after Houdini's death. She did claim to have contact through Arthur Ford in 1929 when Ford conveyed the secret code, but Bess later said the incident had been faked. The code seems to have been such that it could be broken by Ford or his associates using existing clues. Evidence to this effect was discovered by Ford's biographer after he died in 1971. In 1936, after a last unsuccessful séance on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel, she put out the candle that she had kept burning beside a photograph of Houdini since his death. In 1943, Bess said that "ten years is long enough to wait for any man." The tradition of holding a séance for Houdini continues, held by magicians throughout the world. The Official Houdini Séance was organized in the 1940s by Sidney Hollis Radner, a Houdini aficionado from Holyoke, Massachusetts. Yearly Houdini séances are also conducted in Chicago at the Excalibur nightclub by "necromancer" Neil Tobin on behalf of the Chicago Assembly of the Society of American Magicians; and at the Houdini Museum in Scranton by magician Dorothy Dietrich, who previously held them at New York's Magic Towne House with such magical notables as Houdini biographers Walter B. Gibson and Milbourne Christopher. Gibson was asked by Bess Houdini to carry on the original seance tradition. After doing them for many years at New York's Magic Towne House, before he died, Walter passed on the tradition of conducting of the Original Seances to Dorothy Dietrich. In 1926, Harry Houdini hired H. P. Lovecraft and his friend C. M. Eddy, Jr., to write an entire book about debunking religious miracles, which was to be called The Cancer of Superstition. Houdini had earlier asked Lovecraft to write an article about astrology, for which he paid $75 (). The article does not survive. Lovecraft's detailed synopsis for Cancer does survive, as do three chapters of the treatise written by Eddy. Houdini's death derailed the plans, as his widow did not wish to pursue the project. Appearance and voice recordings Unlike the image of the classic magician, Houdini was short and stocky and typically appeared on stage in a long frock coat and tie. Most biographers give his height as , but descriptions vary. Houdini was also said to be slightly bow-legged, which aided in his ability to gain slack during his rope escapes. In the 1997 biography Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss, author Kenneth Silverman summarizes how reporters described Houdini's appearance during his early career: Houdini made the only known recordings of his voice on Edison wax cylinders on October 29, 1914, in Flatbush, New York. On them, Houdini practices several different introductory speeches for his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell. He also invites his sister, Gladys, to recite a poem. Houdini then recites the same poem in German. The six wax cylinders were discovered in the collection of magician John Mulholland after his death in 1970. They are part of the David Copperfield collection. Personal life Houdini became an active Freemason and was a member of St. Cecile Lodge No. 568 in New York City. In 1904, Houdini bought a New York City townhouse at 278 West 113th Street in Harlem. He paid US$25,000 () for the five-level, 6,008-square-foot house, which was built in 1895, and lived in it with his wife Bess, and various other relatives until his death in 1926. In March 2018, it was purchased for $3.6 million. A plaque affixed to the building by the Historical Landmark Preservation Center reads, "The magician lived here from 1904 to 1926 collecting illusions, theatrical memorabilia, and books on psychic phenomena and magic." In 1919, Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a house of his friend and business associate Ralph M. Walker, who owned both sides of the street, 2335 and 2400, the latter address having a pool where Houdini practiced his water escapes. 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, previously numbered 2398, is presently known as The Houdini Estate, thus named in the honor of Houdini's time there, the same estate where Bess Houdini threw a party for 500 magicians years after his death. After decades of abandonment, the estate was acquired in 2006 by José Luis Nazar, a Chilean/American citizen who has restored it to its former splendor. In 1918, he registered for selective service as Harry Handcuff Houdini. Death Harry Houdini died of peritonitis, secondary to a ruptured appendix, at 1:26 p.m. on October 31, 1926, in Room 401 at Detroit's Grace Hospital, aged 52. In his final days, he believed that he would recover, but his last words before dying were reportedly, "I'm tired of fighting... I do not want to fight anymore..." Witnesses to an incident at Houdini's dressing room in the Princess Theatre in Montreal speculated that Houdini's death was caused by Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead (November 25, 1895 – July 5, 1954), who repeatedly struck Houdini's abdomen. The accounts of the witnesses, students named Jacques Price and Sam Smilovitz (sometimes called Jack Price and Sam Smiley), generally corroborated one another. Price said that Whitehead asked Houdini "if he believed in the miracles of the Bible" and "whether it was true that punches in the stomach did not hurt him". Houdini offered a casual reply that his stomach could endure a lot. Whitehead then delivered "some very hammer-like blows below the belt". Houdini was reclining on a couch at the time, having broken his ankle while performing several days earlier. Price said that Houdini winced at each blow and stopped Whitehead suddenly in the midst of a punch, gesturing that he had had enough, and adding that he had had no opportunity to prepare himself against the blows, as he did not expect Whitehead to strike him so suddenly and forcefully. Had his ankle not been broken, he would have risen from the couch into a better position to brace himself. Throughout the evening, Houdini performed in great pain. He was unable to sleep and remained in constant pain for the next two days, but did not seek medical help. When he finally saw a doctor, he was found to have a fever of and acute appendicitis, and was advised to have immediate surgery. He ignored the advice and decided to go on with the show. When Houdini arrived at the Garrick Theater in Detroit, Michigan, on October 24, 1926, for what would be his last performance, he had a fever of . Despite the diagnosis, Houdini took the stage. He was reported to have passed out during the show, but was revived and continued. Afterwards, he was hospitalized at Detroit's Grace Hospital. It is unclear whether the dressing room incident caused Houdini's eventual death, as the relationship between blunt trauma and appendicitis is uncertain. One theory suggests that Houdini was unaware that he was suffering from appendicitis, and might have been aware had he not received blows to the abdomen. After taking statements from Price and Smilovitz, Houdini's insurance company concluded that the death was due to the dressing-room incident and paid double indemnity. Houdini grave site Houdini's funeral was held on November 4, 1926, in New York, with more than 2,000 mourners in attendance. He was interred in the Machpelah Cemetery in Glendale, Queens, with the crest of the Society of American Magicians inscribed on his grave site. A statuary bust was added to the exedra in 1927, a rarity, because graven images are forbidden in Jewish cemeteries. In 1975, the bust was destroyed by vandals. Temporary busts were placed at the grave until 2011 when a group who came to be called The self-named Houdini Commandos, from the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, placed a permanent bust with the permission of Houdini's family and of the cemetery. The Society of American Magicians took responsibility for the upkeep of the site, as Houdini had willed a large sum of money to the organization he had grown from one club to 5,000–6,000 dues-paying membership worldwide. The payment of upkeep was abandoned by the society's dean George Schindler, who said "Houdini paid for perpetual care, but there's nobody at the cemetery to provide it", adding that the operator of the cemetery, David Jacobson, "sends us a bill for upkeep every year but we never pay it because he never provides any care." Members of the Society tidy the grave themselves. Machpelah Cemetery operator Jacobson said that they "never paid the cemetery for any restoration of the Houdini family plot in my tenure since 1988", claiming that the money came from the cemetery's dwindling funds. The granite monuments of Houdini's sister, Gladys, and brother, Leopold were also destroyed by vandals. For many years, until recently, the Houdini grave site has been only cared for by Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Society of American Magicians, at its National Council Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2013, under the prompting of Dietrich and Brookz, voted to assume the financial responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Houdini Gravesite. In MUM Magazine, the Society's official magazine, President Dal Sanders announced "Harry Houdini is an icon as revered as Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe. He is not only a magical icon; his gravesite bears the seal of The Society of American Magicians. That seal is our brand and we should be proud to protect it. This gravesite is clearly our responsibility and I'm proud to report that the National Council unanimously voted to maintain Houdini's final resting place." The Houdini Gravesite Restoration Committee under the Chairmanship of National President David Bowers, is working closely with National President Kenrick "Ice" McDonald to see this project to completion. Bowers said it is a foregone conclusion that the Society will approve the funding request, because "Houdini is responsible for the Society of American Magicians being what it is today. We owe a debt of gratitude to him." Like Bowers, McDonald said the motivation behind the repairs is to properly honor the grave of the "Babe Ruth of magicians". "This is hallowed ground," he said. "When you ask people about magicians, the first thing they say is Harry Houdini." While the actual plot will remain under the control of Machpelah Cemetery management, the Society of American Magicians, with the help of the Houdini Museum in Pennsylvania, will be in charge of the restoration. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz have been caring for the escape artist's Queens grave over the years. "This is a monument where people go and visit on a daily basis," said Dietrich who is spearheading restoration efforts. "The nearly 80-year-old popular plot at the Machpelah Cemetery has fallen into disrepair over the years." "The Houdini Museum has teamed with The Society of American Magicians, one of the oldest fraternal magic organizations in the world, to give the beloved site a facelift." The organization has a specific Houdini gravesite committee made up of nine members headed up by President elect David Bowers who brought this project to the Society's attention. Kenrick "Ice" McDonald, the current president of the Society of American Magicians said, "You have to know the history. Houdini served as President from 1917 until his death in 1926. Houdini's burial site needs an infusion of cash to restore it to its former glory." Magician Dietrich said the repairs could cost "tens of thousands of dollars", after consulting with glass experts and grave artisans. "It's a wonderful project, but it's taken a lifetime to get people interested," she said. "It's long overdue, and it's great that it's happening." Houdini was a living superhero," Dietrich said. "He wasn't just a magician and escape artist, he was a great humanitarian." To this day, the Society holds a broken wand ceremony at the grave every November. Houdini's widow, Bess, died of a heart attack on February 11, 1943, aged 67, in Needles, California, while on a train en route from Los Angeles to New York City. She had expressed a wish to be buried next to her husband, but instead was interred 35 miles due north at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester County, New York, as her Catholic family refused to allow her to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Proposed exhumation On March 22, 2007, Houdini's grand-nephew (the grandson of his brother Theo), George Hardeen, announced that the courts would be asked to allow exhumation of Houdini's body, to investigate the possibility of Houdini being murdered by spiritualists, as suggested in the biography The Secret Life of Houdini. In a statement given to the Houdini Museum in Scranton, the family of Bess Houdini opposed the application and suggested it was a publicity ploy for the book. The Washington Post stated that the press conference was not arranged by the family of Houdini. Instead, the Post reported, it was orchestrated by authors Kalush and Sloman, who hired the public relations firm Dan Klores Communications to promote their book. In 2008, it was revealed the parties involved had not filed legal papers to perform an exhumation. Legacy Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, who returned to performing after Houdini's death, inherited his brother's effects and props. Houdini's will stipulated that all the effects should be "burned and destroyed" upon Hardeen's death. Hardeen sold much of the collection to magician and Houdini enthusiast Sidney Hollis Radner during the 1940s, including the water torture cell. Radner allowed choice pieces of the collection to be displayed at The Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Ontario. In 1995, a fire destroyed the museum. The water torture cell's metal frame remained, and it was restored by illusion builder John Gaughan. Many of the props contained in the museum such as the mirror handcuffs, Houdini's original packing crate, a milk can, and a straitjacket, survived the fire and were auctioned in 1999 and 2008. Radner loaned the bulk of his collection for archiving to the Outagamie Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, but reclaimed it in 2003 and auctioned it in Las Vegas, on October 30, 2004. Houdini was a "formidable collector", and bequeathed many of his holdings and paper archives on magic and spiritualism to the Library of Congress, which became the basis for the Houdini collection in cyberspace. In 1934, the bulk of Houdini's collection of American and British theatrical material, along with a significant portion of his business and personal papers, and some of his collections of other magicians were sold to pay off estate debts to theatre magnate Messmore Kendall. In 1958, Kendall donated his collection to the Hoblitzelle Theatre Library at the University of Texas at Austin. In the 1960s, the Hoblitzelle Library became part of the Harry Ransom Center. The extensive Houdini collection includes a 1584 first edition of Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft and David Garrick's travel diary to Paris from 1751. Some of the scrapbooks in the Houdini collection have been digitized. The collection was exclusively paper-based until April 2016, when the Ransom Center acquired one of Houdini's ball weights with chain and ankle cuff. In October 2016, in conjunction with the 90th anniversary of the death of Houdini, the Ransom Center embarked on a major re-cataloging of the Houdini collection to make it more visible and accessible to researchers. The collection reopened in 2018, with its finding aids posted online. A large portion of Houdini's estate holdings and memorabilia was willed to his fellow magician and friend, John Mulholland (1898–1970). In 1991, illusionist and television performer David Copperfield purchased all of Mulholland's Houdini holdings from Mulholland's estate. These are now archived and preserved in Copperfield's warehouse at his headquarters in Las Vegas. It contains the world's largest collection of Houdini memorabilia, and preserves approximately 80,000 items of memorabilia of Houdini and other magicians, including Houdini's stage props and material, his rebuilt water torture cabinet and his metamorphosis trunk. It is not open to the public, but tours are available by invitation to magicians, scholars, researchers, journalists and serious collectors. In a posthumous ceremony on October 31, 1975, Houdini was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7001 Hollywood Blvd. The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, bills itself as "the only building in the world entirely dedicated to Houdini". It is open to the public year-round by reservation. It includes Houdini films, a guided tour about Houdini's life and a stage magic show. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz opened the facility in 1991. The Magic Castle in Los Angeles, California, a nightclub for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts, features Houdini séances performed by magician Misty Lee. The House of Houdini is a museum and performance venue located at 11, Dísz square in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. It claims to house the largest collection of original Houdini artifacts in Europe. The Houdini Museum of New York is located at Fantasma Magic, a retail magic manufacturer and seller located in Manhattan. The museum contains several hundred pieces of ephemera, most of which belonged to Harry Houdini. In popular culture Houdini appeared as himself in Weird Tales magazine in three ghostwritten fictionalizations of sensational events from his career (issues of March, April, and May–June–July 1924). The third story, "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs," was written by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft based on Houdini's notes. The Houdini-Lovecraft collaboration was envisioned to continue, but the magazine ceased publication for financial reasons. When it resumed later in 1924, Houdini no longer figured in its plans. Houdini (1953)played by Tony Curtis The Great Houdini The Great Houdinis (1976)played by Paul Michael Glaser (TV movie) Ragtime (1981)played by Jeffrey DeMunn, based on the novel by E. L. Doctorow. Jim Corti played him in the original Broadway production of the musical based on the same novel. Houdini is the subject of the song "Houdini" on the 1982 album The Dreaming by Kate Bush. The album's cover art, in which Bush is depicted holding a key in her mouth and bending in to kiss a chained figure whose face is turned away from the camera, is an homage to Bess Houdini. A Magician Amongst the Spirits, a 1982 BBC radio drama about Houdini's life written by Bert Coules Grand Illusion a 1983 episode of the TV series "Simon and Simon" concerns a murder and a book of stolen Houdini magic notes. The Cabinet of Calamari a 1987 episode of the cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters involves the ghost of Houdini and a book of stolen Houdini magic notes. Young Harry Houdini (1987)played by Wil Wheaton & Jeffrey DeMunn (TV movie) A Night at the Magic Castle (1988)played by Arte Johnson Canadian synth-pop duo Kon Kan released the song "Harry Houdini" in 1989. FairyTale: A True Story (1997)played by Harvey Keitel Houdini (1998)played by Johnathon Schaech (TV movie) Mentioned in Joan of Arc's song "God Bless America" on their 1998 album How Memory Works Cremaster 2 (1999)played by Norman Mailer Death Defying Acts (2007)played by Guy Pearce Murdoch Mysteries (2008)played by Joe Dinicol (TV series) Drunk History Season 1, Episode 6: Detroit (2013)played by Ken Marino (TV series) Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctor - Smoke and Mirrors (2013) – played by Tim Beckmann (BBC Audio) Houdini (2014)played by Adrien Brody (TV miniseries) Houdini and Doyle (2016)played by Michael Weston (TV series) Timeless (2016)played by Michael Drayer (TV series) Doctor Who – Harry Houdini's War (2019)played by John Schwab (Big Finish audio play) d'ILLUSION: The Houdini Musical – The Audio Theater Experience (2020)played by Julian R. Decker (Album musical/audiobook) The 2017 song Rosabelle, Believe by UK electronic band Cult With No Name is about the pact Houdini made with his wife on his deathbed. Publications Houdini published numerous books during his career (some of which were written by his good friend Walter B. Gibson, the creator of The Shadow) The Right Way to Do Wrong: An Exposé of Successful Criminals (1906) Handcuff Secrets (1907) The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin (1908), a debunking study of Robert-Houdin's alleged abilities. Magical Rope Ties and Escapes (1920) Miracle Mongers and Their Methods (1920) Houdini's Paper Magic (1921) A Magician Among the Spirits (1924) Houdini Exposes the Tricks Used by the Boston Medium "Margery" (1924) Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (1924), a short story ghostwritten by H. P. Lovecraft. How I Unmask the Spirit Fakers, article for Popular Science (November 1925) How I do My "Spirit Tricks", article for Popular Science (December 1925) Conjuring (1926), article for the Encyclopædia Britannica's 13th edition. Filmography Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à ParisCinema Lux (1909)playing himself The Master MysteryOctagon Films (1918)playing Quentin Locke The Grim GameFamous Players-Lasky/Paramount Pictures (1919)playing Harvey Handford Terror IslandFamous Players Lasky/Paramount (1920)playing Harry Harper The Man from BeyondHoudini Picture Corporation (1922)playing Howard Hillary Haldane of the Secret ServiceHoudini Picture Corporation/FBO (1923)playing Heath Haldane See also List of magic museums List of magicians Ann O'Delia Diss Debar (Swami Laura Horos) David Blaine Walford BodieA friend of Houdini, and fellow magician References Bibliography Gresham, William Lindsay Houdini: The Man Who Walked Through Walls (New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1959). Henning, Doug with Charles Reynolds. Houdini: His Legend and His Magic (New York: Times Books, 1978). . Kellock, Harold. Houdini: His Life-Story from the recollections and documents of Beatrice Houdini, (Harcourt, Brace Co., June 1928). Kendall, Lance. Houdini: Master of Escape (New York: Macrae Smith & Co., 1960). . Meyer, M.D., Bernard C. Houdini: A Mind in Chains (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1976). . Williams, Beryl & Samuel Epstein. The Great Houdini: Magician Extraordinary (New York: Julian Messner, Inc., 1950). Further reading "Who Is Houdini?" by Fred Lockley, Photoplay, June 1920, p. 50. "An Interview with Harry Houdini" by Marcet Haldeman-Julius, Haldeman-Julius Monthly Vol. 2.5 (October 1925), pp. 387–397. Houdini's Escapes and Magic by Walter B. Gibson, Prepared from Houdini's private notebooks Blue Ribbon Books, Inc., 1930. Reveals some of Houdini's magic and escape methods (also released in two separate volumes: Houdini's Magic and Houdini's Escapes). The Secrets of Houdini by J.C. Cannell, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1931. Reveals some of Houdini's escape methods. Houdini and Conan Doyle: The Story of a Strange Friendship by Bernard M. L. Ernst, Albert & Charles Boni, Inc., NY, 1932. Sixty Years of Psychical Research by Joseph Rinn, Truth Seeker Co., 1950, Rinn was a long time close friend of Houdini. Contains detailed information about the last Houdini message (there are 3) and its disclosure. Houdini's Fabulous Magic by Walter B. Gibson and Morris N. Young Chilton, NY, 1960. Excellent reference for Houdini's escapes and some methods (includes the Water Torture Cell). The Houdini Birth Research Committee's Report, Magico Magazine (reprint of report by The Society of American Magicians), 1972. Concludes Houdini was born March 24, 1874, in Budapest. Arthur Ford: The Man Who Talked with the Dead by Allen Spraggett with William V. Rauscher, 1973, pp. 152–165, Chapter 7, The Houdini Affair contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure. Mediums, Mystics and the Occult by Milbourne Christopher, Thomas T. Crowell Co., 1975, pp. 122–145, Arthur Ford-Messages from the Dead, contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure. Houdini: A Definitive Bibliography by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1991. A Description of the Literary Works of Houdini, includes pamphlets from Weltman's collection Believe by William Shatner and Michael Charles Tobias, Berkeley Books, NY 1992. Houdini: Escape into Legend, The Early Years: 1862–1900 by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1993. Examination of Houdini's childhood and early career. Houdini Comes to America by Ronald J. Hilgert, The Houdini Historical Center, 1996. Documents the Weiss family's immigration to the United States on July 3, 1878 (when Ehrich was 4). Houdini Unlocked by Patrick Culliton, Two volume box set: The Tao of Houdini and The Secret Confessions of Houdini, Kieran Press, 1997. The Houdini Code Mystery: A Spirit Secret Solved by William V. Rauscher, Magic Words, 2000. Final Séance. The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle by Massimo Polidoro, Prometheus Books, 2001. The Man Who Killed Houdini by Don Bell, Vehicle Press, 2004. Investigates J. Gordon Whitehead and the events surrounding Houdini's death. Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century by Matthew Solomon, University of Illinois Press, 2010. Contains new information about Houdini's early movie career. Houdini Art and Magic by Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Jewish Museum, 2010. Essays on Houdini's life and work are accompanied by interviews with novelist E.L. Doctorow, Teller, Kenneth Silverman, and more. Houdini The Key by Patrick Culliton, Kieran Press, 2010. Reveals the authentic working methods of many of Houdini effects, including the Milk Can and Water Torture Cell. Limited to 278 copies. The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini by Joe Posnanski, Avid Reader Press, 2019. External links Harry Houdini Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Harry Houdini Collection at the Harry Ransom Center Timeline of Houdini's life The Houdini Museum in Scranton Pennsylvania Houdini archives in the Harry Price papers Houdini Escapes the Smithsonian The Harry Houdini Collection From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress Photographs and posters of Harry Houdini held by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts 1874 births 1926 deaths American aviators American Freemasons American magicians American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American performance artists American skeptics American stunt performers Articles containing video clips Artists from Budapest Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States Austro-Hungarian Jews Burials in New York (state) Deaths from peritonitis Escapologists Hungarian Jews Hungarian magicians Hungarian performance artists Jewish American artists Paranormal investigators Spiritualism Trapeze artists Vaudeville performers	false	[ "Antony Britton is an escapologist and stunt performer. He has performed a series of large scale spectacular stunts done for television and charity. Britton first attracted notice in Wakefield, England in a 2012 stunt. He went on to perform a series of stunts for charity, and in 2014 thousands turned out in Bradford city centre to watch him attempt the inverted straitjacket escape. In 2015 he attempted the Buried Alive escape challenge, making him the third person to have attempted the routine in 100 years. He was unsuccessful and had to be rescued.\n\nEarly life \nBritton was born in Saltaire, Bradford, England, and has one brother and an older sister. \nHe went to Wycliffe Middle School in Saltaire and Beckfoot School in Bingley. At a young age he was diagnosed with dyslexia. Britton trained as a welder whilst performing escapes, he would be seen by the public been chained, padlocked and handcuffed before jumping in the canals of Saltaire and Bingley.\n\nBritton performed his escapes in private at meetings in old mills around the Yorkshire area until 2012 when he joined forces with a team of friends, where he wanted to bring hard hitting entertainment to the public for free due to the Great Recession as well as raising money for national charities.\n\nMedia \nIn 2015, Britton attempted to escape from a grave in the Buried Alive challenge, made famous by Houdini in 1915. At the time, he was thought to be only the third person to have attempted this escape. Britton failed to escape and lost consciousness, requiring him to be dug out by assistants and resuscitated. He described a near-death experience to reporters.\n\nGuinness World Record \nIn October 2016 Antony attempted to break a Guinness World Record at Wandle Park, Croydon by running the \"Longest Distance Full-Body Burn without Oxygen\". He succeeded in breaking the record, however Guinness did not accept that attempt due to a technicality.\n\nHowever, he tried again on Friday 13 October 2017 at Huddersfield Rugby Union Club where he broke not one record, but two:\n\n Fastest 100 m sprint (full body burn, without oxygen)\n Longest distance run (full-body burn, without oxygen)\n\nKnown escapes \n Buried Alive\n Inverted straitjacket escape\n Lucifer’s Chamber\n Exploding Crate\n Chinese Water Torture Cell\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n https://www.antonybritton.com/\n\nLiving people\nEscapologists\nYear of birth missing (living people)", "Aziz Ansari: Buried Alive is a 2013 American stand-up comedy concert film directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace. Written by and starring Aziz Ansari, it was shot at the Merriam Theater in Philadelphia during his \"Buried Alive\" world tour on April 13, 2013.\n\nSynopsis \nTopics during the set include Ansari's views on the institution of marriage, parenting and love. The set has the theme of a wedding, with Ansari wearing a formal suit with a white boutonnière. Ansari said Buried Alive was much different than his first two specials, Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening (2010) and Dangerously Delicious (2012).\n\n\"This special is much, much different than my previous two,\" said Ansari. \"As I hit 30, my material got very personal as I grappled with the gravity of the adult world—love, marriage, babies, and more. Do I really have to deal with all that now? Are my ding dong friends really getting married and having their own children? I couldn't imagine having a kid right now. After I type this sentence, I'm gonna drink an apple juice and watch Jurassic Park—if that's a guy that's supposed to be ready to be a father, I'm very concerned. That's what Buried Alive is about.\"\n\nProduction \nThe film was taped during Ansari's 2013 Buried Alive comedy tour across 75 cities around the world, where he performed at sold-out venues including New York's Carnegie Hall, London's Hammersmith Apollo and the Sydney Opera House.\n\nRelease \nBuried Alive was Ansari's first special released to Netflix, where it debuted on November 1, 2013. It was released in all Netflix markets simultaneously, including Canada and the United Kingdom. At the time of its release, Buried Alive was the streaming service's biggest exclusive comedy special.\n\nReception \nBuried Alive was well received by critics. Erik Adams of The A.V. Club gave it an A- and called it \"a spectacularly entertaining hour-plus of stand-up, but it’s also an intriguing bit of cultural anthropology. Throughout the special, Ansari asks questions—as a character within his routines and to the members of his audience—and what he turns up is just as frequently funny as it is heartfelt and penetrating.\" Rolling Stone noted that it showed a more mature side of Ansari, but his material was still appealing to his younger fan base. \"It feels more like social commentary rather than commentary on what it's like to be social. But old Aziz fans shouldn't fret – he still manages to slip in jokes about his younger self being molested and the notion of Xzibit raising a busload of babies.\"\n\nPatrick Smith of The Daily Telegraph, who reviewed Ansari's sold-out tour stop at London's Apollo Hammersmith theatre, took notice of the comedian's outfit, writing, \"Ansari's 70-minute set was none the less much like his attire: smart, sharp and slickly carried off... Buried Alive bristled with topicality and wit.\"\n\nAt the 2014 American Comedy Awards, Buried Alive was nominated for Comedy Special of the Year, but lost to Louis C.K.'s Oh My God.\n\nSee also \n List of Netflix original stand-up comedy specials\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n2013 films\n2013 comedy films\n2013 direct-to-video films\nAmerican films\nAmerican comedy films\nAmerican direct-to-video films\nDirect-to-video comedy films\nEnglish-language films\nFilms shot in Philadelphia\nNetflix specials\nStand-up comedy concert films\n3 Arts Entertainment films" ]
[ "Harry Houdini", "Buried alive stunt", "what year did he do the buried alive stunt?", "The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost Houdini his life." ]	C_06b9531629e14f8c8797fd4dc6caf543_0	how did he almost die?	2	How did Harry Houdini almost die?	Harry Houdini	Houdini performed at least three variations on a buried alive stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost Houdini his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing." Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing. He repeated the feat at the YMCA in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes. Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed buried alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit to New York following his death on Halloween. CANNOTANSWER	He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious	Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, illusionist, stunt performer and mysteriarch, noted for his escape acts. He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the United States and then as "Harry 'Handcuff' Houdini" on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it. In 1904, thousands watched as he tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by London's Daily Mirror, keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state of near-breakdown. While many suspected that these escapes were faked, Houdini presented himself as the scourge of fake spiritualists. As President of the Society of American Magicians, he was keen to uphold professional standards and expose fraudulent artists. He was also quick to sue anyone who imitated his escape stunts. Houdini made several movies but quit acting when it failed to bring in money. He was also a keen aviator and aimed to become the first man to fly a powered aircraft in Australia. Early life Erik Weisz was born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary to a Jewish family. His parents were rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz (1829–1892) and Cecília Steiner (1841–1913). Houdini was one of seven children: Herman M. (1863–1885), who was Houdini's half-brother by Rabbi Weisz's first marriage; Nathan J. (1870–1927); Gottfried William (1872–1925); Theodore (1876–1945); Leopold D. (1879–1962); and Carrie Gladys (1882–1959), who was left almost blind after a childhood accident. Weisz arrived in the United States on July 3, 1878, on the SS Fresia with his mother (who was pregnant) and his four brothers. The family changed their name to the German spelling Weiss, and Erik became Ehrich. The family lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his father served as rabbi of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation. According to the 1880 census, the family lived on Appleton Street in an area that is now known as Houdini Plaza. On June 6, 1882, Rabbi Weiss became an American citizen. Losing his job at Zion in 1882, Rabbi Weiss and family moved to Milwaukee and fell into dire poverty. In 1887, Rabbi Weiss moved with Ehrich to New York City, where they lived in a boarding house on East 79th Street. He was joined by the rest of the family once rabbi Weiss found permanent housing. As a child, Ehrich Weiss took several jobs, making his public début as a nine-year-old trapeze artist, calling himself "Ehrich, the Prince of the Air". He was also a champion cross country runner in his youth. Magic career When Weiss became a professional magician he began calling himself "Harry Houdini", after the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, after reading Robert-Houdin's autobiography in 1890. Weiss incorrectly believed that an i at the end of a name meant "like" in French. In later life, Houdini claimed that the first part of his new name, Harry, was an homage to American magician Harry Kellar, whom he also admired, though it was likely adapted from "Ehri", a nickname for "Ehrich", which is how he was known to his family. When he was a teenager, Houdini was coached by the magician Joseph Rinn at the Pastime Athletic Club. Houdini began his magic career in 1891, but had little success. He appeared in a tent act with strongman Emil Jarrow. He performed in dime museums and sideshows, and even doubled as "The Wild Man" at a circus. Houdini focused initially on traditional card tricks. At one point, he billed himself as the "King of Cards". Some – but not all – professional magicians would come to regard Houdini as a competent but not particularly skilled sleight-of-hand artist, lacking the grace and finesse required to achieve excellence in that craft. He soon began experimenting with escape acts. In 1894, while performing with his brother "Dash" (Theodore) at Coney Island as "The Brothers Houdini", Houdini met a fellow performer, Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner. Bess was initially courted by Dash, but she and Houdini married, with Bess replacing Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis". For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess worked as his stage assistant. Houdini's big break came in 1899 when he met manager Martin Beck in St. Paul, Minnesota. Impressed by Houdini's handcuffs act, Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts and booked him on the Orpheum vaudeville circuit. Within months, he was performing at the top vaudeville houses in the country. In 1900, Beck arranged for Houdini to tour Europe. After some days of unsuccessful interviews in London, Houdini's British agent Harry Day helped him to get an interview with C. Dundas Slater, then manager of the Alhambra Theatre. He was introduced to William Melville and gave a demonstration of escape from handcuffs at Scotland Yard. He succeeded in baffling the police so effectively that he was booked at the Alhambra for six months. His show was an immediate hit and his salary rose to $300 a week (). Between 1900 and 1920 he appeared in theatres all over Great Britain performing escape acts, illusions, card tricks and outdoor stunts, becoming one of the world's highest paid entertainers. He also toured the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Russia and became widely known as "The Handcuff King". In each city, Houdini challenged local police to restrain him with shackles and lock him in their jails. In many of these challenge escapes, he was first stripped nude and searched. In Moscow, he escaped from a Siberian prison transport van, claiming that, had he been unable to free himself, he would have had to travel to Siberia, where the only key was kept. In Cologne, he sued a police officer, Werner Graff, who alleged that he made his escapes via bribery. Houdini won the case when he opened the judge's safe (he later said the judge had forgotten to lock it). With his new-found wealth, Houdini purchased a dress said to have been made for Queen Victoria. He then arranged a grand reception where he presented his mother in the dress to all their relatives. Houdini said it was the happiest day of his life. In 1904, Houdini returned to the U.S. and purchased a house for $25,000 (), a brownstone at 278 W. 113th Street in Harlem, New York City. While on tour in Europe in 1902, Houdini visited Blois with the aim of meeting the widow of Emile Houdin, the son of Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, for an interview and permission to visit his grave. He did not receive permission but still visited the grave. Houdini believed that he had been treated unfairly and later wrote a negative account of the incident in his magazine, claiming he was "treated most discourteously by Madame W. Emile Robert-Houdin". In 1906, he sent a letter to the French magazine L'Illusionniste stating: "You will certainly enjoy the article on Robert Houdin I am about to publish in my magazine. Yes, my dear friend, I think I can finally demolish your idol, who has so long been placed on a pedestal that he did not deserve." In 1906, Houdini created his own publication, the Conjurers' Monthly Magazine. It was a competitor to The Sphinx, but was short-lived and only two volumes were released until August 1908. Magic historian Jim Steinmeyer has noted that "Houdini couldn't resist using the journal for his own crusades, attacking his rivals, praising his own appearances, and subtly rewriting history to favor his view of magic." From 1907 and throughout the 1910s, Houdini performed with great success in the United States. He freed himself from jails, handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjackets, often while hanging from a rope in sight of street audiences. Because of imitators, Houdini put his "handcuff act" behind him on January 25, 1908, and began escaping from a locked, water-filled milk can. The possibility of failure and death thrilled his audiences. Houdini also expanded his repertoire with his escape challenge act, in which he invited the public to devise contraptions to hold him. These included nailed packing crates (sometimes lowered into water), riveted boilers, wet sheets, mail bags, and even the belly of a whale that had washed ashore in Boston. Brewers in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and other cities challenged Houdini to escape from a barrel after they filled it with beer. Many of these challenges were arranged with local merchants in one of the first uses of mass tie-in marketing . Rather than promote the idea that he was assisted by spirits, as did the Davenport Brothers and others, Houdini's advertisements showed him making his escapes via dematerializing, although Houdini himself never claimed to have supernatural powers. After much research, Houdini wrote a collection of articles on the history of magic, which were expanded into The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin published in 1908. In this book he attacked his former idol Robert-Houdin as a liar and a fraud for having claimed the invention of automata and effects such as aerial suspension, which had been in existence for many years. Many of the allegations in the book were dismissed by magicians and researchers who defended Robert-Houdin. Magician Jean Hugard would later write a full rebuttal to Houdini's book. Houdini introduced the Chinese Water Torture Cell at the Circus Busch in Berlin, Germany, on September 21, 1912. He was suspended upside-down in a locked glass-and-steel cabinet full to overflowing with water, holding his breath for more than three minutes. He would go on performing this escape for the rest of his life. During his career, Houdini explained some of his tricks in books written for the magic brotherhood. In Handcuff Secrets (1909), he revealed how many locks and handcuffs could be opened with properly applied force, others with shoestrings. Other times, he carried concealed lockpicks or keys. When tied down in ropes or straitjackets, he gained wiggle room by enlarging his shoulders and chest, moving his arms slightly away from his body. His straitjacket escape was originally performed behind curtains, with him popping out free at the end. Houdini's brother (who was also an escape artist, billing himself as Theodore Hardeen) discovered that audiences were more impressed when the curtains were eliminated so they could watch him struggle to get out. On more than one occasion, they both performed straitjacket escapes while dangling upside-down from the roof of a building in the same city. For most of his career, Houdini was a headline act in vaudeville. For many years, he was the highest-paid performer in American vaudeville. One of Houdini's most notable non-escape stage illusions was performed at the New York Hippodrome, when he vanished a full-grown elephant from the stage. He had purchased this trick from the magician Charles Morritt. In 1923, Houdini became president of Martinka & Co., America's oldest magic company. The business is still in operation today. He also served as president of the Society of American Magicians ( S.A.M.) from 1917 until his death in 1926. Founded on May 10, 1902, in the back room of Martinka's magic shop in New York, the Society expanded under the leadership of Harry Houdini during his term as national president from 1917 to 1926. Houdini was magic's greatest visionary. He sought to create a large, unified national network of professional and amateur magicians. Wherever he traveled, he gave a lengthy formal address to the local magic club, made speeches, and usually threw a banquet for the members at his own expense. He said "The Magicians Clubs as a rule are small: they are weak ... but if we were amalgamated into one big body the society would be stronger, and it would mean making the small clubs powerful and worthwhile. Members would find a welcome wherever they happened to be and, conversely, the safeguard of a city-to-city hotline to track exposers and other undesirables". For most of 1916, while on his vaudeville tour, Houdini had been recruiting—at his own expense—local magic clubs to join the S.A.M. in an effort to revitalize what he felt was a weak organization. Houdini persuaded groups in Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City to join. As had happened in London, he persuaded magicians to join. The Buffalo club joined as the first branch, (later assembly) of the Society. Chicago Assembly No. 3 was, as the name implies, the third regional club to be established by the S.A.M., whose assemblies now number in the hundreds. In 1917, he signed Assembly Number Three's charter into existence, and that charter and this club continue to provide Chicago magicians with a connection to each other and to their past. Houdini dined with, addressed, and got pledges from similar clubs in Detroit, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Cincinnati and elsewhere. This was the biggest movement ever in the history of magic. In places where no clubs existed, he rounded up individual magicians, introduced them to each other, and urged them into the fold. By the end of 1916, magicians' clubs in San Francisco and other cities that Houdini had not visited were offering to become assemblies. He had created the richest and longest-surviving organization of magicians in the world. It now embraces almost 6,000 dues-paying members and almost 300 assemblies worldwide. In July 1926, Houdini was elected for the ninth successive time President of the Society of American Magicians. Every other president has only served for one year. He also was President of the Magicians' Club of London. In the final years of his life (1925/26), Houdini launched his own full-evening show, which he billed as "Three Shows in One: Magic, Escapes, and Fraud Mediums Exposed". Notable escapes Daily Mirror challenge In 1904, the London Daily Mirror newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from special handcuffs that it claimed had taken Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from Birmingham, five years to make. Houdini accepted the challenge for March 17 during a matinée performance at London's Hippodrome theatre. It was reported that 4000 people and more than 100 journalists turned out for the much-hyped event. The escape attempt dragged on for over an hour, during which Houdini emerged from his "ghost house" (a small screen used to conceal the method of his escape) several times. On one occasion he asked if the cuffs could be removed so he could take off his coat. The Mirror representative, Frank Parker, refused, saying Houdini could gain an advantage if he saw how the cuffs were unlocked. Houdini promptly took out a penknife and, holding the knife in his teeth, used it to cut his coat from his body. Some 56 minutes later, Houdini's wife appeared on stage and gave him a kiss. Many thought that in her mouth was the key to unlock the special handcuffs. However, it has since been suggested that Bess did not in fact enter the stage at all, and that this theory is unlikely due to the size of the six-inch key. Houdini then went back behind the curtain. After an hour and ten minutes, Houdini emerged free. As he was paraded on the shoulders of the cheering crowd, he broke down and wept. Houdini later said it was the most difficult escape of his career. After Houdini's death, his friend Martin Beck was quoted in Will Goldston's book, Sensational Tales of Mystery Men, as admitting that Houdini was bested that day and had appealed to his wife, Bess, for help. Goldston goes on to claim that Bess begged the key from the Mirror representative, then slipped it to Houdini in a glass of water. It was stated in the book The Secret Life of Houdini that the key required to open the specially designed Mirror handcuffs was six inches long, and could not have been smuggled to Houdini in a glass of water. Goldston offered no proof of his account, and many modern biographers have found evidence (notably in the custom design of the handcuffs) that the Mirror challenge may have been arranged by Houdini and that his long struggle to escape was pure showmanship. This escape was discussed in depth on the Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum in an interview with Houdini expert, magician and escape artist Dorothy Dietrich of Scranton's Houdini Museum. A full-sized design of the same Mirror Handcuffs, as well as a replica of the Bramah style key for it, is on display to the public at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This set of cuffs is believed to be one of only six in the world, some of which are not on display. Milk Can Escape In 1908, Houdini introduced his own original act, the Milk Can Escape. In this act, Houdini was handcuffed and sealed inside an oversized milk can filled with water and made his escape behind a curtain. As part of the effect, Houdini invited members of the audience to hold their breath along with him while he was inside the can. Advertised with dramatic posters that proclaimed "Failure Means A Drowning Death", the escape proved to be a sensation. Houdini soon modified the escape to include the milk can being locked inside a wooden chest, being chained or padlocked. Houdini performed the milk can escape as a regular part of his act for only four years, but it has remained one of the acts most associated with him. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, continued to perform the milk can escape and its wooden chest variant into the 1940s. The American Museum of Magic has the milk can and overboard box used by Houdini. After other magicians proposed variations on the Milk Can Escape, Houdini claimed that the act was copyrighted and settled out of court in 1906 a case with John Clempert, one of the most persistent imitators, who agreed to publish an apology. Chinese water torture cell Around 1912, the vast number of imitators prompted Houdini to replace his milk can act with the Chinese water torture cell. In this escape, Houdini's feet were locked in stocks, and he was lowered upside down into a tank filled with water. The mahogany and metal cell featured a glass front, through which audiences could clearly see Houdini. The stocks were locked to the top of the cell, and a curtain concealed his escape. In the earliest version of the torture cell, a metal cage was lowered into the cell, and Houdini was enclosed inside that. While making the escape more difficult – the cage prevented Houdini from turning – the cage bars also offered protection should the front glass break. The original cell was built in England, where Houdini first performed the escape for an audience of one person as part of a one-act play he called "Houdini Upside Down". This was so he could copyright the effect and have grounds to sue imitators, which he did. While the escape was advertised as "The Chinese Water Torture Cell" or "The Water Torture Cell", Houdini always referred to it as "the Upside Down" or "USD". The first public performance of the USD was at the Circus Busch in Berlin, on September 21, 1912. Houdini continued to perform the escape until his death in 1926. Suspended straitjacket escape One of Houdini's most popular publicity stunts was to have himself strapped into a regulation straitjacket and suspended by his ankles from a tall building or crane. Houdini would then make his escape in full view of the assembled crowd. In many cases, Houdini drew tens of thousands of onlookers who brought city traffic to a halt. Houdini would sometimes ensure press coverage by performing the escape from the office building of a local newspaper. In New York City, Houdini performed the suspended straitjacket escape from a crane being used to build the subway. After flinging his body in the air, he escaped from the straitjacket. Starting from when he was hoisted up in the air by the crane, to when the straitjacket was completely off, it took him two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. There is film footage in the Library of Congress of Houdini performing the escape. Films of his escapes are also shown at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. After being battered against a building in high winds during one escape, Houdini performed the escape with a visible safety wire on his ankle so that he could be pulled away from the building if necessary. The idea for the upside-down escape was given to Houdini by a young boy named Randolph Osborne Douglas (March 31, 1895 – December 5, 1956), when the two met at a performance at Sheffield's Empire Theatre. Overboard box escape Another of Houdini's most famous publicity stunts was to escape from a nailed and roped packing crate after it had been lowered into water. He first performed the escape in New York's East River on July 7, 1912. Police forbade him from using one of the piers, so he hired a tugboat and invited press on board. Houdini was locked in handcuffs and leg-irons, then nailed into the crate which was roped and weighed down with two hundred pounds of lead. The crate was then lowered into the water. He escaped in 57 seconds. The crate was pulled to the surface and found still to be intact, with the manacles inside. Houdini performed this escape many times, and even performed a version on stage, first at Hamerstein's Roof Garden where a tank was specially built, and later at the New York Hippodrome. Buried alive stunt Houdini performed at least three variations on a buried alive stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost him his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing". Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing. He repeated the feat at the YMCA in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes. Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed buried alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit to New York following his death on Halloween. Movie career In 1906, Houdini started showing films of his outside escapes as part of his vaudeville act. In Boston, he presented a short film called Houdini Defeats Hackenschmidt. Georg Hackenschmidt was a famous wrestler of the day, but the nature of their contest is unknown as the film is lost. In 1909, Houdini made a film in Paris for Cinema Lux titled Merveilleux Exploits du Célèbre Houdini à Paris (Marvellous Exploits of the Famous Houdini in Paris). It featured a loose narrative designed to showcase several of Houdini's famous escapes, including his straitjacket and underwater handcuff escapes. That same year Houdini got an offer to star as Captain Nemo in a silent version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but the project never made it into production. It is often erroneously reported that Houdini served as special-effects consultant on the Wharton/International cliffhanger serial, The Mysteries of Myra, shot in Ithaca, New York, because Harry Grossman, director of The Master Mystery also filmed a serial in Ithaca at about the same time. The consultants on the serial were pioneering Hereward Carrington and Aleister Crowley. In 1918, Houdini signed a contract with film producer B. A. Rolfe to star in a 15-part serial, The Master Mystery (released in November 1918). As was common at the time, the film serial was released simultaneously with a novel. Financial difficulties resulted in B. A. Rolfe Productions going out of business, but The Master Mystery led to Houdini being signed by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation/Paramount Pictures, for whom he made two pictures, The Grim Game (1919) and Terror Island (1920). The Grim Game was Houdini's first full-length movie and is reputed to be his best. Because of the flammable nature of nitrate film and their low rate of survival, film historians considered the film lost. One copy did exist hidden in the collection of a private collector only known to a tiny group of magicians that saw it. Dick Brookz and Dorothy Dietrich of The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, had seen it twice on the invitation of the collector. After many years of trying, they finally got him to agree to sell the film to Turner Classic Movies who restored the complete 71-minute film. The film, not seen by the general public for 96 years was shown by TCM on March 29, 2015, as a highlight of their yearly 4-day festival in Hollywood. While filming an aerial stunt for The Grim Game, two biplanes collided in mid-air with a stuntman doubling Houdini dangling by a rope from one of the planes. Publicity was geared heavily toward promoting this dramatic "caught on film" moment, claiming it was Houdini himself dangling from the plane. While filming these movies in Los Angeles, Houdini rented a home in Laurel Canyon. Following his two-picture stint in Hollywood, Houdini returned to New York and started his own film production company called the "Houdini Picture Corporation". He produced and starred in two films, The Man from Beyond (1921) and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923). He also founded his own film laboratory business called The Film Development Corporation (FDC), gambling on a new process for developing motion picture film. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, left his own career as a magician and escape artist to run the company. Magician Harry Kellar was a major investor. In 1919 Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a residence owned by Ralph M. Walker. The Houdini Estate, a tribute to Houdini, is located on on 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Previously home to Walker himself. The Houdini Estate is subject to controversy, in that it is disputed whether Houdini ever actually made it his home. While there are claims it was Houdini's house, others counter that "he never set foot" on the property. It is rooted in Bess's parties or seances, etc. held across the street, she would do so at the Walker mansion. In fact, the guesthouse featured an elevator connecting to a tunnel that crossed under Laurel Canyon to the big house grounds (though capped, the tunnel still exists)./ Neither Houdini's acting career nor FDC found success, and he gave up on the movie business in 1923, complaining that "the profits are too meager". In April 2008, Kino International released a DVD box set of Houdini's surviving silent films, including The Master Mystery, Terror Island, The Man From Beyond, Haldane of the Secret Service, and five minutes from The Grim Game. The set also includes newsreel footage of Houdini's escapes from 1907 to 1923, and a section from Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à Paris, although it is not identified as such. Aviator In 1909, Houdini became fascinated with aviation. He purchased a French Voisin biplane for $5,000 () and hired a full-time mechanic, Antonio Brassac. After crashing once, he made his first successful flight on November 26 in Hamburg, Germany. The following year, Houdini toured Australia. He brought along his Voisin biplane with the intention to be the first person in Australia to fly. Falsely reported as pioneer On March 18, 1910, he made three flights at Diggers Rest, Victoria, near Melbourne. It was reported at the time that this was the first aerial flight in Australia, and a century later, some major news outlets still credit him with this feat. Wing Commander Harry Cobby wrote in Aircraft in March 1938 that "the first aeroplane flight in the Southern Hemisphere was made on December 9, 1909, by Mr Colin Defries, a Londoner, at Victoria Park Racecourse, Sydney, in a Wilbur Wright aeroplane". Colin Defries was a trained pilot, having learnt to fly in Cannes, France. By modern standards his flight time was minimal, but in 1909 he had accumulated enough to become an instructor. On his first flight he took off, maintained straight and level flight, albeit briefly, and landed safely. His crash landing on his second flight, when he tried to retrieve his hat which was blown off, demonstrated what a momentary lack of attention could cause while flying a Wright Model A. It is accepted by Australian historians and the Aviation Historical Society of Australia that the definition of flight established by the Gorell Committee on behalf of the Aero Club of Great Britain dictates the acceptance of a flight or its rejection, giving Colin Defries credit as the first to make an aeroplane flight in Australia, and the Southern Hemisphere. Additionally, aviation pioneer Richard Pearse is believed by many New Zealand historians to have undertaken his first flight as early as 1902, which would give him not only the Southern Hemisphere but the World record, although this is disputed. In 1965, aviation journalist Stanley Brogden formed the view that the first powered flight in Australia took place at Bolivar in South Australia; the aircraft was a Bleriot monoplane with Fred Custance as the pilot. The flight took place on March 17, 1910. The next day when Houdini took to the air, the Herald newspaper reported Custance's flight, stating it had lasted 5 minutes 25 seconds at a height of between 12 and 15 feet. In 2010, Australia Post issued stamps commemorating Colin Defries, Houdini and John Robertson Duigan, crediting only Defries and Duigan with historical firsts. Duigan was an Australian pioneer aviator who built and flew the first Australian-made aircraft. Australia Post did acknowledge the part Houdini played in their article "Harry Houdini can't escape being part of Australia's history" but did not attribute any record to him. After Australia After completing his Australia tour, Houdini put the Voisin into storage in England. He announced he would use it to fly from city to city during his next music hall tour, and even promised to leap from it handcuffed, but he never flew again. Debunking spiritualists In the 1920s, Houdini turned his energies toward debunking psychics and mediums, a pursuit that was in line with the debunkings by stage magicians since the late nineteenth century. Houdini's training in magic allowed him to expose frauds who had successfully fooled many scientists and academics. He was a member of a Scientific American committee that offered a cash prize to any medium who could successfully demonstrate supernatural abilities. None was able to do so, and the prize was never collected. The first to be tested was medium George Valiantine of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. As his fame as a "ghostbuster" grew, Houdini took to attending séances in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and police officer. Possibly the most famous medium whom he debunked was Mina Crandon, also known as "Margery". Joaquín Argamasilla, known as the "Spaniard with X-ray Eyes", claimed to be able to read handwriting or numbers on dice through closed metal boxes. In 1924, he was exposed by Houdini as a fraud. Argamasilla peeked through his simple blindfold and lifted up the edge of the box so he could look inside it without others noticing. Houdini also investigated the Italian medium Nino Pecoraro, whom he considered to be fraudulent. Houdini's exposing of phony mediums has inspired other magicians to follow suit, including The Amazing Randi, Dorothy Dietrich, Penn & Teller, and Dick Brookz. Houdini chronicled his debunking exploits in his book, A Magician Among the Spirits, co-authored with C. M. Eddy, Jr., who was not credited. These activities compromised Houdini's friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle, a firm believer in spiritualism during his later years, refused to believe any of Houdini's exposés. Doyle came to believe that Houdini was a powerful spiritualist medium, and had performed many of his stunts by means of paranormal abilities and was using these abilities to block those of other mediums that he was "debunking". This disagreement led to the two men becoming public antagonists and Sir Arthur came to view Houdini as a dangerous enemy. Before Houdini died, he and his wife agreed that if Houdini found it possible to communicate after death, he would communicate the message "Rosabelle believe", a secret code which they agreed to use. Rosabelle was their favorite song. Bess held yearly séances on Halloween for ten years after Houdini's death. She did claim to have contact through Arthur Ford in 1929 when Ford conveyed the secret code, but Bess later said the incident had been faked. The code seems to have been such that it could be broken by Ford or his associates using existing clues. Evidence to this effect was discovered by Ford's biographer after he died in 1971. In 1936, after a last unsuccessful séance on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel, she put out the candle that she had kept burning beside a photograph of Houdini since his death. In 1943, Bess said that "ten years is long enough to wait for any man." The tradition of holding a séance for Houdini continues, held by magicians throughout the world. The Official Houdini Séance was organized in the 1940s by Sidney Hollis Radner, a Houdini aficionado from Holyoke, Massachusetts. Yearly Houdini séances are also conducted in Chicago at the Excalibur nightclub by "necromancer" Neil Tobin on behalf of the Chicago Assembly of the Society of American Magicians; and at the Houdini Museum in Scranton by magician Dorothy Dietrich, who previously held them at New York's Magic Towne House with such magical notables as Houdini biographers Walter B. Gibson and Milbourne Christopher. Gibson was asked by Bess Houdini to carry on the original seance tradition. After doing them for many years at New York's Magic Towne House, before he died, Walter passed on the tradition of conducting of the Original Seances to Dorothy Dietrich. In 1926, Harry Houdini hired H. P. Lovecraft and his friend C. M. Eddy, Jr., to write an entire book about debunking religious miracles, which was to be called The Cancer of Superstition. Houdini had earlier asked Lovecraft to write an article about astrology, for which he paid $75 (). The article does not survive. Lovecraft's detailed synopsis for Cancer does survive, as do three chapters of the treatise written by Eddy. Houdini's death derailed the plans, as his widow did not wish to pursue the project. Appearance and voice recordings Unlike the image of the classic magician, Houdini was short and stocky and typically appeared on stage in a long frock coat and tie. Most biographers give his height as , but descriptions vary. Houdini was also said to be slightly bow-legged, which aided in his ability to gain slack during his rope escapes. In the 1997 biography Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss, author Kenneth Silverman summarizes how reporters described Houdini's appearance during his early career: Houdini made the only known recordings of his voice on Edison wax cylinders on October 29, 1914, in Flatbush, New York. On them, Houdini practices several different introductory speeches for his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell. He also invites his sister, Gladys, to recite a poem. Houdini then recites the same poem in German. The six wax cylinders were discovered in the collection of magician John Mulholland after his death in 1970. They are part of the David Copperfield collection. Personal life Houdini became an active Freemason and was a member of St. Cecile Lodge No. 568 in New York City. In 1904, Houdini bought a New York City townhouse at 278 West 113th Street in Harlem. He paid US$25,000 () for the five-level, 6,008-square-foot house, which was built in 1895, and lived in it with his wife Bess, and various other relatives until his death in 1926. In March 2018, it was purchased for $3.6 million. A plaque affixed to the building by the Historical Landmark Preservation Center reads, "The magician lived here from 1904 to 1926 collecting illusions, theatrical memorabilia, and books on psychic phenomena and magic." In 1919, Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a house of his friend and business associate Ralph M. Walker, who owned both sides of the street, 2335 and 2400, the latter address having a pool where Houdini practiced his water escapes. 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, previously numbered 2398, is presently known as The Houdini Estate, thus named in the honor of Houdini's time there, the same estate where Bess Houdini threw a party for 500 magicians years after his death. After decades of abandonment, the estate was acquired in 2006 by José Luis Nazar, a Chilean/American citizen who has restored it to its former splendor. In 1918, he registered for selective service as Harry Handcuff Houdini. Death Harry Houdini died of peritonitis, secondary to a ruptured appendix, at 1:26 p.m. on October 31, 1926, in Room 401 at Detroit's Grace Hospital, aged 52. In his final days, he believed that he would recover, but his last words before dying were reportedly, "I'm tired of fighting... I do not want to fight anymore..." Witnesses to an incident at Houdini's dressing room in the Princess Theatre in Montreal speculated that Houdini's death was caused by Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead (November 25, 1895 – July 5, 1954), who repeatedly struck Houdini's abdomen. The accounts of the witnesses, students named Jacques Price and Sam Smilovitz (sometimes called Jack Price and Sam Smiley), generally corroborated one another. Price said that Whitehead asked Houdini "if he believed in the miracles of the Bible" and "whether it was true that punches in the stomach did not hurt him". Houdini offered a casual reply that his stomach could endure a lot. Whitehead then delivered "some very hammer-like blows below the belt". Houdini was reclining on a couch at the time, having broken his ankle while performing several days earlier. Price said that Houdini winced at each blow and stopped Whitehead suddenly in the midst of a punch, gesturing that he had had enough, and adding that he had had no opportunity to prepare himself against the blows, as he did not expect Whitehead to strike him so suddenly and forcefully. Had his ankle not been broken, he would have risen from the couch into a better position to brace himself. Throughout the evening, Houdini performed in great pain. He was unable to sleep and remained in constant pain for the next two days, but did not seek medical help. When he finally saw a doctor, he was found to have a fever of and acute appendicitis, and was advised to have immediate surgery. He ignored the advice and decided to go on with the show. When Houdini arrived at the Garrick Theater in Detroit, Michigan, on October 24, 1926, for what would be his last performance, he had a fever of . Despite the diagnosis, Houdini took the stage. He was reported to have passed out during the show, but was revived and continued. Afterwards, he was hospitalized at Detroit's Grace Hospital. It is unclear whether the dressing room incident caused Houdini's eventual death, as the relationship between blunt trauma and appendicitis is uncertain. One theory suggests that Houdini was unaware that he was suffering from appendicitis, and might have been aware had he not received blows to the abdomen. After taking statements from Price and Smilovitz, Houdini's insurance company concluded that the death was due to the dressing-room incident and paid double indemnity. Houdini grave site Houdini's funeral was held on November 4, 1926, in New York, with more than 2,000 mourners in attendance. He was interred in the Machpelah Cemetery in Glendale, Queens, with the crest of the Society of American Magicians inscribed on his grave site. A statuary bust was added to the exedra in 1927, a rarity, because graven images are forbidden in Jewish cemeteries. In 1975, the bust was destroyed by vandals. Temporary busts were placed at the grave until 2011 when a group who came to be called The self-named Houdini Commandos, from the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, placed a permanent bust with the permission of Houdini's family and of the cemetery. The Society of American Magicians took responsibility for the upkeep of the site, as Houdini had willed a large sum of money to the organization he had grown from one club to 5,000–6,000 dues-paying membership worldwide. The payment of upkeep was abandoned by the society's dean George Schindler, who said "Houdini paid for perpetual care, but there's nobody at the cemetery to provide it", adding that the operator of the cemetery, David Jacobson, "sends us a bill for upkeep every year but we never pay it because he never provides any care." Members of the Society tidy the grave themselves. Machpelah Cemetery operator Jacobson said that they "never paid the cemetery for any restoration of the Houdini family plot in my tenure since 1988", claiming that the money came from the cemetery's dwindling funds. The granite monuments of Houdini's sister, Gladys, and brother, Leopold were also destroyed by vandals. For many years, until recently, the Houdini grave site has been only cared for by Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Society of American Magicians, at its National Council Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2013, under the prompting of Dietrich and Brookz, voted to assume the financial responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Houdini Gravesite. In MUM Magazine, the Society's official magazine, President Dal Sanders announced "Harry Houdini is an icon as revered as Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe. He is not only a magical icon; his gravesite bears the seal of The Society of American Magicians. That seal is our brand and we should be proud to protect it. This gravesite is clearly our responsibility and I'm proud to report that the National Council unanimously voted to maintain Houdini's final resting place." The Houdini Gravesite Restoration Committee under the Chairmanship of National President David Bowers, is working closely with National President Kenrick "Ice" McDonald to see this project to completion. Bowers said it is a foregone conclusion that the Society will approve the funding request, because "Houdini is responsible for the Society of American Magicians being what it is today. We owe a debt of gratitude to him." Like Bowers, McDonald said the motivation behind the repairs is to properly honor the grave of the "Babe Ruth of magicians". "This is hallowed ground," he said. "When you ask people about magicians, the first thing they say is Harry Houdini." While the actual plot will remain under the control of Machpelah Cemetery management, the Society of American Magicians, with the help of the Houdini Museum in Pennsylvania, will be in charge of the restoration. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz have been caring for the escape artist's Queens grave over the years. "This is a monument where people go and visit on a daily basis," said Dietrich who is spearheading restoration efforts. "The nearly 80-year-old popular plot at the Machpelah Cemetery has fallen into disrepair over the years." "The Houdini Museum has teamed with The Society of American Magicians, one of the oldest fraternal magic organizations in the world, to give the beloved site a facelift." The organization has a specific Houdini gravesite committee made up of nine members headed up by President elect David Bowers who brought this project to the Society's attention. Kenrick "Ice" McDonald, the current president of the Society of American Magicians said, "You have to know the history. Houdini served as President from 1917 until his death in 1926. Houdini's burial site needs an infusion of cash to restore it to its former glory." Magician Dietrich said the repairs could cost "tens of thousands of dollars", after consulting with glass experts and grave artisans. "It's a wonderful project, but it's taken a lifetime to get people interested," she said. "It's long overdue, and it's great that it's happening." Houdini was a living superhero," Dietrich said. "He wasn't just a magician and escape artist, he was a great humanitarian." To this day, the Society holds a broken wand ceremony at the grave every November. Houdini's widow, Bess, died of a heart attack on February 11, 1943, aged 67, in Needles, California, while on a train en route from Los Angeles to New York City. She had expressed a wish to be buried next to her husband, but instead was interred 35 miles due north at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester County, New York, as her Catholic family refused to allow her to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Proposed exhumation On March 22, 2007, Houdini's grand-nephew (the grandson of his brother Theo), George Hardeen, announced that the courts would be asked to allow exhumation of Houdini's body, to investigate the possibility of Houdini being murdered by spiritualists, as suggested in the biography The Secret Life of Houdini. In a statement given to the Houdini Museum in Scranton, the family of Bess Houdini opposed the application and suggested it was a publicity ploy for the book. The Washington Post stated that the press conference was not arranged by the family of Houdini. Instead, the Post reported, it was orchestrated by authors Kalush and Sloman, who hired the public relations firm Dan Klores Communications to promote their book. In 2008, it was revealed the parties involved had not filed legal papers to perform an exhumation. Legacy Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, who returned to performing after Houdini's death, inherited his brother's effects and props. Houdini's will stipulated that all the effects should be "burned and destroyed" upon Hardeen's death. Hardeen sold much of the collection to magician and Houdini enthusiast Sidney Hollis Radner during the 1940s, including the water torture cell. Radner allowed choice pieces of the collection to be displayed at The Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Ontario. In 1995, a fire destroyed the museum. The water torture cell's metal frame remained, and it was restored by illusion builder John Gaughan. Many of the props contained in the museum such as the mirror handcuffs, Houdini's original packing crate, a milk can, and a straitjacket, survived the fire and were auctioned in 1999 and 2008. Radner loaned the bulk of his collection for archiving to the Outagamie Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, but reclaimed it in 2003 and auctioned it in Las Vegas, on October 30, 2004. Houdini was a "formidable collector", and bequeathed many of his holdings and paper archives on magic and spiritualism to the Library of Congress, which became the basis for the Houdini collection in cyberspace. In 1934, the bulk of Houdini's collection of American and British theatrical material, along with a significant portion of his business and personal papers, and some of his collections of other magicians were sold to pay off estate debts to theatre magnate Messmore Kendall. In 1958, Kendall donated his collection to the Hoblitzelle Theatre Library at the University of Texas at Austin. In the 1960s, the Hoblitzelle Library became part of the Harry Ransom Center. The extensive Houdini collection includes a 1584 first edition of Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft and David Garrick's travel diary to Paris from 1751. Some of the scrapbooks in the Houdini collection have been digitized. The collection was exclusively paper-based until April 2016, when the Ransom Center acquired one of Houdini's ball weights with chain and ankle cuff. In October 2016, in conjunction with the 90th anniversary of the death of Houdini, the Ransom Center embarked on a major re-cataloging of the Houdini collection to make it more visible and accessible to researchers. The collection reopened in 2018, with its finding aids posted online. A large portion of Houdini's estate holdings and memorabilia was willed to his fellow magician and friend, John Mulholland (1898–1970). In 1991, illusionist and television performer David Copperfield purchased all of Mulholland's Houdini holdings from Mulholland's estate. These are now archived and preserved in Copperfield's warehouse at his headquarters in Las Vegas. It contains the world's largest collection of Houdini memorabilia, and preserves approximately 80,000 items of memorabilia of Houdini and other magicians, including Houdini's stage props and material, his rebuilt water torture cabinet and his metamorphosis trunk. It is not open to the public, but tours are available by invitation to magicians, scholars, researchers, journalists and serious collectors. In a posthumous ceremony on October 31, 1975, Houdini was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7001 Hollywood Blvd. The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, bills itself as "the only building in the world entirely dedicated to Houdini". It is open to the public year-round by reservation. It includes Houdini films, a guided tour about Houdini's life and a stage magic show. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz opened the facility in 1991. The Magic Castle in Los Angeles, California, a nightclub for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts, features Houdini séances performed by magician Misty Lee. The House of Houdini is a museum and performance venue located at 11, Dísz square in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. It claims to house the largest collection of original Houdini artifacts in Europe. The Houdini Museum of New York is located at Fantasma Magic, a retail magic manufacturer and seller located in Manhattan. The museum contains several hundred pieces of ephemera, most of which belonged to Harry Houdini. In popular culture Houdini appeared as himself in Weird Tales magazine in three ghostwritten fictionalizations of sensational events from his career (issues of March, April, and May–June–July 1924). The third story, "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs," was written by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft based on Houdini's notes. The Houdini-Lovecraft collaboration was envisioned to continue, but the magazine ceased publication for financial reasons. When it resumed later in 1924, Houdini no longer figured in its plans. Houdini (1953)played by Tony Curtis The Great Houdini The Great Houdinis (1976)played by Paul Michael Glaser (TV movie) Ragtime (1981)played by Jeffrey DeMunn, based on the novel by E. L. Doctorow. Jim Corti played him in the original Broadway production of the musical based on the same novel. Houdini is the subject of the song "Houdini" on the 1982 album The Dreaming by Kate Bush. The album's cover art, in which Bush is depicted holding a key in her mouth and bending in to kiss a chained figure whose face is turned away from the camera, is an homage to Bess Houdini. A Magician Amongst the Spirits, a 1982 BBC radio drama about Houdini's life written by Bert Coules Grand Illusion a 1983 episode of the TV series "Simon and Simon" concerns a murder and a book of stolen Houdini magic notes. The Cabinet of Calamari a 1987 episode of the cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters involves the ghost of Houdini and a book of stolen Houdini magic notes. Young Harry Houdini (1987)played by Wil Wheaton & Jeffrey DeMunn (TV movie) A Night at the Magic Castle (1988)played by Arte Johnson Canadian synth-pop duo Kon Kan released the song "Harry Houdini" in 1989. FairyTale: A True Story (1997)played by Harvey Keitel Houdini (1998)played by Johnathon Schaech (TV movie) Mentioned in Joan of Arc's song "God Bless America" on their 1998 album How Memory Works Cremaster 2 (1999)played by Norman Mailer Death Defying Acts (2007)played by Guy Pearce Murdoch Mysteries (2008)played by Joe Dinicol (TV series) Drunk History Season 1, Episode 6: Detroit (2013)played by Ken Marino (TV series) Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctor - Smoke and Mirrors (2013) – played by Tim Beckmann (BBC Audio) Houdini (2014)played by Adrien Brody (TV miniseries) Houdini and Doyle (2016)played by Michael Weston (TV series) Timeless (2016)played by Michael Drayer (TV series) Doctor Who – Harry Houdini's War (2019)played by John Schwab (Big Finish audio play) d'ILLUSION: The Houdini Musical – The Audio Theater Experience (2020)played by Julian R. Decker (Album musical/audiobook) The 2017 song Rosabelle, Believe by UK electronic band Cult With No Name is about the pact Houdini made with his wife on his deathbed. Publications Houdini published numerous books during his career (some of which were written by his good friend Walter B. Gibson, the creator of The Shadow) The Right Way to Do Wrong: An Exposé of Successful Criminals (1906) Handcuff Secrets (1907) The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin (1908), a debunking study of Robert-Houdin's alleged abilities. Magical Rope Ties and Escapes (1920) Miracle Mongers and Their Methods (1920) Houdini's Paper Magic (1921) A Magician Among the Spirits (1924) Houdini Exposes the Tricks Used by the Boston Medium "Margery" (1924) Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (1924), a short story ghostwritten by H. P. Lovecraft. How I Unmask the Spirit Fakers, article for Popular Science (November 1925) How I do My "Spirit Tricks", article for Popular Science (December 1925) Conjuring (1926), article for the Encyclopædia Britannica's 13th edition. Filmography Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à ParisCinema Lux (1909)playing himself The Master MysteryOctagon Films (1918)playing Quentin Locke The Grim GameFamous Players-Lasky/Paramount Pictures (1919)playing Harvey Handford Terror IslandFamous Players Lasky/Paramount (1920)playing Harry Harper The Man from BeyondHoudini Picture Corporation (1922)playing Howard Hillary Haldane of the Secret ServiceHoudini Picture Corporation/FBO (1923)playing Heath Haldane See also List of magic museums List of magicians Ann O'Delia Diss Debar (Swami Laura Horos) David Blaine Walford BodieA friend of Houdini, and fellow magician References Bibliography Gresham, William Lindsay Houdini: The Man Who Walked Through Walls (New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1959). Henning, Doug with Charles Reynolds. Houdini: His Legend and His Magic (New York: Times Books, 1978). . Kellock, Harold. Houdini: His Life-Story from the recollections and documents of Beatrice Houdini, (Harcourt, Brace Co., June 1928). Kendall, Lance. Houdini: Master of Escape (New York: Macrae Smith & Co., 1960). . Meyer, M.D., Bernard C. Houdini: A Mind in Chains (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1976). . Williams, Beryl & Samuel Epstein. The Great Houdini: Magician Extraordinary (New York: Julian Messner, Inc., 1950). Further reading "Who Is Houdini?" by Fred Lockley, Photoplay, June 1920, p. 50. "An Interview with Harry Houdini" by Marcet Haldeman-Julius, Haldeman-Julius Monthly Vol. 2.5 (October 1925), pp. 387–397. Houdini's Escapes and Magic by Walter B. Gibson, Prepared from Houdini's private notebooks Blue Ribbon Books, Inc., 1930. Reveals some of Houdini's magic and escape methods (also released in two separate volumes: Houdini's Magic and Houdini's Escapes). The Secrets of Houdini by J.C. Cannell, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1931. Reveals some of Houdini's escape methods. Houdini and Conan Doyle: The Story of a Strange Friendship by Bernard M. L. Ernst, Albert & Charles Boni, Inc., NY, 1932. Sixty Years of Psychical Research by Joseph Rinn, Truth Seeker Co., 1950, Rinn was a long time close friend of Houdini. Contains detailed information about the last Houdini message (there are 3) and its disclosure. Houdini's Fabulous Magic by Walter B. Gibson and Morris N. Young Chilton, NY, 1960. Excellent reference for Houdini's escapes and some methods (includes the Water Torture Cell). The Houdini Birth Research Committee's Report, Magico Magazine (reprint of report by The Society of American Magicians), 1972. Concludes Houdini was born March 24, 1874, in Budapest. Arthur Ford: The Man Who Talked with the Dead by Allen Spraggett with William V. Rauscher, 1973, pp. 152–165, Chapter 7, The Houdini Affair contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure. Mediums, Mystics and the Occult by Milbourne Christopher, Thomas T. Crowell Co., 1975, pp. 122–145, Arthur Ford-Messages from the Dead, contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure. Houdini: A Definitive Bibliography by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1991. A Description of the Literary Works of Houdini, includes pamphlets from Weltman's collection Believe by William Shatner and Michael Charles Tobias, Berkeley Books, NY 1992. Houdini: Escape into Legend, The Early Years: 1862–1900 by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1993. Examination of Houdini's childhood and early career. Houdini Comes to America by Ronald J. Hilgert, The Houdini Historical Center, 1996. Documents the Weiss family's immigration to the United States on July 3, 1878 (when Ehrich was 4). Houdini Unlocked by Patrick Culliton, Two volume box set: The Tao of Houdini and The Secret Confessions of Houdini, Kieran Press, 1997. The Houdini Code Mystery: A Spirit Secret Solved by William V. Rauscher, Magic Words, 2000. Final Séance. The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle by Massimo Polidoro, Prometheus Books, 2001. The Man Who Killed Houdini by Don Bell, Vehicle Press, 2004. Investigates J. Gordon Whitehead and the events surrounding Houdini's death. Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century by Matthew Solomon, University of Illinois Press, 2010. Contains new information about Houdini's early movie career. Houdini Art and Magic by Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Jewish Museum, 2010. Essays on Houdini's life and work are accompanied by interviews with novelist E.L. Doctorow, Teller, Kenneth Silverman, and more. Houdini The Key by Patrick Culliton, Kieran Press, 2010. Reveals the authentic working methods of many of Houdini effects, including the Milk Can and Water Torture Cell. Limited to 278 copies. The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini by Joe Posnanski, Avid Reader Press, 2019. External links Harry Houdini Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Harry Houdini Collection at the Harry Ransom Center Timeline of Houdini's life The Houdini Museum in Scranton Pennsylvania Houdini archives in the Harry Price papers Houdini Escapes the Smithsonian The Harry Houdini Collection From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress Photographs and posters of Harry Houdini held by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts 1874 births 1926 deaths American aviators American Freemasons American magicians American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American performance artists American skeptics American stunt performers Articles containing video clips Artists from Budapest Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States Austro-Hungarian Jews Burials in New York (state) Deaths from peritonitis Escapologists Hungarian Jews Hungarian magicians Hungarian performance artists Jewish American artists Paranormal investigators Spiritualism Trapeze artists Vaudeville performers	true	[ "Johann Karl Wezel (October 31, 1747 in Sondershausen, Germany – January 28, 1819 in Sondershausen), also Johann Carl Wezel, was a German poet, novelist and philosopher of the Enlightenment.\n\nLife\nBorn the son of domestic servants, Wezel studied Theology, Law, Philosophy and Philology at the University of Leipzig. Early philosophical influences include John Locke and Julien Offray de La Mettrie. After positions as tutor at the courts of Bautzen and Berlin, Wezel lived as a freelance writer. A short stay in Vienna did not result in him getting employed by the local national theater. He thus moved back to Leipzig and, in 1793, to Sondershausen, which he did not leave again until his death in 1819.\n\nAlthough his works were extremely successful when they were published, Wezel was almost forgotten when he died. His rediscovery in the second half of the 20th century is mainly due to German author Arno Schmidt who published a radio essay about him in 1959.\n\nWorks\n Filibert und Theodosia (1772)\n Lebensgeschichte Tobias Knauts, des Weisen, sonst der Stammler genannt: aus Familiennachrichten gesammelt (1773–1776)\n Der Graf von Wickham (1774)\n Epistel an die deutschen Dichter (1775)\n Belphegor oder die wahrscheinlichste Geschichte unter der Sonne (1776)\n Herrmann und Ulrike (1780)\n Appellation der Vokalen an das Publikum (1778)\n Die wilde Betty (1779)\n Zelmor und Ermide (1779)\n Tagebuch eines neuen Ehmanns (1779)\n Robinson Krusoe. Neu bearbeitet (1779)\n Ueber Sprache, Wißenschaften und Geschmack der Teutschen (1781)\n Meine Auferstehung (1782)\n Wilhelmine Arend oder die Gefahren der Empfindsamkeit (1782)\n Kakerlak, oder Geschichte eines Rosenkreuzers aus dem vorigen Jahrhunderte (1784)\n Versuch über die Kenntniß des Menschen (1784–1785)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n1747 births\n1819 deaths\nPeople from Sondershausen\n\nGerman male writershuort escrouesr", "How Not to Die may refer to:\n How Not to Die: Surprising Lessons on Living Longer, Safer, and Healthier from America’s Favorite Medical Examiner, a 2008 book by Jan Garavaglia\n How Not To Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease, a 2015 book by Michael Greger" ]
[ "Harry Houdini", "Buried alive stunt", "what year did he do the buried alive stunt?", "The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost Houdini his life.", "how did he almost die?", "He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious" ]	C_06b9531629e14f8c8797fd4dc6caf543_0	how long did the stunt last?	3	How long did Harry Houdini's buried alive stunt last?	Harry Houdini	Houdini performed at least three variations on a buried alive stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost Houdini his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing." Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing. He repeated the feat at the YMCA in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes. Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed buried alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit to New York following his death on Halloween. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, illusionist, stunt performer and mysteriarch, noted for his escape acts. He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the United States and then as "Harry 'Handcuff' Houdini" on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it. In 1904, thousands watched as he tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by London's Daily Mirror, keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state of near-breakdown. While many suspected that these escapes were faked, Houdini presented himself as the scourge of fake spiritualists. As President of the Society of American Magicians, he was keen to uphold professional standards and expose fraudulent artists. He was also quick to sue anyone who imitated his escape stunts. Houdini made several movies but quit acting when it failed to bring in money. He was also a keen aviator and aimed to become the first man to fly a powered aircraft in Australia. Early life Erik Weisz was born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary to a Jewish family. His parents were rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz (1829–1892) and Cecília Steiner (1841–1913). Houdini was one of seven children: Herman M. (1863–1885), who was Houdini's half-brother by Rabbi Weisz's first marriage; Nathan J. (1870–1927); Gottfried William (1872–1925); Theodore (1876–1945); Leopold D. (1879–1962); and Carrie Gladys (1882–1959), who was left almost blind after a childhood accident. Weisz arrived in the United States on July 3, 1878, on the SS Fresia with his mother (who was pregnant) and his four brothers. The family changed their name to the German spelling Weiss, and Erik became Ehrich. The family lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his father served as rabbi of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation. According to the 1880 census, the family lived on Appleton Street in an area that is now known as Houdini Plaza. On June 6, 1882, Rabbi Weiss became an American citizen. Losing his job at Zion in 1882, Rabbi Weiss and family moved to Milwaukee and fell into dire poverty. In 1887, Rabbi Weiss moved with Ehrich to New York City, where they lived in a boarding house on East 79th Street. He was joined by the rest of the family once rabbi Weiss found permanent housing. As a child, Ehrich Weiss took several jobs, making his public début as a nine-year-old trapeze artist, calling himself "Ehrich, the Prince of the Air". He was also a champion cross country runner in his youth. Magic career When Weiss became a professional magician he began calling himself "Harry Houdini", after the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, after reading Robert-Houdin's autobiography in 1890. Weiss incorrectly believed that an i at the end of a name meant "like" in French. In later life, Houdini claimed that the first part of his new name, Harry, was an homage to American magician Harry Kellar, whom he also admired, though it was likely adapted from "Ehri", a nickname for "Ehrich", which is how he was known to his family. When he was a teenager, Houdini was coached by the magician Joseph Rinn at the Pastime Athletic Club. Houdini began his magic career in 1891, but had little success. He appeared in a tent act with strongman Emil Jarrow. He performed in dime museums and sideshows, and even doubled as "The Wild Man" at a circus. Houdini focused initially on traditional card tricks. At one point, he billed himself as the "King of Cards". Some – but not all – professional magicians would come to regard Houdini as a competent but not particularly skilled sleight-of-hand artist, lacking the grace and finesse required to achieve excellence in that craft. He soon began experimenting with escape acts. In 1894, while performing with his brother "Dash" (Theodore) at Coney Island as "The Brothers Houdini", Houdini met a fellow performer, Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner. Bess was initially courted by Dash, but she and Houdini married, with Bess replacing Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis". For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess worked as his stage assistant. Houdini's big break came in 1899 when he met manager Martin Beck in St. Paul, Minnesota. Impressed by Houdini's handcuffs act, Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts and booked him on the Orpheum vaudeville circuit. Within months, he was performing at the top vaudeville houses in the country. In 1900, Beck arranged for Houdini to tour Europe. After some days of unsuccessful interviews in London, Houdini's British agent Harry Day helped him to get an interview with C. Dundas Slater, then manager of the Alhambra Theatre. He was introduced to William Melville and gave a demonstration of escape from handcuffs at Scotland Yard. He succeeded in baffling the police so effectively that he was booked at the Alhambra for six months. His show was an immediate hit and his salary rose to $300 a week (). Between 1900 and 1920 he appeared in theatres all over Great Britain performing escape acts, illusions, card tricks and outdoor stunts, becoming one of the world's highest paid entertainers. He also toured the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Russia and became widely known as "The Handcuff King". In each city, Houdini challenged local police to restrain him with shackles and lock him in their jails. In many of these challenge escapes, he was first stripped nude and searched. In Moscow, he escaped from a Siberian prison transport van, claiming that, had he been unable to free himself, he would have had to travel to Siberia, where the only key was kept. In Cologne, he sued a police officer, Werner Graff, who alleged that he made his escapes via bribery. Houdini won the case when he opened the judge's safe (he later said the judge had forgotten to lock it). With his new-found wealth, Houdini purchased a dress said to have been made for Queen Victoria. He then arranged a grand reception where he presented his mother in the dress to all their relatives. Houdini said it was the happiest day of his life. In 1904, Houdini returned to the U.S. and purchased a house for $25,000 (), a brownstone at 278 W. 113th Street in Harlem, New York City. While on tour in Europe in 1902, Houdini visited Blois with the aim of meeting the widow of Emile Houdin, the son of Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, for an interview and permission to visit his grave. He did not receive permission but still visited the grave. Houdini believed that he had been treated unfairly and later wrote a negative account of the incident in his magazine, claiming he was "treated most discourteously by Madame W. Emile Robert-Houdin". In 1906, he sent a letter to the French magazine L'Illusionniste stating: "You will certainly enjoy the article on Robert Houdin I am about to publish in my magazine. Yes, my dear friend, I think I can finally demolish your idol, who has so long been placed on a pedestal that he did not deserve." In 1906, Houdini created his own publication, the Conjurers' Monthly Magazine. It was a competitor to The Sphinx, but was short-lived and only two volumes were released until August 1908. Magic historian Jim Steinmeyer has noted that "Houdini couldn't resist using the journal for his own crusades, attacking his rivals, praising his own appearances, and subtly rewriting history to favor his view of magic." From 1907 and throughout the 1910s, Houdini performed with great success in the United States. He freed himself from jails, handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjackets, often while hanging from a rope in sight of street audiences. Because of imitators, Houdini put his "handcuff act" behind him on January 25, 1908, and began escaping from a locked, water-filled milk can. The possibility of failure and death thrilled his audiences. Houdini also expanded his repertoire with his escape challenge act, in which he invited the public to devise contraptions to hold him. These included nailed packing crates (sometimes lowered into water), riveted boilers, wet sheets, mail bags, and even the belly of a whale that had washed ashore in Boston. Brewers in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and other cities challenged Houdini to escape from a barrel after they filled it with beer. Many of these challenges were arranged with local merchants in one of the first uses of mass tie-in marketing . Rather than promote the idea that he was assisted by spirits, as did the Davenport Brothers and others, Houdini's advertisements showed him making his escapes via dematerializing, although Houdini himself never claimed to have supernatural powers. After much research, Houdini wrote a collection of articles on the history of magic, which were expanded into The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin published in 1908. In this book he attacked his former idol Robert-Houdin as a liar and a fraud for having claimed the invention of automata and effects such as aerial suspension, which had been in existence for many years. Many of the allegations in the book were dismissed by magicians and researchers who defended Robert-Houdin. Magician Jean Hugard would later write a full rebuttal to Houdini's book. Houdini introduced the Chinese Water Torture Cell at the Circus Busch in Berlin, Germany, on September 21, 1912. He was suspended upside-down in a locked glass-and-steel cabinet full to overflowing with water, holding his breath for more than three minutes. He would go on performing this escape for the rest of his life. During his career, Houdini explained some of his tricks in books written for the magic brotherhood. In Handcuff Secrets (1909), he revealed how many locks and handcuffs could be opened with properly applied force, others with shoestrings. Other times, he carried concealed lockpicks or keys. When tied down in ropes or straitjackets, he gained wiggle room by enlarging his shoulders and chest, moving his arms slightly away from his body. His straitjacket escape was originally performed behind curtains, with him popping out free at the end. Houdini's brother (who was also an escape artist, billing himself as Theodore Hardeen) discovered that audiences were more impressed when the curtains were eliminated so they could watch him struggle to get out. On more than one occasion, they both performed straitjacket escapes while dangling upside-down from the roof of a building in the same city. For most of his career, Houdini was a headline act in vaudeville. For many years, he was the highest-paid performer in American vaudeville. One of Houdini's most notable non-escape stage illusions was performed at the New York Hippodrome, when he vanished a full-grown elephant from the stage. He had purchased this trick from the magician Charles Morritt. In 1923, Houdini became president of Martinka & Co., America's oldest magic company. The business is still in operation today. He also served as president of the Society of American Magicians ( S.A.M.) from 1917 until his death in 1926. Founded on May 10, 1902, in the back room of Martinka's magic shop in New York, the Society expanded under the leadership of Harry Houdini during his term as national president from 1917 to 1926. Houdini was magic's greatest visionary. He sought to create a large, unified national network of professional and amateur magicians. Wherever he traveled, he gave a lengthy formal address to the local magic club, made speeches, and usually threw a banquet for the members at his own expense. He said "The Magicians Clubs as a rule are small: they are weak ... but if we were amalgamated into one big body the society would be stronger, and it would mean making the small clubs powerful and worthwhile. Members would find a welcome wherever they happened to be and, conversely, the safeguard of a city-to-city hotline to track exposers and other undesirables". For most of 1916, while on his vaudeville tour, Houdini had been recruiting—at his own expense—local magic clubs to join the S.A.M. in an effort to revitalize what he felt was a weak organization. Houdini persuaded groups in Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City to join. As had happened in London, he persuaded magicians to join. The Buffalo club joined as the first branch, (later assembly) of the Society. Chicago Assembly No. 3 was, as the name implies, the third regional club to be established by the S.A.M., whose assemblies now number in the hundreds. In 1917, he signed Assembly Number Three's charter into existence, and that charter and this club continue to provide Chicago magicians with a connection to each other and to their past. Houdini dined with, addressed, and got pledges from similar clubs in Detroit, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Cincinnati and elsewhere. This was the biggest movement ever in the history of magic. In places where no clubs existed, he rounded up individual magicians, introduced them to each other, and urged them into the fold. By the end of 1916, magicians' clubs in San Francisco and other cities that Houdini had not visited were offering to become assemblies. He had created the richest and longest-surviving organization of magicians in the world. It now embraces almost 6,000 dues-paying members and almost 300 assemblies worldwide. In July 1926, Houdini was elected for the ninth successive time President of the Society of American Magicians. Every other president has only served for one year. He also was President of the Magicians' Club of London. In the final years of his life (1925/26), Houdini launched his own full-evening show, which he billed as "Three Shows in One: Magic, Escapes, and Fraud Mediums Exposed". Notable escapes Daily Mirror challenge In 1904, the London Daily Mirror newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from special handcuffs that it claimed had taken Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from Birmingham, five years to make. Houdini accepted the challenge for March 17 during a matinée performance at London's Hippodrome theatre. It was reported that 4000 people and more than 100 journalists turned out for the much-hyped event. The escape attempt dragged on for over an hour, during which Houdini emerged from his "ghost house" (a small screen used to conceal the method of his escape) several times. On one occasion he asked if the cuffs could be removed so he could take off his coat. The Mirror representative, Frank Parker, refused, saying Houdini could gain an advantage if he saw how the cuffs were unlocked. Houdini promptly took out a penknife and, holding the knife in his teeth, used it to cut his coat from his body. Some 56 minutes later, Houdini's wife appeared on stage and gave him a kiss. Many thought that in her mouth was the key to unlock the special handcuffs. However, it has since been suggested that Bess did not in fact enter the stage at all, and that this theory is unlikely due to the size of the six-inch key. Houdini then went back behind the curtain. After an hour and ten minutes, Houdini emerged free. As he was paraded on the shoulders of the cheering crowd, he broke down and wept. Houdini later said it was the most difficult escape of his career. After Houdini's death, his friend Martin Beck was quoted in Will Goldston's book, Sensational Tales of Mystery Men, as admitting that Houdini was bested that day and had appealed to his wife, Bess, for help. Goldston goes on to claim that Bess begged the key from the Mirror representative, then slipped it to Houdini in a glass of water. It was stated in the book The Secret Life of Houdini that the key required to open the specially designed Mirror handcuffs was six inches long, and could not have been smuggled to Houdini in a glass of water. Goldston offered no proof of his account, and many modern biographers have found evidence (notably in the custom design of the handcuffs) that the Mirror challenge may have been arranged by Houdini and that his long struggle to escape was pure showmanship. This escape was discussed in depth on the Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum in an interview with Houdini expert, magician and escape artist Dorothy Dietrich of Scranton's Houdini Museum. A full-sized design of the same Mirror Handcuffs, as well as a replica of the Bramah style key for it, is on display to the public at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This set of cuffs is believed to be one of only six in the world, some of which are not on display. Milk Can Escape In 1908, Houdini introduced his own original act, the Milk Can Escape. In this act, Houdini was handcuffed and sealed inside an oversized milk can filled with water and made his escape behind a curtain. As part of the effect, Houdini invited members of the audience to hold their breath along with him while he was inside the can. Advertised with dramatic posters that proclaimed "Failure Means A Drowning Death", the escape proved to be a sensation. Houdini soon modified the escape to include the milk can being locked inside a wooden chest, being chained or padlocked. Houdini performed the milk can escape as a regular part of his act for only four years, but it has remained one of the acts most associated with him. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, continued to perform the milk can escape and its wooden chest variant into the 1940s. The American Museum of Magic has the milk can and overboard box used by Houdini. After other magicians proposed variations on the Milk Can Escape, Houdini claimed that the act was copyrighted and settled out of court in 1906 a case with John Clempert, one of the most persistent imitators, who agreed to publish an apology. Chinese water torture cell Around 1912, the vast number of imitators prompted Houdini to replace his milk can act with the Chinese water torture cell. In this escape, Houdini's feet were locked in stocks, and he was lowered upside down into a tank filled with water. The mahogany and metal cell featured a glass front, through which audiences could clearly see Houdini. The stocks were locked to the top of the cell, and a curtain concealed his escape. In the earliest version of the torture cell, a metal cage was lowered into the cell, and Houdini was enclosed inside that. While making the escape more difficult – the cage prevented Houdini from turning – the cage bars also offered protection should the front glass break. The original cell was built in England, where Houdini first performed the escape for an audience of one person as part of a one-act play he called "Houdini Upside Down". This was so he could copyright the effect and have grounds to sue imitators, which he did. While the escape was advertised as "The Chinese Water Torture Cell" or "The Water Torture Cell", Houdini always referred to it as "the Upside Down" or "USD". The first public performance of the USD was at the Circus Busch in Berlin, on September 21, 1912. Houdini continued to perform the escape until his death in 1926. Suspended straitjacket escape One of Houdini's most popular publicity stunts was to have himself strapped into a regulation straitjacket and suspended by his ankles from a tall building or crane. Houdini would then make his escape in full view of the assembled crowd. In many cases, Houdini drew tens of thousands of onlookers who brought city traffic to a halt. Houdini would sometimes ensure press coverage by performing the escape from the office building of a local newspaper. In New York City, Houdini performed the suspended straitjacket escape from a crane being used to build the subway. After flinging his body in the air, he escaped from the straitjacket. Starting from when he was hoisted up in the air by the crane, to when the straitjacket was completely off, it took him two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. There is film footage in the Library of Congress of Houdini performing the escape. Films of his escapes are also shown at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. After being battered against a building in high winds during one escape, Houdini performed the escape with a visible safety wire on his ankle so that he could be pulled away from the building if necessary. The idea for the upside-down escape was given to Houdini by a young boy named Randolph Osborne Douglas (March 31, 1895 – December 5, 1956), when the two met at a performance at Sheffield's Empire Theatre. Overboard box escape Another of Houdini's most famous publicity stunts was to escape from a nailed and roped packing crate after it had been lowered into water. He first performed the escape in New York's East River on July 7, 1912. Police forbade him from using one of the piers, so he hired a tugboat and invited press on board. Houdini was locked in handcuffs and leg-irons, then nailed into the crate which was roped and weighed down with two hundred pounds of lead. The crate was then lowered into the water. He escaped in 57 seconds. The crate was pulled to the surface and found still to be intact, with the manacles inside. Houdini performed this escape many times, and even performed a version on stage, first at Hamerstein's Roof Garden where a tank was specially built, and later at the New York Hippodrome. Buried alive stunt Houdini performed at least three variations on a buried alive stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost him his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing". Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing. He repeated the feat at the YMCA in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes. Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed buried alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit to New York following his death on Halloween. Movie career In 1906, Houdini started showing films of his outside escapes as part of his vaudeville act. In Boston, he presented a short film called Houdini Defeats Hackenschmidt. Georg Hackenschmidt was a famous wrestler of the day, but the nature of their contest is unknown as the film is lost. In 1909, Houdini made a film in Paris for Cinema Lux titled Merveilleux Exploits du Célèbre Houdini à Paris (Marvellous Exploits of the Famous Houdini in Paris). It featured a loose narrative designed to showcase several of Houdini's famous escapes, including his straitjacket and underwater handcuff escapes. That same year Houdini got an offer to star as Captain Nemo in a silent version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but the project never made it into production. It is often erroneously reported that Houdini served as special-effects consultant on the Wharton/International cliffhanger serial, The Mysteries of Myra, shot in Ithaca, New York, because Harry Grossman, director of The Master Mystery also filmed a serial in Ithaca at about the same time. The consultants on the serial were pioneering Hereward Carrington and Aleister Crowley. In 1918, Houdini signed a contract with film producer B. A. Rolfe to star in a 15-part serial, The Master Mystery (released in November 1918). As was common at the time, the film serial was released simultaneously with a novel. Financial difficulties resulted in B. A. Rolfe Productions going out of business, but The Master Mystery led to Houdini being signed by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation/Paramount Pictures, for whom he made two pictures, The Grim Game (1919) and Terror Island (1920). The Grim Game was Houdini's first full-length movie and is reputed to be his best. Because of the flammable nature of nitrate film and their low rate of survival, film historians considered the film lost. One copy did exist hidden in the collection of a private collector only known to a tiny group of magicians that saw it. Dick Brookz and Dorothy Dietrich of The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, had seen it twice on the invitation of the collector. After many years of trying, they finally got him to agree to sell the film to Turner Classic Movies who restored the complete 71-minute film. The film, not seen by the general public for 96 years was shown by TCM on March 29, 2015, as a highlight of their yearly 4-day festival in Hollywood. While filming an aerial stunt for The Grim Game, two biplanes collided in mid-air with a stuntman doubling Houdini dangling by a rope from one of the planes. Publicity was geared heavily toward promoting this dramatic "caught on film" moment, claiming it was Houdini himself dangling from the plane. While filming these movies in Los Angeles, Houdini rented a home in Laurel Canyon. Following his two-picture stint in Hollywood, Houdini returned to New York and started his own film production company called the "Houdini Picture Corporation". He produced and starred in two films, The Man from Beyond (1921) and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923). He also founded his own film laboratory business called The Film Development Corporation (FDC), gambling on a new process for developing motion picture film. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, left his own career as a magician and escape artist to run the company. Magician Harry Kellar was a major investor. In 1919 Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a residence owned by Ralph M. Walker. The Houdini Estate, a tribute to Houdini, is located on on 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Previously home to Walker himself. The Houdini Estate is subject to controversy, in that it is disputed whether Houdini ever actually made it his home. While there are claims it was Houdini's house, others counter that "he never set foot" on the property. It is rooted in Bess's parties or seances, etc. held across the street, she would do so at the Walker mansion. In fact, the guesthouse featured an elevator connecting to a tunnel that crossed under Laurel Canyon to the big house grounds (though capped, the tunnel still exists)./ Neither Houdini's acting career nor FDC found success, and he gave up on the movie business in 1923, complaining that "the profits are too meager". In April 2008, Kino International released a DVD box set of Houdini's surviving silent films, including The Master Mystery, Terror Island, The Man From Beyond, Haldane of the Secret Service, and five minutes from The Grim Game. The set also includes newsreel footage of Houdini's escapes from 1907 to 1923, and a section from Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à Paris, although it is not identified as such. Aviator In 1909, Houdini became fascinated with aviation. He purchased a French Voisin biplane for $5,000 () and hired a full-time mechanic, Antonio Brassac. After crashing once, he made his first successful flight on November 26 in Hamburg, Germany. The following year, Houdini toured Australia. He brought along his Voisin biplane with the intention to be the first person in Australia to fly. Falsely reported as pioneer On March 18, 1910, he made three flights at Diggers Rest, Victoria, near Melbourne. It was reported at the time that this was the first aerial flight in Australia, and a century later, some major news outlets still credit him with this feat. Wing Commander Harry Cobby wrote in Aircraft in March 1938 that "the first aeroplane flight in the Southern Hemisphere was made on December 9, 1909, by Mr Colin Defries, a Londoner, at Victoria Park Racecourse, Sydney, in a Wilbur Wright aeroplane". Colin Defries was a trained pilot, having learnt to fly in Cannes, France. By modern standards his flight time was minimal, but in 1909 he had accumulated enough to become an instructor. On his first flight he took off, maintained straight and level flight, albeit briefly, and landed safely. His crash landing on his second flight, when he tried to retrieve his hat which was blown off, demonstrated what a momentary lack of attention could cause while flying a Wright Model A. It is accepted by Australian historians and the Aviation Historical Society of Australia that the definition of flight established by the Gorell Committee on behalf of the Aero Club of Great Britain dictates the acceptance of a flight or its rejection, giving Colin Defries credit as the first to make an aeroplane flight in Australia, and the Southern Hemisphere. Additionally, aviation pioneer Richard Pearse is believed by many New Zealand historians to have undertaken his first flight as early as 1902, which would give him not only the Southern Hemisphere but the World record, although this is disputed. In 1965, aviation journalist Stanley Brogden formed the view that the first powered flight in Australia took place at Bolivar in South Australia; the aircraft was a Bleriot monoplane with Fred Custance as the pilot. The flight took place on March 17, 1910. The next day when Houdini took to the air, the Herald newspaper reported Custance's flight, stating it had lasted 5 minutes 25 seconds at a height of between 12 and 15 feet. In 2010, Australia Post issued stamps commemorating Colin Defries, Houdini and John Robertson Duigan, crediting only Defries and Duigan with historical firsts. Duigan was an Australian pioneer aviator who built and flew the first Australian-made aircraft. Australia Post did acknowledge the part Houdini played in their article "Harry Houdini can't escape being part of Australia's history" but did not attribute any record to him. After Australia After completing his Australia tour, Houdini put the Voisin into storage in England. He announced he would use it to fly from city to city during his next music hall tour, and even promised to leap from it handcuffed, but he never flew again. Debunking spiritualists In the 1920s, Houdini turned his energies toward debunking psychics and mediums, a pursuit that was in line with the debunkings by stage magicians since the late nineteenth century. Houdini's training in magic allowed him to expose frauds who had successfully fooled many scientists and academics. He was a member of a Scientific American committee that offered a cash prize to any medium who could successfully demonstrate supernatural abilities. None was able to do so, and the prize was never collected. The first to be tested was medium George Valiantine of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. As his fame as a "ghostbuster" grew, Houdini took to attending séances in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and police officer. Possibly the most famous medium whom he debunked was Mina Crandon, also known as "Margery". Joaquín Argamasilla, known as the "Spaniard with X-ray Eyes", claimed to be able to read handwriting or numbers on dice through closed metal boxes. In 1924, he was exposed by Houdini as a fraud. Argamasilla peeked through his simple blindfold and lifted up the edge of the box so he could look inside it without others noticing. Houdini also investigated the Italian medium Nino Pecoraro, whom he considered to be fraudulent. Houdini's exposing of phony mediums has inspired other magicians to follow suit, including The Amazing Randi, Dorothy Dietrich, Penn & Teller, and Dick Brookz. Houdini chronicled his debunking exploits in his book, A Magician Among the Spirits, co-authored with C. M. Eddy, Jr., who was not credited. These activities compromised Houdini's friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle, a firm believer in spiritualism during his later years, refused to believe any of Houdini's exposés. Doyle came to believe that Houdini was a powerful spiritualist medium, and had performed many of his stunts by means of paranormal abilities and was using these abilities to block those of other mediums that he was "debunking". This disagreement led to the two men becoming public antagonists and Sir Arthur came to view Houdini as a dangerous enemy. Before Houdini died, he and his wife agreed that if Houdini found it possible to communicate after death, he would communicate the message "Rosabelle believe", a secret code which they agreed to use. Rosabelle was their favorite song. Bess held yearly séances on Halloween for ten years after Houdini's death. She did claim to have contact through Arthur Ford in 1929 when Ford conveyed the secret code, but Bess later said the incident had been faked. The code seems to have been such that it could be broken by Ford or his associates using existing clues. Evidence to this effect was discovered by Ford's biographer after he died in 1971. In 1936, after a last unsuccessful séance on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel, she put out the candle that she had kept burning beside a photograph of Houdini since his death. In 1943, Bess said that "ten years is long enough to wait for any man." The tradition of holding a séance for Houdini continues, held by magicians throughout the world. The Official Houdini Séance was organized in the 1940s by Sidney Hollis Radner, a Houdini aficionado from Holyoke, Massachusetts. Yearly Houdini séances are also conducted in Chicago at the Excalibur nightclub by "necromancer" Neil Tobin on behalf of the Chicago Assembly of the Society of American Magicians; and at the Houdini Museum in Scranton by magician Dorothy Dietrich, who previously held them at New York's Magic Towne House with such magical notables as Houdini biographers Walter B. Gibson and Milbourne Christopher. Gibson was asked by Bess Houdini to carry on the original seance tradition. After doing them for many years at New York's Magic Towne House, before he died, Walter passed on the tradition of conducting of the Original Seances to Dorothy Dietrich. In 1926, Harry Houdini hired H. P. Lovecraft and his friend C. M. Eddy, Jr., to write an entire book about debunking religious miracles, which was to be called The Cancer of Superstition. Houdini had earlier asked Lovecraft to write an article about astrology, for which he paid $75 (). The article does not survive. Lovecraft's detailed synopsis for Cancer does survive, as do three chapters of the treatise written by Eddy. Houdini's death derailed the plans, as his widow did not wish to pursue the project. Appearance and voice recordings Unlike the image of the classic magician, Houdini was short and stocky and typically appeared on stage in a long frock coat and tie. Most biographers give his height as , but descriptions vary. Houdini was also said to be slightly bow-legged, which aided in his ability to gain slack during his rope escapes. In the 1997 biography Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss, author Kenneth Silverman summarizes how reporters described Houdini's appearance during his early career: Houdini made the only known recordings of his voice on Edison wax cylinders on October 29, 1914, in Flatbush, New York. On them, Houdini practices several different introductory speeches for his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell. He also invites his sister, Gladys, to recite a poem. Houdini then recites the same poem in German. The six wax cylinders were discovered in the collection of magician John Mulholland after his death in 1970. They are part of the David Copperfield collection. Personal life Houdini became an active Freemason and was a member of St. Cecile Lodge No. 568 in New York City. In 1904, Houdini bought a New York City townhouse at 278 West 113th Street in Harlem. He paid US$25,000 () for the five-level, 6,008-square-foot house, which was built in 1895, and lived in it with his wife Bess, and various other relatives until his death in 1926. In March 2018, it was purchased for $3.6 million. A plaque affixed to the building by the Historical Landmark Preservation Center reads, "The magician lived here from 1904 to 1926 collecting illusions, theatrical memorabilia, and books on psychic phenomena and magic." In 1919, Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a house of his friend and business associate Ralph M. Walker, who owned both sides of the street, 2335 and 2400, the latter address having a pool where Houdini practiced his water escapes. 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, previously numbered 2398, is presently known as The Houdini Estate, thus named in the honor of Houdini's time there, the same estate where Bess Houdini threw a party for 500 magicians years after his death. After decades of abandonment, the estate was acquired in 2006 by José Luis Nazar, a Chilean/American citizen who has restored it to its former splendor. In 1918, he registered for selective service as Harry Handcuff Houdini. Death Harry Houdini died of peritonitis, secondary to a ruptured appendix, at 1:26 p.m. on October 31, 1926, in Room 401 at Detroit's Grace Hospital, aged 52. In his final days, he believed that he would recover, but his last words before dying were reportedly, "I'm tired of fighting... I do not want to fight anymore..." Witnesses to an incident at Houdini's dressing room in the Princess Theatre in Montreal speculated that Houdini's death was caused by Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead (November 25, 1895 – July 5, 1954), who repeatedly struck Houdini's abdomen. The accounts of the witnesses, students named Jacques Price and Sam Smilovitz (sometimes called Jack Price and Sam Smiley), generally corroborated one another. Price said that Whitehead asked Houdini "if he believed in the miracles of the Bible" and "whether it was true that punches in the stomach did not hurt him". Houdini offered a casual reply that his stomach could endure a lot. Whitehead then delivered "some very hammer-like blows below the belt". Houdini was reclining on a couch at the time, having broken his ankle while performing several days earlier. Price said that Houdini winced at each blow and stopped Whitehead suddenly in the midst of a punch, gesturing that he had had enough, and adding that he had had no opportunity to prepare himself against the blows, as he did not expect Whitehead to strike him so suddenly and forcefully. Had his ankle not been broken, he would have risen from the couch into a better position to brace himself. Throughout the evening, Houdini performed in great pain. He was unable to sleep and remained in constant pain for the next two days, but did not seek medical help. When he finally saw a doctor, he was found to have a fever of and acute appendicitis, and was advised to have immediate surgery. He ignored the advice and decided to go on with the show. When Houdini arrived at the Garrick Theater in Detroit, Michigan, on October 24, 1926, for what would be his last performance, he had a fever of . Despite the diagnosis, Houdini took the stage. He was reported to have passed out during the show, but was revived and continued. Afterwards, he was hospitalized at Detroit's Grace Hospital. It is unclear whether the dressing room incident caused Houdini's eventual death, as the relationship between blunt trauma and appendicitis is uncertain. One theory suggests that Houdini was unaware that he was suffering from appendicitis, and might have been aware had he not received blows to the abdomen. After taking statements from Price and Smilovitz, Houdini's insurance company concluded that the death was due to the dressing-room incident and paid double indemnity. Houdini grave site Houdini's funeral was held on November 4, 1926, in New York, with more than 2,000 mourners in attendance. He was interred in the Machpelah Cemetery in Glendale, Queens, with the crest of the Society of American Magicians inscribed on his grave site. A statuary bust was added to the exedra in 1927, a rarity, because graven images are forbidden in Jewish cemeteries. In 1975, the bust was destroyed by vandals. Temporary busts were placed at the grave until 2011 when a group who came to be called The self-named Houdini Commandos, from the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, placed a permanent bust with the permission of Houdini's family and of the cemetery. The Society of American Magicians took responsibility for the upkeep of the site, as Houdini had willed a large sum of money to the organization he had grown from one club to 5,000–6,000 dues-paying membership worldwide. The payment of upkeep was abandoned by the society's dean George Schindler, who said "Houdini paid for perpetual care, but there's nobody at the cemetery to provide it", adding that the operator of the cemetery, David Jacobson, "sends us a bill for upkeep every year but we never pay it because he never provides any care." Members of the Society tidy the grave themselves. Machpelah Cemetery operator Jacobson said that they "never paid the cemetery for any restoration of the Houdini family plot in my tenure since 1988", claiming that the money came from the cemetery's dwindling funds. The granite monuments of Houdini's sister, Gladys, and brother, Leopold were also destroyed by vandals. For many years, until recently, the Houdini grave site has been only cared for by Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Society of American Magicians, at its National Council Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2013, under the prompting of Dietrich and Brookz, voted to assume the financial responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Houdini Gravesite. In MUM Magazine, the Society's official magazine, President Dal Sanders announced "Harry Houdini is an icon as revered as Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe. He is not only a magical icon; his gravesite bears the seal of The Society of American Magicians. That seal is our brand and we should be proud to protect it. This gravesite is clearly our responsibility and I'm proud to report that the National Council unanimously voted to maintain Houdini's final resting place." The Houdini Gravesite Restoration Committee under the Chairmanship of National President David Bowers, is working closely with National President Kenrick "Ice" McDonald to see this project to completion. Bowers said it is a foregone conclusion that the Society will approve the funding request, because "Houdini is responsible for the Society of American Magicians being what it is today. We owe a debt of gratitude to him." Like Bowers, McDonald said the motivation behind the repairs is to properly honor the grave of the "Babe Ruth of magicians". "This is hallowed ground," he said. "When you ask people about magicians, the first thing they say is Harry Houdini." While the actual plot will remain under the control of Machpelah Cemetery management, the Society of American Magicians, with the help of the Houdini Museum in Pennsylvania, will be in charge of the restoration. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz have been caring for the escape artist's Queens grave over the years. "This is a monument where people go and visit on a daily basis," said Dietrich who is spearheading restoration efforts. "The nearly 80-year-old popular plot at the Machpelah Cemetery has fallen into disrepair over the years." "The Houdini Museum has teamed with The Society of American Magicians, one of the oldest fraternal magic organizations in the world, to give the beloved site a facelift." The organization has a specific Houdini gravesite committee made up of nine members headed up by President elect David Bowers who brought this project to the Society's attention. Kenrick "Ice" McDonald, the current president of the Society of American Magicians said, "You have to know the history. Houdini served as President from 1917 until his death in 1926. Houdini's burial site needs an infusion of cash to restore it to its former glory." Magician Dietrich said the repairs could cost "tens of thousands of dollars", after consulting with glass experts and grave artisans. "It's a wonderful project, but it's taken a lifetime to get people interested," she said. "It's long overdue, and it's great that it's happening." Houdini was a living superhero," Dietrich said. "He wasn't just a magician and escape artist, he was a great humanitarian." To this day, the Society holds a broken wand ceremony at the grave every November. Houdini's widow, Bess, died of a heart attack on February 11, 1943, aged 67, in Needles, California, while on a train en route from Los Angeles to New York City. She had expressed a wish to be buried next to her husband, but instead was interred 35 miles due north at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester County, New York, as her Catholic family refused to allow her to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Proposed exhumation On March 22, 2007, Houdini's grand-nephew (the grandson of his brother Theo), George Hardeen, announced that the courts would be asked to allow exhumation of Houdini's body, to investigate the possibility of Houdini being murdered by spiritualists, as suggested in the biography The Secret Life of Houdini. In a statement given to the Houdini Museum in Scranton, the family of Bess Houdini opposed the application and suggested it was a publicity ploy for the book. The Washington Post stated that the press conference was not arranged by the family of Houdini. Instead, the Post reported, it was orchestrated by authors Kalush and Sloman, who hired the public relations firm Dan Klores Communications to promote their book. In 2008, it was revealed the parties involved had not filed legal papers to perform an exhumation. Legacy Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, who returned to performing after Houdini's death, inherited his brother's effects and props. Houdini's will stipulated that all the effects should be "burned and destroyed" upon Hardeen's death. Hardeen sold much of the collection to magician and Houdini enthusiast Sidney Hollis Radner during the 1940s, including the water torture cell. Radner allowed choice pieces of the collection to be displayed at The Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Ontario. In 1995, a fire destroyed the museum. The water torture cell's metal frame remained, and it was restored by illusion builder John Gaughan. Many of the props contained in the museum such as the mirror handcuffs, Houdini's original packing crate, a milk can, and a straitjacket, survived the fire and were auctioned in 1999 and 2008. Radner loaned the bulk of his collection for archiving to the Outagamie Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, but reclaimed it in 2003 and auctioned it in Las Vegas, on October 30, 2004. Houdini was a "formidable collector", and bequeathed many of his holdings and paper archives on magic and spiritualism to the Library of Congress, which became the basis for the Houdini collection in cyberspace. In 1934, the bulk of Houdini's collection of American and British theatrical material, along with a significant portion of his business and personal papers, and some of his collections of other magicians were sold to pay off estate debts to theatre magnate Messmore Kendall. In 1958, Kendall donated his collection to the Hoblitzelle Theatre Library at the University of Texas at Austin. In the 1960s, the Hoblitzelle Library became part of the Harry Ransom Center. The extensive Houdini collection includes a 1584 first edition of Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft and David Garrick's travel diary to Paris from 1751. Some of the scrapbooks in the Houdini collection have been digitized. The collection was exclusively paper-based until April 2016, when the Ransom Center acquired one of Houdini's ball weights with chain and ankle cuff. In October 2016, in conjunction with the 90th anniversary of the death of Houdini, the Ransom Center embarked on a major re-cataloging of the Houdini collection to make it more visible and accessible to researchers. The collection reopened in 2018, with its finding aids posted online. A large portion of Houdini's estate holdings and memorabilia was willed to his fellow magician and friend, John Mulholland (1898–1970). In 1991, illusionist and television performer David Copperfield purchased all of Mulholland's Houdini holdings from Mulholland's estate. These are now archived and preserved in Copperfield's warehouse at his headquarters in Las Vegas. It contains the world's largest collection of Houdini memorabilia, and preserves approximately 80,000 items of memorabilia of Houdini and other magicians, including Houdini's stage props and material, his rebuilt water torture cabinet and his metamorphosis trunk. It is not open to the public, but tours are available by invitation to magicians, scholars, researchers, journalists and serious collectors. In a posthumous ceremony on October 31, 1975, Houdini was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7001 Hollywood Blvd. The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, bills itself as "the only building in the world entirely dedicated to Houdini". It is open to the public year-round by reservation. It includes Houdini films, a guided tour about Houdini's life and a stage magic show. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz opened the facility in 1991. The Magic Castle in Los Angeles, California, a nightclub for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts, features Houdini séances performed by magician Misty Lee. The House of Houdini is a museum and performance venue located at 11, Dísz square in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. It claims to house the largest collection of original Houdini artifacts in Europe. The Houdini Museum of New York is located at Fantasma Magic, a retail magic manufacturer and seller located in Manhattan. The museum contains several hundred pieces of ephemera, most of which belonged to Harry Houdini. In popular culture Houdini appeared as himself in Weird Tales magazine in three ghostwritten fictionalizations of sensational events from his career (issues of March, April, and May–June–July 1924). The third story, "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs," was written by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft based on Houdini's notes. The Houdini-Lovecraft collaboration was envisioned to continue, but the magazine ceased publication for financial reasons. When it resumed later in 1924, Houdini no longer figured in its plans. Houdini (1953)played by Tony Curtis The Great Houdini The Great Houdinis (1976)played by Paul Michael Glaser (TV movie) Ragtime (1981)played by Jeffrey DeMunn, based on the novel by E. L. Doctorow. Jim Corti played him in the original Broadway production of the musical based on the same novel. Houdini is the subject of the song "Houdini" on the 1982 album The Dreaming by Kate Bush. The album's cover art, in which Bush is depicted holding a key in her mouth and bending in to kiss a chained figure whose face is turned away from the camera, is an homage to Bess Houdini. A Magician Amongst the Spirits, a 1982 BBC radio drama about Houdini's life written by Bert Coules Grand Illusion a 1983 episode of the TV series "Simon and Simon" concerns a murder and a book of stolen Houdini magic notes. The Cabinet of Calamari a 1987 episode of the cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters involves the ghost of Houdini and a book of stolen Houdini magic notes. Young Harry Houdini (1987)played by Wil Wheaton & Jeffrey DeMunn (TV movie) A Night at the Magic Castle (1988)played by Arte Johnson Canadian synth-pop duo Kon Kan released the song "Harry Houdini" in 1989. FairyTale: A True Story (1997)played by Harvey Keitel Houdini (1998)played by Johnathon Schaech (TV movie) Mentioned in Joan of Arc's song "God Bless America" on their 1998 album How Memory Works Cremaster 2 (1999)played by Norman Mailer Death Defying Acts (2007)played by Guy Pearce Murdoch Mysteries (2008)played by Joe Dinicol (TV series) Drunk History Season 1, Episode 6: Detroit (2013)played by Ken Marino (TV series) Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctor - Smoke and Mirrors (2013) – played by Tim Beckmann (BBC Audio) Houdini (2014)played by Adrien Brody (TV miniseries) Houdini and Doyle (2016)played by Michael Weston (TV series) Timeless (2016)played by Michael Drayer (TV series) Doctor Who – Harry Houdini's War (2019)played by John Schwab (Big Finish audio play) d'ILLUSION: The Houdini Musical – The Audio Theater Experience (2020)played by Julian R. Decker (Album musical/audiobook) The 2017 song Rosabelle, Believe by UK electronic band Cult With No Name is about the pact Houdini made with his wife on his deathbed. Publications Houdini published numerous books during his career (some of which were written by his good friend Walter B. Gibson, the creator of The Shadow) The Right Way to Do Wrong: An Exposé of Successful Criminals (1906) Handcuff Secrets (1907) The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin (1908), a debunking study of Robert-Houdin's alleged abilities. Magical Rope Ties and Escapes (1920) Miracle Mongers and Their Methods (1920) Houdini's Paper Magic (1921) A Magician Among the Spirits (1924) Houdini Exposes the Tricks Used by the Boston Medium "Margery" (1924) Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (1924), a short story ghostwritten by H. P. Lovecraft. How I Unmask the Spirit Fakers, article for Popular Science (November 1925) How I do My "Spirit Tricks", article for Popular Science (December 1925) Conjuring (1926), article for the Encyclopædia Britannica's 13th edition. Filmography Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à ParisCinema Lux (1909)playing himself The Master MysteryOctagon Films (1918)playing Quentin Locke The Grim GameFamous Players-Lasky/Paramount Pictures (1919)playing Harvey Handford Terror IslandFamous Players Lasky/Paramount (1920)playing Harry Harper The Man from BeyondHoudini Picture Corporation (1922)playing Howard Hillary Haldane of the Secret ServiceHoudini Picture Corporation/FBO (1923)playing Heath Haldane See also List of magic museums List of magicians Ann O'Delia Diss Debar (Swami Laura Horos) David Blaine Walford BodieA friend of Houdini, and fellow magician References Bibliography Gresham, William Lindsay Houdini: The Man Who Walked Through Walls (New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1959). Henning, Doug with Charles Reynolds. Houdini: His Legend and His Magic (New York: Times Books, 1978). . Kellock, Harold. Houdini: His Life-Story from the recollections and documents of Beatrice Houdini, (Harcourt, Brace Co., June 1928). Kendall, Lance. Houdini: Master of Escape (New York: Macrae Smith & Co., 1960). . Meyer, M.D., Bernard C. Houdini: A Mind in Chains (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1976). . Williams, Beryl & Samuel Epstein. The Great Houdini: Magician Extraordinary (New York: Julian Messner, Inc., 1950). Further reading "Who Is Houdini?" by Fred Lockley, Photoplay, June 1920, p. 50. "An Interview with Harry Houdini" by Marcet Haldeman-Julius, Haldeman-Julius Monthly Vol. 2.5 (October 1925), pp. 387–397. Houdini's Escapes and Magic by Walter B. Gibson, Prepared from Houdini's private notebooks Blue Ribbon Books, Inc., 1930. Reveals some of Houdini's magic and escape methods (also released in two separate volumes: Houdini's Magic and Houdini's Escapes). The Secrets of Houdini by J.C. Cannell, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1931. Reveals some of Houdini's escape methods. Houdini and Conan Doyle: The Story of a Strange Friendship by Bernard M. L. Ernst, Albert & Charles Boni, Inc., NY, 1932. Sixty Years of Psychical Research by Joseph Rinn, Truth Seeker Co., 1950, Rinn was a long time close friend of Houdini. Contains detailed information about the last Houdini message (there are 3) and its disclosure. Houdini's Fabulous Magic by Walter B. Gibson and Morris N. Young Chilton, NY, 1960. Excellent reference for Houdini's escapes and some methods (includes the Water Torture Cell). The Houdini Birth Research Committee's Report, Magico Magazine (reprint of report by The Society of American Magicians), 1972. Concludes Houdini was born March 24, 1874, in Budapest. Arthur Ford: The Man Who Talked with the Dead by Allen Spraggett with William V. Rauscher, 1973, pp. 152–165, Chapter 7, The Houdini Affair contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure. Mediums, Mystics and the Occult by Milbourne Christopher, Thomas T. Crowell Co., 1975, pp. 122–145, Arthur Ford-Messages from the Dead, contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure. Houdini: A Definitive Bibliography by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1991. A Description of the Literary Works of Houdini, includes pamphlets from Weltman's collection Believe by William Shatner and Michael Charles Tobias, Berkeley Books, NY 1992. Houdini: Escape into Legend, The Early Years: 1862–1900 by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1993. Examination of Houdini's childhood and early career. Houdini Comes to America by Ronald J. Hilgert, The Houdini Historical Center, 1996. Documents the Weiss family's immigration to the United States on July 3, 1878 (when Ehrich was 4). Houdini Unlocked by Patrick Culliton, Two volume box set: The Tao of Houdini and The Secret Confessions of Houdini, Kieran Press, 1997. The Houdini Code Mystery: A Spirit Secret Solved by William V. Rauscher, Magic Words, 2000. Final Séance. The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle by Massimo Polidoro, Prometheus Books, 2001. The Man Who Killed Houdini by Don Bell, Vehicle Press, 2004. Investigates J. Gordon Whitehead and the events surrounding Houdini's death. Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century by Matthew Solomon, University of Illinois Press, 2010. Contains new information about Houdini's early movie career. Houdini Art and Magic by Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Jewish Museum, 2010. Essays on Houdini's life and work are accompanied by interviews with novelist E.L. Doctorow, Teller, Kenneth Silverman, and more. Houdini The Key by Patrick Culliton, Kieran Press, 2010. Reveals the authentic working methods of many of Houdini effects, including the Milk Can and Water Torture Cell. Limited to 278 copies. The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini by Joe Posnanski, Avid Reader Press, 2019. External links Harry Houdini Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Harry Houdini Collection at the Harry Ransom Center Timeline of Houdini's life The Houdini Museum in Scranton Pennsylvania Houdini archives in the Harry Price papers Houdini Escapes the Smithsonian The Harry Houdini Collection From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress Photographs and posters of Harry Houdini held by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts 1874 births 1926 deaths American aviators American Freemasons American magicians American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American performance artists American skeptics American stunt performers Articles containing video clips Artists from Budapest Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States Austro-Hungarian Jews Burials in New York (state) Deaths from peritonitis Escapologists Hungarian Jews Hungarian magicians Hungarian performance artists Jewish American artists Paranormal investigators Spiritualism Trapeze artists Vaudeville performers	false	[ "Kenneth Marion Powers (July 9, 1947 – February 28, 2009) was an American stuntman. Powers was born to Edward Lee and Florence Pauline Powers in Landrum, South Carolina, on July 9, 1947. He grew up in Landrum, and after high school, he joined the U.S. Navy and served as a barber according to his DD 214. He died at the Hampton Veterans Center in Hampton, Virginia on February 28, 2009. He was married to Beverly Powers at the time of his death.\n\nSt. Lawrence River jump\n\nHe is best known today for his unsuccessful October 1979 attempt to jump the Saint Lawrence River in a rocket-powered Lincoln Continental, where he took the place of stuntman Ken Carter. He suffered significant injuries including a broken back, but survived.\n\nCarter's years of planning for the \"Superjump\", and Powers's failed attempt were the subject of a 1981 documentary called The Devil at Your Heels, directed by Robert Fortier and produced by the National Film Board of Canada. According to some sources, Powers was substituted at the last minute for Carter, without Carter's knowledge, because the jump's backers feared Carter had decided the jump would not work. However, Kenny Powers and Donna Ray Powers have stated that Carter still wanted to do the jump, but the backers were concerned about Carter's health. This is the account in the official documentary of the jump. Ken Carter and Kenny Powers remained friends until his death.\n\nVideo of the stunt also appeared on the American television show That's Incredible!, as well as the 1981 film Faces of Death II. A four-minute clip of the stunt taken from Faces of Death II was uploaded to YouTube in 2006, causing renewed popularity.\n\nThe stunt has been featured in the Heavyweight Podcast by Jonathan Goldstein titled \"Kenny\" and the Dollop Podcast. In addition, the stunt has inspired a musical film titled Aim for the Roses, scored by Mark Haney.\n\nOther work\n\nPowers worked for and with Carter for many years, and also claimed to have performed stunts for Hollywood, including in the 1970s films Smokey and the Bandit, Vanishing Point, and Hooper. However, he is not listed in any movie credits. Kenny did stunt work for the Ken Carter team during the time that Smokey and the Bandit was filmed as the team prepared for the 1979 Super Jump. According to Butch Carter, Ken Carter's brother who also did stunt work for the team, the team was considered for the stunt work in Smokey and the Bandit, but another team was selected. According to Butch Carter and other team members, Kenny worked for the Ken Carter team the whole time of the filming of Smokey and the Bandit.\n\nStuntman Kenny Powers was a phenomenal stuntman. He was a caring, loving, and benevolent person. However, he struggled with problems due to alcohol and drug abuse his whole adult life. Kenny did in fact publicly make claims to have done stunts in movies. He was delusional about many things, especially in the last years of his life (Information from Beverly Powers). He continued to perform stunts until at least 2005. Kenny did 2 stunts in August of 2004. One was in Dothan, Alabama and the other stunt was done in Greenville, Alabama. Kenny did his next to last stunt in Timmonsville, S.C. on August 19, 2006. His last stunt was in Greenville, Alabama on August 26, 2006 (Information from Beverly Powers).\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \nHeavyweight Podcast Episode #13: Kenny\n\n1947 births\n2009 deaths\nAmerican stunt performers\nPeople from Spartanburg County, South Carolina", "Lani Jackson is a New Zealand stuntwoman best known for her work in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.\n\nFilmography\n\n The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): Stunt Performer\n The Last Samurai (2003): Stunt Performer\n The Locals (2003): Stunts\n The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002): Stunt Performer\n Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002): Stunt Performer (uncredited)\n The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001): Stunts/Stunt double for Liv Tyler (uncredited)\n\nExternal links\n\nNew Zealand stunt performers\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nWomen stunt performers" ]
[ "Harry Houdini", "Buried alive stunt", "what year did he do the buried alive stunt?", "The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost Houdini his life.", "how did he almost die?", "He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious", "how long did the stunt last?", "I don't know." ]	C_06b9531629e14f8c8797fd4dc6caf543_0	who came to help him?	4	Who came to help Harry Houdini after the buried alive stunt?	Harry Houdini	Houdini performed at least three variations on a buried alive stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost Houdini his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing." Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing. He repeated the feat at the YMCA in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes. Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed buried alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit to New York following his death on Halloween. CANNOTANSWER	When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants.	Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, illusionist, stunt performer and mysteriarch, noted for his escape acts. He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the United States and then as "Harry 'Handcuff' Houdini" on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it. In 1904, thousands watched as he tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by London's Daily Mirror, keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state of near-breakdown. While many suspected that these escapes were faked, Houdini presented himself as the scourge of fake spiritualists. As President of the Society of American Magicians, he was keen to uphold professional standards and expose fraudulent artists. He was also quick to sue anyone who imitated his escape stunts. Houdini made several movies but quit acting when it failed to bring in money. He was also a keen aviator and aimed to become the first man to fly a powered aircraft in Australia. Early life Erik Weisz was born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary to a Jewish family. His parents were rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz (1829–1892) and Cecília Steiner (1841–1913). Houdini was one of seven children: Herman M. (1863–1885), who was Houdini's half-brother by Rabbi Weisz's first marriage; Nathan J. (1870–1927); Gottfried William (1872–1925); Theodore (1876–1945); Leopold D. (1879–1962); and Carrie Gladys (1882–1959), who was left almost blind after a childhood accident. Weisz arrived in the United States on July 3, 1878, on the SS Fresia with his mother (who was pregnant) and his four brothers. The family changed their name to the German spelling Weiss, and Erik became Ehrich. The family lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his father served as rabbi of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation. According to the 1880 census, the family lived on Appleton Street in an area that is now known as Houdini Plaza. On June 6, 1882, Rabbi Weiss became an American citizen. Losing his job at Zion in 1882, Rabbi Weiss and family moved to Milwaukee and fell into dire poverty. In 1887, Rabbi Weiss moved with Ehrich to New York City, where they lived in a boarding house on East 79th Street. He was joined by the rest of the family once rabbi Weiss found permanent housing. As a child, Ehrich Weiss took several jobs, making his public début as a nine-year-old trapeze artist, calling himself "Ehrich, the Prince of the Air". He was also a champion cross country runner in his youth. Magic career When Weiss became a professional magician he began calling himself "Harry Houdini", after the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, after reading Robert-Houdin's autobiography in 1890. Weiss incorrectly believed that an i at the end of a name meant "like" in French. In later life, Houdini claimed that the first part of his new name, Harry, was an homage to American magician Harry Kellar, whom he also admired, though it was likely adapted from "Ehri", a nickname for "Ehrich", which is how he was known to his family. When he was a teenager, Houdini was coached by the magician Joseph Rinn at the Pastime Athletic Club. Houdini began his magic career in 1891, but had little success. He appeared in a tent act with strongman Emil Jarrow. He performed in dime museums and sideshows, and even doubled as "The Wild Man" at a circus. Houdini focused initially on traditional card tricks. At one point, he billed himself as the "King of Cards". Some – but not all – professional magicians would come to regard Houdini as a competent but not particularly skilled sleight-of-hand artist, lacking the grace and finesse required to achieve excellence in that craft. He soon began experimenting with escape acts. In 1894, while performing with his brother "Dash" (Theodore) at Coney Island as "The Brothers Houdini", Houdini met a fellow performer, Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner. Bess was initially courted by Dash, but she and Houdini married, with Bess replacing Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis". For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess worked as his stage assistant. Houdini's big break came in 1899 when he met manager Martin Beck in St. Paul, Minnesota. Impressed by Houdini's handcuffs act, Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts and booked him on the Orpheum vaudeville circuit. Within months, he was performing at the top vaudeville houses in the country. In 1900, Beck arranged for Houdini to tour Europe. After some days of unsuccessful interviews in London, Houdini's British agent Harry Day helped him to get an interview with C. Dundas Slater, then manager of the Alhambra Theatre. He was introduced to William Melville and gave a demonstration of escape from handcuffs at Scotland Yard. He succeeded in baffling the police so effectively that he was booked at the Alhambra for six months. His show was an immediate hit and his salary rose to $300 a week (). Between 1900 and 1920 he appeared in theatres all over Great Britain performing escape acts, illusions, card tricks and outdoor stunts, becoming one of the world's highest paid entertainers. He also toured the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Russia and became widely known as "The Handcuff King". In each city, Houdini challenged local police to restrain him with shackles and lock him in their jails. In many of these challenge escapes, he was first stripped nude and searched. In Moscow, he escaped from a Siberian prison transport van, claiming that, had he been unable to free himself, he would have had to travel to Siberia, where the only key was kept. In Cologne, he sued a police officer, Werner Graff, who alleged that he made his escapes via bribery. Houdini won the case when he opened the judge's safe (he later said the judge had forgotten to lock it). With his new-found wealth, Houdini purchased a dress said to have been made for Queen Victoria. He then arranged a grand reception where he presented his mother in the dress to all their relatives. Houdini said it was the happiest day of his life. In 1904, Houdini returned to the U.S. and purchased a house for $25,000 (), a brownstone at 278 W. 113th Street in Harlem, New York City. While on tour in Europe in 1902, Houdini visited Blois with the aim of meeting the widow of Emile Houdin, the son of Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, for an interview and permission to visit his grave. He did not receive permission but still visited the grave. Houdini believed that he had been treated unfairly and later wrote a negative account of the incident in his magazine, claiming he was "treated most discourteously by Madame W. Emile Robert-Houdin". In 1906, he sent a letter to the French magazine L'Illusionniste stating: "You will certainly enjoy the article on Robert Houdin I am about to publish in my magazine. Yes, my dear friend, I think I can finally demolish your idol, who has so long been placed on a pedestal that he did not deserve." In 1906, Houdini created his own publication, the Conjurers' Monthly Magazine. It was a competitor to The Sphinx, but was short-lived and only two volumes were released until August 1908. Magic historian Jim Steinmeyer has noted that "Houdini couldn't resist using the journal for his own crusades, attacking his rivals, praising his own appearances, and subtly rewriting history to favor his view of magic." From 1907 and throughout the 1910s, Houdini performed with great success in the United States. He freed himself from jails, handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjackets, often while hanging from a rope in sight of street audiences. Because of imitators, Houdini put his "handcuff act" behind him on January 25, 1908, and began escaping from a locked, water-filled milk can. The possibility of failure and death thrilled his audiences. Houdini also expanded his repertoire with his escape challenge act, in which he invited the public to devise contraptions to hold him. These included nailed packing crates (sometimes lowered into water), riveted boilers, wet sheets, mail bags, and even the belly of a whale that had washed ashore in Boston. Brewers in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and other cities challenged Houdini to escape from a barrel after they filled it with beer. Many of these challenges were arranged with local merchants in one of the first uses of mass tie-in marketing . Rather than promote the idea that he was assisted by spirits, as did the Davenport Brothers and others, Houdini's advertisements showed him making his escapes via dematerializing, although Houdini himself never claimed to have supernatural powers. After much research, Houdini wrote a collection of articles on the history of magic, which were expanded into The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin published in 1908. In this book he attacked his former idol Robert-Houdin as a liar and a fraud for having claimed the invention of automata and effects such as aerial suspension, which had been in existence for many years. Many of the allegations in the book were dismissed by magicians and researchers who defended Robert-Houdin. Magician Jean Hugard would later write a full rebuttal to Houdini's book. Houdini introduced the Chinese Water Torture Cell at the Circus Busch in Berlin, Germany, on September 21, 1912. He was suspended upside-down in a locked glass-and-steel cabinet full to overflowing with water, holding his breath for more than three minutes. He would go on performing this escape for the rest of his life. During his career, Houdini explained some of his tricks in books written for the magic brotherhood. In Handcuff Secrets (1909), he revealed how many locks and handcuffs could be opened with properly applied force, others with shoestrings. Other times, he carried concealed lockpicks or keys. When tied down in ropes or straitjackets, he gained wiggle room by enlarging his shoulders and chest, moving his arms slightly away from his body. His straitjacket escape was originally performed behind curtains, with him popping out free at the end. Houdini's brother (who was also an escape artist, billing himself as Theodore Hardeen) discovered that audiences were more impressed when the curtains were eliminated so they could watch him struggle to get out. On more than one occasion, they both performed straitjacket escapes while dangling upside-down from the roof of a building in the same city. For most of his career, Houdini was a headline act in vaudeville. For many years, he was the highest-paid performer in American vaudeville. One of Houdini's most notable non-escape stage illusions was performed at the New York Hippodrome, when he vanished a full-grown elephant from the stage. He had purchased this trick from the magician Charles Morritt. In 1923, Houdini became president of Martinka & Co., America's oldest magic company. The business is still in operation today. He also served as president of the Society of American Magicians ( S.A.M.) from 1917 until his death in 1926. Founded on May 10, 1902, in the back room of Martinka's magic shop in New York, the Society expanded under the leadership of Harry Houdini during his term as national president from 1917 to 1926. Houdini was magic's greatest visionary. He sought to create a large, unified national network of professional and amateur magicians. Wherever he traveled, he gave a lengthy formal address to the local magic club, made speeches, and usually threw a banquet for the members at his own expense. He said "The Magicians Clubs as a rule are small: they are weak ... but if we were amalgamated into one big body the society would be stronger, and it would mean making the small clubs powerful and worthwhile. Members would find a welcome wherever they happened to be and, conversely, the safeguard of a city-to-city hotline to track exposers and other undesirables". For most of 1916, while on his vaudeville tour, Houdini had been recruiting—at his own expense—local magic clubs to join the S.A.M. in an effort to revitalize what he felt was a weak organization. Houdini persuaded groups in Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City to join. As had happened in London, he persuaded magicians to join. The Buffalo club joined as the first branch, (later assembly) of the Society. Chicago Assembly No. 3 was, as the name implies, the third regional club to be established by the S.A.M., whose assemblies now number in the hundreds. In 1917, he signed Assembly Number Three's charter into existence, and that charter and this club continue to provide Chicago magicians with a connection to each other and to their past. Houdini dined with, addressed, and got pledges from similar clubs in Detroit, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Cincinnati and elsewhere. This was the biggest movement ever in the history of magic. In places where no clubs existed, he rounded up individual magicians, introduced them to each other, and urged them into the fold. By the end of 1916, magicians' clubs in San Francisco and other cities that Houdini had not visited were offering to become assemblies. He had created the richest and longest-surviving organization of magicians in the world. It now embraces almost 6,000 dues-paying members and almost 300 assemblies worldwide. In July 1926, Houdini was elected for the ninth successive time President of the Society of American Magicians. Every other president has only served for one year. He also was President of the Magicians' Club of London. In the final years of his life (1925/26), Houdini launched his own full-evening show, which he billed as "Three Shows in One: Magic, Escapes, and Fraud Mediums Exposed". Notable escapes Daily Mirror challenge In 1904, the London Daily Mirror newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from special handcuffs that it claimed had taken Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from Birmingham, five years to make. Houdini accepted the challenge for March 17 during a matinée performance at London's Hippodrome theatre. It was reported that 4000 people and more than 100 journalists turned out for the much-hyped event. The escape attempt dragged on for over an hour, during which Houdini emerged from his "ghost house" (a small screen used to conceal the method of his escape) several times. On one occasion he asked if the cuffs could be removed so he could take off his coat. The Mirror representative, Frank Parker, refused, saying Houdini could gain an advantage if he saw how the cuffs were unlocked. Houdini promptly took out a penknife and, holding the knife in his teeth, used it to cut his coat from his body. Some 56 minutes later, Houdini's wife appeared on stage and gave him a kiss. Many thought that in her mouth was the key to unlock the special handcuffs. However, it has since been suggested that Bess did not in fact enter the stage at all, and that this theory is unlikely due to the size of the six-inch key. Houdini then went back behind the curtain. After an hour and ten minutes, Houdini emerged free. As he was paraded on the shoulders of the cheering crowd, he broke down and wept. Houdini later said it was the most difficult escape of his career. After Houdini's death, his friend Martin Beck was quoted in Will Goldston's book, Sensational Tales of Mystery Men, as admitting that Houdini was bested that day and had appealed to his wife, Bess, for help. Goldston goes on to claim that Bess begged the key from the Mirror representative, then slipped it to Houdini in a glass of water. It was stated in the book The Secret Life of Houdini that the key required to open the specially designed Mirror handcuffs was six inches long, and could not have been smuggled to Houdini in a glass of water. Goldston offered no proof of his account, and many modern biographers have found evidence (notably in the custom design of the handcuffs) that the Mirror challenge may have been arranged by Houdini and that his long struggle to escape was pure showmanship. This escape was discussed in depth on the Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum in an interview with Houdini expert, magician and escape artist Dorothy Dietrich of Scranton's Houdini Museum. A full-sized design of the same Mirror Handcuffs, as well as a replica of the Bramah style key for it, is on display to the public at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This set of cuffs is believed to be one of only six in the world, some of which are not on display. Milk Can Escape In 1908, Houdini introduced his own original act, the Milk Can Escape. In this act, Houdini was handcuffed and sealed inside an oversized milk can filled with water and made his escape behind a curtain. As part of the effect, Houdini invited members of the audience to hold their breath along with him while he was inside the can. Advertised with dramatic posters that proclaimed "Failure Means A Drowning Death", the escape proved to be a sensation. Houdini soon modified the escape to include the milk can being locked inside a wooden chest, being chained or padlocked. Houdini performed the milk can escape as a regular part of his act for only four years, but it has remained one of the acts most associated with him. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, continued to perform the milk can escape and its wooden chest variant into the 1940s. The American Museum of Magic has the milk can and overboard box used by Houdini. After other magicians proposed variations on the Milk Can Escape, Houdini claimed that the act was copyrighted and settled out of court in 1906 a case with John Clempert, one of the most persistent imitators, who agreed to publish an apology. Chinese water torture cell Around 1912, the vast number of imitators prompted Houdini to replace his milk can act with the Chinese water torture cell. In this escape, Houdini's feet were locked in stocks, and he was lowered upside down into a tank filled with water. The mahogany and metal cell featured a glass front, through which audiences could clearly see Houdini. The stocks were locked to the top of the cell, and a curtain concealed his escape. In the earliest version of the torture cell, a metal cage was lowered into the cell, and Houdini was enclosed inside that. While making the escape more difficult – the cage prevented Houdini from turning – the cage bars also offered protection should the front glass break. The original cell was built in England, where Houdini first performed the escape for an audience of one person as part of a one-act play he called "Houdini Upside Down". This was so he could copyright the effect and have grounds to sue imitators, which he did. While the escape was advertised as "The Chinese Water Torture Cell" or "The Water Torture Cell", Houdini always referred to it as "the Upside Down" or "USD". The first public performance of the USD was at the Circus Busch in Berlin, on September 21, 1912. Houdini continued to perform the escape until his death in 1926. Suspended straitjacket escape One of Houdini's most popular publicity stunts was to have himself strapped into a regulation straitjacket and suspended by his ankles from a tall building or crane. Houdini would then make his escape in full view of the assembled crowd. In many cases, Houdini drew tens of thousands of onlookers who brought city traffic to a halt. Houdini would sometimes ensure press coverage by performing the escape from the office building of a local newspaper. In New York City, Houdini performed the suspended straitjacket escape from a crane being used to build the subway. After flinging his body in the air, he escaped from the straitjacket. Starting from when he was hoisted up in the air by the crane, to when the straitjacket was completely off, it took him two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. There is film footage in the Library of Congress of Houdini performing the escape. Films of his escapes are also shown at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. After being battered against a building in high winds during one escape, Houdini performed the escape with a visible safety wire on his ankle so that he could be pulled away from the building if necessary. The idea for the upside-down escape was given to Houdini by a young boy named Randolph Osborne Douglas (March 31, 1895 – December 5, 1956), when the two met at a performance at Sheffield's Empire Theatre. Overboard box escape Another of Houdini's most famous publicity stunts was to escape from a nailed and roped packing crate after it had been lowered into water. He first performed the escape in New York's East River on July 7, 1912. Police forbade him from using one of the piers, so he hired a tugboat and invited press on board. Houdini was locked in handcuffs and leg-irons, then nailed into the crate which was roped and weighed down with two hundred pounds of lead. The crate was then lowered into the water. He escaped in 57 seconds. The crate was pulled to the surface and found still to be intact, with the manacles inside. Houdini performed this escape many times, and even performed a version on stage, first at Hamerstein's Roof Garden where a tank was specially built, and later at the New York Hippodrome. Buried alive stunt Houdini performed at least three variations on a buried alive stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost him his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing". Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing. He repeated the feat at the YMCA in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes. Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed buried alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit to New York following his death on Halloween. Movie career In 1906, Houdini started showing films of his outside escapes as part of his vaudeville act. In Boston, he presented a short film called Houdini Defeats Hackenschmidt. Georg Hackenschmidt was a famous wrestler of the day, but the nature of their contest is unknown as the film is lost. In 1909, Houdini made a film in Paris for Cinema Lux titled Merveilleux Exploits du Célèbre Houdini à Paris (Marvellous Exploits of the Famous Houdini in Paris). It featured a loose narrative designed to showcase several of Houdini's famous escapes, including his straitjacket and underwater handcuff escapes. That same year Houdini got an offer to star as Captain Nemo in a silent version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but the project never made it into production. It is often erroneously reported that Houdini served as special-effects consultant on the Wharton/International cliffhanger serial, The Mysteries of Myra, shot in Ithaca, New York, because Harry Grossman, director of The Master Mystery also filmed a serial in Ithaca at about the same time. The consultants on the serial were pioneering Hereward Carrington and Aleister Crowley. In 1918, Houdini signed a contract with film producer B. A. Rolfe to star in a 15-part serial, The Master Mystery (released in November 1918). As was common at the time, the film serial was released simultaneously with a novel. Financial difficulties resulted in B. A. Rolfe Productions going out of business, but The Master Mystery led to Houdini being signed by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation/Paramount Pictures, for whom he made two pictures, The Grim Game (1919) and Terror Island (1920). The Grim Game was Houdini's first full-length movie and is reputed to be his best. Because of the flammable nature of nitrate film and their low rate of survival, film historians considered the film lost. One copy did exist hidden in the collection of a private collector only known to a tiny group of magicians that saw it. Dick Brookz and Dorothy Dietrich of The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, had seen it twice on the invitation of the collector. After many years of trying, they finally got him to agree to sell the film to Turner Classic Movies who restored the complete 71-minute film. The film, not seen by the general public for 96 years was shown by TCM on March 29, 2015, as a highlight of their yearly 4-day festival in Hollywood. While filming an aerial stunt for The Grim Game, two biplanes collided in mid-air with a stuntman doubling Houdini dangling by a rope from one of the planes. Publicity was geared heavily toward promoting this dramatic "caught on film" moment, claiming it was Houdini himself dangling from the plane. While filming these movies in Los Angeles, Houdini rented a home in Laurel Canyon. Following his two-picture stint in Hollywood, Houdini returned to New York and started his own film production company called the "Houdini Picture Corporation". He produced and starred in two films, The Man from Beyond (1921) and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923). He also founded his own film laboratory business called The Film Development Corporation (FDC), gambling on a new process for developing motion picture film. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, left his own career as a magician and escape artist to run the company. Magician Harry Kellar was a major investor. In 1919 Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a residence owned by Ralph M. Walker. The Houdini Estate, a tribute to Houdini, is located on on 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Previously home to Walker himself. The Houdini Estate is subject to controversy, in that it is disputed whether Houdini ever actually made it his home. While there are claims it was Houdini's house, others counter that "he never set foot" on the property. It is rooted in Bess's parties or seances, etc. held across the street, she would do so at the Walker mansion. In fact, the guesthouse featured an elevator connecting to a tunnel that crossed under Laurel Canyon to the big house grounds (though capped, the tunnel still exists)./ Neither Houdini's acting career nor FDC found success, and he gave up on the movie business in 1923, complaining that "the profits are too meager". In April 2008, Kino International released a DVD box set of Houdini's surviving silent films, including The Master Mystery, Terror Island, The Man From Beyond, Haldane of the Secret Service, and five minutes from The Grim Game. The set also includes newsreel footage of Houdini's escapes from 1907 to 1923, and a section from Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à Paris, although it is not identified as such. Aviator In 1909, Houdini became fascinated with aviation. He purchased a French Voisin biplane for $5,000 () and hired a full-time mechanic, Antonio Brassac. After crashing once, he made his first successful flight on November 26 in Hamburg, Germany. The following year, Houdini toured Australia. He brought along his Voisin biplane with the intention to be the first person in Australia to fly. Falsely reported as pioneer On March 18, 1910, he made three flights at Diggers Rest, Victoria, near Melbourne. It was reported at the time that this was the first aerial flight in Australia, and a century later, some major news outlets still credit him with this feat. Wing Commander Harry Cobby wrote in Aircraft in March 1938 that "the first aeroplane flight in the Southern Hemisphere was made on December 9, 1909, by Mr Colin Defries, a Londoner, at Victoria Park Racecourse, Sydney, in a Wilbur Wright aeroplane". Colin Defries was a trained pilot, having learnt to fly in Cannes, France. By modern standards his flight time was minimal, but in 1909 he had accumulated enough to become an instructor. On his first flight he took off, maintained straight and level flight, albeit briefly, and landed safely. His crash landing on his second flight, when he tried to retrieve his hat which was blown off, demonstrated what a momentary lack of attention could cause while flying a Wright Model A. It is accepted by Australian historians and the Aviation Historical Society of Australia that the definition of flight established by the Gorell Committee on behalf of the Aero Club of Great Britain dictates the acceptance of a flight or its rejection, giving Colin Defries credit as the first to make an aeroplane flight in Australia, and the Southern Hemisphere. Additionally, aviation pioneer Richard Pearse is believed by many New Zealand historians to have undertaken his first flight as early as 1902, which would give him not only the Southern Hemisphere but the World record, although this is disputed. In 1965, aviation journalist Stanley Brogden formed the view that the first powered flight in Australia took place at Bolivar in South Australia; the aircraft was a Bleriot monoplane with Fred Custance as the pilot. The flight took place on March 17, 1910. The next day when Houdini took to the air, the Herald newspaper reported Custance's flight, stating it had lasted 5 minutes 25 seconds at a height of between 12 and 15 feet. In 2010, Australia Post issued stamps commemorating Colin Defries, Houdini and John Robertson Duigan, crediting only Defries and Duigan with historical firsts. Duigan was an Australian pioneer aviator who built and flew the first Australian-made aircraft. Australia Post did acknowledge the part Houdini played in their article "Harry Houdini can't escape being part of Australia's history" but did not attribute any record to him. After Australia After completing his Australia tour, Houdini put the Voisin into storage in England. He announced he would use it to fly from city to city during his next music hall tour, and even promised to leap from it handcuffed, but he never flew again. Debunking spiritualists In the 1920s, Houdini turned his energies toward debunking psychics and mediums, a pursuit that was in line with the debunkings by stage magicians since the late nineteenth century. Houdini's training in magic allowed him to expose frauds who had successfully fooled many scientists and academics. He was a member of a Scientific American committee that offered a cash prize to any medium who could successfully demonstrate supernatural abilities. None was able to do so, and the prize was never collected. The first to be tested was medium George Valiantine of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. As his fame as a "ghostbuster" grew, Houdini took to attending séances in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and police officer. Possibly the most famous medium whom he debunked was Mina Crandon, also known as "Margery". Joaquín Argamasilla, known as the "Spaniard with X-ray Eyes", claimed to be able to read handwriting or numbers on dice through closed metal boxes. In 1924, he was exposed by Houdini as a fraud. Argamasilla peeked through his simple blindfold and lifted up the edge of the box so he could look inside it without others noticing. Houdini also investigated the Italian medium Nino Pecoraro, whom he considered to be fraudulent. Houdini's exposing of phony mediums has inspired other magicians to follow suit, including The Amazing Randi, Dorothy Dietrich, Penn & Teller, and Dick Brookz. Houdini chronicled his debunking exploits in his book, A Magician Among the Spirits, co-authored with C. M. Eddy, Jr., who was not credited. These activities compromised Houdini's friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle, a firm believer in spiritualism during his later years, refused to believe any of Houdini's exposés. Doyle came to believe that Houdini was a powerful spiritualist medium, and had performed many of his stunts by means of paranormal abilities and was using these abilities to block those of other mediums that he was "debunking". This disagreement led to the two men becoming public antagonists and Sir Arthur came to view Houdini as a dangerous enemy. Before Houdini died, he and his wife agreed that if Houdini found it possible to communicate after death, he would communicate the message "Rosabelle believe", a secret code which they agreed to use. Rosabelle was their favorite song. Bess held yearly séances on Halloween for ten years after Houdini's death. She did claim to have contact through Arthur Ford in 1929 when Ford conveyed the secret code, but Bess later said the incident had been faked. The code seems to have been such that it could be broken by Ford or his associates using existing clues. Evidence to this effect was discovered by Ford's biographer after he died in 1971. In 1936, after a last unsuccessful séance on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel, she put out the candle that she had kept burning beside a photograph of Houdini since his death. In 1943, Bess said that "ten years is long enough to wait for any man." The tradition of holding a séance for Houdini continues, held by magicians throughout the world. The Official Houdini Séance was organized in the 1940s by Sidney Hollis Radner, a Houdini aficionado from Holyoke, Massachusetts. Yearly Houdini séances are also conducted in Chicago at the Excalibur nightclub by "necromancer" Neil Tobin on behalf of the Chicago Assembly of the Society of American Magicians; and at the Houdini Museum in Scranton by magician Dorothy Dietrich, who previously held them at New York's Magic Towne House with such magical notables as Houdini biographers Walter B. Gibson and Milbourne Christopher. Gibson was asked by Bess Houdini to carry on the original seance tradition. After doing them for many years at New York's Magic Towne House, before he died, Walter passed on the tradition of conducting of the Original Seances to Dorothy Dietrich. In 1926, Harry Houdini hired H. P. Lovecraft and his friend C. M. Eddy, Jr., to write an entire book about debunking religious miracles, which was to be called The Cancer of Superstition. Houdini had earlier asked Lovecraft to write an article about astrology, for which he paid $75 (). The article does not survive. Lovecraft's detailed synopsis for Cancer does survive, as do three chapters of the treatise written by Eddy. Houdini's death derailed the plans, as his widow did not wish to pursue the project. Appearance and voice recordings Unlike the image of the classic magician, Houdini was short and stocky and typically appeared on stage in a long frock coat and tie. Most biographers give his height as , but descriptions vary. Houdini was also said to be slightly bow-legged, which aided in his ability to gain slack during his rope escapes. In the 1997 biography Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss, author Kenneth Silverman summarizes how reporters described Houdini's appearance during his early career: Houdini made the only known recordings of his voice on Edison wax cylinders on October 29, 1914, in Flatbush, New York. On them, Houdini practices several different introductory speeches for his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell. He also invites his sister, Gladys, to recite a poem. Houdini then recites the same poem in German. The six wax cylinders were discovered in the collection of magician John Mulholland after his death in 1970. They are part of the David Copperfield collection. Personal life Houdini became an active Freemason and was a member of St. Cecile Lodge No. 568 in New York City. In 1904, Houdini bought a New York City townhouse at 278 West 113th Street in Harlem. He paid US$25,000 () for the five-level, 6,008-square-foot house, which was built in 1895, and lived in it with his wife Bess, and various other relatives until his death in 1926. In March 2018, it was purchased for $3.6 million. A plaque affixed to the building by the Historical Landmark Preservation Center reads, "The magician lived here from 1904 to 1926 collecting illusions, theatrical memorabilia, and books on psychic phenomena and magic." In 1919, Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a house of his friend and business associate Ralph M. Walker, who owned both sides of the street, 2335 and 2400, the latter address having a pool where Houdini practiced his water escapes. 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, previously numbered 2398, is presently known as The Houdini Estate, thus named in the honor of Houdini's time there, the same estate where Bess Houdini threw a party for 500 magicians years after his death. After decades of abandonment, the estate was acquired in 2006 by José Luis Nazar, a Chilean/American citizen who has restored it to its former splendor. In 1918, he registered for selective service as Harry Handcuff Houdini. Death Harry Houdini died of peritonitis, secondary to a ruptured appendix, at 1:26 p.m. on October 31, 1926, in Room 401 at Detroit's Grace Hospital, aged 52. In his final days, he believed that he would recover, but his last words before dying were reportedly, "I'm tired of fighting... I do not want to fight anymore..." Witnesses to an incident at Houdini's dressing room in the Princess Theatre in Montreal speculated that Houdini's death was caused by Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead (November 25, 1895 – July 5, 1954), who repeatedly struck Houdini's abdomen. The accounts of the witnesses, students named Jacques Price and Sam Smilovitz (sometimes called Jack Price and Sam Smiley), generally corroborated one another. Price said that Whitehead asked Houdini "if he believed in the miracles of the Bible" and "whether it was true that punches in the stomach did not hurt him". Houdini offered a casual reply that his stomach could endure a lot. Whitehead then delivered "some very hammer-like blows below the belt". Houdini was reclining on a couch at the time, having broken his ankle while performing several days earlier. Price said that Houdini winced at each blow and stopped Whitehead suddenly in the midst of a punch, gesturing that he had had enough, and adding that he had had no opportunity to prepare himself against the blows, as he did not expect Whitehead to strike him so suddenly and forcefully. Had his ankle not been broken, he would have risen from the couch into a better position to brace himself. Throughout the evening, Houdini performed in great pain. He was unable to sleep and remained in constant pain for the next two days, but did not seek medical help. When he finally saw a doctor, he was found to have a fever of and acute appendicitis, and was advised to have immediate surgery. He ignored the advice and decided to go on with the show. When Houdini arrived at the Garrick Theater in Detroit, Michigan, on October 24, 1926, for what would be his last performance, he had a fever of . Despite the diagnosis, Houdini took the stage. He was reported to have passed out during the show, but was revived and continued. Afterwards, he was hospitalized at Detroit's Grace Hospital. It is unclear whether the dressing room incident caused Houdini's eventual death, as the relationship between blunt trauma and appendicitis is uncertain. One theory suggests that Houdini was unaware that he was suffering from appendicitis, and might have been aware had he not received blows to the abdomen. After taking statements from Price and Smilovitz, Houdini's insurance company concluded that the death was due to the dressing-room incident and paid double indemnity. Houdini grave site Houdini's funeral was held on November 4, 1926, in New York, with more than 2,000 mourners in attendance. He was interred in the Machpelah Cemetery in Glendale, Queens, with the crest of the Society of American Magicians inscribed on his grave site. A statuary bust was added to the exedra in 1927, a rarity, because graven images are forbidden in Jewish cemeteries. In 1975, the bust was destroyed by vandals. Temporary busts were placed at the grave until 2011 when a group who came to be called The self-named Houdini Commandos, from the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, placed a permanent bust with the permission of Houdini's family and of the cemetery. The Society of American Magicians took responsibility for the upkeep of the site, as Houdini had willed a large sum of money to the organization he had grown from one club to 5,000–6,000 dues-paying membership worldwide. The payment of upkeep was abandoned by the society's dean George Schindler, who said "Houdini paid for perpetual care, but there's nobody at the cemetery to provide it", adding that the operator of the cemetery, David Jacobson, "sends us a bill for upkeep every year but we never pay it because he never provides any care." Members of the Society tidy the grave themselves. Machpelah Cemetery operator Jacobson said that they "never paid the cemetery for any restoration of the Houdini family plot in my tenure since 1988", claiming that the money came from the cemetery's dwindling funds. The granite monuments of Houdini's sister, Gladys, and brother, Leopold were also destroyed by vandals. For many years, until recently, the Houdini grave site has been only cared for by Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Society of American Magicians, at its National Council Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2013, under the prompting of Dietrich and Brookz, voted to assume the financial responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Houdini Gravesite. In MUM Magazine, the Society's official magazine, President Dal Sanders announced "Harry Houdini is an icon as revered as Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe. He is not only a magical icon; his gravesite bears the seal of The Society of American Magicians. That seal is our brand and we should be proud to protect it. This gravesite is clearly our responsibility and I'm proud to report that the National Council unanimously voted to maintain Houdini's final resting place." The Houdini Gravesite Restoration Committee under the Chairmanship of National President David Bowers, is working closely with National President Kenrick "Ice" McDonald to see this project to completion. Bowers said it is a foregone conclusion that the Society will approve the funding request, because "Houdini is responsible for the Society of American Magicians being what it is today. We owe a debt of gratitude to him." Like Bowers, McDonald said the motivation behind the repairs is to properly honor the grave of the "Babe Ruth of magicians". "This is hallowed ground," he said. "When you ask people about magicians, the first thing they say is Harry Houdini." While the actual plot will remain under the control of Machpelah Cemetery management, the Society of American Magicians, with the help of the Houdini Museum in Pennsylvania, will be in charge of the restoration. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz have been caring for the escape artist's Queens grave over the years. "This is a monument where people go and visit on a daily basis," said Dietrich who is spearheading restoration efforts. "The nearly 80-year-old popular plot at the Machpelah Cemetery has fallen into disrepair over the years." "The Houdini Museum has teamed with The Society of American Magicians, one of the oldest fraternal magic organizations in the world, to give the beloved site a facelift." The organization has a specific Houdini gravesite committee made up of nine members headed up by President elect David Bowers who brought this project to the Society's attention. Kenrick "Ice" McDonald, the current president of the Society of American Magicians said, "You have to know the history. Houdini served as President from 1917 until his death in 1926. Houdini's burial site needs an infusion of cash to restore it to its former glory." Magician Dietrich said the repairs could cost "tens of thousands of dollars", after consulting with glass experts and grave artisans. "It's a wonderful project, but it's taken a lifetime to get people interested," she said. "It's long overdue, and it's great that it's happening." Houdini was a living superhero," Dietrich said. "He wasn't just a magician and escape artist, he was a great humanitarian." To this day, the Society holds a broken wand ceremony at the grave every November. Houdini's widow, Bess, died of a heart attack on February 11, 1943, aged 67, in Needles, California, while on a train en route from Los Angeles to New York City. She had expressed a wish to be buried next to her husband, but instead was interred 35 miles due north at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester County, New York, as her Catholic family refused to allow her to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Proposed exhumation On March 22, 2007, Houdini's grand-nephew (the grandson of his brother Theo), George Hardeen, announced that the courts would be asked to allow exhumation of Houdini's body, to investigate the possibility of Houdini being murdered by spiritualists, as suggested in the biography The Secret Life of Houdini. In a statement given to the Houdini Museum in Scranton, the family of Bess Houdini opposed the application and suggested it was a publicity ploy for the book. The Washington Post stated that the press conference was not arranged by the family of Houdini. Instead, the Post reported, it was orchestrated by authors Kalush and Sloman, who hired the public relations firm Dan Klores Communications to promote their book. In 2008, it was revealed the parties involved had not filed legal papers to perform an exhumation. Legacy Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, who returned to performing after Houdini's death, inherited his brother's effects and props. Houdini's will stipulated that all the effects should be "burned and destroyed" upon Hardeen's death. Hardeen sold much of the collection to magician and Houdini enthusiast Sidney Hollis Radner during the 1940s, including the water torture cell. Radner allowed choice pieces of the collection to be displayed at The Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Ontario. In 1995, a fire destroyed the museum. The water torture cell's metal frame remained, and it was restored by illusion builder John Gaughan. Many of the props contained in the museum such as the mirror handcuffs, Houdini's original packing crate, a milk can, and a straitjacket, survived the fire and were auctioned in 1999 and 2008. Radner loaned the bulk of his collection for archiving to the Outagamie Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, but reclaimed it in 2003 and auctioned it in Las Vegas, on October 30, 2004. Houdini was a "formidable collector", and bequeathed many of his holdings and paper archives on magic and spiritualism to the Library of Congress, which became the basis for the Houdini collection in cyberspace. In 1934, the bulk of Houdini's collection of American and British theatrical material, along with a significant portion of his business and personal papers, and some of his collections of other magicians were sold to pay off estate debts to theatre magnate Messmore Kendall. In 1958, Kendall donated his collection to the Hoblitzelle Theatre Library at the University of Texas at Austin. In the 1960s, the Hoblitzelle Library became part of the Harry Ransom Center. The extensive Houdini collection includes a 1584 first edition of Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft and David Garrick's travel diary to Paris from 1751. Some of the scrapbooks in the Houdini collection have been digitized. The collection was exclusively paper-based until April 2016, when the Ransom Center acquired one of Houdini's ball weights with chain and ankle cuff. In October 2016, in conjunction with the 90th anniversary of the death of Houdini, the Ransom Center embarked on a major re-cataloging of the Houdini collection to make it more visible and accessible to researchers. The collection reopened in 2018, with its finding aids posted online. A large portion of Houdini's estate holdings and memorabilia was willed to his fellow magician and friend, John Mulholland (1898–1970). In 1991, illusionist and television performer David Copperfield purchased all of Mulholland's Houdini holdings from Mulholland's estate. These are now archived and preserved in Copperfield's warehouse at his headquarters in Las Vegas. It contains the world's largest collection of Houdini memorabilia, and preserves approximately 80,000 items of memorabilia of Houdini and other magicians, including Houdini's stage props and material, his rebuilt water torture cabinet and his metamorphosis trunk. It is not open to the public, but tours are available by invitation to magicians, scholars, researchers, journalists and serious collectors. In a posthumous ceremony on October 31, 1975, Houdini was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7001 Hollywood Blvd. The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, bills itself as "the only building in the world entirely dedicated to Houdini". It is open to the public year-round by reservation. It includes Houdini films, a guided tour about Houdini's life and a stage magic show. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz opened the facility in 1991. The Magic Castle in Los Angeles, California, a nightclub for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts, features Houdini séances performed by magician Misty Lee. The House of Houdini is a museum and performance venue located at 11, Dísz square in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. It claims to house the largest collection of original Houdini artifacts in Europe. The Houdini Museum of New York is located at Fantasma Magic, a retail magic manufacturer and seller located in Manhattan. The museum contains several hundred pieces of ephemera, most of which belonged to Harry Houdini. In popular culture Houdini appeared as himself in Weird Tales magazine in three ghostwritten fictionalizations of sensational events from his career (issues of March, April, and May–June–July 1924). The third story, "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs," was written by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft based on Houdini's notes. The Houdini-Lovecraft collaboration was envisioned to continue, but the magazine ceased publication for financial reasons. When it resumed later in 1924, Houdini no longer figured in its plans. Houdini (1953)played by Tony Curtis The Great Houdini The Great Houdinis (1976)played by Paul Michael Glaser (TV movie) Ragtime (1981)played by Jeffrey DeMunn, based on the novel by E. L. Doctorow. Jim Corti played him in the original Broadway production of the musical based on the same novel. Houdini is the subject of the song "Houdini" on the 1982 album The Dreaming by Kate Bush. The album's cover art, in which Bush is depicted holding a key in her mouth and bending in to kiss a chained figure whose face is turned away from the camera, is an homage to Bess Houdini. A Magician Amongst the Spirits, a 1982 BBC radio drama about Houdini's life written by Bert Coules Grand Illusion a 1983 episode of the TV series "Simon and Simon" concerns a murder and a book of stolen Houdini magic notes. The Cabinet of Calamari a 1987 episode of the cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters involves the ghost of Houdini and a book of stolen Houdini magic notes. Young Harry Houdini (1987)played by Wil Wheaton & Jeffrey DeMunn (TV movie) A Night at the Magic Castle (1988)played by Arte Johnson Canadian synth-pop duo Kon Kan released the song "Harry Houdini" in 1989. FairyTale: A True Story (1997)played by Harvey Keitel Houdini (1998)played by Johnathon Schaech (TV movie) Mentioned in Joan of Arc's song "God Bless America" on their 1998 album How Memory Works Cremaster 2 (1999)played by Norman Mailer Death Defying Acts (2007)played by Guy Pearce Murdoch Mysteries (2008)played by Joe Dinicol (TV series) Drunk History Season 1, Episode 6: Detroit (2013)played by Ken Marino (TV series) Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctor - Smoke and Mirrors (2013) – played by Tim Beckmann (BBC Audio) Houdini (2014)played by Adrien Brody (TV miniseries) Houdini and Doyle (2016)played by Michael Weston (TV series) Timeless (2016)played by Michael Drayer (TV series) Doctor Who – Harry Houdini's War (2019)played by John Schwab (Big Finish audio play) d'ILLUSION: The Houdini Musical – The Audio Theater Experience (2020)played by Julian R. Decker (Album musical/audiobook) The 2017 song Rosabelle, Believe by UK electronic band Cult With No Name is about the pact Houdini made with his wife on his deathbed. Publications Houdini published numerous books during his career (some of which were written by his good friend Walter B. Gibson, the creator of The Shadow) The Right Way to Do Wrong: An Exposé of Successful Criminals (1906) Handcuff Secrets (1907) The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin (1908), a debunking study of Robert-Houdin's alleged abilities. Magical Rope Ties and Escapes (1920) Miracle Mongers and Their Methods (1920) Houdini's Paper Magic (1921) A Magician Among the Spirits (1924) Houdini Exposes the Tricks Used by the Boston Medium "Margery" (1924) Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (1924), a short story ghostwritten by H. P. Lovecraft. How I Unmask the Spirit Fakers, article for Popular Science (November 1925) How I do My "Spirit Tricks", article for Popular Science (December 1925) Conjuring (1926), article for the Encyclopædia Britannica's 13th edition. Filmography Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à ParisCinema Lux (1909)playing himself The Master MysteryOctagon Films (1918)playing Quentin Locke The Grim GameFamous Players-Lasky/Paramount Pictures (1919)playing Harvey Handford Terror IslandFamous Players Lasky/Paramount (1920)playing Harry Harper The Man from BeyondHoudini Picture Corporation (1922)playing Howard Hillary Haldane of the Secret ServiceHoudini Picture Corporation/FBO (1923)playing Heath Haldane See also List of magic museums List of magicians Ann O'Delia Diss Debar (Swami Laura Horos) David Blaine Walford BodieA friend of Houdini, and fellow magician References Bibliography Gresham, William Lindsay Houdini: The Man Who Walked Through Walls (New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1959). Henning, Doug with Charles Reynolds. Houdini: His Legend and His Magic (New York: Times Books, 1978). . Kellock, Harold. Houdini: His Life-Story from the recollections and documents of Beatrice Houdini, (Harcourt, Brace Co., June 1928). Kendall, Lance. Houdini: Master of Escape (New York: Macrae Smith & Co., 1960). . Meyer, M.D., Bernard C. Houdini: A Mind in Chains (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1976). . Williams, Beryl & Samuel Epstein. The Great Houdini: Magician Extraordinary (New York: Julian Messner, Inc., 1950). Further reading "Who Is Houdini?" by Fred Lockley, Photoplay, June 1920, p. 50. "An Interview with Harry Houdini" by Marcet Haldeman-Julius, Haldeman-Julius Monthly Vol. 2.5 (October 1925), pp. 387–397. Houdini's Escapes and Magic by Walter B. Gibson, Prepared from Houdini's private notebooks Blue Ribbon Books, Inc., 1930. Reveals some of Houdini's magic and escape methods (also released in two separate volumes: Houdini's Magic and Houdini's Escapes). The Secrets of Houdini by J.C. Cannell, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1931. Reveals some of Houdini's escape methods. Houdini and Conan Doyle: The Story of a Strange Friendship by Bernard M. L. Ernst, Albert & Charles Boni, Inc., NY, 1932. Sixty Years of Psychical Research by Joseph Rinn, Truth Seeker Co., 1950, Rinn was a long time close friend of Houdini. Contains detailed information about the last Houdini message (there are 3) and its disclosure. Houdini's Fabulous Magic by Walter B. Gibson and Morris N. Young Chilton, NY, 1960. Excellent reference for Houdini's escapes and some methods (includes the Water Torture Cell). The Houdini Birth Research Committee's Report, Magico Magazine (reprint of report by The Society of American Magicians), 1972. Concludes Houdini was born March 24, 1874, in Budapest. Arthur Ford: The Man Who Talked with the Dead by Allen Spraggett with William V. Rauscher, 1973, pp. 152–165, Chapter 7, The Houdini Affair contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure. Mediums, Mystics and the Occult by Milbourne Christopher, Thomas T. Crowell Co., 1975, pp. 122–145, Arthur Ford-Messages from the Dead, contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure. Houdini: A Definitive Bibliography by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1991. A Description of the Literary Works of Houdini, includes pamphlets from Weltman's collection Believe by William Shatner and Michael Charles Tobias, Berkeley Books, NY 1992. Houdini: Escape into Legend, The Early Years: 1862–1900 by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1993. Examination of Houdini's childhood and early career. Houdini Comes to America by Ronald J. Hilgert, The Houdini Historical Center, 1996. Documents the Weiss family's immigration to the United States on July 3, 1878 (when Ehrich was 4). Houdini Unlocked by Patrick Culliton, Two volume box set: The Tao of Houdini and The Secret Confessions of Houdini, Kieran Press, 1997. The Houdini Code Mystery: A Spirit Secret Solved by William V. Rauscher, Magic Words, 2000. Final Séance. The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle by Massimo Polidoro, Prometheus Books, 2001. The Man Who Killed Houdini by Don Bell, Vehicle Press, 2004. Investigates J. Gordon Whitehead and the events surrounding Houdini's death. Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century by Matthew Solomon, University of Illinois Press, 2010. Contains new information about Houdini's early movie career. Houdini Art and Magic by Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Jewish Museum, 2010. Essays on Houdini's life and work are accompanied by interviews with novelist E.L. Doctorow, Teller, Kenneth Silverman, and more. Houdini The Key by Patrick Culliton, Kieran Press, 2010. Reveals the authentic working methods of many of Houdini effects, including the Milk Can and Water Torture Cell. Limited to 278 copies. The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini by Joe Posnanski, Avid Reader Press, 2019. External links Harry Houdini Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Harry Houdini Collection at the Harry Ransom Center Timeline of Houdini's life The Houdini Museum in Scranton Pennsylvania Houdini archives in the Harry Price papers Houdini Escapes the Smithsonian The Harry Houdini Collection From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress Photographs and posters of Harry Houdini held by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts 1874 births 1926 deaths American aviators American Freemasons American magicians American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American performance artists American skeptics American stunt performers Articles containing video clips Artists from Budapest Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States Austro-Hungarian Jews Burials in New York (state) Deaths from peritonitis Escapologists Hungarian Jews Hungarian magicians Hungarian performance artists Jewish American artists Paranormal investigators Spiritualism Trapeze artists Vaudeville performers	true	[ "The Sparrow's Lost Bean (Nepal Bhasa: चखुंचायागु तंगु कयगू, Chakhunchāyāgu Tangu Kaygu) is a Nepalese folk tale that ranks among the most popular children's stories told among the Newars of Nepal Mandala.\n\nThe story\nOnce upon a time, there was a sparrow who was very neat and clean. Its nest was spotless and it always washed up before eating. One morning, the sparrow found a bean and was overjoyed that it didn't have to search the neighborhood for food. As was its habit, it went down to the river to wash up after putting the bean away safely on the bridge.\n \nWhen the sparrow returned expecting to eat a fine breakfast, alas, the bean was nowhere to be found. As it was looking everywhere for its food, it saw a carpenter walking up the bridge. The sparrow went up to the carpenter and said, \"I have lost my bean. Please help me find it.\" \"Who's going to listen to you?\" said the carpenter and continued on his way. \n\nJust then the sparrow saw a soldier walking up the bridge. It pleaded with him to help find the bean, but the soldier too was uncooperative. \"Who's going to help a sparrow?\" he said and walked away. Then a captain came up the bridge, but he wouldn't help the sparrow either. And then a minister, but no help from him too. He just laughed and kept walking.\n\nThe hungry sparrow became desperate. Then the king came riding on an elephant. The sparrow was certain that it would get justice from the most powerful person in the country. But the king pretended not to hear the sparrow's pleas and said nothing. As the sparrow sat there dejected, an ant came up and asked, \"What's the matter? Didn't you see the king pass by?\" The sparrow then told the ant how everybody from the carpenter to the king had ignored its appeals to help it find the lost bean.\n\n\"Don't worry,\" said the ant. \"We will find the bean somehow.\" The ant then crawled up to the elephant's ear and said, \"Tell the king to find the sparrow's bean or I will go inside your ear and bite you.\" The terrified elephant turned to the king and said, \"You better help the sparrow, oh king, or I will throw you off my back.\" \n\nThe king was startled. He immediately summoned the minister and ordered, \"Help the sparrow or you are fired.\" The minister called the captain right away and said, \"Do whatever the sparrow says or you are in trouble.\" The captain then called the soldier and gave him explicit orders. The soldier, in turn, found the carpenter and told him, \"Find the sparrow's bean or I will hang you from this bridge itself.\" The carpenter searched for half a day and finally found the lost bean, and the sparrow had a satisfying breakfast that day.\n\nPublications\n\"The Sparrow's Lost Bean\" was featured in an anthology of folk tales in Nepal Bhasa published in 1966. A comic book was published by Rajman in 1991.\n\nReferences\n\nNepalese folklore\nNepalese fairy tales\nFictional birds\nAsian folklore", "Matthew 15:25 is a verse in the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament.\n\nContent\nIn the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort for this verse is:\nἩ δὲ ἐλθοῦσα προσεκύνηει αὐτῷ λέγουσα, Κύριε, βοήθει μοι. \n\nIn the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:\nThen came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.\n\nThe New International Version translates the passage as:\nThe woman came and knelt before him. \"Lord, help me!\" she said.\n\nAnalysis\nStrangely the woman's faith and humility are more inflamed by the\nrejection she met with in the first instance. So, coming forward and falling down (NIV has kelt), worshipped Him.\nAnd so she makes her petition with still more earnestness.\n\nThe moral lesson here seems to be that God, when He is invoked, often does not answer at first, in order that the one who is praying may be yet more earnest. That God will not refuse anything to those who persevere, is plain from this example.\n\nCommentary from the Church Fathers\nChrysostom: \"But when the woman saw that the Apostles had no power, she became bold with commendable boldness; for before she had not dared to come before His sight; but, as it is said, She crieth after us. But when it seemed that she must now retire without being relieved, she came nearer, But she came and worshipped him.\"\n\nJerome: \"Note how perseveringly this Chananæan woman calls Him first Son of David, then Lord, and lastly came and worshipped him, as God.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOther translations of Matthew 15:25 at BibleHub\n\n15:25" ]
[ "Harry Houdini", "Buried alive stunt", "what year did he do the buried alive stunt?", "The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost Houdini his life.", "how did he almost die?", "He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious", "how long did the stunt last?", "I don't know.", "who came to help him?", "When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants." ]	C_06b9531629e14f8c8797fd4dc6caf543_0	did he end up in the hospital?	5	Did Harry Houdini end up in the hospital after the buried alive stunt?	Harry Houdini	Houdini performed at least three variations on a buried alive stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost Houdini his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing." Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing. He repeated the feat at the YMCA in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes. Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed buried alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit to New York following his death on Halloween. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, illusionist, stunt performer and mysteriarch, noted for his escape acts. He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the United States and then as "Harry 'Handcuff' Houdini" on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it. In 1904, thousands watched as he tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by London's Daily Mirror, keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state of near-breakdown. While many suspected that these escapes were faked, Houdini presented himself as the scourge of fake spiritualists. As President of the Society of American Magicians, he was keen to uphold professional standards and expose fraudulent artists. He was also quick to sue anyone who imitated his escape stunts. Houdini made several movies but quit acting when it failed to bring in money. He was also a keen aviator and aimed to become the first man to fly a powered aircraft in Australia. Early life Erik Weisz was born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary to a Jewish family. His parents were rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz (1829–1892) and Cecília Steiner (1841–1913). Houdini was one of seven children: Herman M. (1863–1885), who was Houdini's half-brother by Rabbi Weisz's first marriage; Nathan J. (1870–1927); Gottfried William (1872–1925); Theodore (1876–1945); Leopold D. (1879–1962); and Carrie Gladys (1882–1959), who was left almost blind after a childhood accident. Weisz arrived in the United States on July 3, 1878, on the SS Fresia with his mother (who was pregnant) and his four brothers. The family changed their name to the German spelling Weiss, and Erik became Ehrich. The family lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his father served as rabbi of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation. According to the 1880 census, the family lived on Appleton Street in an area that is now known as Houdini Plaza. On June 6, 1882, Rabbi Weiss became an American citizen. Losing his job at Zion in 1882, Rabbi Weiss and family moved to Milwaukee and fell into dire poverty. In 1887, Rabbi Weiss moved with Ehrich to New York City, where they lived in a boarding house on East 79th Street. He was joined by the rest of the family once rabbi Weiss found permanent housing. As a child, Ehrich Weiss took several jobs, making his public début as a nine-year-old trapeze artist, calling himself "Ehrich, the Prince of the Air". He was also a champion cross country runner in his youth. Magic career When Weiss became a professional magician he began calling himself "Harry Houdini", after the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, after reading Robert-Houdin's autobiography in 1890. Weiss incorrectly believed that an i at the end of a name meant "like" in French. In later life, Houdini claimed that the first part of his new name, Harry, was an homage to American magician Harry Kellar, whom he also admired, though it was likely adapted from "Ehri", a nickname for "Ehrich", which is how he was known to his family. When he was a teenager, Houdini was coached by the magician Joseph Rinn at the Pastime Athletic Club. Houdini began his magic career in 1891, but had little success. He appeared in a tent act with strongman Emil Jarrow. He performed in dime museums and sideshows, and even doubled as "The Wild Man" at a circus. Houdini focused initially on traditional card tricks. At one point, he billed himself as the "King of Cards". Some – but not all – professional magicians would come to regard Houdini as a competent but not particularly skilled sleight-of-hand artist, lacking the grace and finesse required to achieve excellence in that craft. He soon began experimenting with escape acts. In 1894, while performing with his brother "Dash" (Theodore) at Coney Island as "The Brothers Houdini", Houdini met a fellow performer, Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner. Bess was initially courted by Dash, but she and Houdini married, with Bess replacing Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis". For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess worked as his stage assistant. Houdini's big break came in 1899 when he met manager Martin Beck in St. Paul, Minnesota. Impressed by Houdini's handcuffs act, Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts and booked him on the Orpheum vaudeville circuit. Within months, he was performing at the top vaudeville houses in the country. In 1900, Beck arranged for Houdini to tour Europe. After some days of unsuccessful interviews in London, Houdini's British agent Harry Day helped him to get an interview with C. Dundas Slater, then manager of the Alhambra Theatre. He was introduced to William Melville and gave a demonstration of escape from handcuffs at Scotland Yard. He succeeded in baffling the police so effectively that he was booked at the Alhambra for six months. His show was an immediate hit and his salary rose to $300 a week (). Between 1900 and 1920 he appeared in theatres all over Great Britain performing escape acts, illusions, card tricks and outdoor stunts, becoming one of the world's highest paid entertainers. He also toured the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Russia and became widely known as "The Handcuff King". In each city, Houdini challenged local police to restrain him with shackles and lock him in their jails. In many of these challenge escapes, he was first stripped nude and searched. In Moscow, he escaped from a Siberian prison transport van, claiming that, had he been unable to free himself, he would have had to travel to Siberia, where the only key was kept. In Cologne, he sued a police officer, Werner Graff, who alleged that he made his escapes via bribery. Houdini won the case when he opened the judge's safe (he later said the judge had forgotten to lock it). With his new-found wealth, Houdini purchased a dress said to have been made for Queen Victoria. He then arranged a grand reception where he presented his mother in the dress to all their relatives. Houdini said it was the happiest day of his life. In 1904, Houdini returned to the U.S. and purchased a house for $25,000 (), a brownstone at 278 W. 113th Street in Harlem, New York City. While on tour in Europe in 1902, Houdini visited Blois with the aim of meeting the widow of Emile Houdin, the son of Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, for an interview and permission to visit his grave. He did not receive permission but still visited the grave. Houdini believed that he had been treated unfairly and later wrote a negative account of the incident in his magazine, claiming he was "treated most discourteously by Madame W. Emile Robert-Houdin". In 1906, he sent a letter to the French magazine L'Illusionniste stating: "You will certainly enjoy the article on Robert Houdin I am about to publish in my magazine. Yes, my dear friend, I think I can finally demolish your idol, who has so long been placed on a pedestal that he did not deserve." In 1906, Houdini created his own publication, the Conjurers' Monthly Magazine. It was a competitor to The Sphinx, but was short-lived and only two volumes were released until August 1908. Magic historian Jim Steinmeyer has noted that "Houdini couldn't resist using the journal for his own crusades, attacking his rivals, praising his own appearances, and subtly rewriting history to favor his view of magic." From 1907 and throughout the 1910s, Houdini performed with great success in the United States. He freed himself from jails, handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjackets, often while hanging from a rope in sight of street audiences. Because of imitators, Houdini put his "handcuff act" behind him on January 25, 1908, and began escaping from a locked, water-filled milk can. The possibility of failure and death thrilled his audiences. Houdini also expanded his repertoire with his escape challenge act, in which he invited the public to devise contraptions to hold him. These included nailed packing crates (sometimes lowered into water), riveted boilers, wet sheets, mail bags, and even the belly of a whale that had washed ashore in Boston. Brewers in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and other cities challenged Houdini to escape from a barrel after they filled it with beer. Many of these challenges were arranged with local merchants in one of the first uses of mass tie-in marketing . Rather than promote the idea that he was assisted by spirits, as did the Davenport Brothers and others, Houdini's advertisements showed him making his escapes via dematerializing, although Houdini himself never claimed to have supernatural powers. After much research, Houdini wrote a collection of articles on the history of magic, which were expanded into The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin published in 1908. In this book he attacked his former idol Robert-Houdin as a liar and a fraud for having claimed the invention of automata and effects such as aerial suspension, which had been in existence for many years. Many of the allegations in the book were dismissed by magicians and researchers who defended Robert-Houdin. Magician Jean Hugard would later write a full rebuttal to Houdini's book. Houdini introduced the Chinese Water Torture Cell at the Circus Busch in Berlin, Germany, on September 21, 1912. He was suspended upside-down in a locked glass-and-steel cabinet full to overflowing with water, holding his breath for more than three minutes. He would go on performing this escape for the rest of his life. During his career, Houdini explained some of his tricks in books written for the magic brotherhood. In Handcuff Secrets (1909), he revealed how many locks and handcuffs could be opened with properly applied force, others with shoestrings. Other times, he carried concealed lockpicks or keys. When tied down in ropes or straitjackets, he gained wiggle room by enlarging his shoulders and chest, moving his arms slightly away from his body. His straitjacket escape was originally performed behind curtains, with him popping out free at the end. Houdini's brother (who was also an escape artist, billing himself as Theodore Hardeen) discovered that audiences were more impressed when the curtains were eliminated so they could watch him struggle to get out. On more than one occasion, they both performed straitjacket escapes while dangling upside-down from the roof of a building in the same city. For most of his career, Houdini was a headline act in vaudeville. For many years, he was the highest-paid performer in American vaudeville. One of Houdini's most notable non-escape stage illusions was performed at the New York Hippodrome, when he vanished a full-grown elephant from the stage. He had purchased this trick from the magician Charles Morritt. In 1923, Houdini became president of Martinka & Co., America's oldest magic company. The business is still in operation today. He also served as president of the Society of American Magicians ( S.A.M.) from 1917 until his death in 1926. Founded on May 10, 1902, in the back room of Martinka's magic shop in New York, the Society expanded under the leadership of Harry Houdini during his term as national president from 1917 to 1926. Houdini was magic's greatest visionary. He sought to create a large, unified national network of professional and amateur magicians. Wherever he traveled, he gave a lengthy formal address to the local magic club, made speeches, and usually threw a banquet for the members at his own expense. He said "The Magicians Clubs as a rule are small: they are weak ... but if we were amalgamated into one big body the society would be stronger, and it would mean making the small clubs powerful and worthwhile. Members would find a welcome wherever they happened to be and, conversely, the safeguard of a city-to-city hotline to track exposers and other undesirables". For most of 1916, while on his vaudeville tour, Houdini had been recruiting—at his own expense—local magic clubs to join the S.A.M. in an effort to revitalize what he felt was a weak organization. Houdini persuaded groups in Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City to join. As had happened in London, he persuaded magicians to join. The Buffalo club joined as the first branch, (later assembly) of the Society. Chicago Assembly No. 3 was, as the name implies, the third regional club to be established by the S.A.M., whose assemblies now number in the hundreds. In 1917, he signed Assembly Number Three's charter into existence, and that charter and this club continue to provide Chicago magicians with a connection to each other and to their past. Houdini dined with, addressed, and got pledges from similar clubs in Detroit, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Cincinnati and elsewhere. This was the biggest movement ever in the history of magic. In places where no clubs existed, he rounded up individual magicians, introduced them to each other, and urged them into the fold. By the end of 1916, magicians' clubs in San Francisco and other cities that Houdini had not visited were offering to become assemblies. He had created the richest and longest-surviving organization of magicians in the world. It now embraces almost 6,000 dues-paying members and almost 300 assemblies worldwide. In July 1926, Houdini was elected for the ninth successive time President of the Society of American Magicians. Every other president has only served for one year. He also was President of the Magicians' Club of London. In the final years of his life (1925/26), Houdini launched his own full-evening show, which he billed as "Three Shows in One: Magic, Escapes, and Fraud Mediums Exposed". Notable escapes Daily Mirror challenge In 1904, the London Daily Mirror newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from special handcuffs that it claimed had taken Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from Birmingham, five years to make. Houdini accepted the challenge for March 17 during a matinée performance at London's Hippodrome theatre. It was reported that 4000 people and more than 100 journalists turned out for the much-hyped event. The escape attempt dragged on for over an hour, during which Houdini emerged from his "ghost house" (a small screen used to conceal the method of his escape) several times. On one occasion he asked if the cuffs could be removed so he could take off his coat. The Mirror representative, Frank Parker, refused, saying Houdini could gain an advantage if he saw how the cuffs were unlocked. Houdini promptly took out a penknife and, holding the knife in his teeth, used it to cut his coat from his body. Some 56 minutes later, Houdini's wife appeared on stage and gave him a kiss. Many thought that in her mouth was the key to unlock the special handcuffs. However, it has since been suggested that Bess did not in fact enter the stage at all, and that this theory is unlikely due to the size of the six-inch key. Houdini then went back behind the curtain. After an hour and ten minutes, Houdini emerged free. As he was paraded on the shoulders of the cheering crowd, he broke down and wept. Houdini later said it was the most difficult escape of his career. After Houdini's death, his friend Martin Beck was quoted in Will Goldston's book, Sensational Tales of Mystery Men, as admitting that Houdini was bested that day and had appealed to his wife, Bess, for help. Goldston goes on to claim that Bess begged the key from the Mirror representative, then slipped it to Houdini in a glass of water. It was stated in the book The Secret Life of Houdini that the key required to open the specially designed Mirror handcuffs was six inches long, and could not have been smuggled to Houdini in a glass of water. Goldston offered no proof of his account, and many modern biographers have found evidence (notably in the custom design of the handcuffs) that the Mirror challenge may have been arranged by Houdini and that his long struggle to escape was pure showmanship. This escape was discussed in depth on the Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum in an interview with Houdini expert, magician and escape artist Dorothy Dietrich of Scranton's Houdini Museum. A full-sized design of the same Mirror Handcuffs, as well as a replica of the Bramah style key for it, is on display to the public at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This set of cuffs is believed to be one of only six in the world, some of which are not on display. Milk Can Escape In 1908, Houdini introduced his own original act, the Milk Can Escape. In this act, Houdini was handcuffed and sealed inside an oversized milk can filled with water and made his escape behind a curtain. As part of the effect, Houdini invited members of the audience to hold their breath along with him while he was inside the can. Advertised with dramatic posters that proclaimed "Failure Means A Drowning Death", the escape proved to be a sensation. Houdini soon modified the escape to include the milk can being locked inside a wooden chest, being chained or padlocked. Houdini performed the milk can escape as a regular part of his act for only four years, but it has remained one of the acts most associated with him. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, continued to perform the milk can escape and its wooden chest variant into the 1940s. The American Museum of Magic has the milk can and overboard box used by Houdini. After other magicians proposed variations on the Milk Can Escape, Houdini claimed that the act was copyrighted and settled out of court in 1906 a case with John Clempert, one of the most persistent imitators, who agreed to publish an apology. Chinese water torture cell Around 1912, the vast number of imitators prompted Houdini to replace his milk can act with the Chinese water torture cell. In this escape, Houdini's feet were locked in stocks, and he was lowered upside down into a tank filled with water. The mahogany and metal cell featured a glass front, through which audiences could clearly see Houdini. The stocks were locked to the top of the cell, and a curtain concealed his escape. In the earliest version of the torture cell, a metal cage was lowered into the cell, and Houdini was enclosed inside that. While making the escape more difficult – the cage prevented Houdini from turning – the cage bars also offered protection should the front glass break. The original cell was built in England, where Houdini first performed the escape for an audience of one person as part of a one-act play he called "Houdini Upside Down". This was so he could copyright the effect and have grounds to sue imitators, which he did. While the escape was advertised as "The Chinese Water Torture Cell" or "The Water Torture Cell", Houdini always referred to it as "the Upside Down" or "USD". The first public performance of the USD was at the Circus Busch in Berlin, on September 21, 1912. Houdini continued to perform the escape until his death in 1926. Suspended straitjacket escape One of Houdini's most popular publicity stunts was to have himself strapped into a regulation straitjacket and suspended by his ankles from a tall building or crane. Houdini would then make his escape in full view of the assembled crowd. In many cases, Houdini drew tens of thousands of onlookers who brought city traffic to a halt. Houdini would sometimes ensure press coverage by performing the escape from the office building of a local newspaper. In New York City, Houdini performed the suspended straitjacket escape from a crane being used to build the subway. After flinging his body in the air, he escaped from the straitjacket. Starting from when he was hoisted up in the air by the crane, to when the straitjacket was completely off, it took him two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. There is film footage in the Library of Congress of Houdini performing the escape. Films of his escapes are also shown at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. After being battered against a building in high winds during one escape, Houdini performed the escape with a visible safety wire on his ankle so that he could be pulled away from the building if necessary. The idea for the upside-down escape was given to Houdini by a young boy named Randolph Osborne Douglas (March 31, 1895 – December 5, 1956), when the two met at a performance at Sheffield's Empire Theatre. Overboard box escape Another of Houdini's most famous publicity stunts was to escape from a nailed and roped packing crate after it had been lowered into water. He first performed the escape in New York's East River on July 7, 1912. Police forbade him from using one of the piers, so he hired a tugboat and invited press on board. Houdini was locked in handcuffs and leg-irons, then nailed into the crate which was roped and weighed down with two hundred pounds of lead. The crate was then lowered into the water. He escaped in 57 seconds. The crate was pulled to the surface and found still to be intact, with the manacles inside. Houdini performed this escape many times, and even performed a version on stage, first at Hamerstein's Roof Garden where a tank was specially built, and later at the New York Hippodrome. Buried alive stunt Houdini performed at least three variations on a buried alive stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost him his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing". Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing. He repeated the feat at the YMCA in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes. Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed buried alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit to New York following his death on Halloween. Movie career In 1906, Houdini started showing films of his outside escapes as part of his vaudeville act. In Boston, he presented a short film called Houdini Defeats Hackenschmidt. Georg Hackenschmidt was a famous wrestler of the day, but the nature of their contest is unknown as the film is lost. In 1909, Houdini made a film in Paris for Cinema Lux titled Merveilleux Exploits du Célèbre Houdini à Paris (Marvellous Exploits of the Famous Houdini in Paris). It featured a loose narrative designed to showcase several of Houdini's famous escapes, including his straitjacket and underwater handcuff escapes. That same year Houdini got an offer to star as Captain Nemo in a silent version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but the project never made it into production. It is often erroneously reported that Houdini served as special-effects consultant on the Wharton/International cliffhanger serial, The Mysteries of Myra, shot in Ithaca, New York, because Harry Grossman, director of The Master Mystery also filmed a serial in Ithaca at about the same time. The consultants on the serial were pioneering Hereward Carrington and Aleister Crowley. In 1918, Houdini signed a contract with film producer B. A. Rolfe to star in a 15-part serial, The Master Mystery (released in November 1918). As was common at the time, the film serial was released simultaneously with a novel. Financial difficulties resulted in B. A. Rolfe Productions going out of business, but The Master Mystery led to Houdini being signed by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation/Paramount Pictures, for whom he made two pictures, The Grim Game (1919) and Terror Island (1920). The Grim Game was Houdini's first full-length movie and is reputed to be his best. Because of the flammable nature of nitrate film and their low rate of survival, film historians considered the film lost. One copy did exist hidden in the collection of a private collector only known to a tiny group of magicians that saw it. Dick Brookz and Dorothy Dietrich of The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, had seen it twice on the invitation of the collector. After many years of trying, they finally got him to agree to sell the film to Turner Classic Movies who restored the complete 71-minute film. The film, not seen by the general public for 96 years was shown by TCM on March 29, 2015, as a highlight of their yearly 4-day festival in Hollywood. While filming an aerial stunt for The Grim Game, two biplanes collided in mid-air with a stuntman doubling Houdini dangling by a rope from one of the planes. Publicity was geared heavily toward promoting this dramatic "caught on film" moment, claiming it was Houdini himself dangling from the plane. While filming these movies in Los Angeles, Houdini rented a home in Laurel Canyon. Following his two-picture stint in Hollywood, Houdini returned to New York and started his own film production company called the "Houdini Picture Corporation". He produced and starred in two films, The Man from Beyond (1921) and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923). He also founded his own film laboratory business called The Film Development Corporation (FDC), gambling on a new process for developing motion picture film. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, left his own career as a magician and escape artist to run the company. Magician Harry Kellar was a major investor. In 1919 Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a residence owned by Ralph M. Walker. The Houdini Estate, a tribute to Houdini, is located on on 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Previously home to Walker himself. The Houdini Estate is subject to controversy, in that it is disputed whether Houdini ever actually made it his home. While there are claims it was Houdini's house, others counter that "he never set foot" on the property. It is rooted in Bess's parties or seances, etc. held across the street, she would do so at the Walker mansion. In fact, the guesthouse featured an elevator connecting to a tunnel that crossed under Laurel Canyon to the big house grounds (though capped, the tunnel still exists)./ Neither Houdini's acting career nor FDC found success, and he gave up on the movie business in 1923, complaining that "the profits are too meager". In April 2008, Kino International released a DVD box set of Houdini's surviving silent films, including The Master Mystery, Terror Island, The Man From Beyond, Haldane of the Secret Service, and five minutes from The Grim Game. The set also includes newsreel footage of Houdini's escapes from 1907 to 1923, and a section from Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à Paris, although it is not identified as such. Aviator In 1909, Houdini became fascinated with aviation. He purchased a French Voisin biplane for $5,000 () and hired a full-time mechanic, Antonio Brassac. After crashing once, he made his first successful flight on November 26 in Hamburg, Germany. The following year, Houdini toured Australia. He brought along his Voisin biplane with the intention to be the first person in Australia to fly. Falsely reported as pioneer On March 18, 1910, he made three flights at Diggers Rest, Victoria, near Melbourne. It was reported at the time that this was the first aerial flight in Australia, and a century later, some major news outlets still credit him with this feat. Wing Commander Harry Cobby wrote in Aircraft in March 1938 that "the first aeroplane flight in the Southern Hemisphere was made on December 9, 1909, by Mr Colin Defries, a Londoner, at Victoria Park Racecourse, Sydney, in a Wilbur Wright aeroplane". Colin Defries was a trained pilot, having learnt to fly in Cannes, France. By modern standards his flight time was minimal, but in 1909 he had accumulated enough to become an instructor. On his first flight he took off, maintained straight and level flight, albeit briefly, and landed safely. His crash landing on his second flight, when he tried to retrieve his hat which was blown off, demonstrated what a momentary lack of attention could cause while flying a Wright Model A. It is accepted by Australian historians and the Aviation Historical Society of Australia that the definition of flight established by the Gorell Committee on behalf of the Aero Club of Great Britain dictates the acceptance of a flight or its rejection, giving Colin Defries credit as the first to make an aeroplane flight in Australia, and the Southern Hemisphere. Additionally, aviation pioneer Richard Pearse is believed by many New Zealand historians to have undertaken his first flight as early as 1902, which would give him not only the Southern Hemisphere but the World record, although this is disputed. In 1965, aviation journalist Stanley Brogden formed the view that the first powered flight in Australia took place at Bolivar in South Australia; the aircraft was a Bleriot monoplane with Fred Custance as the pilot. The flight took place on March 17, 1910. The next day when Houdini took to the air, the Herald newspaper reported Custance's flight, stating it had lasted 5 minutes 25 seconds at a height of between 12 and 15 feet. In 2010, Australia Post issued stamps commemorating Colin Defries, Houdini and John Robertson Duigan, crediting only Defries and Duigan with historical firsts. Duigan was an Australian pioneer aviator who built and flew the first Australian-made aircraft. Australia Post did acknowledge the part Houdini played in their article "Harry Houdini can't escape being part of Australia's history" but did not attribute any record to him. After Australia After completing his Australia tour, Houdini put the Voisin into storage in England. He announced he would use it to fly from city to city during his next music hall tour, and even promised to leap from it handcuffed, but he never flew again. Debunking spiritualists In the 1920s, Houdini turned his energies toward debunking psychics and mediums, a pursuit that was in line with the debunkings by stage magicians since the late nineteenth century. Houdini's training in magic allowed him to expose frauds who had successfully fooled many scientists and academics. He was a member of a Scientific American committee that offered a cash prize to any medium who could successfully demonstrate supernatural abilities. None was able to do so, and the prize was never collected. The first to be tested was medium George Valiantine of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. As his fame as a "ghostbuster" grew, Houdini took to attending séances in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and police officer. Possibly the most famous medium whom he debunked was Mina Crandon, also known as "Margery". Joaquín Argamasilla, known as the "Spaniard with X-ray Eyes", claimed to be able to read handwriting or numbers on dice through closed metal boxes. In 1924, he was exposed by Houdini as a fraud. Argamasilla peeked through his simple blindfold and lifted up the edge of the box so he could look inside it without others noticing. Houdini also investigated the Italian medium Nino Pecoraro, whom he considered to be fraudulent. Houdini's exposing of phony mediums has inspired other magicians to follow suit, including The Amazing Randi, Dorothy Dietrich, Penn & Teller, and Dick Brookz. Houdini chronicled his debunking exploits in his book, A Magician Among the Spirits, co-authored with C. M. Eddy, Jr., who was not credited. These activities compromised Houdini's friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle, a firm believer in spiritualism during his later years, refused to believe any of Houdini's exposés. Doyle came to believe that Houdini was a powerful spiritualist medium, and had performed many of his stunts by means of paranormal abilities and was using these abilities to block those of other mediums that he was "debunking". This disagreement led to the two men becoming public antagonists and Sir Arthur came to view Houdini as a dangerous enemy. Before Houdini died, he and his wife agreed that if Houdini found it possible to communicate after death, he would communicate the message "Rosabelle believe", a secret code which they agreed to use. Rosabelle was their favorite song. Bess held yearly séances on Halloween for ten years after Houdini's death. She did claim to have contact through Arthur Ford in 1929 when Ford conveyed the secret code, but Bess later said the incident had been faked. The code seems to have been such that it could be broken by Ford or his associates using existing clues. Evidence to this effect was discovered by Ford's biographer after he died in 1971. In 1936, after a last unsuccessful séance on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel, she put out the candle that she had kept burning beside a photograph of Houdini since his death. In 1943, Bess said that "ten years is long enough to wait for any man." The tradition of holding a séance for Houdini continues, held by magicians throughout the world. The Official Houdini Séance was organized in the 1940s by Sidney Hollis Radner, a Houdini aficionado from Holyoke, Massachusetts. Yearly Houdini séances are also conducted in Chicago at the Excalibur nightclub by "necromancer" Neil Tobin on behalf of the Chicago Assembly of the Society of American Magicians; and at the Houdini Museum in Scranton by magician Dorothy Dietrich, who previously held them at New York's Magic Towne House with such magical notables as Houdini biographers Walter B. Gibson and Milbourne Christopher. Gibson was asked by Bess Houdini to carry on the original seance tradition. After doing them for many years at New York's Magic Towne House, before he died, Walter passed on the tradition of conducting of the Original Seances to Dorothy Dietrich. In 1926, Harry Houdini hired H. P. Lovecraft and his friend C. M. Eddy, Jr., to write an entire book about debunking religious miracles, which was to be called The Cancer of Superstition. Houdini had earlier asked Lovecraft to write an article about astrology, for which he paid $75 (). The article does not survive. Lovecraft's detailed synopsis for Cancer does survive, as do three chapters of the treatise written by Eddy. Houdini's death derailed the plans, as his widow did not wish to pursue the project. Appearance and voice recordings Unlike the image of the classic magician, Houdini was short and stocky and typically appeared on stage in a long frock coat and tie. Most biographers give his height as , but descriptions vary. Houdini was also said to be slightly bow-legged, which aided in his ability to gain slack during his rope escapes. In the 1997 biography Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss, author Kenneth Silverman summarizes how reporters described Houdini's appearance during his early career: Houdini made the only known recordings of his voice on Edison wax cylinders on October 29, 1914, in Flatbush, New York. On them, Houdini practices several different introductory speeches for his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell. He also invites his sister, Gladys, to recite a poem. Houdini then recites the same poem in German. The six wax cylinders were discovered in the collection of magician John Mulholland after his death in 1970. They are part of the David Copperfield collection. Personal life Houdini became an active Freemason and was a member of St. Cecile Lodge No. 568 in New York City. In 1904, Houdini bought a New York City townhouse at 278 West 113th Street in Harlem. He paid US$25,000 () for the five-level, 6,008-square-foot house, which was built in 1895, and lived in it with his wife Bess, and various other relatives until his death in 1926. In March 2018, it was purchased for $3.6 million. A plaque affixed to the building by the Historical Landmark Preservation Center reads, "The magician lived here from 1904 to 1926 collecting illusions, theatrical memorabilia, and books on psychic phenomena and magic." In 1919, Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a house of his friend and business associate Ralph M. Walker, who owned both sides of the street, 2335 and 2400, the latter address having a pool where Houdini practiced his water escapes. 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, previously numbered 2398, is presently known as The Houdini Estate, thus named in the honor of Houdini's time there, the same estate where Bess Houdini threw a party for 500 magicians years after his death. After decades of abandonment, the estate was acquired in 2006 by José Luis Nazar, a Chilean/American citizen who has restored it to its former splendor. In 1918, he registered for selective service as Harry Handcuff Houdini. Death Harry Houdini died of peritonitis, secondary to a ruptured appendix, at 1:26 p.m. on October 31, 1926, in Room 401 at Detroit's Grace Hospital, aged 52. In his final days, he believed that he would recover, but his last words before dying were reportedly, "I'm tired of fighting... I do not want to fight anymore..." Witnesses to an incident at Houdini's dressing room in the Princess Theatre in Montreal speculated that Houdini's death was caused by Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead (November 25, 1895 – July 5, 1954), who repeatedly struck Houdini's abdomen. The accounts of the witnesses, students named Jacques Price and Sam Smilovitz (sometimes called Jack Price and Sam Smiley), generally corroborated one another. Price said that Whitehead asked Houdini "if he believed in the miracles of the Bible" and "whether it was true that punches in the stomach did not hurt him". Houdini offered a casual reply that his stomach could endure a lot. Whitehead then delivered "some very hammer-like blows below the belt". Houdini was reclining on a couch at the time, having broken his ankle while performing several days earlier. Price said that Houdini winced at each blow and stopped Whitehead suddenly in the midst of a punch, gesturing that he had had enough, and adding that he had had no opportunity to prepare himself against the blows, as he did not expect Whitehead to strike him so suddenly and forcefully. Had his ankle not been broken, he would have risen from the couch into a better position to brace himself. Throughout the evening, Houdini performed in great pain. He was unable to sleep and remained in constant pain for the next two days, but did not seek medical help. When he finally saw a doctor, he was found to have a fever of and acute appendicitis, and was advised to have immediate surgery. He ignored the advice and decided to go on with the show. When Houdini arrived at the Garrick Theater in Detroit, Michigan, on October 24, 1926, for what would be his last performance, he had a fever of . Despite the diagnosis, Houdini took the stage. He was reported to have passed out during the show, but was revived and continued. Afterwards, he was hospitalized at Detroit's Grace Hospital. It is unclear whether the dressing room incident caused Houdini's eventual death, as the relationship between blunt trauma and appendicitis is uncertain. One theory suggests that Houdini was unaware that he was suffering from appendicitis, and might have been aware had he not received blows to the abdomen. After taking statements from Price and Smilovitz, Houdini's insurance company concluded that the death was due to the dressing-room incident and paid double indemnity. Houdini grave site Houdini's funeral was held on November 4, 1926, in New York, with more than 2,000 mourners in attendance. He was interred in the Machpelah Cemetery in Glendale, Queens, with the crest of the Society of American Magicians inscribed on his grave site. A statuary bust was added to the exedra in 1927, a rarity, because graven images are forbidden in Jewish cemeteries. In 1975, the bust was destroyed by vandals. Temporary busts were placed at the grave until 2011 when a group who came to be called The self-named Houdini Commandos, from the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, placed a permanent bust with the permission of Houdini's family and of the cemetery. The Society of American Magicians took responsibility for the upkeep of the site, as Houdini had willed a large sum of money to the organization he had grown from one club to 5,000–6,000 dues-paying membership worldwide. The payment of upkeep was abandoned by the society's dean George Schindler, who said "Houdini paid for perpetual care, but there's nobody at the cemetery to provide it", adding that the operator of the cemetery, David Jacobson, "sends us a bill for upkeep every year but we never pay it because he never provides any care." Members of the Society tidy the grave themselves. Machpelah Cemetery operator Jacobson said that they "never paid the cemetery for any restoration of the Houdini family plot in my tenure since 1988", claiming that the money came from the cemetery's dwindling funds. The granite monuments of Houdini's sister, Gladys, and brother, Leopold were also destroyed by vandals. For many years, until recently, the Houdini grave site has been only cared for by Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Society of American Magicians, at its National Council Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2013, under the prompting of Dietrich and Brookz, voted to assume the financial responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Houdini Gravesite. In MUM Magazine, the Society's official magazine, President Dal Sanders announced "Harry Houdini is an icon as revered as Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe. He is not only a magical icon; his gravesite bears the seal of The Society of American Magicians. That seal is our brand and we should be proud to protect it. This gravesite is clearly our responsibility and I'm proud to report that the National Council unanimously voted to maintain Houdini's final resting place." The Houdini Gravesite Restoration Committee under the Chairmanship of National President David Bowers, is working closely with National President Kenrick "Ice" McDonald to see this project to completion. Bowers said it is a foregone conclusion that the Society will approve the funding request, because "Houdini is responsible for the Society of American Magicians being what it is today. We owe a debt of gratitude to him." Like Bowers, McDonald said the motivation behind the repairs is to properly honor the grave of the "Babe Ruth of magicians". "This is hallowed ground," he said. "When you ask people about magicians, the first thing they say is Harry Houdini." While the actual plot will remain under the control of Machpelah Cemetery management, the Society of American Magicians, with the help of the Houdini Museum in Pennsylvania, will be in charge of the restoration. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz have been caring for the escape artist's Queens grave over the years. "This is a monument where people go and visit on a daily basis," said Dietrich who is spearheading restoration efforts. "The nearly 80-year-old popular plot at the Machpelah Cemetery has fallen into disrepair over the years." "The Houdini Museum has teamed with The Society of American Magicians, one of the oldest fraternal magic organizations in the world, to give the beloved site a facelift." The organization has a specific Houdini gravesite committee made up of nine members headed up by President elect David Bowers who brought this project to the Society's attention. Kenrick "Ice" McDonald, the current president of the Society of American Magicians said, "You have to know the history. Houdini served as President from 1917 until his death in 1926. Houdini's burial site needs an infusion of cash to restore it to its former glory." Magician Dietrich said the repairs could cost "tens of thousands of dollars", after consulting with glass experts and grave artisans. "It's a wonderful project, but it's taken a lifetime to get people interested," she said. "It's long overdue, and it's great that it's happening." Houdini was a living superhero," Dietrich said. "He wasn't just a magician and escape artist, he was a great humanitarian." To this day, the Society holds a broken wand ceremony at the grave every November. Houdini's widow, Bess, died of a heart attack on February 11, 1943, aged 67, in Needles, California, while on a train en route from Los Angeles to New York City. She had expressed a wish to be buried next to her husband, but instead was interred 35 miles due north at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester County, New York, as her Catholic family refused to allow her to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Proposed exhumation On March 22, 2007, Houdini's grand-nephew (the grandson of his brother Theo), George Hardeen, announced that the courts would be asked to allow exhumation of Houdini's body, to investigate the possibility of Houdini being murdered by spiritualists, as suggested in the biography The Secret Life of Houdini. In a statement given to the Houdini Museum in Scranton, the family of Bess Houdini opposed the application and suggested it was a publicity ploy for the book. The Washington Post stated that the press conference was not arranged by the family of Houdini. Instead, the Post reported, it was orchestrated by authors Kalush and Sloman, who hired the public relations firm Dan Klores Communications to promote their book. In 2008, it was revealed the parties involved had not filed legal papers to perform an exhumation. Legacy Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, who returned to performing after Houdini's death, inherited his brother's effects and props. Houdini's will stipulated that all the effects should be "burned and destroyed" upon Hardeen's death. Hardeen sold much of the collection to magician and Houdini enthusiast Sidney Hollis Radner during the 1940s, including the water torture cell. Radner allowed choice pieces of the collection to be displayed at The Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Ontario. In 1995, a fire destroyed the museum. The water torture cell's metal frame remained, and it was restored by illusion builder John Gaughan. Many of the props contained in the museum such as the mirror handcuffs, Houdini's original packing crate, a milk can, and a straitjacket, survived the fire and were auctioned in 1999 and 2008. Radner loaned the bulk of his collection for archiving to the Outagamie Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, but reclaimed it in 2003 and auctioned it in Las Vegas, on October 30, 2004. Houdini was a "formidable collector", and bequeathed many of his holdings and paper archives on magic and spiritualism to the Library of Congress, which became the basis for the Houdini collection in cyberspace. In 1934, the bulk of Houdini's collection of American and British theatrical material, along with a significant portion of his business and personal papers, and some of his collections of other magicians were sold to pay off estate debts to theatre magnate Messmore Kendall. In 1958, Kendall donated his collection to the Hoblitzelle Theatre Library at the University of Texas at Austin. In the 1960s, the Hoblitzelle Library became part of the Harry Ransom Center. The extensive Houdini collection includes a 1584 first edition of Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft and David Garrick's travel diary to Paris from 1751. Some of the scrapbooks in the Houdini collection have been digitized. The collection was exclusively paper-based until April 2016, when the Ransom Center acquired one of Houdini's ball weights with chain and ankle cuff. In October 2016, in conjunction with the 90th anniversary of the death of Houdini, the Ransom Center embarked on a major re-cataloging of the Houdini collection to make it more visible and accessible to researchers. The collection reopened in 2018, with its finding aids posted online. A large portion of Houdini's estate holdings and memorabilia was willed to his fellow magician and friend, John Mulholland (1898–1970). In 1991, illusionist and television performer David Copperfield purchased all of Mulholland's Houdini holdings from Mulholland's estate. These are now archived and preserved in Copperfield's warehouse at his headquarters in Las Vegas. It contains the world's largest collection of Houdini memorabilia, and preserves approximately 80,000 items of memorabilia of Houdini and other magicians, including Houdini's stage props and material, his rebuilt water torture cabinet and his metamorphosis trunk. It is not open to the public, but tours are available by invitation to magicians, scholars, researchers, journalists and serious collectors. In a posthumous ceremony on October 31, 1975, Houdini was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7001 Hollywood Blvd. The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, bills itself as "the only building in the world entirely dedicated to Houdini". It is open to the public year-round by reservation. It includes Houdini films, a guided tour about Houdini's life and a stage magic show. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz opened the facility in 1991. The Magic Castle in Los Angeles, California, a nightclub for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts, features Houdini séances performed by magician Misty Lee. The House of Houdini is a museum and performance venue located at 11, Dísz square in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. It claims to house the largest collection of original Houdini artifacts in Europe. The Houdini Museum of New York is located at Fantasma Magic, a retail magic manufacturer and seller located in Manhattan. The museum contains several hundred pieces of ephemera, most of which belonged to Harry Houdini. In popular culture Houdini appeared as himself in Weird Tales magazine in three ghostwritten fictionalizations of sensational events from his career (issues of March, April, and May–June–July 1924). The third story, "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs," was written by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft based on Houdini's notes. The Houdini-Lovecraft collaboration was envisioned to continue, but the magazine ceased publication for financial reasons. When it resumed later in 1924, Houdini no longer figured in its plans. Houdini (1953)played by Tony Curtis The Great Houdini The Great Houdinis (1976)played by Paul Michael Glaser (TV movie) Ragtime (1981)played by Jeffrey DeMunn, based on the novel by E. L. Doctorow. Jim Corti played him in the original Broadway production of the musical based on the same novel. Houdini is the subject of the song "Houdini" on the 1982 album The Dreaming by Kate Bush. The album's cover art, in which Bush is depicted holding a key in her mouth and bending in to kiss a chained figure whose face is turned away from the camera, is an homage to Bess Houdini. A Magician Amongst the Spirits, a 1982 BBC radio drama about Houdini's life written by Bert Coules Grand Illusion a 1983 episode of the TV series "Simon and Simon" concerns a murder and a book of stolen Houdini magic notes. The Cabinet of Calamari a 1987 episode of the cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters involves the ghost of Houdini and a book of stolen Houdini magic notes. Young Harry Houdini (1987)played by Wil Wheaton & Jeffrey DeMunn (TV movie) A Night at the Magic Castle (1988)played by Arte Johnson Canadian synth-pop duo Kon Kan released the song "Harry Houdini" in 1989. FairyTale: A True Story (1997)played by Harvey Keitel Houdini (1998)played by Johnathon Schaech (TV movie) Mentioned in Joan of Arc's song "God Bless America" on their 1998 album How Memory Works Cremaster 2 (1999)played by Norman Mailer Death Defying Acts (2007)played by Guy Pearce Murdoch Mysteries (2008)played by Joe Dinicol (TV series) Drunk History Season 1, Episode 6: Detroit (2013)played by Ken Marino (TV series) Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctor - Smoke and Mirrors (2013) – played by Tim Beckmann (BBC Audio) Houdini (2014)played by Adrien Brody (TV miniseries) Houdini and Doyle (2016)played by Michael Weston (TV series) Timeless (2016)played by Michael Drayer (TV series) Doctor Who – Harry Houdini's War (2019)played by John Schwab (Big Finish audio play) d'ILLUSION: The Houdini Musical – The Audio Theater Experience (2020)played by Julian R. Decker (Album musical/audiobook) The 2017 song Rosabelle, Believe by UK electronic band Cult With No Name is about the pact Houdini made with his wife on his deathbed. Publications Houdini published numerous books during his career (some of which were written by his good friend Walter B. Gibson, the creator of The Shadow) The Right Way to Do Wrong: An Exposé of Successful Criminals (1906) Handcuff Secrets (1907) The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin (1908), a debunking study of Robert-Houdin's alleged abilities. Magical Rope Ties and Escapes (1920) Miracle Mongers and Their Methods (1920) Houdini's Paper Magic (1921) A Magician Among the Spirits (1924) Houdini Exposes the Tricks Used by the Boston Medium "Margery" (1924) Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (1924), a short story ghostwritten by H. P. Lovecraft. How I Unmask the Spirit Fakers, article for Popular Science (November 1925) How I do My "Spirit Tricks", article for Popular Science (December 1925) Conjuring (1926), article for the Encyclopædia Britannica's 13th edition. Filmography Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à ParisCinema Lux (1909)playing himself The Master MysteryOctagon Films (1918)playing Quentin Locke The Grim GameFamous Players-Lasky/Paramount Pictures (1919)playing Harvey Handford Terror IslandFamous Players Lasky/Paramount (1920)playing Harry Harper The Man from BeyondHoudini Picture Corporation (1922)playing Howard Hillary Haldane of the Secret ServiceHoudini Picture Corporation/FBO (1923)playing Heath Haldane See also List of magic museums List of magicians Ann O'Delia Diss Debar (Swami Laura Horos) David Blaine Walford BodieA friend of Houdini, and fellow magician References Bibliography Gresham, William Lindsay Houdini: The Man Who Walked Through Walls (New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1959). Henning, Doug with Charles Reynolds. Houdini: His Legend and His Magic (New York: Times Books, 1978). . Kellock, Harold. Houdini: His Life-Story from the recollections and documents of Beatrice Houdini, (Harcourt, Brace Co., June 1928). Kendall, Lance. Houdini: Master of Escape (New York: Macrae Smith & Co., 1960). . Meyer, M.D., Bernard C. Houdini: A Mind in Chains (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1976). . Williams, Beryl & Samuel Epstein. The Great Houdini: Magician Extraordinary (New York: Julian Messner, Inc., 1950). Further reading "Who Is Houdini?" by Fred Lockley, Photoplay, June 1920, p. 50. "An Interview with Harry Houdini" by Marcet Haldeman-Julius, Haldeman-Julius Monthly Vol. 2.5 (October 1925), pp. 387–397. Houdini's Escapes and Magic by Walter B. Gibson, Prepared from Houdini's private notebooks Blue Ribbon Books, Inc., 1930. Reveals some of Houdini's magic and escape methods (also released in two separate volumes: Houdini's Magic and Houdini's Escapes). The Secrets of Houdini by J.C. Cannell, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1931. Reveals some of Houdini's escape methods. Houdini and Conan Doyle: The Story of a Strange Friendship by Bernard M. L. Ernst, Albert & Charles Boni, Inc., NY, 1932. Sixty Years of Psychical Research by Joseph Rinn, Truth Seeker Co., 1950, Rinn was a long time close friend of Houdini. Contains detailed information about the last Houdini message (there are 3) and its disclosure. Houdini's Fabulous Magic by Walter B. Gibson and Morris N. Young Chilton, NY, 1960. Excellent reference for Houdini's escapes and some methods (includes the Water Torture Cell). The Houdini Birth Research Committee's Report, Magico Magazine (reprint of report by The Society of American Magicians), 1972. Concludes Houdini was born March 24, 1874, in Budapest. Arthur Ford: The Man Who Talked with the Dead by Allen Spraggett with William V. Rauscher, 1973, pp. 152–165, Chapter 7, The Houdini Affair contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure. Mediums, Mystics and the Occult by Milbourne Christopher, Thomas T. Crowell Co., 1975, pp. 122–145, Arthur Ford-Messages from the Dead, contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure. Houdini: A Definitive Bibliography by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1991. A Description of the Literary Works of Houdini, includes pamphlets from Weltman's collection Believe by William Shatner and Michael Charles Tobias, Berkeley Books, NY 1992. Houdini: Escape into Legend, The Early Years: 1862–1900 by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1993. Examination of Houdini's childhood and early career. Houdini Comes to America by Ronald J. Hilgert, The Houdini Historical Center, 1996. Documents the Weiss family's immigration to the United States on July 3, 1878 (when Ehrich was 4). Houdini Unlocked by Patrick Culliton, Two volume box set: The Tao of Houdini and The Secret Confessions of Houdini, Kieran Press, 1997. The Houdini Code Mystery: A Spirit Secret Solved by William V. Rauscher, Magic Words, 2000. Final Séance. The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle by Massimo Polidoro, Prometheus Books, 2001. The Man Who Killed Houdini by Don Bell, Vehicle Press, 2004. Investigates J. Gordon Whitehead and the events surrounding Houdini's death. Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century by Matthew Solomon, University of Illinois Press, 2010. Contains new information about Houdini's early movie career. Houdini Art and Magic by Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Jewish Museum, 2010. Essays on Houdini's life and work are accompanied by interviews with novelist E.L. Doctorow, Teller, Kenneth Silverman, and more. Houdini The Key by Patrick Culliton, Kieran Press, 2010. Reveals the authentic working methods of many of Houdini effects, including the Milk Can and Water Torture Cell. Limited to 278 copies. The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini by Joe Posnanski, Avid Reader Press, 2019. External links Harry Houdini Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Harry Houdini Collection at the Harry Ransom Center Timeline of Houdini's life The Houdini Museum in Scranton Pennsylvania Houdini archives in the Harry Price papers Houdini Escapes the Smithsonian The Harry Houdini Collection From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress Photographs and posters of Harry Houdini held by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts 1874 births 1926 deaths American aviators American Freemasons American magicians American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American performance artists American skeptics American stunt performers Articles containing video clips Artists from Budapest Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States Austro-Hungarian Jews Burials in New York (state) Deaths from peritonitis Escapologists Hungarian Jews Hungarian magicians Hungarian performance artists Jewish American artists Paranormal investigators Spiritualism Trapeze artists Vaudeville performers	false	[ "Marijan Čavić-Grga (10 March 1915 – 1941) was a Yugoslav communist. He was captured in Karlovac and executed 1941 in the Jasenovac concentration camp.\n\nBiography\nHe was secretary of the local committee of the League of Communists of Croatia for Karlovac. In his earliest youth he was involved in the workers' movement and he became a syndicalist at this time. In 1939 he joined the Communist Party. Immediately before the war he became the secretary of the committee for the third region of the KPH in Zagreb. After occupation and formation of the Independent State of Croatia, Marijan Čavić organized illegal work in his area and participated in sabotage and other actions. By decision of the Central Committee, in mid-August 1941 he left Zagreb and went to Karlovac.\n\nOn 16 October 1941, in Karlovac, the Ustasha police arrested Čavić. The Ustasha police tortured him, but he did not want to tell them his name. In order to end his suffering, Čavić tried to commit suicide. Wanting to extort a confession from him at all costs, the police sent him to the Karlovac hospital for treatment. The Communist Party organization after found out that his secretary was in the hospital made a plan to save him from the hospital.\nPartisan rescue operation under command of Većeslav Holjevac enter to Karlovac but did not succeed, because in the meantime the Ustashas returned him to prison, so Holjevac and his Partisans did not find him in the hospital.\n\nAfter this Partisan action, Čavić was transferred to Zagreb. Another attempt was made to save him, however and that attempt failed. Marijan Čavić was taken to the Jasenovac concentration camp where he was killed at the end of 1941.\n\nLegacy\nHe was proclaimed a national hero of Yugoslavia on 27 November 1953.\n\nReferences\n\n1915 births\n1941 deaths\nPoliticians from Zagreb\nCroatian communists\nCroatian people executed in Nazi concentration camps\nPeople who died in Jasenovac concentration camp\nRecipients of the Order of the People's Hero", "Hill End Hospital was a mental health facility in St Albans in Hertfordshire, England.\n\nHistory\nThe hospital, which was designed by George Thomas Hine using a Compact Arrow layout, opened as the Hertfordshire County Asylum in April 1899. Hill End railway station, a station on the Great Northern Railway branch from to St Albans, was opened to service the hospital in August 1899. The asylum became the Hertfordshire County Mental Hospital in 1920 and the Hill End Hospital for Mental and Nervous Diseases in 1936. During the Second World War patients were evacuated from St Bartholomew's Hospital to Hill End Hospital. It became part of the National Health Service as the Hill End Hospital and Clinic for the Prevention and Treatment of Mental and Nervous Disorders in 1948.\n\nAfter the introduction of Care in the Community in the early 1980s, the hospital went into a period of decline and closed in November 1995. The buildings have since been demolished and the site redeveloped for residential use.\n\nReferences\n\nDefunct hospitals in Hertfordshire\nHospital buildings completed in 1899\nHospitals established in 1899\n1899 establishments in England\nFormer psychiatric hospitals in England\nHospitals disestablished in 1995\n1995 disestablishments in England" ]
[ "Harry Houdini", "Buried alive stunt", "what year did he do the buried alive stunt?", "The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost Houdini his life.", "how did he almost die?", "He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious", "how long did the stunt last?", "I don't know.", "who came to help him?", "When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants.", "did he end up in the hospital?", "I don't know." ]	C_06b9531629e14f8c8797fd4dc6caf543_0	how old was he when he did this stunt?	6	How old was Harry Houdini when he did the buried alive stunt?	Harry Houdini	Houdini performed at least three variations on a buried alive stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost Houdini his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing." Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing. He repeated the feat at the YMCA in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes. Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed buried alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit to New York following his death on Halloween. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, illusionist, stunt performer and mysteriarch, noted for his escape acts. He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the United States and then as "Harry 'Handcuff' Houdini" on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it. In 1904, thousands watched as he tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by London's Daily Mirror, keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state of near-breakdown. While many suspected that these escapes were faked, Houdini presented himself as the scourge of fake spiritualists. As President of the Society of American Magicians, he was keen to uphold professional standards and expose fraudulent artists. He was also quick to sue anyone who imitated his escape stunts. Houdini made several movies but quit acting when it failed to bring in money. He was also a keen aviator and aimed to become the first man to fly a powered aircraft in Australia. Early life Erik Weisz was born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary to a Jewish family. His parents were rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz (1829–1892) and Cecília Steiner (1841–1913). Houdini was one of seven children: Herman M. (1863–1885), who was Houdini's half-brother by Rabbi Weisz's first marriage; Nathan J. (1870–1927); Gottfried William (1872–1925); Theodore (1876–1945); Leopold D. (1879–1962); and Carrie Gladys (1882–1959), who was left almost blind after a childhood accident. Weisz arrived in the United States on July 3, 1878, on the SS Fresia with his mother (who was pregnant) and his four brothers. The family changed their name to the German spelling Weiss, and Erik became Ehrich. The family lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his father served as rabbi of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation. According to the 1880 census, the family lived on Appleton Street in an area that is now known as Houdini Plaza. On June 6, 1882, Rabbi Weiss became an American citizen. Losing his job at Zion in 1882, Rabbi Weiss and family moved to Milwaukee and fell into dire poverty. In 1887, Rabbi Weiss moved with Ehrich to New York City, where they lived in a boarding house on East 79th Street. He was joined by the rest of the family once rabbi Weiss found permanent housing. As a child, Ehrich Weiss took several jobs, making his public début as a nine-year-old trapeze artist, calling himself "Ehrich, the Prince of the Air". He was also a champion cross country runner in his youth. Magic career When Weiss became a professional magician he began calling himself "Harry Houdini", after the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, after reading Robert-Houdin's autobiography in 1890. Weiss incorrectly believed that an i at the end of a name meant "like" in French. In later life, Houdini claimed that the first part of his new name, Harry, was an homage to American magician Harry Kellar, whom he also admired, though it was likely adapted from "Ehri", a nickname for "Ehrich", which is how he was known to his family. When he was a teenager, Houdini was coached by the magician Joseph Rinn at the Pastime Athletic Club. Houdini began his magic career in 1891, but had little success. He appeared in a tent act with strongman Emil Jarrow. He performed in dime museums and sideshows, and even doubled as "The Wild Man" at a circus. Houdini focused initially on traditional card tricks. At one point, he billed himself as the "King of Cards". Some – but not all – professional magicians would come to regard Houdini as a competent but not particularly skilled sleight-of-hand artist, lacking the grace and finesse required to achieve excellence in that craft. He soon began experimenting with escape acts. In 1894, while performing with his brother "Dash" (Theodore) at Coney Island as "The Brothers Houdini", Houdini met a fellow performer, Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner. Bess was initially courted by Dash, but she and Houdini married, with Bess replacing Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis". For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess worked as his stage assistant. Houdini's big break came in 1899 when he met manager Martin Beck in St. Paul, Minnesota. Impressed by Houdini's handcuffs act, Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts and booked him on the Orpheum vaudeville circuit. Within months, he was performing at the top vaudeville houses in the country. In 1900, Beck arranged for Houdini to tour Europe. After some days of unsuccessful interviews in London, Houdini's British agent Harry Day helped him to get an interview with C. Dundas Slater, then manager of the Alhambra Theatre. He was introduced to William Melville and gave a demonstration of escape from handcuffs at Scotland Yard. He succeeded in baffling the police so effectively that he was booked at the Alhambra for six months. His show was an immediate hit and his salary rose to $300 a week (). Between 1900 and 1920 he appeared in theatres all over Great Britain performing escape acts, illusions, card tricks and outdoor stunts, becoming one of the world's highest paid entertainers. He also toured the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Russia and became widely known as "The Handcuff King". In each city, Houdini challenged local police to restrain him with shackles and lock him in their jails. In many of these challenge escapes, he was first stripped nude and searched. In Moscow, he escaped from a Siberian prison transport van, claiming that, had he been unable to free himself, he would have had to travel to Siberia, where the only key was kept. In Cologne, he sued a police officer, Werner Graff, who alleged that he made his escapes via bribery. Houdini won the case when he opened the judge's safe (he later said the judge had forgotten to lock it). With his new-found wealth, Houdini purchased a dress said to have been made for Queen Victoria. He then arranged a grand reception where he presented his mother in the dress to all their relatives. Houdini said it was the happiest day of his life. In 1904, Houdini returned to the U.S. and purchased a house for $25,000 (), a brownstone at 278 W. 113th Street in Harlem, New York City. While on tour in Europe in 1902, Houdini visited Blois with the aim of meeting the widow of Emile Houdin, the son of Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, for an interview and permission to visit his grave. He did not receive permission but still visited the grave. Houdini believed that he had been treated unfairly and later wrote a negative account of the incident in his magazine, claiming he was "treated most discourteously by Madame W. Emile Robert-Houdin". In 1906, he sent a letter to the French magazine L'Illusionniste stating: "You will certainly enjoy the article on Robert Houdin I am about to publish in my magazine. Yes, my dear friend, I think I can finally demolish your idol, who has so long been placed on a pedestal that he did not deserve." In 1906, Houdini created his own publication, the Conjurers' Monthly Magazine. It was a competitor to The Sphinx, but was short-lived and only two volumes were released until August 1908. Magic historian Jim Steinmeyer has noted that "Houdini couldn't resist using the journal for his own crusades, attacking his rivals, praising his own appearances, and subtly rewriting history to favor his view of magic." From 1907 and throughout the 1910s, Houdini performed with great success in the United States. He freed himself from jails, handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjackets, often while hanging from a rope in sight of street audiences. Because of imitators, Houdini put his "handcuff act" behind him on January 25, 1908, and began escaping from a locked, water-filled milk can. The possibility of failure and death thrilled his audiences. Houdini also expanded his repertoire with his escape challenge act, in which he invited the public to devise contraptions to hold him. These included nailed packing crates (sometimes lowered into water), riveted boilers, wet sheets, mail bags, and even the belly of a whale that had washed ashore in Boston. Brewers in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and other cities challenged Houdini to escape from a barrel after they filled it with beer. Many of these challenges were arranged with local merchants in one of the first uses of mass tie-in marketing . Rather than promote the idea that he was assisted by spirits, as did the Davenport Brothers and others, Houdini's advertisements showed him making his escapes via dematerializing, although Houdini himself never claimed to have supernatural powers. After much research, Houdini wrote a collection of articles on the history of magic, which were expanded into The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin published in 1908. In this book he attacked his former idol Robert-Houdin as a liar and a fraud for having claimed the invention of automata and effects such as aerial suspension, which had been in existence for many years. Many of the allegations in the book were dismissed by magicians and researchers who defended Robert-Houdin. Magician Jean Hugard would later write a full rebuttal to Houdini's book. Houdini introduced the Chinese Water Torture Cell at the Circus Busch in Berlin, Germany, on September 21, 1912. He was suspended upside-down in a locked glass-and-steel cabinet full to overflowing with water, holding his breath for more than three minutes. He would go on performing this escape for the rest of his life. During his career, Houdini explained some of his tricks in books written for the magic brotherhood. In Handcuff Secrets (1909), he revealed how many locks and handcuffs could be opened with properly applied force, others with shoestrings. Other times, he carried concealed lockpicks or keys. When tied down in ropes or straitjackets, he gained wiggle room by enlarging his shoulders and chest, moving his arms slightly away from his body. His straitjacket escape was originally performed behind curtains, with him popping out free at the end. Houdini's brother (who was also an escape artist, billing himself as Theodore Hardeen) discovered that audiences were more impressed when the curtains were eliminated so they could watch him struggle to get out. On more than one occasion, they both performed straitjacket escapes while dangling upside-down from the roof of a building in the same city. For most of his career, Houdini was a headline act in vaudeville. For many years, he was the highest-paid performer in American vaudeville. One of Houdini's most notable non-escape stage illusions was performed at the New York Hippodrome, when he vanished a full-grown elephant from the stage. He had purchased this trick from the magician Charles Morritt. In 1923, Houdini became president of Martinka & Co., America's oldest magic company. The business is still in operation today. He also served as president of the Society of American Magicians ( S.A.M.) from 1917 until his death in 1926. Founded on May 10, 1902, in the back room of Martinka's magic shop in New York, the Society expanded under the leadership of Harry Houdini during his term as national president from 1917 to 1926. Houdini was magic's greatest visionary. He sought to create a large, unified national network of professional and amateur magicians. Wherever he traveled, he gave a lengthy formal address to the local magic club, made speeches, and usually threw a banquet for the members at his own expense. He said "The Magicians Clubs as a rule are small: they are weak ... but if we were amalgamated into one big body the society would be stronger, and it would mean making the small clubs powerful and worthwhile. Members would find a welcome wherever they happened to be and, conversely, the safeguard of a city-to-city hotline to track exposers and other undesirables". For most of 1916, while on his vaudeville tour, Houdini had been recruiting—at his own expense—local magic clubs to join the S.A.M. in an effort to revitalize what he felt was a weak organization. Houdini persuaded groups in Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City to join. As had happened in London, he persuaded magicians to join. The Buffalo club joined as the first branch, (later assembly) of the Society. Chicago Assembly No. 3 was, as the name implies, the third regional club to be established by the S.A.M., whose assemblies now number in the hundreds. In 1917, he signed Assembly Number Three's charter into existence, and that charter and this club continue to provide Chicago magicians with a connection to each other and to their past. Houdini dined with, addressed, and got pledges from similar clubs in Detroit, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Cincinnati and elsewhere. This was the biggest movement ever in the history of magic. In places where no clubs existed, he rounded up individual magicians, introduced them to each other, and urged them into the fold. By the end of 1916, magicians' clubs in San Francisco and other cities that Houdini had not visited were offering to become assemblies. He had created the richest and longest-surviving organization of magicians in the world. It now embraces almost 6,000 dues-paying members and almost 300 assemblies worldwide. In July 1926, Houdini was elected for the ninth successive time President of the Society of American Magicians. Every other president has only served for one year. He also was President of the Magicians' Club of London. In the final years of his life (1925/26), Houdini launched his own full-evening show, which he billed as "Three Shows in One: Magic, Escapes, and Fraud Mediums Exposed". Notable escapes Daily Mirror challenge In 1904, the London Daily Mirror newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from special handcuffs that it claimed had taken Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from Birmingham, five years to make. Houdini accepted the challenge for March 17 during a matinée performance at London's Hippodrome theatre. It was reported that 4000 people and more than 100 journalists turned out for the much-hyped event. The escape attempt dragged on for over an hour, during which Houdini emerged from his "ghost house" (a small screen used to conceal the method of his escape) several times. On one occasion he asked if the cuffs could be removed so he could take off his coat. The Mirror representative, Frank Parker, refused, saying Houdini could gain an advantage if he saw how the cuffs were unlocked. Houdini promptly took out a penknife and, holding the knife in his teeth, used it to cut his coat from his body. Some 56 minutes later, Houdini's wife appeared on stage and gave him a kiss. Many thought that in her mouth was the key to unlock the special handcuffs. However, it has since been suggested that Bess did not in fact enter the stage at all, and that this theory is unlikely due to the size of the six-inch key. Houdini then went back behind the curtain. After an hour and ten minutes, Houdini emerged free. As he was paraded on the shoulders of the cheering crowd, he broke down and wept. Houdini later said it was the most difficult escape of his career. After Houdini's death, his friend Martin Beck was quoted in Will Goldston's book, Sensational Tales of Mystery Men, as admitting that Houdini was bested that day and had appealed to his wife, Bess, for help. Goldston goes on to claim that Bess begged the key from the Mirror representative, then slipped it to Houdini in a glass of water. It was stated in the book The Secret Life of Houdini that the key required to open the specially designed Mirror handcuffs was six inches long, and could not have been smuggled to Houdini in a glass of water. Goldston offered no proof of his account, and many modern biographers have found evidence (notably in the custom design of the handcuffs) that the Mirror challenge may have been arranged by Houdini and that his long struggle to escape was pure showmanship. This escape was discussed in depth on the Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum in an interview with Houdini expert, magician and escape artist Dorothy Dietrich of Scranton's Houdini Museum. A full-sized design of the same Mirror Handcuffs, as well as a replica of the Bramah style key for it, is on display to the public at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This set of cuffs is believed to be one of only six in the world, some of which are not on display. Milk Can Escape In 1908, Houdini introduced his own original act, the Milk Can Escape. In this act, Houdini was handcuffed and sealed inside an oversized milk can filled with water and made his escape behind a curtain. As part of the effect, Houdini invited members of the audience to hold their breath along with him while he was inside the can. Advertised with dramatic posters that proclaimed "Failure Means A Drowning Death", the escape proved to be a sensation. Houdini soon modified the escape to include the milk can being locked inside a wooden chest, being chained or padlocked. Houdini performed the milk can escape as a regular part of his act for only four years, but it has remained one of the acts most associated with him. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, continued to perform the milk can escape and its wooden chest variant into the 1940s. The American Museum of Magic has the milk can and overboard box used by Houdini. After other magicians proposed variations on the Milk Can Escape, Houdini claimed that the act was copyrighted and settled out of court in 1906 a case with John Clempert, one of the most persistent imitators, who agreed to publish an apology. Chinese water torture cell Around 1912, the vast number of imitators prompted Houdini to replace his milk can act with the Chinese water torture cell. In this escape, Houdini's feet were locked in stocks, and he was lowered upside down into a tank filled with water. The mahogany and metal cell featured a glass front, through which audiences could clearly see Houdini. The stocks were locked to the top of the cell, and a curtain concealed his escape. In the earliest version of the torture cell, a metal cage was lowered into the cell, and Houdini was enclosed inside that. While making the escape more difficult – the cage prevented Houdini from turning – the cage bars also offered protection should the front glass break. The original cell was built in England, where Houdini first performed the escape for an audience of one person as part of a one-act play he called "Houdini Upside Down". This was so he could copyright the effect and have grounds to sue imitators, which he did. While the escape was advertised as "The Chinese Water Torture Cell" or "The Water Torture Cell", Houdini always referred to it as "the Upside Down" or "USD". The first public performance of the USD was at the Circus Busch in Berlin, on September 21, 1912. Houdini continued to perform the escape until his death in 1926. Suspended straitjacket escape One of Houdini's most popular publicity stunts was to have himself strapped into a regulation straitjacket and suspended by his ankles from a tall building or crane. Houdini would then make his escape in full view of the assembled crowd. In many cases, Houdini drew tens of thousands of onlookers who brought city traffic to a halt. Houdini would sometimes ensure press coverage by performing the escape from the office building of a local newspaper. In New York City, Houdini performed the suspended straitjacket escape from a crane being used to build the subway. After flinging his body in the air, he escaped from the straitjacket. Starting from when he was hoisted up in the air by the crane, to when the straitjacket was completely off, it took him two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. There is film footage in the Library of Congress of Houdini performing the escape. Films of his escapes are also shown at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. After being battered against a building in high winds during one escape, Houdini performed the escape with a visible safety wire on his ankle so that he could be pulled away from the building if necessary. The idea for the upside-down escape was given to Houdini by a young boy named Randolph Osborne Douglas (March 31, 1895 – December 5, 1956), when the two met at a performance at Sheffield's Empire Theatre. Overboard box escape Another of Houdini's most famous publicity stunts was to escape from a nailed and roped packing crate after it had been lowered into water. He first performed the escape in New York's East River on July 7, 1912. Police forbade him from using one of the piers, so he hired a tugboat and invited press on board. Houdini was locked in handcuffs and leg-irons, then nailed into the crate which was roped and weighed down with two hundred pounds of lead. The crate was then lowered into the water. He escaped in 57 seconds. The crate was pulled to the surface and found still to be intact, with the manacles inside. Houdini performed this escape many times, and even performed a version on stage, first at Hamerstein's Roof Garden where a tank was specially built, and later at the New York Hippodrome. Buried alive stunt Houdini performed at least three variations on a buried alive stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost him his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing". Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing. He repeated the feat at the YMCA in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes. Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed buried alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit to New York following his death on Halloween. Movie career In 1906, Houdini started showing films of his outside escapes as part of his vaudeville act. In Boston, he presented a short film called Houdini Defeats Hackenschmidt. Georg Hackenschmidt was a famous wrestler of the day, but the nature of their contest is unknown as the film is lost. In 1909, Houdini made a film in Paris for Cinema Lux titled Merveilleux Exploits du Célèbre Houdini à Paris (Marvellous Exploits of the Famous Houdini in Paris). It featured a loose narrative designed to showcase several of Houdini's famous escapes, including his straitjacket and underwater handcuff escapes. That same year Houdini got an offer to star as Captain Nemo in a silent version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but the project never made it into production. It is often erroneously reported that Houdini served as special-effects consultant on the Wharton/International cliffhanger serial, The Mysteries of Myra, shot in Ithaca, New York, because Harry Grossman, director of The Master Mystery also filmed a serial in Ithaca at about the same time. The consultants on the serial were pioneering Hereward Carrington and Aleister Crowley. In 1918, Houdini signed a contract with film producer B. A. Rolfe to star in a 15-part serial, The Master Mystery (released in November 1918). As was common at the time, the film serial was released simultaneously with a novel. Financial difficulties resulted in B. A. Rolfe Productions going out of business, but The Master Mystery led to Houdini being signed by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation/Paramount Pictures, for whom he made two pictures, The Grim Game (1919) and Terror Island (1920). The Grim Game was Houdini's first full-length movie and is reputed to be his best. Because of the flammable nature of nitrate film and their low rate of survival, film historians considered the film lost. One copy did exist hidden in the collection of a private collector only known to a tiny group of magicians that saw it. Dick Brookz and Dorothy Dietrich of The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, had seen it twice on the invitation of the collector. After many years of trying, they finally got him to agree to sell the film to Turner Classic Movies who restored the complete 71-minute film. The film, not seen by the general public for 96 years was shown by TCM on March 29, 2015, as a highlight of their yearly 4-day festival in Hollywood. While filming an aerial stunt for The Grim Game, two biplanes collided in mid-air with a stuntman doubling Houdini dangling by a rope from one of the planes. Publicity was geared heavily toward promoting this dramatic "caught on film" moment, claiming it was Houdini himself dangling from the plane. While filming these movies in Los Angeles, Houdini rented a home in Laurel Canyon. Following his two-picture stint in Hollywood, Houdini returned to New York and started his own film production company called the "Houdini Picture Corporation". He produced and starred in two films, The Man from Beyond (1921) and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923). He also founded his own film laboratory business called The Film Development Corporation (FDC), gambling on a new process for developing motion picture film. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, left his own career as a magician and escape artist to run the company. Magician Harry Kellar was a major investor. In 1919 Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a residence owned by Ralph M. Walker. The Houdini Estate, a tribute to Houdini, is located on on 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Previously home to Walker himself. The Houdini Estate is subject to controversy, in that it is disputed whether Houdini ever actually made it his home. While there are claims it was Houdini's house, others counter that "he never set foot" on the property. It is rooted in Bess's parties or seances, etc. held across the street, she would do so at the Walker mansion. In fact, the guesthouse featured an elevator connecting to a tunnel that crossed under Laurel Canyon to the big house grounds (though capped, the tunnel still exists)./ Neither Houdini's acting career nor FDC found success, and he gave up on the movie business in 1923, complaining that "the profits are too meager". In April 2008, Kino International released a DVD box set of Houdini's surviving silent films, including The Master Mystery, Terror Island, The Man From Beyond, Haldane of the Secret Service, and five minutes from The Grim Game. The set also includes newsreel footage of Houdini's escapes from 1907 to 1923, and a section from Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à Paris, although it is not identified as such. Aviator In 1909, Houdini became fascinated with aviation. He purchased a French Voisin biplane for $5,000 () and hired a full-time mechanic, Antonio Brassac. After crashing once, he made his first successful flight on November 26 in Hamburg, Germany. The following year, Houdini toured Australia. He brought along his Voisin biplane with the intention to be the first person in Australia to fly. Falsely reported as pioneer On March 18, 1910, he made three flights at Diggers Rest, Victoria, near Melbourne. It was reported at the time that this was the first aerial flight in Australia, and a century later, some major news outlets still credit him with this feat. Wing Commander Harry Cobby wrote in Aircraft in March 1938 that "the first aeroplane flight in the Southern Hemisphere was made on December 9, 1909, by Mr Colin Defries, a Londoner, at Victoria Park Racecourse, Sydney, in a Wilbur Wright aeroplane". Colin Defries was a trained pilot, having learnt to fly in Cannes, France. By modern standards his flight time was minimal, but in 1909 he had accumulated enough to become an instructor. On his first flight he took off, maintained straight and level flight, albeit briefly, and landed safely. His crash landing on his second flight, when he tried to retrieve his hat which was blown off, demonstrated what a momentary lack of attention could cause while flying a Wright Model A. It is accepted by Australian historians and the Aviation Historical Society of Australia that the definition of flight established by the Gorell Committee on behalf of the Aero Club of Great Britain dictates the acceptance of a flight or its rejection, giving Colin Defries credit as the first to make an aeroplane flight in Australia, and the Southern Hemisphere. Additionally, aviation pioneer Richard Pearse is believed by many New Zealand historians to have undertaken his first flight as early as 1902, which would give him not only the Southern Hemisphere but the World record, although this is disputed. In 1965, aviation journalist Stanley Brogden formed the view that the first powered flight in Australia took place at Bolivar in South Australia; the aircraft was a Bleriot monoplane with Fred Custance as the pilot. The flight took place on March 17, 1910. The next day when Houdini took to the air, the Herald newspaper reported Custance's flight, stating it had lasted 5 minutes 25 seconds at a height of between 12 and 15 feet. In 2010, Australia Post issued stamps commemorating Colin Defries, Houdini and John Robertson Duigan, crediting only Defries and Duigan with historical firsts. Duigan was an Australian pioneer aviator who built and flew the first Australian-made aircraft. Australia Post did acknowledge the part Houdini played in their article "Harry Houdini can't escape being part of Australia's history" but did not attribute any record to him. After Australia After completing his Australia tour, Houdini put the Voisin into storage in England. He announced he would use it to fly from city to city during his next music hall tour, and even promised to leap from it handcuffed, but he never flew again. Debunking spiritualists In the 1920s, Houdini turned his energies toward debunking psychics and mediums, a pursuit that was in line with the debunkings by stage magicians since the late nineteenth century. Houdini's training in magic allowed him to expose frauds who had successfully fooled many scientists and academics. He was a member of a Scientific American committee that offered a cash prize to any medium who could successfully demonstrate supernatural abilities. None was able to do so, and the prize was never collected. The first to be tested was medium George Valiantine of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. As his fame as a "ghostbuster" grew, Houdini took to attending séances in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and police officer. Possibly the most famous medium whom he debunked was Mina Crandon, also known as "Margery". Joaquín Argamasilla, known as the "Spaniard with X-ray Eyes", claimed to be able to read handwriting or numbers on dice through closed metal boxes. In 1924, he was exposed by Houdini as a fraud. Argamasilla peeked through his simple blindfold and lifted up the edge of the box so he could look inside it without others noticing. Houdini also investigated the Italian medium Nino Pecoraro, whom he considered to be fraudulent. Houdini's exposing of phony mediums has inspired other magicians to follow suit, including The Amazing Randi, Dorothy Dietrich, Penn & Teller, and Dick Brookz. Houdini chronicled his debunking exploits in his book, A Magician Among the Spirits, co-authored with C. M. Eddy, Jr., who was not credited. These activities compromised Houdini's friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle, a firm believer in spiritualism during his later years, refused to believe any of Houdini's exposés. Doyle came to believe that Houdini was a powerful spiritualist medium, and had performed many of his stunts by means of paranormal abilities and was using these abilities to block those of other mediums that he was "debunking". This disagreement led to the two men becoming public antagonists and Sir Arthur came to view Houdini as a dangerous enemy. Before Houdini died, he and his wife agreed that if Houdini found it possible to communicate after death, he would communicate the message "Rosabelle believe", a secret code which they agreed to use. Rosabelle was their favorite song. Bess held yearly séances on Halloween for ten years after Houdini's death. She did claim to have contact through Arthur Ford in 1929 when Ford conveyed the secret code, but Bess later said the incident had been faked. The code seems to have been such that it could be broken by Ford or his associates using existing clues. Evidence to this effect was discovered by Ford's biographer after he died in 1971. In 1936, after a last unsuccessful séance on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel, she put out the candle that she had kept burning beside a photograph of Houdini since his death. In 1943, Bess said that "ten years is long enough to wait for any man." The tradition of holding a séance for Houdini continues, held by magicians throughout the world. The Official Houdini Séance was organized in the 1940s by Sidney Hollis Radner, a Houdini aficionado from Holyoke, Massachusetts. Yearly Houdini séances are also conducted in Chicago at the Excalibur nightclub by "necromancer" Neil Tobin on behalf of the Chicago Assembly of the Society of American Magicians; and at the Houdini Museum in Scranton by magician Dorothy Dietrich, who previously held them at New York's Magic Towne House with such magical notables as Houdini biographers Walter B. Gibson and Milbourne Christopher. Gibson was asked by Bess Houdini to carry on the original seance tradition. After doing them for many years at New York's Magic Towne House, before he died, Walter passed on the tradition of conducting of the Original Seances to Dorothy Dietrich. In 1926, Harry Houdini hired H. P. Lovecraft and his friend C. M. Eddy, Jr., to write an entire book about debunking religious miracles, which was to be called The Cancer of Superstition. Houdini had earlier asked Lovecraft to write an article about astrology, for which he paid $75 (). The article does not survive. Lovecraft's detailed synopsis for Cancer does survive, as do three chapters of the treatise written by Eddy. Houdini's death derailed the plans, as his widow did not wish to pursue the project. Appearance and voice recordings Unlike the image of the classic magician, Houdini was short and stocky and typically appeared on stage in a long frock coat and tie. Most biographers give his height as , but descriptions vary. Houdini was also said to be slightly bow-legged, which aided in his ability to gain slack during his rope escapes. In the 1997 biography Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss, author Kenneth Silverman summarizes how reporters described Houdini's appearance during his early career: Houdini made the only known recordings of his voice on Edison wax cylinders on October 29, 1914, in Flatbush, New York. On them, Houdini practices several different introductory speeches for his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell. He also invites his sister, Gladys, to recite a poem. Houdini then recites the same poem in German. The six wax cylinders were discovered in the collection of magician John Mulholland after his death in 1970. They are part of the David Copperfield collection. Personal life Houdini became an active Freemason and was a member of St. Cecile Lodge No. 568 in New York City. In 1904, Houdini bought a New York City townhouse at 278 West 113th Street in Harlem. He paid US$25,000 () for the five-level, 6,008-square-foot house, which was built in 1895, and lived in it with his wife Bess, and various other relatives until his death in 1926. In March 2018, it was purchased for $3.6 million. A plaque affixed to the building by the Historical Landmark Preservation Center reads, "The magician lived here from 1904 to 1926 collecting illusions, theatrical memorabilia, and books on psychic phenomena and magic." In 1919, Houdini moved to Los Angeles to film. He resided in 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a house of his friend and business associate Ralph M. Walker, who owned both sides of the street, 2335 and 2400, the latter address having a pool where Houdini practiced his water escapes. 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, previously numbered 2398, is presently known as The Houdini Estate, thus named in the honor of Houdini's time there, the same estate where Bess Houdini threw a party for 500 magicians years after his death. After decades of abandonment, the estate was acquired in 2006 by José Luis Nazar, a Chilean/American citizen who has restored it to its former splendor. In 1918, he registered for selective service as Harry Handcuff Houdini. Death Harry Houdini died of peritonitis, secondary to a ruptured appendix, at 1:26 p.m. on October 31, 1926, in Room 401 at Detroit's Grace Hospital, aged 52. In his final days, he believed that he would recover, but his last words before dying were reportedly, "I'm tired of fighting... I do not want to fight anymore..." Witnesses to an incident at Houdini's dressing room in the Princess Theatre in Montreal speculated that Houdini's death was caused by Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead (November 25, 1895 – July 5, 1954), who repeatedly struck Houdini's abdomen. The accounts of the witnesses, students named Jacques Price and Sam Smilovitz (sometimes called Jack Price and Sam Smiley), generally corroborated one another. Price said that Whitehead asked Houdini "if he believed in the miracles of the Bible" and "whether it was true that punches in the stomach did not hurt him". Houdini offered a casual reply that his stomach could endure a lot. Whitehead then delivered "some very hammer-like blows below the belt". Houdini was reclining on a couch at the time, having broken his ankle while performing several days earlier. Price said that Houdini winced at each blow and stopped Whitehead suddenly in the midst of a punch, gesturing that he had had enough, and adding that he had had no opportunity to prepare himself against the blows, as he did not expect Whitehead to strike him so suddenly and forcefully. Had his ankle not been broken, he would have risen from the couch into a better position to brace himself. Throughout the evening, Houdini performed in great pain. He was unable to sleep and remained in constant pain for the next two days, but did not seek medical help. When he finally saw a doctor, he was found to have a fever of and acute appendicitis, and was advised to have immediate surgery. He ignored the advice and decided to go on with the show. When Houdini arrived at the Garrick Theater in Detroit, Michigan, on October 24, 1926, for what would be his last performance, he had a fever of . Despite the diagnosis, Houdini took the stage. He was reported to have passed out during the show, but was revived and continued. Afterwards, he was hospitalized at Detroit's Grace Hospital. It is unclear whether the dressing room incident caused Houdini's eventual death, as the relationship between blunt trauma and appendicitis is uncertain. One theory suggests that Houdini was unaware that he was suffering from appendicitis, and might have been aware had he not received blows to the abdomen. After taking statements from Price and Smilovitz, Houdini's insurance company concluded that the death was due to the dressing-room incident and paid double indemnity. Houdini grave site Houdini's funeral was held on November 4, 1926, in New York, with more than 2,000 mourners in attendance. He was interred in the Machpelah Cemetery in Glendale, Queens, with the crest of the Society of American Magicians inscribed on his grave site. A statuary bust was added to the exedra in 1927, a rarity, because graven images are forbidden in Jewish cemeteries. In 1975, the bust was destroyed by vandals. Temporary busts were placed at the grave until 2011 when a group who came to be called The self-named Houdini Commandos, from the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, placed a permanent bust with the permission of Houdini's family and of the cemetery. The Society of American Magicians took responsibility for the upkeep of the site, as Houdini had willed a large sum of money to the organization he had grown from one club to 5,000–6,000 dues-paying membership worldwide. The payment of upkeep was abandoned by the society's dean George Schindler, who said "Houdini paid for perpetual care, but there's nobody at the cemetery to provide it", adding that the operator of the cemetery, David Jacobson, "sends us a bill for upkeep every year but we never pay it because he never provides any care." Members of the Society tidy the grave themselves. Machpelah Cemetery operator Jacobson said that they "never paid the cemetery for any restoration of the Houdini family plot in my tenure since 1988", claiming that the money came from the cemetery's dwindling funds. The granite monuments of Houdini's sister, Gladys, and brother, Leopold were also destroyed by vandals. For many years, until recently, the Houdini grave site has been only cared for by Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Society of American Magicians, at its National Council Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2013, under the prompting of Dietrich and Brookz, voted to assume the financial responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Houdini Gravesite. In MUM Magazine, the Society's official magazine, President Dal Sanders announced "Harry Houdini is an icon as revered as Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe. He is not only a magical icon; his gravesite bears the seal of The Society of American Magicians. That seal is our brand and we should be proud to protect it. This gravesite is clearly our responsibility and I'm proud to report that the National Council unanimously voted to maintain Houdini's final resting place." The Houdini Gravesite Restoration Committee under the Chairmanship of National President David Bowers, is working closely with National President Kenrick "Ice" McDonald to see this project to completion. Bowers said it is a foregone conclusion that the Society will approve the funding request, because "Houdini is responsible for the Society of American Magicians being what it is today. We owe a debt of gratitude to him." Like Bowers, McDonald said the motivation behind the repairs is to properly honor the grave of the "Babe Ruth of magicians". "This is hallowed ground," he said. "When you ask people about magicians, the first thing they say is Harry Houdini." While the actual plot will remain under the control of Machpelah Cemetery management, the Society of American Magicians, with the help of the Houdini Museum in Pennsylvania, will be in charge of the restoration. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz have been caring for the escape artist's Queens grave over the years. "This is a monument where people go and visit on a daily basis," said Dietrich who is spearheading restoration efforts. "The nearly 80-year-old popular plot at the Machpelah Cemetery has fallen into disrepair over the years." "The Houdini Museum has teamed with The Society of American Magicians, one of the oldest fraternal magic organizations in the world, to give the beloved site a facelift." The organization has a specific Houdini gravesite committee made up of nine members headed up by President elect David Bowers who brought this project to the Society's attention. Kenrick "Ice" McDonald, the current president of the Society of American Magicians said, "You have to know the history. Houdini served as President from 1917 until his death in 1926. Houdini's burial site needs an infusion of cash to restore it to its former glory." Magician Dietrich said the repairs could cost "tens of thousands of dollars", after consulting with glass experts and grave artisans. "It's a wonderful project, but it's taken a lifetime to get people interested," she said. "It's long overdue, and it's great that it's happening." Houdini was a living superhero," Dietrich said. "He wasn't just a magician and escape artist, he was a great humanitarian." To this day, the Society holds a broken wand ceremony at the grave every November. Houdini's widow, Bess, died of a heart attack on February 11, 1943, aged 67, in Needles, California, while on a train en route from Los Angeles to New York City. She had expressed a wish to be buried next to her husband, but instead was interred 35 miles due north at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester County, New York, as her Catholic family refused to allow her to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Proposed exhumation On March 22, 2007, Houdini's grand-nephew (the grandson of his brother Theo), George Hardeen, announced that the courts would be asked to allow exhumation of Houdini's body, to investigate the possibility of Houdini being murdered by spiritualists, as suggested in the biography The Secret Life of Houdini. In a statement given to the Houdini Museum in Scranton, the family of Bess Houdini opposed the application and suggested it was a publicity ploy for the book. The Washington Post stated that the press conference was not arranged by the family of Houdini. Instead, the Post reported, it was orchestrated by authors Kalush and Sloman, who hired the public relations firm Dan Klores Communications to promote their book. In 2008, it was revealed the parties involved had not filed legal papers to perform an exhumation. Legacy Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, who returned to performing after Houdini's death, inherited his brother's effects and props. Houdini's will stipulated that all the effects should be "burned and destroyed" upon Hardeen's death. Hardeen sold much of the collection to magician and Houdini enthusiast Sidney Hollis Radner during the 1940s, including the water torture cell. Radner allowed choice pieces of the collection to be displayed at The Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Ontario. In 1995, a fire destroyed the museum. The water torture cell's metal frame remained, and it was restored by illusion builder John Gaughan. Many of the props contained in the museum such as the mirror handcuffs, Houdini's original packing crate, a milk can, and a straitjacket, survived the fire and were auctioned in 1999 and 2008. Radner loaned the bulk of his collection for archiving to the Outagamie Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, but reclaimed it in 2003 and auctioned it in Las Vegas, on October 30, 2004. Houdini was a "formidable collector", and bequeathed many of his holdings and paper archives on magic and spiritualism to the Library of Congress, which became the basis for the Houdini collection in cyberspace. In 1934, the bulk of Houdini's collection of American and British theatrical material, along with a significant portion of his business and personal papers, and some of his collections of other magicians were sold to pay off estate debts to theatre magnate Messmore Kendall. In 1958, Kendall donated his collection to the Hoblitzelle Theatre Library at the University of Texas at Austin. In the 1960s, the Hoblitzelle Library became part of the Harry Ransom Center. The extensive Houdini collection includes a 1584 first edition of Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft and David Garrick's travel diary to Paris from 1751. Some of the scrapbooks in the Houdini collection have been digitized. The collection was exclusively paper-based until April 2016, when the Ransom Center acquired one of Houdini's ball weights with chain and ankle cuff. In October 2016, in conjunction with the 90th anniversary of the death of Houdini, the Ransom Center embarked on a major re-cataloging of the Houdini collection to make it more visible and accessible to researchers. The collection reopened in 2018, with its finding aids posted online. A large portion of Houdini's estate holdings and memorabilia was willed to his fellow magician and friend, John Mulholland (1898–1970). In 1991, illusionist and television performer David Copperfield purchased all of Mulholland's Houdini holdings from Mulholland's estate. These are now archived and preserved in Copperfield's warehouse at his headquarters in Las Vegas. It contains the world's largest collection of Houdini memorabilia, and preserves approximately 80,000 items of memorabilia of Houdini and other magicians, including Houdini's stage props and material, his rebuilt water torture cabinet and his metamorphosis trunk. It is not open to the public, but tours are available by invitation to magicians, scholars, researchers, journalists and serious collectors. In a posthumous ceremony on October 31, 1975, Houdini was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7001 Hollywood Blvd. The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, bills itself as "the only building in the world entirely dedicated to Houdini". It is open to the public year-round by reservation. It includes Houdini films, a guided tour about Houdini's life and a stage magic show. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz opened the facility in 1991. The Magic Castle in Los Angeles, California, a nightclub for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts, features Houdini séances performed by magician Misty Lee. The House of Houdini is a museum and performance venue located at 11, Dísz square in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. It claims to house the largest collection of original Houdini artifacts in Europe. The Houdini Museum of New York is located at Fantasma Magic, a retail magic manufacturer and seller located in Manhattan. The museum contains several hundred pieces of ephemera, most of which belonged to Harry Houdini. In popular culture Houdini appeared as himself in Weird Tales magazine in three ghostwritten fictionalizations of sensational events from his career (issues of March, April, and May–June–July 1924). The third story, "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs," was written by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft based on Houdini's notes. The Houdini-Lovecraft collaboration was envisioned to continue, but the magazine ceased publication for financial reasons. When it resumed later in 1924, Houdini no longer figured in its plans. Houdini (1953)played by Tony Curtis The Great Houdini The Great Houdinis (1976)played by Paul Michael Glaser (TV movie) Ragtime (1981)played by Jeffrey DeMunn, based on the novel by E. L. Doctorow. Jim Corti played him in the original Broadway production of the musical based on the same novel. Houdini is the subject of the song "Houdini" on the 1982 album The Dreaming by Kate Bush. The album's cover art, in which Bush is depicted holding a key in her mouth and bending in to kiss a chained figure whose face is turned away from the camera, is an homage to Bess Houdini. A Magician Amongst the Spirits, a 1982 BBC radio drama about Houdini's life written by Bert Coules Grand Illusion a 1983 episode of the TV series "Simon and Simon" concerns a murder and a book of stolen Houdini magic notes. The Cabinet of Calamari a 1987 episode of the cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters involves the ghost of Houdini and a book of stolen Houdini magic notes. Young Harry Houdini (1987)played by Wil Wheaton & Jeffrey DeMunn (TV movie) A Night at the Magic Castle (1988)played by Arte Johnson Canadian synth-pop duo Kon Kan released the song "Harry Houdini" in 1989. FairyTale: A True Story (1997)played by Harvey Keitel Houdini (1998)played by Johnathon Schaech (TV movie) Mentioned in Joan of Arc's song "God Bless America" on their 1998 album How Memory Works Cremaster 2 (1999)played by Norman Mailer Death Defying Acts (2007)played by Guy Pearce Murdoch Mysteries (2008)played by Joe Dinicol (TV series) Drunk History Season 1, Episode 6: Detroit (2013)played by Ken Marino (TV series) Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctor - Smoke and Mirrors (2013) – played by Tim Beckmann (BBC Audio) Houdini (2014)played by Adrien Brody (TV miniseries) Houdini and Doyle (2016)played by Michael Weston (TV series) Timeless (2016)played by Michael Drayer (TV series) Doctor Who – Harry Houdini's War (2019)played by John Schwab (Big Finish audio play) d'ILLUSION: The Houdini Musical – The Audio Theater Experience (2020)played by Julian R. Decker (Album musical/audiobook) The 2017 song Rosabelle, Believe by UK electronic band Cult With No Name is about the pact Houdini made with his wife on his deathbed. Publications Houdini published numerous books during his career (some of which were written by his good friend Walter B. Gibson, the creator of The Shadow) The Right Way to Do Wrong: An Exposé of Successful Criminals (1906) Handcuff Secrets (1907) The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin (1908), a debunking study of Robert-Houdin's alleged abilities. Magical Rope Ties and Escapes (1920) Miracle Mongers and Their Methods (1920) Houdini's Paper Magic (1921) A Magician Among the Spirits (1924) Houdini Exposes the Tricks Used by the Boston Medium "Margery" (1924) Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (1924), a short story ghostwritten by H. P. Lovecraft. How I Unmask the Spirit Fakers, article for Popular Science (November 1925) How I do My "Spirit Tricks", article for Popular Science (December 1925) Conjuring (1926), article for the Encyclopædia Britannica's 13th edition. Filmography Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à ParisCinema Lux (1909)playing himself The Master MysteryOctagon Films (1918)playing Quentin Locke The Grim GameFamous Players-Lasky/Paramount Pictures (1919)playing Harvey Handford Terror IslandFamous Players Lasky/Paramount (1920)playing Harry Harper The Man from BeyondHoudini Picture Corporation (1922)playing Howard Hillary Haldane of the Secret ServiceHoudini Picture Corporation/FBO (1923)playing Heath Haldane See also List of magic museums List of magicians Ann O'Delia Diss Debar (Swami Laura Horos) David Blaine Walford BodieA friend of Houdini, and fellow magician References Bibliography Gresham, William Lindsay Houdini: The Man Who Walked Through Walls (New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1959). Henning, Doug with Charles Reynolds. Houdini: His Legend and His Magic (New York: Times Books, 1978). . Kellock, Harold. Houdini: His Life-Story from the recollections and documents of Beatrice Houdini, (Harcourt, Brace Co., June 1928). Kendall, Lance. Houdini: Master of Escape (New York: Macrae Smith & Co., 1960). . Meyer, M.D., Bernard C. Houdini: A Mind in Chains (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1976). . Williams, Beryl & Samuel Epstein. The Great Houdini: Magician Extraordinary (New York: Julian Messner, Inc., 1950). Further reading "Who Is Houdini?" by Fred Lockley, Photoplay, June 1920, p. 50. "An Interview with Harry Houdini" by Marcet Haldeman-Julius, Haldeman-Julius Monthly Vol. 2.5 (October 1925), pp. 387–397. Houdini's Escapes and Magic by Walter B. Gibson, Prepared from Houdini's private notebooks Blue Ribbon Books, Inc., 1930. Reveals some of Houdini's magic and escape methods (also released in two separate volumes: Houdini's Magic and Houdini's Escapes). The Secrets of Houdini by J.C. Cannell, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1931. Reveals some of Houdini's escape methods. Houdini and Conan Doyle: The Story of a Strange Friendship by Bernard M. L. Ernst, Albert & Charles Boni, Inc., NY, 1932. Sixty Years of Psychical Research by Joseph Rinn, Truth Seeker Co., 1950, Rinn was a long time close friend of Houdini. Contains detailed information about the last Houdini message (there are 3) and its disclosure. Houdini's Fabulous Magic by Walter B. Gibson and Morris N. Young Chilton, NY, 1960. Excellent reference for Houdini's escapes and some methods (includes the Water Torture Cell). The Houdini Birth Research Committee's Report, Magico Magazine (reprint of report by The Society of American Magicians), 1972. Concludes Houdini was born March 24, 1874, in Budapest. Arthur Ford: The Man Who Talked with the Dead by Allen Spraggett with William V. Rauscher, 1973, pp. 152–165, Chapter 7, The Houdini Affair contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure. Mediums, Mystics and the Occult by Milbourne Christopher, Thomas T. Crowell Co., 1975, pp. 122–145, Arthur Ford-Messages from the Dead, contains detailed information about the Houdini messages and their disclosure. Houdini: A Definitive Bibliography by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1991. A Description of the Literary Works of Houdini, includes pamphlets from Weltman's collection Believe by William Shatner and Michael Charles Tobias, Berkeley Books, NY 1992. Houdini: Escape into Legend, The Early Years: 1862–1900 by Manny Weltman, Finders/Seekers Enterprises, Los Angeles, 1993. Examination of Houdini's childhood and early career. Houdini Comes to America by Ronald J. Hilgert, The Houdini Historical Center, 1996. Documents the Weiss family's immigration to the United States on July 3, 1878 (when Ehrich was 4). Houdini Unlocked by Patrick Culliton, Two volume box set: The Tao of Houdini and The Secret Confessions of Houdini, Kieran Press, 1997. The Houdini Code Mystery: A Spirit Secret Solved by William V. Rauscher, Magic Words, 2000. Final Séance. The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle by Massimo Polidoro, Prometheus Books, 2001. The Man Who Killed Houdini by Don Bell, Vehicle Press, 2004. Investigates J. Gordon Whitehead and the events surrounding Houdini's death. Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century by Matthew Solomon, University of Illinois Press, 2010. Contains new information about Houdini's early movie career. Houdini Art and Magic by Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Jewish Museum, 2010. Essays on Houdini's life and work are accompanied by interviews with novelist E.L. Doctorow, Teller, Kenneth Silverman, and more. Houdini The Key by Patrick Culliton, Kieran Press, 2010. Reveals the authentic working methods of many of Houdini effects, including the Milk Can and Water Torture Cell. Limited to 278 copies. The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini by Joe Posnanski, Avid Reader Press, 2019. External links Harry Houdini Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Harry Houdini Collection at the Harry Ransom Center Timeline of Houdini's life The Houdini Museum in Scranton Pennsylvania Houdini archives in the Harry Price papers Houdini Escapes the Smithsonian The Harry Houdini Collection From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress Photographs and posters of Harry Houdini held by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts 1874 births 1926 deaths American aviators American Freemasons American magicians American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American performance artists American skeptics American stunt performers Articles containing video clips Artists from Budapest Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States Austro-Hungarian Jews Burials in New York (state) Deaths from peritonitis Escapologists Hungarian Jews Hungarian magicians Hungarian performance artists Jewish American artists Paranormal investigators Spiritualism Trapeze artists Vaudeville performers	false	[ "Kenneth Marion Powers (July 9, 1947 – February 28, 2009) was an American stuntman. Powers was born to Edward Lee and Florence Pauline Powers in Landrum, South Carolina, on July 9, 1947. He grew up in Landrum, and after high school, he joined the U.S. Navy and served as a barber according to his DD 214. He died at the Hampton Veterans Center in Hampton, Virginia on February 28, 2009. He was married to Beverly Powers at the time of his death.\n\nSt. Lawrence River jump\n\nHe is best known today for his unsuccessful October 1979 attempt to jump the Saint Lawrence River in a rocket-powered Lincoln Continental, where he took the place of stuntman Ken Carter. He suffered significant injuries including a broken back, but survived.\n\nCarter's years of planning for the \"Superjump\", and Powers's failed attempt were the subject of a 1981 documentary called The Devil at Your Heels, directed by Robert Fortier and produced by the National Film Board of Canada. According to some sources, Powers was substituted at the last minute for Carter, without Carter's knowledge, because the jump's backers feared Carter had decided the jump would not work. However, Kenny Powers and Donna Ray Powers have stated that Carter still wanted to do the jump, but the backers were concerned about Carter's health. This is the account in the official documentary of the jump. Ken Carter and Kenny Powers remained friends until his death.\n\nVideo of the stunt also appeared on the American television show That's Incredible!, as well as the 1981 film Faces of Death II. A four-minute clip of the stunt taken from Faces of Death II was uploaded to YouTube in 2006, causing renewed popularity.\n\nThe stunt has been featured in the Heavyweight Podcast by Jonathan Goldstein titled \"Kenny\" and the Dollop Podcast. In addition, the stunt has inspired a musical film titled Aim for the Roses, scored by Mark Haney.\n\nOther work\n\nPowers worked for and with Carter for many years, and also claimed to have performed stunts for Hollywood, including in the 1970s films Smokey and the Bandit, Vanishing Point, and Hooper. However, he is not listed in any movie credits. Kenny did stunt work for the Ken Carter team during the time that Smokey and the Bandit was filmed as the team prepared for the 1979 Super Jump. According to Butch Carter, Ken Carter's brother who also did stunt work for the team, the team was considered for the stunt work in Smokey and the Bandit, but another team was selected. According to Butch Carter and other team members, Kenny worked for the Ken Carter team the whole time of the filming of Smokey and the Bandit.\n\nStuntman Kenny Powers was a phenomenal stuntman. He was a caring, loving, and benevolent person. However, he struggled with problems due to alcohol and drug abuse his whole adult life. Kenny did in fact publicly make claims to have done stunts in movies. He was delusional about many things, especially in the last years of his life (Information from Beverly Powers). He continued to perform stunts until at least 2005. Kenny did 2 stunts in August of 2004. One was in Dothan, Alabama and the other stunt was done in Greenville, Alabama. Kenny did his next to last stunt in Timmonsville, S.C. on August 19, 2006. His last stunt was in Greenville, Alabama on August 26, 2006 (Information from Beverly Powers).\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \nHeavyweight Podcast Episode #13: Kenny\n\n1947 births\n2009 deaths\nAmerican stunt performers\nPeople from Spartanburg County, South Carolina", "Slim Cole (born Nathan Cole Hebert, and sometimes credited as King Cole) was an American actor and stuntman who appeared in a string of B-movie westerns during Hollywood's silent era.\n\nBiography\n\nEarly years \nSlim was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Joseph Hebert and Hallie Cole. His mother's father, Nathan Cole, was once mayor of St. Louis. Joseph Hebert, Slim's father, died when Slim was a toddler, and he was raised by his mother in the Los Angeles area.\n\nCareer as a forest ranger \nWhile working as a forest ranger in the San Bernardino Mountains, he learned how to ride a motorcycle, a skill that would serve him well when he entered the motion picture industry around 1915. \"They laughed at me when I started patrolling the forests on motorcycle, but after I got the knack for following old trails and making new ones, I showed them that I could cover as much territory as four rangers on mounted horses.\"\n\nCareer in Hollywood \nAfter being spotted by a motion picture director, Slim was soon in demand for his willingness to perform all sorts of death-defying stunts. He often worked with fellow stunt performer and actress Grace Cunard. Early on, he was employed by Charlie Chaplin's studio.\n\nIn 1922, he briefly returned to St. Louis with the ambition of starting a motion picture industry in his hometown. He also aimed to give his body a rest after years of being roughed up on the job. \"I'm getting too old for the business,\" he told a reporter with The St. Louis Post Dispatch. \"I'm only 29, but I've been through a lot, and I don't have to wait for a psychic hunch.\" \n\nHe did continue to act, but his roles got smaller and smaller until he was pretty much only landing bit parts.\n\nPersonal life \nCole married Katherine Fay in 1915; the couple divorced in 1921. After his last film was released in 1932, it's unknown what happened to Cole.\n\nPartial filmography \n\nHis Day Out (1918)\nA Dog's Life (1918)\nShoulder Arms (1918)\nSmashing Barriers (1919)\nWhere Is This West? (1923)\nBeasts of Paradise (1923)\nThe Ghost City (1923)\nReckless Speed (1924)\nRidin' Pretty (1925)\nThe Great Circus Mystery (1925)\nThe Fighting Ranger (1925)\nProwlers of the Night (1926)\nDesert Dust (1927)\nThe Texas Bad Man (1932)\nThe Last Frontier (1932)\nGold (1932)\n\nReferences \n\nAmerican male film actors\nAmerican male silent film actors\n20th-century American male actors\nAmerican stunt performers\n1892 births\nMale actors from St. Louis\nYear of death missing" ]
[ "Ken Strong", "New York Giants" ]	C_544929c4b6ad4be5a342f31aced398b0_0	When did Ken join the new york Giants?	1	When did Ken Strong join the new york Giants?	Ken Strong	In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants. The 1932 Giants had compiled a 4-6-2 record, but the 1933 Giants, with Strong at fullback and Harry Newman at quarterback, improved to 11-3 and advanced to the 1933 NFL Championship Game. Strong led the NFL with 64 points in 1933; his points were scored on three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, a touchdown on an interception return, five field goals, and 13 extra points. On November 26, 1933, he became the first known player in NFL history to score on a fair catch kick. The 30-yard kick was made at the Polo Grounds in a win against the Green Bay Packers. After the 1933 season, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors from the United Press, Collyer's Eye, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1934, Strong again played in every game for the Giants as a fullback. He rushed for 431 yards and scored 56 points (six rushing touchdowns, four field goals, and eight extra points) in the regular season. His greatest fame derives from his role in the Giants' comeback victory over the Chicago Bears in the 1934 NFL Championship Game; Strong scored 17 points for the Giants on a 38-yard field goal, two fourth-quarter touchdowns on runs of 42 and 8 yards, and two extra points. Strong received first-team All-Pro honors in 1934 from the NFL and others. In 1935, Strong helped lead the Giants to their third consecutive NFL Championship Game. In a 10-7 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was only able to play a few minutes due to injury, but he still managed to score all of the Giants' points on a 24-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard field goal. Slowed by injury in 1935, he was described as "a celebrated invalid" who "hobbled" from the bench to kick a field goal for the Giants in a 3-0 victory over the Bears on November 17. In the 1935 NFL Championship Game, a 26-7 loss to the Detroit Lions, Strong scored all of the Giants' points on a long touchdown catch and run and the extra point. CANNOTANSWER	In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants.	Elmer Kenneth Strong (April 21, 1906 – October 5, 1979) was an American football halfback and fullback who also played minor league baseball. Considered one of the greatest all-around players in the early decades of the game, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1957 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and was named to the NFL 1930s All-Decade Team. A native of West Haven, Connecticut, Strong played college baseball and football for the NYU Violets. In football, he led the country in scoring with 162 points in 1928, gained over 3,000 yards from scrimmage, and was a consensus first-team selection on the 1928 College Football All-America Team. Strong played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) for the Staten Island Stapletons (1929–1932) and New York Giants (1933–1935, 1939, 1944–1947), and in the second American Football League for the New York Yankees (1936–1937). He led the NFL in scoring in 1934 and was selected as a first-team All-Pro in 1930, 1931, 1933, and 1934. He also played minor league baseball from 1929 to 1931, but his baseball career was cut short by a wrist injury. Early years Strong was born in the Savin Rock section of West Haven, Connecticut, in 1906. His father Elmer F. Strong was a Connecticut native who worked as an egg and dairy inspector. Strong attended West Haven High School where he was a star baseball and football player. New York University Strong next attended New York University (NYU) where he played baseball and football. In baseball, he was NYU's center fielder for three years and drew attention for his fielding and power hitting. He played summer baseball for the Hyannis town team of Barnstable, Massachusetts in the Cape Cod Baseball League, and was part of a "parade of sluggers" that powered the Hyannis lineup. As a halfback for the 1928 NYU Violets football team, he led the country in scoring with 162 points, tallied some 3,000 total yards from scrimmage, and was a consensus pick on the 1928 College Football All-America Team. Strong gained widespread fame when he led NYU to a 27–13 upset victory over undefeated Carnegie Tech. He threw two long touchdown passes, rushed for two touchdowns, and kicked three extra points, leading Grantland Rice to write: This attack was led by a runaway buffalo, using the speed of a deer, and his name was Ken Strong. He ran all over a big, powerful team, smashed its line, ran its ends, kicked 50 and 55 yards, threw passes and tackled all over the lot. Today he was George Gipp, Red Grange and Chris Cagle rolled into one human form and there was nothing Carnegie Tech had that could stop his march. Carnegie Tech coach Walter Steffen said of Strong's performance: "This is the first time in my career that one man was good enough to run over and completely wreck an exceptionally good team. I can tell you he is better than Heston or Thorpe." Professional sports Football Strong played 16 seasons of professional football from 1929 to 1940 and 1944 to 1947. He earned a reputation as a triple-threat man and a versatile athlete who played on offense and defense and in the kicking game. The Pro Football Hall of Fame's biography of Strong states: "Strong could do everything – run, block, pass, catch passes, punt, placekick, and play defense with the very best." Staten Island Stapletons Unable to reach terms with the New York Giants, Strong signed instead with the Staten Island Stapletons. He played for the Stapletons for four years from 1929 to 1932. While statistics are not available for the 1929 NFL season, Strong was regarded as one of the best backs in the NFL. He started all 10 games at halfback for the 1929 Stapletons. In his first NFL game, he threw a long forward pass to set up the Stapleton's first touchdown and scored all of the team's 12 points on two short touchdown runs. He also had a 70-yard run in a scoreless tie with the Orange Tornadoes on November 3, 1929. Two days later, Strong had a 50-yard touchdown run against the Providence Steam Roller. At the end of the 1929 season, Strong was selected by Collyer's Eye and the Green Bay Press-Gazette as a second-team All-Pro. In 1930, Strong appeared in all 12 games for the Stapletons and scored 53 points on two rushing touchdowns, five receiving touchdowns, one field goal, and eight extra points. His point total ranked third in the NFL in 1930, trailing only Jack McBride (56 points) and Verne Lewellen (54 points). On September 28, 1930, he caught two touchdown passes, threw a 40-yard pass that set up a third touchdown, and kicked three extra points in a 21–0 victory over the Frankford Yellow Jackets. In December 1930, he led the Stapletons to a 16–7 victory over the New York Giants for the pro football championship of New York City; Strong accounted for all 16 Stapleton points, running 98 yards for a touchdown, passing for a second touchdown, and kicking a field goal and an extra point. He was selected as a first-team player on the 1930 All-Pro Team by Collyer's Eye and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1931, Strong appeared in all 11 games for the Stapletons and scored 53 points on six rushing touchdowns, one punt return for a touchdown, two field goals, and five extra points. His 53 points ranked fourth in the NFL, trailing only Johnny Blood (84 points), Ernie Nevers (66 points), and Dutch Clark (60 points). On November 22, 1931, Strong scored all 16 points in a 16–7 victory over Cleveland; he had two rushing touchdowns, including a 50-yard run and kicked a field goal and an extra point. At the end of the 1931 season, Strong was selected as an All-Pro for the second year in a row, receiving first-team honors from the United Press (UP) and Collyer's Eye. Strong's output dropped off in 1932 as he moved to the fullback position. He appeared in 11 games and ranked sixth in the NFL with 375 rushing yards, but scored only 15 points on two touchdowns and three extra points. At the end of the 1932 season, the Stapletons team folded. New York Giants In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants. The 1932 Giants had compiled a 4–6–2 record, but the 1933 Giants, with Strong at fullback and Harry Newman at quarterback, improved to 11–3 and advanced to the 1933 NFL Championship Game. Strong led the NFL with 64 points in 1933; his points were scored on three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, a touchdown on an interception return, five field goals, and 13 extra points. On November 26, 1933, he became the first known player in NFL history to score on a fair catch kick. The 30-yard kick was made at the Polo Grounds in a win against the Green Bay Packers. After the 1933 season, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors from the United Press, Collyer's Eye, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1934, Strong again played in every game for the Giants as a fullback. He rushed for 431 yards and scored 56 points (six rushing touchdowns, four field goals, and eight extra points) in the regular season. His greatest fame derives from his role in the Giants' comeback victory over the Chicago Bears in the 1934 NFL Championship Game; Strong scored 17 points for the Giants on a 38-yard field goal, two fourth-quarter touchdowns on runs of 42 and 8 yards, and two extra points. Strong received first-team All-Pro honors in 1934 from the NFL and others. In 1935, Strong helped lead the Giants to their third consecutive NFL Championship Game. In a 10–7 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was only able to play a few minutes due to injury, but he still managed to score all of the Giants' points on a 24-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard field goal. Slowed by injury in 1935, he was described as "a celebrated invalid" who "hobbled" from the bench to kick a field goal for the Giants in a 3–0 victory over the Bears on November 17. In the 1935 NFL Championship Game, a 26–7 loss to the Detroit Lions, Strong scored all of the Giants' points on a long touchdown catch and run and the extra point. New York Yankees In August 1936, Strong signed with the New York Yankees of the newly formed second American Football League. Strong's departure from the NFL was the new league's first raid on the NFL. Strong later recalled that Giants owner Jack Mara wanted Strong to accept a pay cut from $6,000 to $3,200; the Yankees agreed to pay him $5,000. During the 1936 season, Strong earned a reputation as "the best blocker in the game." He also: kicked a field goal and two extra points in a 17–6 victory over Brooklyn on October 14; scored a touchdown and kicked the extra point in a 7–6 victory over Pittsburgh on October 21; and kicked three field goals in a 15–7 win over Cleveland on November 23. Strong returned to the Yankees in 1937. However, he left the team after three games to assist Mal Stevens in coaching the NYU Violets football team. Jersey City Giants In 1938, Strong was a player and head coach for the Jersey City Giants, the New York Giants' farm team in the American Association. He was barred from playing in the NFL because of his decision to jump to the American Football League in 1936. Tim Mara, owner of the Giants, reportedly negotiated a deal with Strong to play for Jersey City in exchange for which Mara would seek Strong's reinstatement in 1939. He kicked 13 field goals, scored 51 points, and was named to the all-league team. He led the Giants to a 7–1 record and the league championship, scoring 10 points in Jersey City's championship game victory over the Union City Rams. Return to the New York Giants Strong returned to the New York Giants in 1939. He appeared in nine games and scored 19 points on four field goals and seven extra points. Strong is also believed to be the second player (after Mose Kelsch) to have devoted an entire season to placekicking; his 1939 season with the Giants had him playing very little outside of kicks. In the summer of 1940, Strong became ill with stomach ulcers, underwent emergency surgery, and was hospitalized for four weeks. He said that he intended to return to playing when his health permitted. He played for the Jersey City Giants while recuperating in the fall of 1940, led Jersey City to another league championship, then announced his retirement as a player in November 1940. He came out of retirement in 1942 to play for the Long Island Clippers, scoring 12 points in four games. In 1944, with talent in the NFL depleted by wartime military service, Strong returned for a third stint with the New York Giants. He appeared in all 10 games for the 1944 Giants, including six as a starter. In his first three games with the Giants in 1944, Strong at age 38 accounted for 22 of the team's 48 points. He helped lead the team to the 1944 NFL Championship Game, scoring 41 points on six field goals and 23 extra points. After the war ended, Strong remained with the Giants for another three years as the team's place-kicker and remained one of the league's leading scorers with 41 points in 1945, 44 points in 1946, and 30 points in 1947. His 32 extra points in 1946 ranked second in the league. In April 1948, at age 41, Strong announced his retirement as a player. Overview and honors In 12 seasons in the NFL, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors four times (1930, 1931, 1933, and 1934) and scored 520 career points (including 36 points in the post-season) on 38 touchdowns, 39 field goals, and 175 extra points. In October 1937, Red Cagle, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, rated Strong at the greatest all-around football player. Cagle said: "Strong ... can do everything. He's a great punter, place kicker, pass thrower, and how he could carry his 198 pounds! I played with and against Strong, and he always stood out. He is tops when the chips are down ... Ken is also a brilliant blocker, so I guess that makes him the class." Walter Steffen, also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, said: "I'll tell you he is easily the greatest football player I ever saw – and I've been around over twenty-five years ... I can tell you honestly that since 1905 I've never seen a football player in his class for all-around stuff." In 1939, Grantland Rice rated Strong and Jim Thorpe as the greatest players in football history. In Strong's favor, Rice cited Strong's "unusual speed", the "driving force in his legs", and his stamina. Harry Grayson wrote: "An amazing runner, blocker, passer, kicker, and defensive man, Strong was, in the opinion of many who saw him, the greatest football player of them all." Grayson later called Strong "a runaway buffalo with the speed of an antelope." Strong received numerous honors for his football career, including the following: In 1950, he was one of the 25 charter inductees into the Helms Athletic Foundation's Professional Football Hall of Fame. In 1957, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1967, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Prior to 1968, Strong's jersey number (No. 50) was retired by the New York Giants. He was among the first four Giants (along with Mel Hein, Y. A. Tittle and Al Blozis) to be so honored. In 1969, he was named to the NFL 1930s All-Decade Team. In 1971, he was inducted into the NYU Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2010, he was one of the 22 players included in the New York Giants Ring of Honor at MetLife Stadium. Baseball Strong also played professional baseball for several years. He was signed by the New York Yankees before graduating from NYU and spent the summer of 1929 with the New Haven Profs of the Eastern League. He was an outfielder for New Haven, appearing in 104 games and compiling a .283 batting average with 21 home runs and 43 extra-base hits. Strong began the 1930 season with New Haven. In mid-May, he joined the Hazleton Mountaineers of the New York–Pennsylvania League, appearing in 117 games and compiling a .373 batting average with 41 home runs (a league record), and 88 extra-base hits. On June 8 in a game at home vs. Wilkes-Barre, Strong played left field and hit four home runs. In 1931, Strong moved up to AA ball with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League. He appeared in 118 games with Toronto and compiled a .340 batting average with 53 extra-base hits. In January 1932, the Detroit Tigers purchased rights to Strong. He was considered a tremendous major league prospect, but a wrist injury sustained late in the 1931 season when he ran into the outfield fence proved to be a fracture. Strong underwent surgery, but the Detroit surgeon removed the wrong bone. Strong never recovered the full use of his right wrist. In July 1933, Strong won a $75,000 jury verdict in a lawsuit against the surgeon who removed the wrong bone. The verdict was later reversed on appeal. Family, later years, and honors In December 1929, Strong married Amelie Hunneman, a New York actress known by the stage name Rella Harrison. The marriage was "stormy", short-lived, and ended in divorce. In December 1931, Strong married Mabel Anderson of Long Island. Strong and his second wife remained married for nearly 48 years and had a son, Kenneth Robert Strong, born in approximately 1932. After retiring from football, Strong lived with his wife and son in Bayside, Queens, and worked as a liquor salesman. From 1962 to 1965, he was an assistant coach for the New York Giants, working with the team's kickers. Strong had a history of heart problems and died of a heart attack in 1979 at age 73. Television On February 19, 1957 Strong made an appearance on the game show To Tell the Truth. He was contestant number 3 claiming to be Tommy Loughran, a former boxer. See also List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders References External links 1906 births 1979 deaths American football halfbacks New York Giants players New York Giants coaches New York Yankees (1936 AFL) players NYU Violets football players NYU Violets football coaches Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era) Staten Island Stapletons players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees National Football League players with retired numbers Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees People from West Haven, Connecticut American football fullbacks American football placekickers Players of American football from Connecticut	true	[ "Paterson F.C. was an early twentieth-century American soccer club based in Paterson, New Jersey. It spent three seasons in the National Association Football League, winning one title, and one season in the American Soccer League.\n\nHistory\nIn 1917, Paterson joined the National Association Football League, winning the 1917–18 championship. When several teams from the NAFBL left the league in 1921 to form the American Soccer League, Paterson did not join them.\n\nA year later, Adolph Buslik, a wealthy New York fur merchant, purchased the club and the former Falco F.C. franchise in the American Soccer League. The club entered the league for the 1922–23 season. Following that season, Buslik moved the franchise to New York and renamed it the National Giants Soccer Club.\n\nYear-by-year\n\nCoaches\n John Ford (1919-1923)\n\nReferences\n\n April 28, 1919 The Globe\n\nNew York Giants (soccer)\nDefunct soccer clubs in New Jersey\nAmerican Soccer League (1921–1933) teams\nNational Association Football League teams\nSports in Paterson, New Jersey\n1923 disestablishments in New Jersey\nAssociation football clubs disestablished in 1923\nU.S. Open Cup winners", "Clair Joseph \"Mike\" Purdy, Jr. (January 24, 1892 – January 10, 1950) was an American football player and coach. He played in the National Football League with the Rochester Jeffersons, New York Brickley Giants, Syracuse Pros and the Milwaukee Badgers. Brickley's New York Giants are not related to the modern-day New York Giants. He also played in the Ohio League in 1919 for the Akron Pros and even recommended that Fritz Pollard join the team that season.\n\nReferences\n\nAdditional sources\n \n \n\n1892 births\n1950 deaths\nAmerican football fullbacks\nAmerican football halfbacks\nAmerican football quarterbacks\nAkron Indians (Ohio League) players\nBrown Bears football players\nMilwaukee Badgers players\nNew York Brickley Giants players\nRochester Jeffersons players\nSyracuse Pros players\nSportspeople from Auburn, New York\nPlayers of American football from New York (state)" ]
[ "Ken Strong", "New York Giants", "When did Ken join the new york Giants?", "In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants." ]	C_544929c4b6ad4be5a342f31aced398b0_0	How long did he play for the New york giants?	2	How long did Ken Strong play for the New york giants?	Ken Strong	In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants. The 1932 Giants had compiled a 4-6-2 record, but the 1933 Giants, with Strong at fullback and Harry Newman at quarterback, improved to 11-3 and advanced to the 1933 NFL Championship Game. Strong led the NFL with 64 points in 1933; his points were scored on three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, a touchdown on an interception return, five field goals, and 13 extra points. On November 26, 1933, he became the first known player in NFL history to score on a fair catch kick. The 30-yard kick was made at the Polo Grounds in a win against the Green Bay Packers. After the 1933 season, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors from the United Press, Collyer's Eye, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1934, Strong again played in every game for the Giants as a fullback. He rushed for 431 yards and scored 56 points (six rushing touchdowns, four field goals, and eight extra points) in the regular season. His greatest fame derives from his role in the Giants' comeback victory over the Chicago Bears in the 1934 NFL Championship Game; Strong scored 17 points for the Giants on a 38-yard field goal, two fourth-quarter touchdowns on runs of 42 and 8 yards, and two extra points. Strong received first-team All-Pro honors in 1934 from the NFL and others. In 1935, Strong helped lead the Giants to their third consecutive NFL Championship Game. In a 10-7 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was only able to play a few minutes due to injury, but he still managed to score all of the Giants' points on a 24-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard field goal. Slowed by injury in 1935, he was described as "a celebrated invalid" who "hobbled" from the bench to kick a field goal for the Giants in a 3-0 victory over the Bears on November 17. In the 1935 NFL Championship Game, a 26-7 loss to the Detroit Lions, Strong scored all of the Giants' points on a long touchdown catch and run and the extra point. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Elmer Kenneth Strong (April 21, 1906 – October 5, 1979) was an American football halfback and fullback who also played minor league baseball. Considered one of the greatest all-around players in the early decades of the game, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1957 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and was named to the NFL 1930s All-Decade Team. A native of West Haven, Connecticut, Strong played college baseball and football for the NYU Violets. In football, he led the country in scoring with 162 points in 1928, gained over 3,000 yards from scrimmage, and was a consensus first-team selection on the 1928 College Football All-America Team. Strong played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) for the Staten Island Stapletons (1929–1932) and New York Giants (1933–1935, 1939, 1944–1947), and in the second American Football League for the New York Yankees (1936–1937). He led the NFL in scoring in 1934 and was selected as a first-team All-Pro in 1930, 1931, 1933, and 1934. He also played minor league baseball from 1929 to 1931, but his baseball career was cut short by a wrist injury. Early years Strong was born in the Savin Rock section of West Haven, Connecticut, in 1906. His father Elmer F. Strong was a Connecticut native who worked as an egg and dairy inspector. Strong attended West Haven High School where he was a star baseball and football player. New York University Strong next attended New York University (NYU) where he played baseball and football. In baseball, he was NYU's center fielder for three years and drew attention for his fielding and power hitting. He played summer baseball for the Hyannis town team of Barnstable, Massachusetts in the Cape Cod Baseball League, and was part of a "parade of sluggers" that powered the Hyannis lineup. As a halfback for the 1928 NYU Violets football team, he led the country in scoring with 162 points, tallied some 3,000 total yards from scrimmage, and was a consensus pick on the 1928 College Football All-America Team. Strong gained widespread fame when he led NYU to a 27–13 upset victory over undefeated Carnegie Tech. He threw two long touchdown passes, rushed for two touchdowns, and kicked three extra points, leading Grantland Rice to write: This attack was led by a runaway buffalo, using the speed of a deer, and his name was Ken Strong. He ran all over a big, powerful team, smashed its line, ran its ends, kicked 50 and 55 yards, threw passes and tackled all over the lot. Today he was George Gipp, Red Grange and Chris Cagle rolled into one human form and there was nothing Carnegie Tech had that could stop his march. Carnegie Tech coach Walter Steffen said of Strong's performance: "This is the first time in my career that one man was good enough to run over and completely wreck an exceptionally good team. I can tell you he is better than Heston or Thorpe." Professional sports Football Strong played 16 seasons of professional football from 1929 to 1940 and 1944 to 1947. He earned a reputation as a triple-threat man and a versatile athlete who played on offense and defense and in the kicking game. The Pro Football Hall of Fame's biography of Strong states: "Strong could do everything – run, block, pass, catch passes, punt, placekick, and play defense with the very best." Staten Island Stapletons Unable to reach terms with the New York Giants, Strong signed instead with the Staten Island Stapletons. He played for the Stapletons for four years from 1929 to 1932. While statistics are not available for the 1929 NFL season, Strong was regarded as one of the best backs in the NFL. He started all 10 games at halfback for the 1929 Stapletons. In his first NFL game, he threw a long forward pass to set up the Stapleton's first touchdown and scored all of the team's 12 points on two short touchdown runs. He also had a 70-yard run in a scoreless tie with the Orange Tornadoes on November 3, 1929. Two days later, Strong had a 50-yard touchdown run against the Providence Steam Roller. At the end of the 1929 season, Strong was selected by Collyer's Eye and the Green Bay Press-Gazette as a second-team All-Pro. In 1930, Strong appeared in all 12 games for the Stapletons and scored 53 points on two rushing touchdowns, five receiving touchdowns, one field goal, and eight extra points. His point total ranked third in the NFL in 1930, trailing only Jack McBride (56 points) and Verne Lewellen (54 points). On September 28, 1930, he caught two touchdown passes, threw a 40-yard pass that set up a third touchdown, and kicked three extra points in a 21–0 victory over the Frankford Yellow Jackets. In December 1930, he led the Stapletons to a 16–7 victory over the New York Giants for the pro football championship of New York City; Strong accounted for all 16 Stapleton points, running 98 yards for a touchdown, passing for a second touchdown, and kicking a field goal and an extra point. He was selected as a first-team player on the 1930 All-Pro Team by Collyer's Eye and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1931, Strong appeared in all 11 games for the Stapletons and scored 53 points on six rushing touchdowns, one punt return for a touchdown, two field goals, and five extra points. His 53 points ranked fourth in the NFL, trailing only Johnny Blood (84 points), Ernie Nevers (66 points), and Dutch Clark (60 points). On November 22, 1931, Strong scored all 16 points in a 16–7 victory over Cleveland; he had two rushing touchdowns, including a 50-yard run and kicked a field goal and an extra point. At the end of the 1931 season, Strong was selected as an All-Pro for the second year in a row, receiving first-team honors from the United Press (UP) and Collyer's Eye. Strong's output dropped off in 1932 as he moved to the fullback position. He appeared in 11 games and ranked sixth in the NFL with 375 rushing yards, but scored only 15 points on two touchdowns and three extra points. At the end of the 1932 season, the Stapletons team folded. New York Giants In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants. The 1932 Giants had compiled a 4–6–2 record, but the 1933 Giants, with Strong at fullback and Harry Newman at quarterback, improved to 11–3 and advanced to the 1933 NFL Championship Game. Strong led the NFL with 64 points in 1933; his points were scored on three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, a touchdown on an interception return, five field goals, and 13 extra points. On November 26, 1933, he became the first known player in NFL history to score on a fair catch kick. The 30-yard kick was made at the Polo Grounds in a win against the Green Bay Packers. After the 1933 season, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors from the United Press, Collyer's Eye, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1934, Strong again played in every game for the Giants as a fullback. He rushed for 431 yards and scored 56 points (six rushing touchdowns, four field goals, and eight extra points) in the regular season. His greatest fame derives from his role in the Giants' comeback victory over the Chicago Bears in the 1934 NFL Championship Game; Strong scored 17 points for the Giants on a 38-yard field goal, two fourth-quarter touchdowns on runs of 42 and 8 yards, and two extra points. Strong received first-team All-Pro honors in 1934 from the NFL and others. In 1935, Strong helped lead the Giants to their third consecutive NFL Championship Game. In a 10–7 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was only able to play a few minutes due to injury, but he still managed to score all of the Giants' points on a 24-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard field goal. Slowed by injury in 1935, he was described as "a celebrated invalid" who "hobbled" from the bench to kick a field goal for the Giants in a 3–0 victory over the Bears on November 17. In the 1935 NFL Championship Game, a 26–7 loss to the Detroit Lions, Strong scored all of the Giants' points on a long touchdown catch and run and the extra point. New York Yankees In August 1936, Strong signed with the New York Yankees of the newly formed second American Football League. Strong's departure from the NFL was the new league's first raid on the NFL. Strong later recalled that Giants owner Jack Mara wanted Strong to accept a pay cut from $6,000 to $3,200; the Yankees agreed to pay him $5,000. During the 1936 season, Strong earned a reputation as "the best blocker in the game." He also: kicked a field goal and two extra points in a 17–6 victory over Brooklyn on October 14; scored a touchdown and kicked the extra point in a 7–6 victory over Pittsburgh on October 21; and kicked three field goals in a 15–7 win over Cleveland on November 23. Strong returned to the Yankees in 1937. However, he left the team after three games to assist Mal Stevens in coaching the NYU Violets football team. Jersey City Giants In 1938, Strong was a player and head coach for the Jersey City Giants, the New York Giants' farm team in the American Association. He was barred from playing in the NFL because of his decision to jump to the American Football League in 1936. Tim Mara, owner of the Giants, reportedly negotiated a deal with Strong to play for Jersey City in exchange for which Mara would seek Strong's reinstatement in 1939. He kicked 13 field goals, scored 51 points, and was named to the all-league team. He led the Giants to a 7–1 record and the league championship, scoring 10 points in Jersey City's championship game victory over the Union City Rams. Return to the New York Giants Strong returned to the New York Giants in 1939. He appeared in nine games and scored 19 points on four field goals and seven extra points. Strong is also believed to be the second player (after Mose Kelsch) to have devoted an entire season to placekicking; his 1939 season with the Giants had him playing very little outside of kicks. In the summer of 1940, Strong became ill with stomach ulcers, underwent emergency surgery, and was hospitalized for four weeks. He said that he intended to return to playing when his health permitted. He played for the Jersey City Giants while recuperating in the fall of 1940, led Jersey City to another league championship, then announced his retirement as a player in November 1940. He came out of retirement in 1942 to play for the Long Island Clippers, scoring 12 points in four games. In 1944, with talent in the NFL depleted by wartime military service, Strong returned for a third stint with the New York Giants. He appeared in all 10 games for the 1944 Giants, including six as a starter. In his first three games with the Giants in 1944, Strong at age 38 accounted for 22 of the team's 48 points. He helped lead the team to the 1944 NFL Championship Game, scoring 41 points on six field goals and 23 extra points. After the war ended, Strong remained with the Giants for another three years as the team's place-kicker and remained one of the league's leading scorers with 41 points in 1945, 44 points in 1946, and 30 points in 1947. His 32 extra points in 1946 ranked second in the league. In April 1948, at age 41, Strong announced his retirement as a player. Overview and honors In 12 seasons in the NFL, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors four times (1930, 1931, 1933, and 1934) and scored 520 career points (including 36 points in the post-season) on 38 touchdowns, 39 field goals, and 175 extra points. In October 1937, Red Cagle, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, rated Strong at the greatest all-around football player. Cagle said: "Strong ... can do everything. He's a great punter, place kicker, pass thrower, and how he could carry his 198 pounds! I played with and against Strong, and he always stood out. He is tops when the chips are down ... Ken is also a brilliant blocker, so I guess that makes him the class." Walter Steffen, also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, said: "I'll tell you he is easily the greatest football player I ever saw – and I've been around over twenty-five years ... I can tell you honestly that since 1905 I've never seen a football player in his class for all-around stuff." In 1939, Grantland Rice rated Strong and Jim Thorpe as the greatest players in football history. In Strong's favor, Rice cited Strong's "unusual speed", the "driving force in his legs", and his stamina. Harry Grayson wrote: "An amazing runner, blocker, passer, kicker, and defensive man, Strong was, in the opinion of many who saw him, the greatest football player of them all." Grayson later called Strong "a runaway buffalo with the speed of an antelope." Strong received numerous honors for his football career, including the following: In 1950, he was one of the 25 charter inductees into the Helms Athletic Foundation's Professional Football Hall of Fame. In 1957, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1967, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Prior to 1968, Strong's jersey number (No. 50) was retired by the New York Giants. He was among the first four Giants (along with Mel Hein, Y. A. Tittle and Al Blozis) to be so honored. In 1969, he was named to the NFL 1930s All-Decade Team. In 1971, he was inducted into the NYU Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2010, he was one of the 22 players included in the New York Giants Ring of Honor at MetLife Stadium. Baseball Strong also played professional baseball for several years. He was signed by the New York Yankees before graduating from NYU and spent the summer of 1929 with the New Haven Profs of the Eastern League. He was an outfielder for New Haven, appearing in 104 games and compiling a .283 batting average with 21 home runs and 43 extra-base hits. Strong began the 1930 season with New Haven. In mid-May, he joined the Hazleton Mountaineers of the New York–Pennsylvania League, appearing in 117 games and compiling a .373 batting average with 41 home runs (a league record), and 88 extra-base hits. On June 8 in a game at home vs. Wilkes-Barre, Strong played left field and hit four home runs. In 1931, Strong moved up to AA ball with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League. He appeared in 118 games with Toronto and compiled a .340 batting average with 53 extra-base hits. In January 1932, the Detroit Tigers purchased rights to Strong. He was considered a tremendous major league prospect, but a wrist injury sustained late in the 1931 season when he ran into the outfield fence proved to be a fracture. Strong underwent surgery, but the Detroit surgeon removed the wrong bone. Strong never recovered the full use of his right wrist. In July 1933, Strong won a $75,000 jury verdict in a lawsuit against the surgeon who removed the wrong bone. The verdict was later reversed on appeal. Family, later years, and honors In December 1929, Strong married Amelie Hunneman, a New York actress known by the stage name Rella Harrison. The marriage was "stormy", short-lived, and ended in divorce. In December 1931, Strong married Mabel Anderson of Long Island. Strong and his second wife remained married for nearly 48 years and had a son, Kenneth Robert Strong, born in approximately 1932. After retiring from football, Strong lived with his wife and son in Bayside, Queens, and worked as a liquor salesman. From 1962 to 1965, he was an assistant coach for the New York Giants, working with the team's kickers. Strong had a history of heart problems and died of a heart attack in 1979 at age 73. Television On February 19, 1957 Strong made an appearance on the game show To Tell the Truth. He was contestant number 3 claiming to be Tommy Loughran, a former boxer. See also List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders References External links 1906 births 1979 deaths American football halfbacks New York Giants players New York Giants coaches New York Yankees (1936 AFL) players NYU Violets football players NYU Violets football coaches Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era) Staten Island Stapletons players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees National Football League players with retired numbers Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees People from West Haven, Connecticut American football fullbacks American football placekickers Players of American football from Connecticut	false	[ "Charlie Flowers (June 28, 1937 – December 7, 2014) was an American football player. He played for the Ole Miss Rebels of the University of Mississippi, and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997. In December 1959, he was signed by the National Football League's New York Giants. However, in order to retain his eligibility to play in the Sugar Bowl, he requested to keep the contract a secret until January 2, 1960. Wellington Mara accepted this request and the team did not submit the contract to Pete Rozelle for approval. Later in December, the American Football League's Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers offered him more money to play for them. He accepted their offer and withdrew from his contract with the Giants. The Giants attempted to enforce the contract, but their plea was rejected due to their unclean hands. He later played for the New York Titans. Flowers died on December 7, 2014, at the age of 77 following a long illness.\n\nReferences\n\n1937 births\n2014 deaths\nAll-American college football players\nOle Miss Rebels football players\nCollege Football Hall of Fame inductees\nLos Angeles Chargers players\nSan Diego Chargers players\nNew York Titans (AFL) players\nPeople from Marianna, Arkansas\nPlayers of American football from Arkansas\nAmerican Football League players", "Robert L. \"Bob\" Papa (born September 19, 1964) is an American sportscaster who is currently the radio play-by-play voice for the New York Giants of the National Football League. Papa also is the lead broadcaster for PGA Tour Champions events on Golf Channel and has been the blow-by-blow announcer on many professional boxing telecasts, notably for ESPN and for HBO’s Boxing After Dark series.\n\nBiography\n\nEarly life\nPapa grew up in Dumont, New Jersey, and graduated from Bergen Catholic High School in nearby Oradell. He graduated from Fordham University in 1986. His brother is comedian Tom Papa. He is not related to the San Francisco Bay Area sports broadcaster (and former long-time Oakland Raiders radio voice) Greg Papa.\n\nCareer\n\nNew York Giants (1995–present)\nHe is best known as the radio play-by-play voice of the New York Giants, a position he has held since he replaced Jim Gordon prior to the 1995 season.\n\nHe announces all 17 regular season games and all postseason games on the radio, and all of the team's pre-season games for WNBC in New York City and simulcast across the state. During his time with the Giants, he has called the team's victories in Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI, as well as their loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV.\n\nFrom 1988 to 1994, he worked on the Giants' pregame and postgame shows on the radio. His work with the Giants also includes his role as host of the YES Network's Giants Training Camp Report, and Giants Access Blue, Giants Chronicles, and Giants Online.\n\nOther Work\nAdditionally, Papa was the voice of Thursday Night Football on NFL Network until 2010. He files pregame and postgame reports from New York Giants games on Sundays for NFL GameDay Morning and contributes to NFL.com with columns, chats and reports. He works for the Golf Channel during the NFL off-season.\n\nIn addition, he was added as a member for Golf Channel and has called boxing for HBO, SportsChannel America, ESPN, NBC, and Versus. Papa called the infamous November 23, 2001, match between James Butler and Richard Grant on Friday Night Fights.\n\nAt fight's end, after Grant had been declared the winner, Butler sucker-punched Grant, breaking his jaw. Both Papa and his color commentator, Teddy Atlas, loudly called for both Butler's arrest, and permanent suspension from boxing. Butler later pleaded guilty to the slaying of artist/writer Sam Kellerman.\n\nPapa was the radio voice for the New Jersey Nets on WOR for several years in the mid-1990s after Ian Eagle was promoted to television.\n\nFrom 1989–92, he was the studio host for NHL on SportsChannel America. Denis Potvin was his analyst. Papa is the host of the Opening Drive on Sirius NFL Radio, the all NFL Channel on Sirius Satellite Radio. From 2008 to 2010, he did play-by-play on NFL games that took place on NFL Network before being replaced by Brad Nessler.\n\nPapa\n\nOlympics\nA graduate of Fordham University, Papa, along with two more alumni, participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens. Papa worked on NBC's coverage of the Olympics since 1992, as he covered boxing at the most recent Summer Olympics.\n\nIn 2002, he covered cross-country skiing and curling. In 2010, he covered luge, skeleton, and bobsled. He served as the play by play announcer for NBC Sports coverage of Boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He called Rugby at the 2016 Summer Olympics.\n\nPersonal life\nPapa has four sons: Christopher, Will, Nicholas, and Max.\n\nReferences\n\n1964 births\nLiving people\nAmerican radio sports announcers\nAmerican television sports announcers\nGolf writers and broadcasters\nArena football announcers\nBergen Catholic High School alumni\nBoxing commentators\nCollege basketball announcers in the United States\nCollege football announcers\nCurling broadcasters\nGabelli School of Business alumni\nNational Basketball Association broadcasters\nNational Football League announcers\nNational Hockey League broadcasters\nNFL Europe broadcasters\nNew York Giants announcers\nNew Jersey Nets announcers\nPeople from Dumont, New Jersey\nOlympic Games broadcasters\nWFUV people" ]
[ "Ken Strong", "New York Giants", "When did Ken join the new york Giants?", "In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants.", "How long did he play for the New york giants?", "I don't know." ]	C_544929c4b6ad4be5a342f31aced398b0_0	What position did he play?	3	What position did Ken Strong play?	Ken Strong	In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants. The 1932 Giants had compiled a 4-6-2 record, but the 1933 Giants, with Strong at fullback and Harry Newman at quarterback, improved to 11-3 and advanced to the 1933 NFL Championship Game. Strong led the NFL with 64 points in 1933; his points were scored on three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, a touchdown on an interception return, five field goals, and 13 extra points. On November 26, 1933, he became the first known player in NFL history to score on a fair catch kick. The 30-yard kick was made at the Polo Grounds in a win against the Green Bay Packers. After the 1933 season, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors from the United Press, Collyer's Eye, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1934, Strong again played in every game for the Giants as a fullback. He rushed for 431 yards and scored 56 points (six rushing touchdowns, four field goals, and eight extra points) in the regular season. His greatest fame derives from his role in the Giants' comeback victory over the Chicago Bears in the 1934 NFL Championship Game; Strong scored 17 points for the Giants on a 38-yard field goal, two fourth-quarter touchdowns on runs of 42 and 8 yards, and two extra points. Strong received first-team All-Pro honors in 1934 from the NFL and others. In 1935, Strong helped lead the Giants to their third consecutive NFL Championship Game. In a 10-7 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was only able to play a few minutes due to injury, but he still managed to score all of the Giants' points on a 24-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard field goal. Slowed by injury in 1935, he was described as "a celebrated invalid" who "hobbled" from the bench to kick a field goal for the Giants in a 3-0 victory over the Bears on November 17. In the 1935 NFL Championship Game, a 26-7 loss to the Detroit Lions, Strong scored all of the Giants' points on a long touchdown catch and run and the extra point. CANNOTANSWER	with Strong at fullback	Elmer Kenneth Strong (April 21, 1906 – October 5, 1979) was an American football halfback and fullback who also played minor league baseball. Considered one of the greatest all-around players in the early decades of the game, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1957 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and was named to the NFL 1930s All-Decade Team. A native of West Haven, Connecticut, Strong played college baseball and football for the NYU Violets. In football, he led the country in scoring with 162 points in 1928, gained over 3,000 yards from scrimmage, and was a consensus first-team selection on the 1928 College Football All-America Team. Strong played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) for the Staten Island Stapletons (1929–1932) and New York Giants (1933–1935, 1939, 1944–1947), and in the second American Football League for the New York Yankees (1936–1937). He led the NFL in scoring in 1934 and was selected as a first-team All-Pro in 1930, 1931, 1933, and 1934. He also played minor league baseball from 1929 to 1931, but his baseball career was cut short by a wrist injury. Early years Strong was born in the Savin Rock section of West Haven, Connecticut, in 1906. His father Elmer F. Strong was a Connecticut native who worked as an egg and dairy inspector. Strong attended West Haven High School where he was a star baseball and football player. New York University Strong next attended New York University (NYU) where he played baseball and football. In baseball, he was NYU's center fielder for three years and drew attention for his fielding and power hitting. He played summer baseball for the Hyannis town team of Barnstable, Massachusetts in the Cape Cod Baseball League, and was part of a "parade of sluggers" that powered the Hyannis lineup. As a halfback for the 1928 NYU Violets football team, he led the country in scoring with 162 points, tallied some 3,000 total yards from scrimmage, and was a consensus pick on the 1928 College Football All-America Team. Strong gained widespread fame when he led NYU to a 27–13 upset victory over undefeated Carnegie Tech. He threw two long touchdown passes, rushed for two touchdowns, and kicked three extra points, leading Grantland Rice to write: This attack was led by a runaway buffalo, using the speed of a deer, and his name was Ken Strong. He ran all over a big, powerful team, smashed its line, ran its ends, kicked 50 and 55 yards, threw passes and tackled all over the lot. Today he was George Gipp, Red Grange and Chris Cagle rolled into one human form and there was nothing Carnegie Tech had that could stop his march. Carnegie Tech coach Walter Steffen said of Strong's performance: "This is the first time in my career that one man was good enough to run over and completely wreck an exceptionally good team. I can tell you he is better than Heston or Thorpe." Professional sports Football Strong played 16 seasons of professional football from 1929 to 1940 and 1944 to 1947. He earned a reputation as a triple-threat man and a versatile athlete who played on offense and defense and in the kicking game. The Pro Football Hall of Fame's biography of Strong states: "Strong could do everything – run, block, pass, catch passes, punt, placekick, and play defense with the very best." Staten Island Stapletons Unable to reach terms with the New York Giants, Strong signed instead with the Staten Island Stapletons. He played for the Stapletons for four years from 1929 to 1932. While statistics are not available for the 1929 NFL season, Strong was regarded as one of the best backs in the NFL. He started all 10 games at halfback for the 1929 Stapletons. In his first NFL game, he threw a long forward pass to set up the Stapleton's first touchdown and scored all of the team's 12 points on two short touchdown runs. He also had a 70-yard run in a scoreless tie with the Orange Tornadoes on November 3, 1929. Two days later, Strong had a 50-yard touchdown run against the Providence Steam Roller. At the end of the 1929 season, Strong was selected by Collyer's Eye and the Green Bay Press-Gazette as a second-team All-Pro. In 1930, Strong appeared in all 12 games for the Stapletons and scored 53 points on two rushing touchdowns, five receiving touchdowns, one field goal, and eight extra points. His point total ranked third in the NFL in 1930, trailing only Jack McBride (56 points) and Verne Lewellen (54 points). On September 28, 1930, he caught two touchdown passes, threw a 40-yard pass that set up a third touchdown, and kicked three extra points in a 21–0 victory over the Frankford Yellow Jackets. In December 1930, he led the Stapletons to a 16–7 victory over the New York Giants for the pro football championship of New York City; Strong accounted for all 16 Stapleton points, running 98 yards for a touchdown, passing for a second touchdown, and kicking a field goal and an extra point. He was selected as a first-team player on the 1930 All-Pro Team by Collyer's Eye and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1931, Strong appeared in all 11 games for the Stapletons and scored 53 points on six rushing touchdowns, one punt return for a touchdown, two field goals, and five extra points. His 53 points ranked fourth in the NFL, trailing only Johnny Blood (84 points), Ernie Nevers (66 points), and Dutch Clark (60 points). On November 22, 1931, Strong scored all 16 points in a 16–7 victory over Cleveland; he had two rushing touchdowns, including a 50-yard run and kicked a field goal and an extra point. At the end of the 1931 season, Strong was selected as an All-Pro for the second year in a row, receiving first-team honors from the United Press (UP) and Collyer's Eye. Strong's output dropped off in 1932 as he moved to the fullback position. He appeared in 11 games and ranked sixth in the NFL with 375 rushing yards, but scored only 15 points on two touchdowns and three extra points. At the end of the 1932 season, the Stapletons team folded. New York Giants In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants. The 1932 Giants had compiled a 4–6–2 record, but the 1933 Giants, with Strong at fullback and Harry Newman at quarterback, improved to 11–3 and advanced to the 1933 NFL Championship Game. Strong led the NFL with 64 points in 1933; his points were scored on three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, a touchdown on an interception return, five field goals, and 13 extra points. On November 26, 1933, he became the first known player in NFL history to score on a fair catch kick. The 30-yard kick was made at the Polo Grounds in a win against the Green Bay Packers. After the 1933 season, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors from the United Press, Collyer's Eye, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1934, Strong again played in every game for the Giants as a fullback. He rushed for 431 yards and scored 56 points (six rushing touchdowns, four field goals, and eight extra points) in the regular season. His greatest fame derives from his role in the Giants' comeback victory over the Chicago Bears in the 1934 NFL Championship Game; Strong scored 17 points for the Giants on a 38-yard field goal, two fourth-quarter touchdowns on runs of 42 and 8 yards, and two extra points. Strong received first-team All-Pro honors in 1934 from the NFL and others. In 1935, Strong helped lead the Giants to their third consecutive NFL Championship Game. In a 10–7 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was only able to play a few minutes due to injury, but he still managed to score all of the Giants' points on a 24-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard field goal. Slowed by injury in 1935, he was described as "a celebrated invalid" who "hobbled" from the bench to kick a field goal for the Giants in a 3–0 victory over the Bears on November 17. In the 1935 NFL Championship Game, a 26–7 loss to the Detroit Lions, Strong scored all of the Giants' points on a long touchdown catch and run and the extra point. New York Yankees In August 1936, Strong signed with the New York Yankees of the newly formed second American Football League. Strong's departure from the NFL was the new league's first raid on the NFL. Strong later recalled that Giants owner Jack Mara wanted Strong to accept a pay cut from $6,000 to $3,200; the Yankees agreed to pay him $5,000. During the 1936 season, Strong earned a reputation as "the best blocker in the game." He also: kicked a field goal and two extra points in a 17–6 victory over Brooklyn on October 14; scored a touchdown and kicked the extra point in a 7–6 victory over Pittsburgh on October 21; and kicked three field goals in a 15–7 win over Cleveland on November 23. Strong returned to the Yankees in 1937. However, he left the team after three games to assist Mal Stevens in coaching the NYU Violets football team. Jersey City Giants In 1938, Strong was a player and head coach for the Jersey City Giants, the New York Giants' farm team in the American Association. He was barred from playing in the NFL because of his decision to jump to the American Football League in 1936. Tim Mara, owner of the Giants, reportedly negotiated a deal with Strong to play for Jersey City in exchange for which Mara would seek Strong's reinstatement in 1939. He kicked 13 field goals, scored 51 points, and was named to the all-league team. He led the Giants to a 7–1 record and the league championship, scoring 10 points in Jersey City's championship game victory over the Union City Rams. Return to the New York Giants Strong returned to the New York Giants in 1939. He appeared in nine games and scored 19 points on four field goals and seven extra points. Strong is also believed to be the second player (after Mose Kelsch) to have devoted an entire season to placekicking; his 1939 season with the Giants had him playing very little outside of kicks. In the summer of 1940, Strong became ill with stomach ulcers, underwent emergency surgery, and was hospitalized for four weeks. He said that he intended to return to playing when his health permitted. He played for the Jersey City Giants while recuperating in the fall of 1940, led Jersey City to another league championship, then announced his retirement as a player in November 1940. He came out of retirement in 1942 to play for the Long Island Clippers, scoring 12 points in four games. In 1944, with talent in the NFL depleted by wartime military service, Strong returned for a third stint with the New York Giants. He appeared in all 10 games for the 1944 Giants, including six as a starter. In his first three games with the Giants in 1944, Strong at age 38 accounted for 22 of the team's 48 points. He helped lead the team to the 1944 NFL Championship Game, scoring 41 points on six field goals and 23 extra points. After the war ended, Strong remained with the Giants for another three years as the team's place-kicker and remained one of the league's leading scorers with 41 points in 1945, 44 points in 1946, and 30 points in 1947. His 32 extra points in 1946 ranked second in the league. In April 1948, at age 41, Strong announced his retirement as a player. Overview and honors In 12 seasons in the NFL, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors four times (1930, 1931, 1933, and 1934) and scored 520 career points (including 36 points in the post-season) on 38 touchdowns, 39 field goals, and 175 extra points. In October 1937, Red Cagle, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, rated Strong at the greatest all-around football player. Cagle said: "Strong ... can do everything. He's a great punter, place kicker, pass thrower, and how he could carry his 198 pounds! I played with and against Strong, and he always stood out. He is tops when the chips are down ... Ken is also a brilliant blocker, so I guess that makes him the class." Walter Steffen, also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, said: "I'll tell you he is easily the greatest football player I ever saw – and I've been around over twenty-five years ... I can tell you honestly that since 1905 I've never seen a football player in his class for all-around stuff." In 1939, Grantland Rice rated Strong and Jim Thorpe as the greatest players in football history. In Strong's favor, Rice cited Strong's "unusual speed", the "driving force in his legs", and his stamina. Harry Grayson wrote: "An amazing runner, blocker, passer, kicker, and defensive man, Strong was, in the opinion of many who saw him, the greatest football player of them all." Grayson later called Strong "a runaway buffalo with the speed of an antelope." Strong received numerous honors for his football career, including the following: In 1950, he was one of the 25 charter inductees into the Helms Athletic Foundation's Professional Football Hall of Fame. In 1957, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1967, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Prior to 1968, Strong's jersey number (No. 50) was retired by the New York Giants. He was among the first four Giants (along with Mel Hein, Y. A. Tittle and Al Blozis) to be so honored. In 1969, he was named to the NFL 1930s All-Decade Team. In 1971, he was inducted into the NYU Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2010, he was one of the 22 players included in the New York Giants Ring of Honor at MetLife Stadium. Baseball Strong also played professional baseball for several years. He was signed by the New York Yankees before graduating from NYU and spent the summer of 1929 with the New Haven Profs of the Eastern League. He was an outfielder for New Haven, appearing in 104 games and compiling a .283 batting average with 21 home runs and 43 extra-base hits. Strong began the 1930 season with New Haven. In mid-May, he joined the Hazleton Mountaineers of the New York–Pennsylvania League, appearing in 117 games and compiling a .373 batting average with 41 home runs (a league record), and 88 extra-base hits. On June 8 in a game at home vs. Wilkes-Barre, Strong played left field and hit four home runs. In 1931, Strong moved up to AA ball with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League. He appeared in 118 games with Toronto and compiled a .340 batting average with 53 extra-base hits. In January 1932, the Detroit Tigers purchased rights to Strong. He was considered a tremendous major league prospect, but a wrist injury sustained late in the 1931 season when he ran into the outfield fence proved to be a fracture. Strong underwent surgery, but the Detroit surgeon removed the wrong bone. Strong never recovered the full use of his right wrist. In July 1933, Strong won a $75,000 jury verdict in a lawsuit against the surgeon who removed the wrong bone. The verdict was later reversed on appeal. Family, later years, and honors In December 1929, Strong married Amelie Hunneman, a New York actress known by the stage name Rella Harrison. The marriage was "stormy", short-lived, and ended in divorce. In December 1931, Strong married Mabel Anderson of Long Island. Strong and his second wife remained married for nearly 48 years and had a son, Kenneth Robert Strong, born in approximately 1932. After retiring from football, Strong lived with his wife and son in Bayside, Queens, and worked as a liquor salesman. From 1962 to 1965, he was an assistant coach for the New York Giants, working with the team's kickers. Strong had a history of heart problems and died of a heart attack in 1979 at age 73. Television On February 19, 1957 Strong made an appearance on the game show To Tell the Truth. He was contestant number 3 claiming to be Tommy Loughran, a former boxer. See also List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders References External links 1906 births 1979 deaths American football halfbacks New York Giants players New York Giants coaches New York Yankees (1936 AFL) players NYU Violets football players NYU Violets football coaches Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era) Staten Island Stapletons players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees National Football League players with retired numbers Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees People from West Haven, Connecticut American football fullbacks American football placekickers Players of American football from Connecticut	true	[ "is a former Japanese football player.\n\nPlaying career\nIwamaru was born in Fujioka on December 4, 1981. After graduating from high school, he joined the J1 League club Vissel Kobe in 2000. However he did not play as much as Makoto Kakegawa until 2003. In 2004, he played more often, after Kakegawa got hurt. In September 2004, he moved to Júbilo Iwata. In late 2004, he played often, after regular goalkeeper Yohei Sato got hurt. In 2005, he moved to the newly promoted J2 League club, Thespa Kusatsu (later Thespakusatsu Gunma), based in his home region. He competed with Nobuyuki Kojima for the position and played often. \n\nIn 2006, he moved to the newly promoted J1 club, Avispa Fukuoka. However he did not play as much as Yuichi Mizutani. In 2007, he moved to the newly promoted J1 club, Yokohama FC. However he did not play as much as Takanori Sugeno and the club was relegated to J2 within a year. Although he did not play as much as Kenji Koyama in 2008, he played often in 2009. He did not play at all in 2010. \n\nIn 2011, he moved to the J2 club Roasso Kumamoto. He did not play as much as Yuta Minami. In 2013, he moved to the newly promoted J2 club, V-Varen Nagasaki. Although he played in the first three matches, he did play at all after the fourth match, when Junki Kanayama played in his place. In 2014, he moved to the J2 club Thespakusatsu Gunma based in his local region. However he did not play at all, and retired at the end of the 2014 season.\n\nClub statistics\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n \n\n1981 births\nLiving people\nAssociation football people from Gunma Prefecture\nJapanese footballers\nJ1 League players\nJ2 League players\nVissel Kobe players\nJúbilo Iwata players\nThespakusatsu Gunma players\nAvispa Fukuoka players\nYokohama FC players\nRoasso Kumamoto players\nV-Varen Nagasaki players\nAssociation football goalkeepers", "John Stirk (born 5 September 1955) is an English former footballer. His primary position was as a right back. During his career he played for Ipswich Town, Watford, Chesterfield and North Shields. He also made two appearances for England at youth level.\n\nCareer \n\nBorn in Consett, Stirk played youth football for local non-league team Consett A.F.C. He joined Ipswich Town on schoolboy terms in 1971, and after making two appearances for the England youth team, turned professional in 1973. During his time at Ipswich he was largely a reserve. He made his first-team debut on 5 November 1977, in a Football League First Division match against Manchester City at Portman Road. His manager at the time was Bobby Robson, who later went on to manage the England national football team. Ipswich won the FA Cup in 1978, in what proved to be Stirk's final season at the club. However, Stirk himself did not play in the final, nor did he play in any of the rounds en route to the final.\n\nAnother future England manager, Watford's Graham Taylor, signed Stirk for a transfer fee of £30,000 at the end of the 1977–78 season. Stirk went on to play every Watford league game in the 1978–79 season, as Watford gained promotion to the Second Division. However, Stirk did not play for Watford in the Second Division. Two months before the end of the 1979–80 season, Stirk was sold to Third Division side Chesterfield, at a profit to Watford of £10,000. After making 56 league appearances over two and a half seasons, Stirk left Chesterfield in 1983 moving on to Blyth Spartans then Tow Law Town, and finished his career at non-league North Shields.\n\nReferences \n\n1955 births\nLiving people\nConsett A.F.C. players\nIpswich Town F.C. players\nWatford F.C. players\nChesterfield F.C. players\nEnglish Football League players\nNorth Shields F.C. players\nSportspeople from Consett\nAssociation football fullbacks\nEnglish footballers" ]
[ "Ken Strong", "New York Giants", "When did Ken join the new york Giants?", "In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants.", "How long did he play for the New york giants?", "I don't know.", "What position did he play?", "with Strong at fullback" ]	C_544929c4b6ad4be5a342f31aced398b0_0	Did he play well?	4	Did Ken Strong play well?	Ken Strong	In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants. The 1932 Giants had compiled a 4-6-2 record, but the 1933 Giants, with Strong at fullback and Harry Newman at quarterback, improved to 11-3 and advanced to the 1933 NFL Championship Game. Strong led the NFL with 64 points in 1933; his points were scored on three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, a touchdown on an interception return, five field goals, and 13 extra points. On November 26, 1933, he became the first known player in NFL history to score on a fair catch kick. The 30-yard kick was made at the Polo Grounds in a win against the Green Bay Packers. After the 1933 season, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors from the United Press, Collyer's Eye, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1934, Strong again played in every game for the Giants as a fullback. He rushed for 431 yards and scored 56 points (six rushing touchdowns, four field goals, and eight extra points) in the regular season. His greatest fame derives from his role in the Giants' comeback victory over the Chicago Bears in the 1934 NFL Championship Game; Strong scored 17 points for the Giants on a 38-yard field goal, two fourth-quarter touchdowns on runs of 42 and 8 yards, and two extra points. Strong received first-team All-Pro honors in 1934 from the NFL and others. In 1935, Strong helped lead the Giants to their third consecutive NFL Championship Game. In a 10-7 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was only able to play a few minutes due to injury, but he still managed to score all of the Giants' points on a 24-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard field goal. Slowed by injury in 1935, he was described as "a celebrated invalid" who "hobbled" from the bench to kick a field goal for the Giants in a 3-0 victory over the Bears on November 17. In the 1935 NFL Championship Game, a 26-7 loss to the Detroit Lions, Strong scored all of the Giants' points on a long touchdown catch and run and the extra point. CANNOTANSWER	Strong led the NFL with 64 points in 1933; his points were scored on three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, a touchdown on an interception return,	Elmer Kenneth Strong (April 21, 1906 – October 5, 1979) was an American football halfback and fullback who also played minor league baseball. Considered one of the greatest all-around players in the early decades of the game, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1957 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and was named to the NFL 1930s All-Decade Team. A native of West Haven, Connecticut, Strong played college baseball and football for the NYU Violets. In football, he led the country in scoring with 162 points in 1928, gained over 3,000 yards from scrimmage, and was a consensus first-team selection on the 1928 College Football All-America Team. Strong played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) for the Staten Island Stapletons (1929–1932) and New York Giants (1933–1935, 1939, 1944–1947), and in the second American Football League for the New York Yankees (1936–1937). He led the NFL in scoring in 1934 and was selected as a first-team All-Pro in 1930, 1931, 1933, and 1934. He also played minor league baseball from 1929 to 1931, but his baseball career was cut short by a wrist injury. Early years Strong was born in the Savin Rock section of West Haven, Connecticut, in 1906. His father Elmer F. Strong was a Connecticut native who worked as an egg and dairy inspector. Strong attended West Haven High School where he was a star baseball and football player. New York University Strong next attended New York University (NYU) where he played baseball and football. In baseball, he was NYU's center fielder for three years and drew attention for his fielding and power hitting. He played summer baseball for the Hyannis town team of Barnstable, Massachusetts in the Cape Cod Baseball League, and was part of a "parade of sluggers" that powered the Hyannis lineup. As a halfback for the 1928 NYU Violets football team, he led the country in scoring with 162 points, tallied some 3,000 total yards from scrimmage, and was a consensus pick on the 1928 College Football All-America Team. Strong gained widespread fame when he led NYU to a 27–13 upset victory over undefeated Carnegie Tech. He threw two long touchdown passes, rushed for two touchdowns, and kicked three extra points, leading Grantland Rice to write: This attack was led by a runaway buffalo, using the speed of a deer, and his name was Ken Strong. He ran all over a big, powerful team, smashed its line, ran its ends, kicked 50 and 55 yards, threw passes and tackled all over the lot. Today he was George Gipp, Red Grange and Chris Cagle rolled into one human form and there was nothing Carnegie Tech had that could stop his march. Carnegie Tech coach Walter Steffen said of Strong's performance: "This is the first time in my career that one man was good enough to run over and completely wreck an exceptionally good team. I can tell you he is better than Heston or Thorpe." Professional sports Football Strong played 16 seasons of professional football from 1929 to 1940 and 1944 to 1947. He earned a reputation as a triple-threat man and a versatile athlete who played on offense and defense and in the kicking game. The Pro Football Hall of Fame's biography of Strong states: "Strong could do everything – run, block, pass, catch passes, punt, placekick, and play defense with the very best." Staten Island Stapletons Unable to reach terms with the New York Giants, Strong signed instead with the Staten Island Stapletons. He played for the Stapletons for four years from 1929 to 1932. While statistics are not available for the 1929 NFL season, Strong was regarded as one of the best backs in the NFL. He started all 10 games at halfback for the 1929 Stapletons. In his first NFL game, he threw a long forward pass to set up the Stapleton's first touchdown and scored all of the team's 12 points on two short touchdown runs. He also had a 70-yard run in a scoreless tie with the Orange Tornadoes on November 3, 1929. Two days later, Strong had a 50-yard touchdown run against the Providence Steam Roller. At the end of the 1929 season, Strong was selected by Collyer's Eye and the Green Bay Press-Gazette as a second-team All-Pro. In 1930, Strong appeared in all 12 games for the Stapletons and scored 53 points on two rushing touchdowns, five receiving touchdowns, one field goal, and eight extra points. His point total ranked third in the NFL in 1930, trailing only Jack McBride (56 points) and Verne Lewellen (54 points). On September 28, 1930, he caught two touchdown passes, threw a 40-yard pass that set up a third touchdown, and kicked three extra points in a 21–0 victory over the Frankford Yellow Jackets. In December 1930, he led the Stapletons to a 16–7 victory over the New York Giants for the pro football championship of New York City; Strong accounted for all 16 Stapleton points, running 98 yards for a touchdown, passing for a second touchdown, and kicking a field goal and an extra point. He was selected as a first-team player on the 1930 All-Pro Team by Collyer's Eye and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1931, Strong appeared in all 11 games for the Stapletons and scored 53 points on six rushing touchdowns, one punt return for a touchdown, two field goals, and five extra points. His 53 points ranked fourth in the NFL, trailing only Johnny Blood (84 points), Ernie Nevers (66 points), and Dutch Clark (60 points). On November 22, 1931, Strong scored all 16 points in a 16–7 victory over Cleveland; he had two rushing touchdowns, including a 50-yard run and kicked a field goal and an extra point. At the end of the 1931 season, Strong was selected as an All-Pro for the second year in a row, receiving first-team honors from the United Press (UP) and Collyer's Eye. Strong's output dropped off in 1932 as he moved to the fullback position. He appeared in 11 games and ranked sixth in the NFL with 375 rushing yards, but scored only 15 points on two touchdowns and three extra points. At the end of the 1932 season, the Stapletons team folded. New York Giants In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants. The 1932 Giants had compiled a 4–6–2 record, but the 1933 Giants, with Strong at fullback and Harry Newman at quarterback, improved to 11–3 and advanced to the 1933 NFL Championship Game. Strong led the NFL with 64 points in 1933; his points were scored on three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, a touchdown on an interception return, five field goals, and 13 extra points. On November 26, 1933, he became the first known player in NFL history to score on a fair catch kick. The 30-yard kick was made at the Polo Grounds in a win against the Green Bay Packers. After the 1933 season, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors from the United Press, Collyer's Eye, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1934, Strong again played in every game for the Giants as a fullback. He rushed for 431 yards and scored 56 points (six rushing touchdowns, four field goals, and eight extra points) in the regular season. His greatest fame derives from his role in the Giants' comeback victory over the Chicago Bears in the 1934 NFL Championship Game; Strong scored 17 points for the Giants on a 38-yard field goal, two fourth-quarter touchdowns on runs of 42 and 8 yards, and two extra points. Strong received first-team All-Pro honors in 1934 from the NFL and others. In 1935, Strong helped lead the Giants to their third consecutive NFL Championship Game. In a 10–7 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was only able to play a few minutes due to injury, but he still managed to score all of the Giants' points on a 24-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard field goal. Slowed by injury in 1935, he was described as "a celebrated invalid" who "hobbled" from the bench to kick a field goal for the Giants in a 3–0 victory over the Bears on November 17. In the 1935 NFL Championship Game, a 26–7 loss to the Detroit Lions, Strong scored all of the Giants' points on a long touchdown catch and run and the extra point. New York Yankees In August 1936, Strong signed with the New York Yankees of the newly formed second American Football League. Strong's departure from the NFL was the new league's first raid on the NFL. Strong later recalled that Giants owner Jack Mara wanted Strong to accept a pay cut from $6,000 to $3,200; the Yankees agreed to pay him $5,000. During the 1936 season, Strong earned a reputation as "the best blocker in the game." He also: kicked a field goal and two extra points in a 17–6 victory over Brooklyn on October 14; scored a touchdown and kicked the extra point in a 7–6 victory over Pittsburgh on October 21; and kicked three field goals in a 15–7 win over Cleveland on November 23. Strong returned to the Yankees in 1937. However, he left the team after three games to assist Mal Stevens in coaching the NYU Violets football team. Jersey City Giants In 1938, Strong was a player and head coach for the Jersey City Giants, the New York Giants' farm team in the American Association. He was barred from playing in the NFL because of his decision to jump to the American Football League in 1936. Tim Mara, owner of the Giants, reportedly negotiated a deal with Strong to play for Jersey City in exchange for which Mara would seek Strong's reinstatement in 1939. He kicked 13 field goals, scored 51 points, and was named to the all-league team. He led the Giants to a 7–1 record and the league championship, scoring 10 points in Jersey City's championship game victory over the Union City Rams. Return to the New York Giants Strong returned to the New York Giants in 1939. He appeared in nine games and scored 19 points on four field goals and seven extra points. Strong is also believed to be the second player (after Mose Kelsch) to have devoted an entire season to placekicking; his 1939 season with the Giants had him playing very little outside of kicks. In the summer of 1940, Strong became ill with stomach ulcers, underwent emergency surgery, and was hospitalized for four weeks. He said that he intended to return to playing when his health permitted. He played for the Jersey City Giants while recuperating in the fall of 1940, led Jersey City to another league championship, then announced his retirement as a player in November 1940. He came out of retirement in 1942 to play for the Long Island Clippers, scoring 12 points in four games. In 1944, with talent in the NFL depleted by wartime military service, Strong returned for a third stint with the New York Giants. He appeared in all 10 games for the 1944 Giants, including six as a starter. In his first three games with the Giants in 1944, Strong at age 38 accounted for 22 of the team's 48 points. He helped lead the team to the 1944 NFL Championship Game, scoring 41 points on six field goals and 23 extra points. After the war ended, Strong remained with the Giants for another three years as the team's place-kicker and remained one of the league's leading scorers with 41 points in 1945, 44 points in 1946, and 30 points in 1947. His 32 extra points in 1946 ranked second in the league. In April 1948, at age 41, Strong announced his retirement as a player. Overview and honors In 12 seasons in the NFL, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors four times (1930, 1931, 1933, and 1934) and scored 520 career points (including 36 points in the post-season) on 38 touchdowns, 39 field goals, and 175 extra points. In October 1937, Red Cagle, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, rated Strong at the greatest all-around football player. Cagle said: "Strong ... can do everything. He's a great punter, place kicker, pass thrower, and how he could carry his 198 pounds! I played with and against Strong, and he always stood out. He is tops when the chips are down ... Ken is also a brilliant blocker, so I guess that makes him the class." Walter Steffen, also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, said: "I'll tell you he is easily the greatest football player I ever saw – and I've been around over twenty-five years ... I can tell you honestly that since 1905 I've never seen a football player in his class for all-around stuff." In 1939, Grantland Rice rated Strong and Jim Thorpe as the greatest players in football history. In Strong's favor, Rice cited Strong's "unusual speed", the "driving force in his legs", and his stamina. Harry Grayson wrote: "An amazing runner, blocker, passer, kicker, and defensive man, Strong was, in the opinion of many who saw him, the greatest football player of them all." Grayson later called Strong "a runaway buffalo with the speed of an antelope." Strong received numerous honors for his football career, including the following: In 1950, he was one of the 25 charter inductees into the Helms Athletic Foundation's Professional Football Hall of Fame. In 1957, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1967, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Prior to 1968, Strong's jersey number (No. 50) was retired by the New York Giants. He was among the first four Giants (along with Mel Hein, Y. A. Tittle and Al Blozis) to be so honored. In 1969, he was named to the NFL 1930s All-Decade Team. In 1971, he was inducted into the NYU Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2010, he was one of the 22 players included in the New York Giants Ring of Honor at MetLife Stadium. Baseball Strong also played professional baseball for several years. He was signed by the New York Yankees before graduating from NYU and spent the summer of 1929 with the New Haven Profs of the Eastern League. He was an outfielder for New Haven, appearing in 104 games and compiling a .283 batting average with 21 home runs and 43 extra-base hits. Strong began the 1930 season with New Haven. In mid-May, he joined the Hazleton Mountaineers of the New York–Pennsylvania League, appearing in 117 games and compiling a .373 batting average with 41 home runs (a league record), and 88 extra-base hits. On June 8 in a game at home vs. Wilkes-Barre, Strong played left field and hit four home runs. In 1931, Strong moved up to AA ball with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League. He appeared in 118 games with Toronto and compiled a .340 batting average with 53 extra-base hits. In January 1932, the Detroit Tigers purchased rights to Strong. He was considered a tremendous major league prospect, but a wrist injury sustained late in the 1931 season when he ran into the outfield fence proved to be a fracture. Strong underwent surgery, but the Detroit surgeon removed the wrong bone. Strong never recovered the full use of his right wrist. In July 1933, Strong won a $75,000 jury verdict in a lawsuit against the surgeon who removed the wrong bone. The verdict was later reversed on appeal. Family, later years, and honors In December 1929, Strong married Amelie Hunneman, a New York actress known by the stage name Rella Harrison. The marriage was "stormy", short-lived, and ended in divorce. In December 1931, Strong married Mabel Anderson of Long Island. Strong and his second wife remained married for nearly 48 years and had a son, Kenneth Robert Strong, born in approximately 1932. After retiring from football, Strong lived with his wife and son in Bayside, Queens, and worked as a liquor salesman. From 1962 to 1965, he was an assistant coach for the New York Giants, working with the team's kickers. Strong had a history of heart problems and died of a heart attack in 1979 at age 73. Television On February 19, 1957 Strong made an appearance on the game show To Tell the Truth. He was contestant number 3 claiming to be Tommy Loughran, a former boxer. See also List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders References External links 1906 births 1979 deaths American football halfbacks New York Giants players New York Giants coaches New York Yankees (1936 AFL) players NYU Violets football players NYU Violets football coaches Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era) Staten Island Stapletons players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees National Football League players with retired numbers Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees People from West Haven, Connecticut American football fullbacks American football placekickers Players of American football from Connecticut	true	[ "Michael Patrick (born September 9, 1944) is a retired American sportscaster, known for his long tenure with ESPN.\n\nEarly career\nPatrick began his broadcasting career in the fall of 1966 at WVSC-Radio in Somerset, Pennsylvania. In 1970, he was named Sports Director at WJXT-TV in Jacksonville, Florida, where he provided play-by-play for Jacksonville Sharks' World Football League (WFL) telecasts (1973–74). He also called Jacksonville University basketball games on both radio and television.\n\nFrom 1975 until 1982, he worked for WJLA-TV as a sports reporter and weekend anchor. During this period, Patrick also did play-by-play for Maryland Terrapins football and basketball broadcasts as well as pre-season games for the Washington Football Team when WJLA had the TV rights to broadcast those games.\n\nESPN\n\nBeginning in 1982, Patrick worked for ESPN, where he is best known for his role as play-by-play announcer on the network's Sunday Night Football telecasts, with Paul Maguire and Joe Theismann from 1987–2005. Patrick was briefly replaced in 2004 by Pat Summerall, while he recovered from heart bypass surgery.\n\nHe has also called college football, men's and women's college basketball, and the College World Series for the network, as well as several NFL playoff games for ABC Sports while the network held the Monday Night Football television package.\n\nIn 2006, Patrick became the lead play-by-play announcer for ESPN on College Football Primetime, along with Todd Blackledge and field reporter Holly Rowe. In July 2009, ESPN announced that Patrick would begin calling Saturday afternoon ESPN/ABC college football for the 2009 college football season, which he did through 2017.\n\nIn addition, Patrick called the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship from 1996 through 2009 and the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska from 2003 until 2014.\n\nOn February 21, 2018, Patrick retired from ESPN after 35 years with the network.\n\nNon ESPN-related assignments\n\nPatrick also did play-by-play of Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) football and basketball games for Jefferson-Pilot (now Lincoln Financial Sports) between 1984 and 1986.\n\nPatrick is the play-by-play man for MVP 06: NCAA Baseball as well as MVP 07: NCAA Baseball.\n\nFor 2015, 2016 and 2017, Patrick did play-by-play for the Cleveland Browns preseason football games.\n\nPatrick resides in northern Virginia with his wife, Janet.\n\nReferences\n\n1944 births\nLiving people\nAmerican television sports announcers\nCollege baseball announcers in the United States\nWomen's college basketball announcers in the United States\nCollege basketball announcers in the United States\nCollege football announcers\nGeorge Washington University alumni\nMaryland Terrapins men's basketball announcers\nMaryland Terrapins football announcers\nNational Football League announcers\nPeople from Clarksburg, West Virginia\nWorld Football League announcers\nJournalists from West Virginia\nTelevision anchors from Jacksonville, Florida", "The Paraguay national futsal team represents Paraguay during international futsal competitions and is controlled by a branch of the Paraguayan Football Association (Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol). Its biggest accomplishment is becoming champions of the AMF Futsal World Cup on three occasions (1988, 2003, 2007).\n\nResults and fixtures\n\nThe following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.\nLegend\n\n2021\n\nCompetitive record\n\nFIFA Futsal World Cup\n\nFIFUSA/AMF Futsal World Cup\n1982 - Second place\n1985 - Third place\n1988 - Champions\n1991 - Second place\n1994 - Quarterfinals\n1997 - did not play\n2000 - Second round\n2003 - Champions (host)\n2007 - Champions\n2011 - Second place\n2015 - Second place\n2019 - TBD\n\nSouth American Futsal Championship\n1965 - Champions (host)\n1969 - Second place (host)\n1971 - Third place\n1973 - Third place\n1975 - Third place\n1976 - Second place\n1977 - Second place\n1979 - did not play\n1983 - Second place\n1986 - Second place\n1989 - Second place\n1992 - Third place\n1995 - Fourth place\n1996 - Fourth place\n1997 - Third place\n1998 - Second place\n1999 - Second place\n2000 - First round\n2003 - Third place (host)\n2008 - Fourth place\n2011 - Third place\n2015 - Second place\n2017 - Third place\n\nFIFA Futsal World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)\n2012 - Second place\n2016 - Third place (host)\n\nGrand Prix de Futsal\n2005 – Fifth place\n2006 – did not play\n2007 – Twelfth place\n2008 – Fourth place\n2009 – Eighth place\n2010 – Bronze medal\n2011 – Sixth place\n2013 – Fourth place\n2014 – did not play\n2015 – Fourth place\n\nFutsal Mundialito\n1994 – did not play\n1995 – did not play\n1996 – Second place\n1998 – did not play\n2001 – did not play\n2002 – did not play\n2006 – did not play\n2007 – did not play\n2008 – did not play\n\nPan American Games\n2007 - Bronze Medal\n\nHonours\nAMF Futsal World Cup\nWinners (3): 1988, 2003, 2007\nSouth American Futsal Championship\nWinners (1): 1965\nFutsal Mundialito\nSilver Medal (1): 1996\nPan American Games\nBronze Medal (1): 2007\nGrand Prix de Futsal\nBronze Medal (1): 2010\n\nSee also\nParaguay national football team\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Historia de Futsal (APF)\n\nSouth American national futsal teams\nFutsal\nNational" ]
[ "Ken Strong", "New York Giants", "When did Ken join the new york Giants?", "In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants.", "How long did he play for the New york giants?", "I don't know.", "What position did he play?", "with Strong at fullback", "Did he play well?", "Strong led the NFL with 64 points in 1933; his points were scored on three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, a touchdown on an interception return," ]	C_544929c4b6ad4be5a342f31aced398b0_0	What were some of his other accomplishments?	5	What were some of Ken Strong's other accomplishments other than leading the NFL with 64 points in 1933.	Ken Strong	In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants. The 1932 Giants had compiled a 4-6-2 record, but the 1933 Giants, with Strong at fullback and Harry Newman at quarterback, improved to 11-3 and advanced to the 1933 NFL Championship Game. Strong led the NFL with 64 points in 1933; his points were scored on three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, a touchdown on an interception return, five field goals, and 13 extra points. On November 26, 1933, he became the first known player in NFL history to score on a fair catch kick. The 30-yard kick was made at the Polo Grounds in a win against the Green Bay Packers. After the 1933 season, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors from the United Press, Collyer's Eye, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1934, Strong again played in every game for the Giants as a fullback. He rushed for 431 yards and scored 56 points (six rushing touchdowns, four field goals, and eight extra points) in the regular season. His greatest fame derives from his role in the Giants' comeback victory over the Chicago Bears in the 1934 NFL Championship Game; Strong scored 17 points for the Giants on a 38-yard field goal, two fourth-quarter touchdowns on runs of 42 and 8 yards, and two extra points. Strong received first-team All-Pro honors in 1934 from the NFL and others. In 1935, Strong helped lead the Giants to their third consecutive NFL Championship Game. In a 10-7 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was only able to play a few minutes due to injury, but he still managed to score all of the Giants' points on a 24-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard field goal. Slowed by injury in 1935, he was described as "a celebrated invalid" who "hobbled" from the bench to kick a field goal for the Giants in a 3-0 victory over the Bears on November 17. In the 1935 NFL Championship Game, a 26-7 loss to the Detroit Lions, Strong scored all of the Giants' points on a long touchdown catch and run and the extra point. CANNOTANSWER	On November 26, 1933, he became the first known player in NFL history to score on a fair catch kick.	Elmer Kenneth Strong (April 21, 1906 – October 5, 1979) was an American football halfback and fullback who also played minor league baseball. Considered one of the greatest all-around players in the early decades of the game, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1957 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and was named to the NFL 1930s All-Decade Team. A native of West Haven, Connecticut, Strong played college baseball and football for the NYU Violets. In football, he led the country in scoring with 162 points in 1928, gained over 3,000 yards from scrimmage, and was a consensus first-team selection on the 1928 College Football All-America Team. Strong played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) for the Staten Island Stapletons (1929–1932) and New York Giants (1933–1935, 1939, 1944–1947), and in the second American Football League for the New York Yankees (1936–1937). He led the NFL in scoring in 1934 and was selected as a first-team All-Pro in 1930, 1931, 1933, and 1934. He also played minor league baseball from 1929 to 1931, but his baseball career was cut short by a wrist injury. Early years Strong was born in the Savin Rock section of West Haven, Connecticut, in 1906. His father Elmer F. Strong was a Connecticut native who worked as an egg and dairy inspector. Strong attended West Haven High School where he was a star baseball and football player. New York University Strong next attended New York University (NYU) where he played baseball and football. In baseball, he was NYU's center fielder for three years and drew attention for his fielding and power hitting. He played summer baseball for the Hyannis town team of Barnstable, Massachusetts in the Cape Cod Baseball League, and was part of a "parade of sluggers" that powered the Hyannis lineup. As a halfback for the 1928 NYU Violets football team, he led the country in scoring with 162 points, tallied some 3,000 total yards from scrimmage, and was a consensus pick on the 1928 College Football All-America Team. Strong gained widespread fame when he led NYU to a 27–13 upset victory over undefeated Carnegie Tech. He threw two long touchdown passes, rushed for two touchdowns, and kicked three extra points, leading Grantland Rice to write: This attack was led by a runaway buffalo, using the speed of a deer, and his name was Ken Strong. He ran all over a big, powerful team, smashed its line, ran its ends, kicked 50 and 55 yards, threw passes and tackled all over the lot. Today he was George Gipp, Red Grange and Chris Cagle rolled into one human form and there was nothing Carnegie Tech had that could stop his march. Carnegie Tech coach Walter Steffen said of Strong's performance: "This is the first time in my career that one man was good enough to run over and completely wreck an exceptionally good team. I can tell you he is better than Heston or Thorpe." Professional sports Football Strong played 16 seasons of professional football from 1929 to 1940 and 1944 to 1947. He earned a reputation as a triple-threat man and a versatile athlete who played on offense and defense and in the kicking game. The Pro Football Hall of Fame's biography of Strong states: "Strong could do everything – run, block, pass, catch passes, punt, placekick, and play defense with the very best." Staten Island Stapletons Unable to reach terms with the New York Giants, Strong signed instead with the Staten Island Stapletons. He played for the Stapletons for four years from 1929 to 1932. While statistics are not available for the 1929 NFL season, Strong was regarded as one of the best backs in the NFL. He started all 10 games at halfback for the 1929 Stapletons. In his first NFL game, he threw a long forward pass to set up the Stapleton's first touchdown and scored all of the team's 12 points on two short touchdown runs. He also had a 70-yard run in a scoreless tie with the Orange Tornadoes on November 3, 1929. Two days later, Strong had a 50-yard touchdown run against the Providence Steam Roller. At the end of the 1929 season, Strong was selected by Collyer's Eye and the Green Bay Press-Gazette as a second-team All-Pro. In 1930, Strong appeared in all 12 games for the Stapletons and scored 53 points on two rushing touchdowns, five receiving touchdowns, one field goal, and eight extra points. His point total ranked third in the NFL in 1930, trailing only Jack McBride (56 points) and Verne Lewellen (54 points). On September 28, 1930, he caught two touchdown passes, threw a 40-yard pass that set up a third touchdown, and kicked three extra points in a 21–0 victory over the Frankford Yellow Jackets. In December 1930, he led the Stapletons to a 16–7 victory over the New York Giants for the pro football championship of New York City; Strong accounted for all 16 Stapleton points, running 98 yards for a touchdown, passing for a second touchdown, and kicking a field goal and an extra point. He was selected as a first-team player on the 1930 All-Pro Team by Collyer's Eye and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1931, Strong appeared in all 11 games for the Stapletons and scored 53 points on six rushing touchdowns, one punt return for a touchdown, two field goals, and five extra points. His 53 points ranked fourth in the NFL, trailing only Johnny Blood (84 points), Ernie Nevers (66 points), and Dutch Clark (60 points). On November 22, 1931, Strong scored all 16 points in a 16–7 victory over Cleveland; he had two rushing touchdowns, including a 50-yard run and kicked a field goal and an extra point. At the end of the 1931 season, Strong was selected as an All-Pro for the second year in a row, receiving first-team honors from the United Press (UP) and Collyer's Eye. Strong's output dropped off in 1932 as he moved to the fullback position. He appeared in 11 games and ranked sixth in the NFL with 375 rushing yards, but scored only 15 points on two touchdowns and three extra points. At the end of the 1932 season, the Stapletons team folded. New York Giants In 1933, Strong signed with the New York Giants. The 1932 Giants had compiled a 4–6–2 record, but the 1933 Giants, with Strong at fullback and Harry Newman at quarterback, improved to 11–3 and advanced to the 1933 NFL Championship Game. Strong led the NFL with 64 points in 1933; his points were scored on three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, a touchdown on an interception return, five field goals, and 13 extra points. On November 26, 1933, he became the first known player in NFL history to score on a fair catch kick. The 30-yard kick was made at the Polo Grounds in a win against the Green Bay Packers. After the 1933 season, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors from the United Press, Collyer's Eye, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1934, Strong again played in every game for the Giants as a fullback. He rushed for 431 yards and scored 56 points (six rushing touchdowns, four field goals, and eight extra points) in the regular season. His greatest fame derives from his role in the Giants' comeback victory over the Chicago Bears in the 1934 NFL Championship Game; Strong scored 17 points for the Giants on a 38-yard field goal, two fourth-quarter touchdowns on runs of 42 and 8 yards, and two extra points. Strong received first-team All-Pro honors in 1934 from the NFL and others. In 1935, Strong helped lead the Giants to their third consecutive NFL Championship Game. In a 10–7 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was only able to play a few minutes due to injury, but he still managed to score all of the Giants' points on a 24-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard field goal. Slowed by injury in 1935, he was described as "a celebrated invalid" who "hobbled" from the bench to kick a field goal for the Giants in a 3–0 victory over the Bears on November 17. In the 1935 NFL Championship Game, a 26–7 loss to the Detroit Lions, Strong scored all of the Giants' points on a long touchdown catch and run and the extra point. New York Yankees In August 1936, Strong signed with the New York Yankees of the newly formed second American Football League. Strong's departure from the NFL was the new league's first raid on the NFL. Strong later recalled that Giants owner Jack Mara wanted Strong to accept a pay cut from $6,000 to $3,200; the Yankees agreed to pay him $5,000. During the 1936 season, Strong earned a reputation as "the best blocker in the game." He also: kicked a field goal and two extra points in a 17–6 victory over Brooklyn on October 14; scored a touchdown and kicked the extra point in a 7–6 victory over Pittsburgh on October 21; and kicked three field goals in a 15–7 win over Cleveland on November 23. Strong returned to the Yankees in 1937. However, he left the team after three games to assist Mal Stevens in coaching the NYU Violets football team. Jersey City Giants In 1938, Strong was a player and head coach for the Jersey City Giants, the New York Giants' farm team in the American Association. He was barred from playing in the NFL because of his decision to jump to the American Football League in 1936. Tim Mara, owner of the Giants, reportedly negotiated a deal with Strong to play for Jersey City in exchange for which Mara would seek Strong's reinstatement in 1939. He kicked 13 field goals, scored 51 points, and was named to the all-league team. He led the Giants to a 7–1 record and the league championship, scoring 10 points in Jersey City's championship game victory over the Union City Rams. Return to the New York Giants Strong returned to the New York Giants in 1939. He appeared in nine games and scored 19 points on four field goals and seven extra points. Strong is also believed to be the second player (after Mose Kelsch) to have devoted an entire season to placekicking; his 1939 season with the Giants had him playing very little outside of kicks. In the summer of 1940, Strong became ill with stomach ulcers, underwent emergency surgery, and was hospitalized for four weeks. He said that he intended to return to playing when his health permitted. He played for the Jersey City Giants while recuperating in the fall of 1940, led Jersey City to another league championship, then announced his retirement as a player in November 1940. He came out of retirement in 1942 to play for the Long Island Clippers, scoring 12 points in four games. In 1944, with talent in the NFL depleted by wartime military service, Strong returned for a third stint with the New York Giants. He appeared in all 10 games for the 1944 Giants, including six as a starter. In his first three games with the Giants in 1944, Strong at age 38 accounted for 22 of the team's 48 points. He helped lead the team to the 1944 NFL Championship Game, scoring 41 points on six field goals and 23 extra points. After the war ended, Strong remained with the Giants for another three years as the team's place-kicker and remained one of the league's leading scorers with 41 points in 1945, 44 points in 1946, and 30 points in 1947. His 32 extra points in 1946 ranked second in the league. In April 1948, at age 41, Strong announced his retirement as a player. Overview and honors In 12 seasons in the NFL, Strong received first-team All-Pro honors four times (1930, 1931, 1933, and 1934) and scored 520 career points (including 36 points in the post-season) on 38 touchdowns, 39 field goals, and 175 extra points. In October 1937, Red Cagle, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, rated Strong at the greatest all-around football player. Cagle said: "Strong ... can do everything. He's a great punter, place kicker, pass thrower, and how he could carry his 198 pounds! I played with and against Strong, and he always stood out. He is tops when the chips are down ... Ken is also a brilliant blocker, so I guess that makes him the class." Walter Steffen, also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, said: "I'll tell you he is easily the greatest football player I ever saw – and I've been around over twenty-five years ... I can tell you honestly that since 1905 I've never seen a football player in his class for all-around stuff." In 1939, Grantland Rice rated Strong and Jim Thorpe as the greatest players in football history. In Strong's favor, Rice cited Strong's "unusual speed", the "driving force in his legs", and his stamina. Harry Grayson wrote: "An amazing runner, blocker, passer, kicker, and defensive man, Strong was, in the opinion of many who saw him, the greatest football player of them all." Grayson later called Strong "a runaway buffalo with the speed of an antelope." Strong received numerous honors for his football career, including the following: In 1950, he was one of the 25 charter inductees into the Helms Athletic Foundation's Professional Football Hall of Fame. In 1957, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1967, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Prior to 1968, Strong's jersey number (No. 50) was retired by the New York Giants. He was among the first four Giants (along with Mel Hein, Y. A. Tittle and Al Blozis) to be so honored. In 1969, he was named to the NFL 1930s All-Decade Team. In 1971, he was inducted into the NYU Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2010, he was one of the 22 players included in the New York Giants Ring of Honor at MetLife Stadium. Baseball Strong also played professional baseball for several years. He was signed by the New York Yankees before graduating from NYU and spent the summer of 1929 with the New Haven Profs of the Eastern League. He was an outfielder for New Haven, appearing in 104 games and compiling a .283 batting average with 21 home runs and 43 extra-base hits. Strong began the 1930 season with New Haven. In mid-May, he joined the Hazleton Mountaineers of the New York–Pennsylvania League, appearing in 117 games and compiling a .373 batting average with 41 home runs (a league record), and 88 extra-base hits. On June 8 in a game at home vs. Wilkes-Barre, Strong played left field and hit four home runs. In 1931, Strong moved up to AA ball with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League. He appeared in 118 games with Toronto and compiled a .340 batting average with 53 extra-base hits. In January 1932, the Detroit Tigers purchased rights to Strong. He was considered a tremendous major league prospect, but a wrist injury sustained late in the 1931 season when he ran into the outfield fence proved to be a fracture. Strong underwent surgery, but the Detroit surgeon removed the wrong bone. Strong never recovered the full use of his right wrist. In July 1933, Strong won a $75,000 jury verdict in a lawsuit against the surgeon who removed the wrong bone. The verdict was later reversed on appeal. Family, later years, and honors In December 1929, Strong married Amelie Hunneman, a New York actress known by the stage name Rella Harrison. The marriage was "stormy", short-lived, and ended in divorce. In December 1931, Strong married Mabel Anderson of Long Island. Strong and his second wife remained married for nearly 48 years and had a son, Kenneth Robert Strong, born in approximately 1932. After retiring from football, Strong lived with his wife and son in Bayside, Queens, and worked as a liquor salesman. From 1962 to 1965, he was an assistant coach for the New York Giants, working with the team's kickers. Strong had a history of heart problems and died of a heart attack in 1979 at age 73. Television On February 19, 1957 Strong made an appearance on the game show To Tell the Truth. He was contestant number 3 claiming to be Tommy Loughran, a former boxer. See also List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders References External links 1906 births 1979 deaths American football halfbacks New York Giants players New York Giants coaches New York Yankees (1936 AFL) players NYU Violets football players NYU Violets football coaches Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era) Staten Island Stapletons players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees National Football League players with retired numbers Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees People from West Haven, Connecticut American football fullbacks American football placekickers Players of American football from Connecticut	true	[ "The Anoa'i family, originating from American Samoa, is a family of professional wrestlers. Family members have comprised several tag teams and stables within a variety of promotions. Famous members of the family include Rosey, WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi, Umaga, WWE Hall of Famer Yokozuna, Roman Reigns, The Usos, and WWE Hall of Fame brothers Afa and Sika Anoa'i, the Wild Samoans. Peter Maivia and grandson The Rock are considered honorary members. WWE Hall of Famer & former wrestler Jimmy Snuka also married into the family through his first wife, Sharon Georgi. Snuka's daughter, Tamina Snuka, is considered as part of the family as well, and WWE Superstar Naomi married into the family by marrying Jimmy Uso.\n\nReverend Amituana'i Anoa'i and Peter Maivia were blood brothers, a connection that continued with Afa and Sika, who regard Peter as their uncle. Peter married Ofelia \"Lia\" Fuataga, who already had a daughter named Ata, whom he adopted and raised as his own. Ata married wrestler Rocky Johnson, and the couple became the parents of Dwayne Johnson, who wrestled as \"Rocky Maivia\" and \"The Rock\" before establishing himself as an actor. Peter's first cousin Joseph Fanene was the father of Savelina Fanene, who was formerly known in WWE as Nia Jax.\n\nAnoa'i Family tree\n\nOther members \nHollywood stuntman Tanoai Reed (known as Toa on the new American Gladiators) is the great nephew of wrestling promoter Lia Maivia (Peter Maivia's wife), while professional wrestler Lina Fanene (Nia Jax) is Dwayne Johnson's cousin. Sean Maluta, nephew of Afa Anoa'i, was a participant in WWE's first Cruiserweight Classic tournament.\n\nTag teams and stables\n\nThe Wild Samoans\n\nThe Headshrinkers\n\n3-Minute Warning\n\nSamoan Gangstas \n\nSamoan Gangstas was a tag team in the independent promotion World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW). The tag team consisted of members from the Anoa'i family.\n\nSamoan Gangstas was a tag team made up of brothers from another mothers Matt E. Smalls and Sweet Sammy Silk (Matt and Samu Anoa'i). Their tag team was formed in 1997 in WXW, the promotion of one half of The Wild Samoans, Samu's father and Matt's uncle Afa Anoa'i. The duo received success in WXW in the tag team division. On June 24, they won their first WXW Tag Team Championship by beating Love Connection (Sweet Daddy Jay Love and Georgie Love). However, they were temporarily suspended and the title was declared vacant. Matt was repackaged as Matty Smalls. They returned in the summer of 1997 and defeated Siberian Express (The Mad Russian and Russian Eliminator), on September 17 to win their second WXW Tag Team Championship.\n\nProblems began between Smalls and Smooth. The two partners began feuding with each other and could not focus properly on their tag title. On March 27, 1998, Smooth defeated Smalls in a Loser Leaves Town match. As a result of losing this match, Smalls was forced to leave the promotion. He left WXW while Smooth focused on a singles career. After a short while, Smalls returned to WXW and the two partners reunited again as Samoan Gangstas and began teaming in the tag team division. They feuded with several tag teams in WXW and focused to regain the WXW Tag Team Championship. However, due to their family disputes and problems with each other, they did not take part in the tournament for the vacated tag title, and instead feuded with each other. Samoan Gangstas feuded with each other after their splitting until Smalls left WXW and began wrestling as Kimo. He began teaming with Ekmo (Eddie Fatu) as The Island Boyz and the duo worked in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) before signing with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and working in its developmental territories.\n\nThe Sons of Samoa \nThe Sons of Samoa are a tag team currently wrestling in the Puerto Rican wrestling promotion World Wrestling Council and WXW. The team consists of Afa Jr. and L.A. Smooth.\n\nThe team was formed at WXW in 1998, briefly as a stable with Samu. The team reformed in April 2009 at a WXW show with Afa Jr. and L.A. Smooth. In 2013, they began wrestling at the WWC promotion in Puerto Rico. At Euphoria 2013, they lost to Thunder and Lightning. They won the WWC World Tag Team Championship from Thunder and Lightning on February 9, before losing the titles back to Thunder and Lightning on March 30 at Camino a la Gloria. However, they won the titles on June 29, 2013, at Summer Madness.\n\nThe Usos \n\nThe Usos (born August 22, 1985) are a Samoan American professional wrestling tag team consisting of twin brothers Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso, who appear in WWE where they are former two-time WWE Tag Team Champions. They are also former five-time WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions. The pair were previously managed by Tamina Snuka and are one-time FCW Florida Tag Team Champions.\n\nThe Bloodline \n\nThe Bloodline is a professional wrestling stable currently performing in WWE on the SmackDown brand. The group is led by Roman Reigns, who is the current WWE Universal Champion, and is also composed of The Usos, and Paul Heyman, who acts as Reigns' on-screen \"special counsel\".\n\nChampionship and accomplishments \n Afa Anoa'i\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Sika Anoa'i\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Lloyd Anoa'i\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Rikishi\n Championships and accomplishments\n Sam Fatu\n Championships and accomplishments\n Umaga\n Championships and accomplishments\n Yokozuna\n Championships and accomplishments\n Rosey\n Championships and accomplishments\n Roman Reigns\n Championships and accomplishments\n The Usos\n Championships and accomplishments\n Dwayne Johnson\n Championships and accomplishments\n Peter Maivia\n Championships and accomplishments\n Jacob Fatu\n Championships and accomplishments\n Lance Anoa'i\n Championships and accomplishments\nNia Jax\n Championships and accomplishments\n\nSee also \nList of family relations in professional wrestling\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links \n Samoan Dynasty\n\n \nProfessional wrestling families\nAmerican families", "Cryptoconchoidsyphonostomata, or While it's to be Had was a one-act play styled a \"successful romantic Extravaganza\", written by R. H. Edgar and Charles Collette, an actor who also starred in the leading role of Plantagenet Smith and wrote the words and music of the play's hit song. It is chiefly remembered today as the curtain-raiser at the Royalty Theatre on the night of 25 March 1875, the night of the premiere of Gilbert and Sullivan's first opera produced by Richard D'Oyly Carte, Trial by Jury.\n\nBackground\nCryptoconchoidsyphonostomata had been tried out in matinées at the Vaudeville Theatre and had premiered on 18 January 1875 at the Holborn Theatre \"on the occasion of an amateur performance for the benefit of a charity.\"\n\nIt opened at the Royalty Theatre on 27 February 1875 as a companion piece to Offenbach's La Périchole. Linda Verner, who played the First Bridesmaid, and later the Plaintiff, in Trial by Jury, played Polly in Cryptoconchoidsyphonostomata. \n\nCollette's song from the play, \"What an Afternoon!\", was published separately. The simple form of the lyric, with its title repeated every other line, caught the public fancy:\nHis trousers' sleeves were bright green-red,\nWhat an afternoon!\nWith velvet collar of white black lead;\nWhat an afternoon!\nHe also moved his legs when he walked,\nWhat an afternoon!\nAnd he generally spoke when he usually talked;\nWhat an afternoon!\nThe success of the song prompted unauthorized distribution of the words and music. Collette successfully sued a man named Goode, causing one paper to comment that the song should be retitled \"What a Goode Afternoon\".\n\nCryptoconchoidsyphonostomata was replaced at the Royalty, after 25 March 1875, by other works for the remainder of the run of Trial. Nevertheless, it was popular and was repeated elsewhere, including at the Olympic Theatre on 10 July 1875, starring Collette. In 1881, it was presented at the Imperial Theatre. Colette appeared in nearly 20 productions of the play between 1875 and 1881, revising the script over the years.\n\nSynopsis and reception\nThe Morning Post printed the following review and synopsis:\nCryptoconchoidsyphonostomata, as Mr. Collette calls the whimsicality he has, with the aid of Mr. R. H. Edgar, invented for the display of his own powers, though it brings upon the stage four characters is in fact little more than a monologue. A street genius named Plantagenet Smith, whose versatile talents have not been enough to keep his head above water, has seen and loved Polly Toddleposh, the lovely and romantic daughter of a successful tradesman. His passion is returned, and he has ventured, strong in his impudence, into the presence of the worthy cit to coax, bully, or cajole him into a consent to his marriage. A prospect more uninviting than that of a son-in-law of this species, dirty, dingy and wholly disreputable, cannot easily be put before a father. Some delay is accordingly experienced before the consent of Mr. Toddleposh is wrung from him. To show how useful he can make himself, our Celadon displays before the astounded father the whole range of his accomplishments. Now he gives, with the accompaniment of a banjo, such as contributed to form the reputation of Mr. Charles Mathews, and, being encored, substitutes for it a piece of rhymed and rhythmical nonsense wholly indescribable; now he gives in breathless haste a conjunction of all the hardest and most crabbed specimens of scientific terminology, and again he imitates the wheedling jargon of the street swindler. So varied accomplishments soften the paternal heart, and, after half an hour's very clever, if wholly preposterous, amusement has been afforded, Mr. Toddleposh relents and promises the indefatigable lover an occupation and a wife. If the former can scarcely be pronounced worthy of his talents, the latter, as presented by Miss Linda Verner, is wholly in excess of his deserts. A balance may accordingly be struck.\n\nNotes\n\nFurther reading\nInce, Bernand. \"Natural -born Showman: the stage career of Charles Colette, actor and Comedian\", Theatre Notebook: A Journal of the History and Technique of the British Theatre, 2009, Vol. 63, No. 1, pp. 20–37\n\nExternal links\nBiography of Collette\nSheet music to the song \"What an Afternoon!\"\n\n1875 plays\nOne-act plays" ]
[ "Enrique Iglesias", "Early life and family" ]	C_7b955c1cc93f462290e111aa633deec1_1	What year was he born?	1	What year was Enrique Iglesias born?	Enrique Iglesias	Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina-Spanish socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. He was raised with two older siblings: Chabeli and Julio Jr.. One of his mother Preysler's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father Julio Iglesias' family are from Galicia and Andalusia - his father also claims Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. The parents divorced in 1979. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque terrorist group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom he later dedicated his first album. He also lived in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, for one year with his mother. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and he recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernan Martinez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-nineties on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the turn of the millennium, he made a successful crossover into the mainstream English-language market. He signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US$68 million with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope Records to release English albums. In 2010, Iglesias parted with Interscope Records and signed with another Universal Music Group label, Republic Records, to release bilingual albums. In 2015, he parted ways with Universal Music Group after being there for over a decade. He signed with Sony Music and his subsequent albums were to be released by Sony Music Latin in Spanish and RCA Records in English. Iglesias is one of the best-selling Latin music artists with estimated sales of over 70 million records worldwide. He has had five Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, including two number-ones. As of October 2020, Iglesias holds the number-one position on the Greatest of All-Latin Artists charts. Iglesias holds the record for the most number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart with 27 songs, the Latin Airplay chart with 32 songs, and the Latin Pop Airplay chart with 24 songs. Iglesias also has 14 number-ones on Billboards Dance charts, more than any other male artist. He has earned the honorific title King of Latin Pop. In December 2016, Billboard magazine named him the 14th most successful and top male dance club artist of all time. In October 2020, Iglesias was awarded the "Top Latin Artist of All Time" at the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Early life and family Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His father Julio is recognized as the most commercially successful continental European singer in the world. Iglesias was raised with two older siblings, Chábeli and Julio Jr. One of his mother's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father's family is from Galicia and Andalusia; his father also claims some Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. Iglesias found out later in life that he was born with a rare congenital condition known as situs inversus where some of the body's major organs, such as the heart, are situated on the opposite side of the body from normal. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father and his girlfriend at the time, Venezuelan top model Virginia Sipli, in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom Enrique later dedicated his first album. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernán Martínez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martínez', with the backstory of being a singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. Music career 1995–1996: Enrique Iglesias On 12 July 1995, Iglesias released Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads, including hits such as "Si Tú Te Vas" and "Experiencia Religiosa". This album, along with Iglesias' next two, was released by the Mexican label Fonovisa. The record sold half a million copies in its first week, a rare accomplishment then for an album recorded in a language other than English, going Gold in Portugal within the first week of release, and sold over a million copies in the next three months. His song "Por Amarte" was included in Televisa's telenovela Marisol, but with a twist: instead of Por amarte daría mi vida (To love you, I'd give my life), the words were Por amarte Marisol, moriría (To love you, Marisol, I'd die). The CD also yielded Italian and Portuguese editions, with most of the songs translated into those languages. Five singles were released from the album, such as "Por Amarte", "No Llores Por Mí", and "Trapecista" all of which topped the Billboards Latin charts. The album still holds the record for producing the most number one singles on the Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart. The album went on to win Iglesias the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance. 1997–1998: Vivir and Cosas del Amor In 1997, Iglesias' stardom continued to rise with the release of Vivir (To Live), which put him up with other English-language music superstars in sales for that year. The album also included a cover version of the Yazoo song "Only You", translated into Spanish as "Solo en Tí". Three singles were released from Vivir: "Enamorado Por Primera Vez", "Sólo en Ti", and "Miente", which topped the Latin singles chart as well as those in several Spanish-speaking countries. Along with his father and Luis Miguel, Iglesias was nominated for an American Music Award in the first-ever awarded category of Favorite Latin Artist. Iglesias lost out to his father, but performed the song "Lluvia Cae" at the event. Insisting on playing stadiums for his first concert tour, that summer, Iglesias, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel, played to sold-out audiences in sixteen countries. Beginning in Odessa, Texas, the tour went on to play three consecutive nights in Mexico's Plaza de Toros, two consecutive nights at Monterrey's Auditorio Coca-Cola, and two at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to over 130,000 people, as well as 19 arenas in the U.S. In 1998, Iglesias released his third album Cosas del Amor (Things of Love). Taking a more mature musical direction, the album, aided by the popular singles "Esperanza" and "Nunca Te Olvidaré", both of which topped the Latin singles chart, helped cement his status in the Latin music scene. Iglesias did a short tour of smaller venues to accompany the release of the album, with one show being televised from Acapulco, Mexico. This was followed by a larger world tour of over eighty shows in even bigger venues. The Cosas del Amor Tour was the first ever concert tour sponsored by McDonald's. He won an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Latin Artist against Ricky Martin and Chayanne. The song "Nunca te Olvidaré" was also used as the theme music for a Spanish soap opera of the same name and he sang the song himself on the last episode of the series. 1999–2000: Enrique In 1999, Iglesias began a successful crossover career into the English-language music market. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably Ricky Martin, Latino artists and music had a great surge in popularity in mainstream music that year. After attending one of his concerts in March 1999, Will Smith asked Iglesias to contribute to the soundtrack of his movie Wild Wild West. His contribution "Bailamos" was released as a single and became a number one hit in the US. After the success of "Bailamos", several mainstream record labels were eager to sign Iglesias. Signing a multi-album deal after weeks of negotiations with Interscope, Iglesias recorded and released his first full CD in English, Enrique. The pop album, with some Latin influences, took two months to complete. It contained the song "Rhythm Divine", a duet with Whitney Houston titled "Could I Have This Kiss Forever", and a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song "Sad Eyes". In 2000, Iglesias performed at the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show alongside Christina Aguilera and Phil Collins and Toni Braxton. Shock jock Howard Stern repeatedly played a tape of a supposedly very off-key Iglesias on his radio show and accused him of not being able to sing live. On 8 June 2000, Iglesias sang the song live on Stern's show with just a guitar accompanying him. After the performance, Stern remarked, "I respect you for coming in here; you really can sing". Iglesias noted that the recording could have been him, but that it was probably a recording made during a television taping where he was required to lip sync and not sing properly. He would remark that the controversy was the best promotion he could have. The album's single "Be with You" became Iglesias' second number-one single on Billboards Hot 100. 2001-2002: Escape and Quizas In 2001, Iglesias released his second English-language album Escape. Where most of the Latin crossover acts of the previous year experienced some difficulty matching the record sales of their first English-language albums, Iglesias actually went on to sell even more with the album being certified Diamond for shipments of over 10 million copies. The album's first single, "Hero", became a number-one hit in the United Kingdom, and in many other countries. The entire album was co-written by Iglesias. Escape is his biggest commercial success to date. The singles "Escape" and "Don't Turn Off the Lights" became radio staples, placing highly or topping various charts both in North America and elsewhere. A second edition of the album was released internationally and contained a new version of one of Iglesias' favorite tracks, "Maybe", as well as a duet with Lionel Richie called "To Love a Woman". Iglesias capitalized on the album's success with his "One-Night Stand World Tour" consisting of fifty sold-out shows in sixteen countries. Including Radio City Music Hall and three consecutive nights in London's Royal Albert Hall, the tour ended with a big show at Lia Manoliu Stadium in Bucharest, Romania. The concert launched MTV Romania, with the video for "Love to See You Cry" being the first to be shown on the channel. In 2002, Iglesias decided to release a fourth Spanish-language album titled Quizás (Perhaps). A more polished musical production than his previous Spanish albums and containing more introspective songs, the album's title track is a song about the strained relationship Iglesias has with his famous father. The album debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the highest placement of a Spanish-language album on the chart at that period. Quizás sold a million copies in a week, making it the fastest-selling album in Spanish in five years. All three singles released from the album all ended up topping the Latin chart, giving Iglesias a total of sixteen number ones on the chart. He currently holds the record for the most number-one singles on Billboards Latin Chart. With the song "Para Qué La Vida" Iglesias reached a million spins on U.S. radio becoming the first Latin act to do so. The video to the song "Quizás" was the first Spanish-language music video to be added to the selection on MTV's popular show Total Request Live.The album went on to win the Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. That year he embarked on an arena tour of the Americas. The "Don't Turn Off the Lights" tour was completed in the summer of 2002, with two sold-out nights in Madison Square Garden and another two in Mexico's National Auditorium. The tour finished with a single show in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2003-2004: Seven By 2003, Iglesias released his seventh album, which he called 7, the second to be co-written by him. Among its more 1980s-inspired material, it features the song "Roamer", which he wrote with his friend and longtime guitarist Tony Bruno. The CD also contained the song "Be Yourself", a song about independence; the chorus talks about how Iglesias' own parents did not believe he'd ever succeed in his singing career. The first single was the song "Addicted", and was followed closely by a remix of the song "Not in Love", featuring Kelis. With this album, Iglesias went on his biggest world tour to date. The highly publicised tour started with twelve shows in the United States ending with Iglesias playing at Houston Rodeo, and continued on to several countries, most of which he'd never previously visited, playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums in Australia, India, Egypt, and Singapore, before ending his tour in South Africa. 2007–2009: Insomniac, 95/08 Éxitos and Greatest Hits After a two-year hiatus, Iglesias released his new album Insomniac on 12 June 2007. The album was so named due to it being recorded mainly at night. The record had a more contemporary pop style than that of his previous albums. Its highlights include the songs "Push", with rapper Lil Wayne, as well as "Ring My Bells" and a cover of Ringside's "Tired of Being Sorry". The album's first single, "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)", was released on 10 April 2007. It was Iglesias' highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 since "Escape". The song was also a hit throughout Europe, peaking in the top 10 in many countries. The Spanish version of the song, titled "Dímelo", was number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for eleven weeks, becoming his second best performing song on that chart at the time. Iglesias followed up with the ballad "Somebody's Me", which was released as a single in North America. The song was played extensively on AC radio and peaked high on Billboards Hot AC. In Europe, the second single was "Tired of Being Sorry", which performed well in many countries; he recorded a version of the song with French singer Nâdiya, which was number one in France for eleven weeks. A solo version of "Push" was added to the soundtrack of the movie Step Up 2 the Streets. The song was regarded as the third single from the album. A music video was shot, which features the film's lead actors. Despite never being officially added to radio, the song has charted in several countries. On 4 July 2007, Iglesias became the first Western artist to play a concert in Syria in three decades when he performed for a sold-out crowd of ten thousand in the capital Damascus and in the same week, he performed on Live Earth in Hamburg. The Insomniac World Tour was launched at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa, the same venue he ended his last world tour, and took him to sold-out arenas throughout Europe. It was his first arena tour of the UK, with him playing venues such as Manchester's MEN Arena and Wembley Arena. The tour ended with Iglesias performing at the newly opened L.A. Live. A second leg of the tour took him throughout Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina. Iglesias's song "Can You Hear Me" was chosen as the official song of the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament. He performed the song live at the 29 June 2008 final in Vienna, Austria. The song featured on a re-issue of Insomniac, which was released in certain countries. Iglesias released a Spanish greatest hits album titled 95/08 Éxitos on 25 March 2008, which included his seventeen number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart plus two new songs. The first single was the song "¿Dónde Están Corazón?", which was written by Argentine star Coti, and became Iglesias's eighteenth number-one single on Billboards Hot Latin Songs. The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and number eighteen on the overall Billboard 200 albums chart. It was Iglesias's second Spanish album to debut in the top 20 of the Billboard 200 (Quizás debuted at number twelve in 2002). The album was certified double Platinum (Latin field) in the U.S. and in some Latin American countries. The record's second single, "Lloro Por Ti", also reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart and had an official remix featuring Wisin & Yandel. Iglesias did a tour of the US to promote the compilation. Beginning in Laredo, Texas, and ending at the Izod Center in New Jersey, he was accompanied through most of the tour with bachata band Aventura, who also performed "Lloro Por Ti" with him at the 2008 Premios Juventud. Iglesias was a surprise performer at the 2008 Lo Nuestro Awards, opening the show with a medley of "¿Dónde Están Corazón?" and "Dímelo". He also performed at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, where he received a special award. After the success of his Spanish greatest hits compilation, Iglesias released a compilation of his English-language hits on 11 November. The album includes "Can You Hear Me" as well as two new songs. The first single, "Away", features Sean Garrett, and was followed by "Takin' Back My Love", featuring Ciara. The album debuted at number three on the official UK Albums Chart and sold over 80,000 copies in its first two weeks of release alone. Iglesias was the winner of two World Music Awards in the categories of "World's Best Selling Latin Performer" and "World's Best Selling Spanish Artist" at the ceremony held in Monaco on 9 November 2008. 2010–2011: Euphoria On 5 July 2010, Iglesias released his ninth studio album Euphoria, his first work to be released under his new label Universal Republic. The album is Iglesias's first bilingual album, with seven original English songs and six original Spanish songs. It won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album, the Billboard Latin Awards for Latin Album of the Year and Latin Pop Album of the Year, and was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Iglesias worked with three producers whom he had collaborated with before: RedOne, Mark Taylor, and Carlos Paucar. The album features collaborations with Akon, Usher, Nicole Scherzinger, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ludacris, DJ Frank E, Pitbull, Juan Luis Guerra, and his third song together with Wisin & Yandel. In a joint venture with Universal Latino, Iglesias released different singles in both English and Spanish simultaneously to different formats. The first English single from the album, "I Like It", which features the rapper Pitbull, was released on 3 May 2010 in the U.S. and became a success, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also featured in the MTV reality series Jersey Shore. "Cuando Me Enamoro" was released as the lead Spanish single from the album, and became the theme song of the Mexican telenovela of the same title, produced by Televisa. The song debuted at number eight and number twenty-five on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart, respectively. It became his twenty-fifth top ten single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and after four weeks of its release date, it became his twenty-first No.1 song on this chart. In January 2011, the album's third English single, "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" broke into the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, also reaching No. 4. The song was released only for digital download in the United States but was featured on some editions of Euphoria in Europe and some Asian areas. The song became Iglesias' first number one on the U.S. Pop Songs and Radio Songs airplay charts. A remix version of the album track "Dirty Dancer" was released as the fourth English single and became his ninth Hot Dance Club Play chart topper, tying with Prince and Michael Jackson as the male with the most No. 1 dance singles. Further, "Ayer" served as the album's third Spanish single and seventh single overall. The Euphoria Tour took Iglesias across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and several European countries. One of the tour's legs took him to Australia, while fellow artist Pitbull joined him as an opening act. Prince Royce also served as opening act during the tour's second leg across North America. In August 2011, Iglesias released the single "I Like How It Feels" to radio. This was planned to serve as the lead single from the Euphoria album's proposed re-issue that never came to fruition, Euphoria Reloaded. 2012–2014: Sex and Love On 25 August 2012, Iglesias unveiled his brand new single, "Finally Found You", a collaboration with American rapper Sammy Adams. It was released to the US iTunes Store on 25 September 2012. The song was released in UK on 9 December 2012. On 8 December 2012, Iglesias performed at the Z100 Jingle Ball in Miami, and on the iHeartRadio Festival interview session before the show, Iglesias stated he's working on some new music and – when asked about his time in the studio – he said, "It's kind of like going fishing, you never know when you're going to catch a big one." Continuing on to tell what fans can expect to hear, he said he's ready to try something new: "I come out with so many albums and I want to make sure that if I come out with an album it sounds new. At least to me." It was confirmed that Iglesias would be working with Mark Taylor, The Cataracs, and Carlos Paucar for the new album. Iglesias continued to tour during this period returned to India in October 2012 to perform another series of shows called Tri-City tour in Pune, Delhi, and Bangalore playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums. On 31 May 2013, Iglesias performed at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco. The show broke the highest attendance record as more than 120,000 fans gathered to watch the concert. Iglesias released a number of singles prior to the album release, the first of which was "Turn the Night Up" followed by "Heart Attack" which was released to US Top 40 radio stations. Latin stations were served with the song "Loco", a smooth bachata duet with urban bachata superstar Romeo Santos. The single became Iglesias' 24th No. 1 on the Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. A version of the song released in Spain featured Spanish Flamenco singer India Martinez and topped the charts in Spain. This was followed by El Perdedor, a duet with Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solis and was the theme to the telenovela Lo que la vida me robó. The song became his 24th #1 on the Latin charts. Iglesias announced the title of his tenth studio album would be Sex and Love. The album was released on 14 March 2014.The release of the album was accompanied by the single I'm a Freak and featured Pitbull The album also featured a duet with Kylie Minogue called "Beautiful", which appears on her twelfth studio album Kiss Me Once. In addition to the previously stated collaborations the album featured guest appearances by Flo Rida, Yandel, Juan Magan, Jennifer Lopez and Gente de Zona. The next single to be released from the album was "Bailando", featuring Descemer Bueno, and Gente De Zona. "Bailando" was immensely successful becoming his 25th #1 on Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was #1 for 41 consecutive weeks on Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart becoming the longest reigning #1 in the history of the chart beating the record previously held by Shakira's 25 week run. This record was later broken in 2017 when "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber spent 56 weeks on top of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was also a crossover success in part due to a Spanglish version of the song which featured rapper Sean Paul which saw the song peak at #12 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Top 10 on the airplay chart becoming the highest charting Spanish song since the Macarena in 1996. The original Spanish music video of the song was also YouTube's second most watched music video of 2014, behind Katy Perry's hit single, "Dark Horse" and was the first Spanish language video to reach a billion views on the platform. "Bailando" currently has over 3 billion views on YouTube. The song won three Latin Grammy awards including Song of the Year. In addition to the original Spanish version, Iglesias also released two Portuguese versions of the song featuring the Portuguese singer Mickael Carreira and the Brazilian singer Luan Santana. Sex and Love was Spotify's 7th most-streamed album worldwide in 2014, and "Bailando" was the most-streamed song in both Mexico and Spain. Iglesias was also called the King of 2014, due to his tenth album, Sex and Love, and his hit single "Bailando". Billboard called him "The Crowd Pleaser" of 2014. After more than a decade with Universal Music, Iglesias left the record label in 2015 and signed on with Sony Music. 2015–present: Final Since the release of his last studio album Sex and Love, Iglesias continued issuing singles. In 2015, he collaborated with Nicky Jam on the reggaeton megahit "El Perdón" which topped the charts in several countries and has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2016 Iglesias released his first single under that Sony "Duele el Corazón" featuring Wisin which also topped the charts in several countries including the US Latin charts and also has over 1 billion views on YouTube . In 2017, Iglesias released "Súbeme la Radio", which features Descemer Bueno and Zion y Lennox. The song has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2018, Iglesias released two songs, one called "El Baño" with Bad Bunny and the other called "Move to Miami" with Pitbull. During this period Iglesias would feature on songs by other artists such as RedOne's "Don't You Need Somebody," Descemer Bueno's "Nos Fuimos Lejos", Matoma's "I Don't Dance (Without You)", Jon Z's "Después Que Te Perdí" and Anuel AA's "Fútbol y Rumba". In March 2020, it was announced that Iglesias would embark on a tour with Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. The tour was planned to start on 5 September 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona and end on 30 October 2020 in Atlanta, but the tour was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The song "Me Pasé" featuring Farruko was released on 1 July 2021 and became a hit on Latin radio topping the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, as well as extended his record for most #1s on Latin Pop Airplay Chart and reclaiming his record for most #1s on the Latin Airplay Chart. During a chat with Ricky Martin and Sebastian Yatra, Iglesias revealed that his next album would be released in two volumes, titled Final, as it likely would be his last album. Iglesias claimed, "it's something that I have been thinking about for the past few years" but also insisted, "I'm never going to stop writing songs because I love writing songs, but I'm going to do it in a different way, meaning they don't necessarily have to be packaged as an album, so this project to me is important". On 17 September, Iglesias released Final Vol. 1, alongside a new single, "Pendejo". Songwriting, producing, and acting Iglesias has collaborated with songwriter Guy Chambers to write "Un Nuovo Giorno", the lead single from Andrea Bocelli's first pop album. The song was later translated into English as "First Day of My Life" and recorded by Spice Girl Melanie C. The song has since gone to become a huge hit throughout Europe, and peaked in the number one spot in numerous countries. Iglesias also co-wrote the single "The Way" for American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken. Four songs co-written by Iglesias appear on the UK band The Hollies' 2006 album Staying Power. In 2010, Idol Allstars (Swedish Idol Series) released the song "All I Need Is You", co-written by Iglesias with Andreas Carlsson, Kalle Engström, and Kristian Lundin. He also co-wrote Jennifer Lopez's song "Dance Again", released in 2012, which reached number-one position in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. In 2000, Iglesias co-produced an off-Broadway musical called Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. In the musical, four Americans of Latin heritage possess a common interest in music and meet and decide to put on a show. The show contained many references and allusions to many classic and contemporary Latin and pop songs by the likes of Carmen Miranda, Selena, Ritchie Valens, Chayanne, Ricky Martin, and Iglesias himself. Iglesias starred alongside Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Johnny Depp in the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in which he played the well-spoken gun-wielding Lorenzo. In 2007, he had a guest appearance in the TV comedy Two and a Half Men as a carpenter/handyman. He also guest-starred as Gael, an Argentinean guitar playing/surfer/massage therapist love interest of Robin in season 3 of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. Iglesias also played the part of an evil Roman emperor in a Pepsi ad in 2004, as well as appearing in commercials for Tommy Hilfiger, Doritos, and Viceroy watches. Personal life In late 2001, Enrique Iglesias started a relationship with Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. In 2008, he was quoted by the Daily Star as having been married to Kournikova but having split. They reportedly split in October 2013 but reconciled. The couple have a son and daughter, Nicholas and Lucy, who are fraternal twins born on 16 December 2017. On 30 January 2020, their third child, a daughter, Mary, was born. In 2003, Iglesias received surgery to remove a circular mole from the right side of his face, citing concerns that over time it could become cancerous. Philanthropy In 2010, Iglesias was included in the project Download to Donate, run by Music for Relief, an organization started by American rock band Linkin Park. He co-produced Download to Donate for Haiti, a charity album for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, with the co-vocalist of the band Mike Shinoda. Both of them promoted the album at various venues, one of them being Larry King Live, where he and Shinoda explained the project. In 2013, Iglesias urged his followers to donate money through the American Red Cross to help the victims of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The typhoon struck one month after the Philippines was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake which destroyed homes and livelihoods of around 350,000 people. Iglesias has supported City of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Help for Heroes, Live Earth, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Special Olympics, Save the Children, The Salvation Army, and charitable causes like Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and hunger relief. Discography Studio albums Enrique Iglesias (1995) Vivir (1997) Cosas del Amor (1998) Enrique (1999) Escape (2001) Quizás (2002) 7 (2003) Insomniac (2007) Euphoria (2010) Sex and Love (2014) Final (Vol. 1) (2021) Filmography Film and television roles Soundtrack and self appearances Tours Headlining Vivir World Tour Cosas del Amor World Tour 2000 Tour One Night Stand Tour Don't Turn Off The Lights Tour Seven World Tour Insomniac World Tour Greatest Hits Tour Euphoria Tour Sex and Love Tour All the Hits Live Co-headlining Enrique Iglesias & Jennifer Lopez Tour Enrique & Pitbull on Tour Enrique Iglesias And Pitbull Live! Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert Awards and nominations Iglesias has won more than 200 awards from various ceremonies including 23 Billboard Music Awards and 36 Billboard Latin Music Awards, as well as 8 American Music Awards, 1 Grammy (with 3 times nomination), 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 10 World Music Awards, 6 MTV awards, 19 Premios Lo Nuestro Awards (with 24 times nomination) and 15 Premios Juventud Awards (with 21 times nomination) etc. He has been nominated over 465 times for various awards. He also won an award for Best International Pop Act at the MTV India Awards, as well as being named "King of Latin Pop". In 2000, he was awarded Most Fashionable Artist at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. In 2001, for the release of his second English studio album Escape, he received awards for Best-Selling Pop Male Artist and European Male Artist at the World Music Awards. And for the first time ever in the history of Billboard Music Awards Enrique Iglesias was awarded with "Top Latin Artist of All Time" Title and Award at Billboard Latin Music Awards 2020. References External links 1975 births Living people 20th-century Spanish singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century Spanish singers English-language singers from Spain Fonovisa Records artists Grammy Award winners Gulliver Preparatory School alumni Enrique Interscope Records artists Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers MTV Europe Music Award winners Musicians from Madrid Musicians from Miami People from Madrid RCA Records artists Republic Records artists Singers from Florida Singers from Madrid Songwriters from Florida Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish dance musicians Spanish emigrants to the United States Spanish expatriates in the United States Spanish male singers Spanish people of American descent Spanish people of Filipino descent Spanish people of Galician descent Spanish people of Jewish descent Spanish people of Kapampangan descent Spanish people of Puerto Rican descent Spanish philanthropists Spanish pop singers Spanish record producers Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish songwriters Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists University of Miami Business School alumni	false	[ "William Zeiman was a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Zeiman was a member during the 1877 session from the 1st District of Dodge County, Wisconsin. He was born on March 31, 1846, in what is now North Prairie, Wisconsin in what is now Waukesha County, Wisconsin.\n\nReferences\n\nPeople from North Prairie, Wisconsin\nPeople from Dodge County, Wisconsin\nWisconsin Democrats\nMembers of the Wisconsin State Assembly\n1846 births\nYear of death missing", "John R. Hofstatter was a member of the Assembly during the 1911 session. Additionally, he was a Baraboo, Wisconsin alderman (similar to city councilman). He was a Democrat. Hofstatter was born in what is now Sumpter, Wisconsin in 1858.\n\nReferences\n\nPeople from Baraboo, Wisconsin\nPeople from Sumpter, Wisconsin\nMembers of the Wisconsin State Assembly\nWisconsin city council members\nWisconsin Democrats\n1858 births\nYear of death missing" ]
[ "Enrique Iglesias", "Early life and family", "What year was he born?", "I don't know." ]	C_7b955c1cc93f462290e111aa633deec1_1	Where did he grow up?	2	Where did Enrique Iglesias grow up?	Enrique Iglesias	Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina-Spanish socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. He was raised with two older siblings: Chabeli and Julio Jr.. One of his mother Preysler's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father Julio Iglesias' family are from Galicia and Andalusia - his father also claims Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. The parents divorced in 1979. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque terrorist group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom he later dedicated his first album. He also lived in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, for one year with his mother. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and he recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernan Martinez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. CANNOTANSWER	Madrid, Spain,	Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-nineties on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the turn of the millennium, he made a successful crossover into the mainstream English-language market. He signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US$68 million with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope Records to release English albums. In 2010, Iglesias parted with Interscope Records and signed with another Universal Music Group label, Republic Records, to release bilingual albums. In 2015, he parted ways with Universal Music Group after being there for over a decade. He signed with Sony Music and his subsequent albums were to be released by Sony Music Latin in Spanish and RCA Records in English. Iglesias is one of the best-selling Latin music artists with estimated sales of over 70 million records worldwide. He has had five Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, including two number-ones. As of October 2020, Iglesias holds the number-one position on the Greatest of All-Latin Artists charts. Iglesias holds the record for the most number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart with 27 songs, the Latin Airplay chart with 32 songs, and the Latin Pop Airplay chart with 24 songs. Iglesias also has 14 number-ones on Billboards Dance charts, more than any other male artist. He has earned the honorific title King of Latin Pop. In December 2016, Billboard magazine named him the 14th most successful and top male dance club artist of all time. In October 2020, Iglesias was awarded the "Top Latin Artist of All Time" at the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Early life and family Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His father Julio is recognized as the most commercially successful continental European singer in the world. Iglesias was raised with two older siblings, Chábeli and Julio Jr. One of his mother's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father's family is from Galicia and Andalusia; his father also claims some Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. Iglesias found out later in life that he was born with a rare congenital condition known as situs inversus where some of the body's major organs, such as the heart, are situated on the opposite side of the body from normal. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father and his girlfriend at the time, Venezuelan top model Virginia Sipli, in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom Enrique later dedicated his first album. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernán Martínez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martínez', with the backstory of being a singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. Music career 1995–1996: Enrique Iglesias On 12 July 1995, Iglesias released Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads, including hits such as "Si Tú Te Vas" and "Experiencia Religiosa". This album, along with Iglesias' next two, was released by the Mexican label Fonovisa. The record sold half a million copies in its first week, a rare accomplishment then for an album recorded in a language other than English, going Gold in Portugal within the first week of release, and sold over a million copies in the next three months. His song "Por Amarte" was included in Televisa's telenovela Marisol, but with a twist: instead of Por amarte daría mi vida (To love you, I'd give my life), the words were Por amarte Marisol, moriría (To love you, Marisol, I'd die). The CD also yielded Italian and Portuguese editions, with most of the songs translated into those languages. Five singles were released from the album, such as "Por Amarte", "No Llores Por Mí", and "Trapecista" all of which topped the Billboards Latin charts. The album still holds the record for producing the most number one singles on the Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart. The album went on to win Iglesias the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance. 1997–1998: Vivir and Cosas del Amor In 1997, Iglesias' stardom continued to rise with the release of Vivir (To Live), which put him up with other English-language music superstars in sales for that year. The album also included a cover version of the Yazoo song "Only You", translated into Spanish as "Solo en Tí". Three singles were released from Vivir: "Enamorado Por Primera Vez", "Sólo en Ti", and "Miente", which topped the Latin singles chart as well as those in several Spanish-speaking countries. Along with his father and Luis Miguel, Iglesias was nominated for an American Music Award in the first-ever awarded category of Favorite Latin Artist. Iglesias lost out to his father, but performed the song "Lluvia Cae" at the event. Insisting on playing stadiums for his first concert tour, that summer, Iglesias, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel, played to sold-out audiences in sixteen countries. Beginning in Odessa, Texas, the tour went on to play three consecutive nights in Mexico's Plaza de Toros, two consecutive nights at Monterrey's Auditorio Coca-Cola, and two at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to over 130,000 people, as well as 19 arenas in the U.S. In 1998, Iglesias released his third album Cosas del Amor (Things of Love). Taking a more mature musical direction, the album, aided by the popular singles "Esperanza" and "Nunca Te Olvidaré", both of which topped the Latin singles chart, helped cement his status in the Latin music scene. Iglesias did a short tour of smaller venues to accompany the release of the album, with one show being televised from Acapulco, Mexico. This was followed by a larger world tour of over eighty shows in even bigger venues. The Cosas del Amor Tour was the first ever concert tour sponsored by McDonald's. He won an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Latin Artist against Ricky Martin and Chayanne. The song "Nunca te Olvidaré" was also used as the theme music for a Spanish soap opera of the same name and he sang the song himself on the last episode of the series. 1999–2000: Enrique In 1999, Iglesias began a successful crossover career into the English-language music market. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably Ricky Martin, Latino artists and music had a great surge in popularity in mainstream music that year. After attending one of his concerts in March 1999, Will Smith asked Iglesias to contribute to the soundtrack of his movie Wild Wild West. His contribution "Bailamos" was released as a single and became a number one hit in the US. After the success of "Bailamos", several mainstream record labels were eager to sign Iglesias. Signing a multi-album deal after weeks of negotiations with Interscope, Iglesias recorded and released his first full CD in English, Enrique. The pop album, with some Latin influences, took two months to complete. It contained the song "Rhythm Divine", a duet with Whitney Houston titled "Could I Have This Kiss Forever", and a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song "Sad Eyes". In 2000, Iglesias performed at the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show alongside Christina Aguilera and Phil Collins and Toni Braxton. Shock jock Howard Stern repeatedly played a tape of a supposedly very off-key Iglesias on his radio show and accused him of not being able to sing live. On 8 June 2000, Iglesias sang the song live on Stern's show with just a guitar accompanying him. After the performance, Stern remarked, "I respect you for coming in here; you really can sing". Iglesias noted that the recording could have been him, but that it was probably a recording made during a television taping where he was required to lip sync and not sing properly. He would remark that the controversy was the best promotion he could have. The album's single "Be with You" became Iglesias' second number-one single on Billboards Hot 100. 2001-2002: Escape and Quizas In 2001, Iglesias released his second English-language album Escape. Where most of the Latin crossover acts of the previous year experienced some difficulty matching the record sales of their first English-language albums, Iglesias actually went on to sell even more with the album being certified Diamond for shipments of over 10 million copies. The album's first single, "Hero", became a number-one hit in the United Kingdom, and in many other countries. The entire album was co-written by Iglesias. Escape is his biggest commercial success to date. The singles "Escape" and "Don't Turn Off the Lights" became radio staples, placing highly or topping various charts both in North America and elsewhere. A second edition of the album was released internationally and contained a new version of one of Iglesias' favorite tracks, "Maybe", as well as a duet with Lionel Richie called "To Love a Woman". Iglesias capitalized on the album's success with his "One-Night Stand World Tour" consisting of fifty sold-out shows in sixteen countries. Including Radio City Music Hall and three consecutive nights in London's Royal Albert Hall, the tour ended with a big show at Lia Manoliu Stadium in Bucharest, Romania. The concert launched MTV Romania, with the video for "Love to See You Cry" being the first to be shown on the channel. In 2002, Iglesias decided to release a fourth Spanish-language album titled Quizás (Perhaps). A more polished musical production than his previous Spanish albums and containing more introspective songs, the album's title track is a song about the strained relationship Iglesias has with his famous father. The album debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the highest placement of a Spanish-language album on the chart at that period. Quizás sold a million copies in a week, making it the fastest-selling album in Spanish in five years. All three singles released from the album all ended up topping the Latin chart, giving Iglesias a total of sixteen number ones on the chart. He currently holds the record for the most number-one singles on Billboards Latin Chart. With the song "Para Qué La Vida" Iglesias reached a million spins on U.S. radio becoming the first Latin act to do so. The video to the song "Quizás" was the first Spanish-language music video to be added to the selection on MTV's popular show Total Request Live.The album went on to win the Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. That year he embarked on an arena tour of the Americas. The "Don't Turn Off the Lights" tour was completed in the summer of 2002, with two sold-out nights in Madison Square Garden and another two in Mexico's National Auditorium. The tour finished with a single show in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2003-2004: Seven By 2003, Iglesias released his seventh album, which he called 7, the second to be co-written by him. Among its more 1980s-inspired material, it features the song "Roamer", which he wrote with his friend and longtime guitarist Tony Bruno. The CD also contained the song "Be Yourself", a song about independence; the chorus talks about how Iglesias' own parents did not believe he'd ever succeed in his singing career. The first single was the song "Addicted", and was followed closely by a remix of the song "Not in Love", featuring Kelis. With this album, Iglesias went on his biggest world tour to date. The highly publicised tour started with twelve shows in the United States ending with Iglesias playing at Houston Rodeo, and continued on to several countries, most of which he'd never previously visited, playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums in Australia, India, Egypt, and Singapore, before ending his tour in South Africa. 2007–2009: Insomniac, 95/08 Éxitos and Greatest Hits After a two-year hiatus, Iglesias released his new album Insomniac on 12 June 2007. The album was so named due to it being recorded mainly at night. The record had a more contemporary pop style than that of his previous albums. Its highlights include the songs "Push", with rapper Lil Wayne, as well as "Ring My Bells" and a cover of Ringside's "Tired of Being Sorry". The album's first single, "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)", was released on 10 April 2007. It was Iglesias' highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 since "Escape". The song was also a hit throughout Europe, peaking in the top 10 in many countries. The Spanish version of the song, titled "Dímelo", was number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for eleven weeks, becoming his second best performing song on that chart at the time. Iglesias followed up with the ballad "Somebody's Me", which was released as a single in North America. The song was played extensively on AC radio and peaked high on Billboards Hot AC. In Europe, the second single was "Tired of Being Sorry", which performed well in many countries; he recorded a version of the song with French singer Nâdiya, which was number one in France for eleven weeks. A solo version of "Push" was added to the soundtrack of the movie Step Up 2 the Streets. The song was regarded as the third single from the album. A music video was shot, which features the film's lead actors. Despite never being officially added to radio, the song has charted in several countries. On 4 July 2007, Iglesias became the first Western artist to play a concert in Syria in three decades when he performed for a sold-out crowd of ten thousand in the capital Damascus and in the same week, he performed on Live Earth in Hamburg. The Insomniac World Tour was launched at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa, the same venue he ended his last world tour, and took him to sold-out arenas throughout Europe. It was his first arena tour of the UK, with him playing venues such as Manchester's MEN Arena and Wembley Arena. The tour ended with Iglesias performing at the newly opened L.A. Live. A second leg of the tour took him throughout Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina. Iglesias's song "Can You Hear Me" was chosen as the official song of the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament. He performed the song live at the 29 June 2008 final in Vienna, Austria. The song featured on a re-issue of Insomniac, which was released in certain countries. Iglesias released a Spanish greatest hits album titled 95/08 Éxitos on 25 March 2008, which included his seventeen number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart plus two new songs. The first single was the song "¿Dónde Están Corazón?", which was written by Argentine star Coti, and became Iglesias's eighteenth number-one single on Billboards Hot Latin Songs. The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and number eighteen on the overall Billboard 200 albums chart. It was Iglesias's second Spanish album to debut in the top 20 of the Billboard 200 (Quizás debuted at number twelve in 2002). The album was certified double Platinum (Latin field) in the U.S. and in some Latin American countries. The record's second single, "Lloro Por Ti", also reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart and had an official remix featuring Wisin & Yandel. Iglesias did a tour of the US to promote the compilation. Beginning in Laredo, Texas, and ending at the Izod Center in New Jersey, he was accompanied through most of the tour with bachata band Aventura, who also performed "Lloro Por Ti" with him at the 2008 Premios Juventud. Iglesias was a surprise performer at the 2008 Lo Nuestro Awards, opening the show with a medley of "¿Dónde Están Corazón?" and "Dímelo". He also performed at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, where he received a special award. After the success of his Spanish greatest hits compilation, Iglesias released a compilation of his English-language hits on 11 November. The album includes "Can You Hear Me" as well as two new songs. The first single, "Away", features Sean Garrett, and was followed by "Takin' Back My Love", featuring Ciara. The album debuted at number three on the official UK Albums Chart and sold over 80,000 copies in its first two weeks of release alone. Iglesias was the winner of two World Music Awards in the categories of "World's Best Selling Latin Performer" and "World's Best Selling Spanish Artist" at the ceremony held in Monaco on 9 November 2008. 2010–2011: Euphoria On 5 July 2010, Iglesias released his ninth studio album Euphoria, his first work to be released under his new label Universal Republic. The album is Iglesias's first bilingual album, with seven original English songs and six original Spanish songs. It won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album, the Billboard Latin Awards for Latin Album of the Year and Latin Pop Album of the Year, and was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Iglesias worked with three producers whom he had collaborated with before: RedOne, Mark Taylor, and Carlos Paucar. The album features collaborations with Akon, Usher, Nicole Scherzinger, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ludacris, DJ Frank E, Pitbull, Juan Luis Guerra, and his third song together with Wisin & Yandel. In a joint venture with Universal Latino, Iglesias released different singles in both English and Spanish simultaneously to different formats. The first English single from the album, "I Like It", which features the rapper Pitbull, was released on 3 May 2010 in the U.S. and became a success, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also featured in the MTV reality series Jersey Shore. "Cuando Me Enamoro" was released as the lead Spanish single from the album, and became the theme song of the Mexican telenovela of the same title, produced by Televisa. The song debuted at number eight and number twenty-five on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart, respectively. It became his twenty-fifth top ten single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and after four weeks of its release date, it became his twenty-first No.1 song on this chart. In January 2011, the album's third English single, "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" broke into the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, also reaching No. 4. The song was released only for digital download in the United States but was featured on some editions of Euphoria in Europe and some Asian areas. The song became Iglesias' first number one on the U.S. Pop Songs and Radio Songs airplay charts. A remix version of the album track "Dirty Dancer" was released as the fourth English single and became his ninth Hot Dance Club Play chart topper, tying with Prince and Michael Jackson as the male with the most No. 1 dance singles. Further, "Ayer" served as the album's third Spanish single and seventh single overall. The Euphoria Tour took Iglesias across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and several European countries. One of the tour's legs took him to Australia, while fellow artist Pitbull joined him as an opening act. Prince Royce also served as opening act during the tour's second leg across North America. In August 2011, Iglesias released the single "I Like How It Feels" to radio. This was planned to serve as the lead single from the Euphoria album's proposed re-issue that never came to fruition, Euphoria Reloaded. 2012–2014: Sex and Love On 25 August 2012, Iglesias unveiled his brand new single, "Finally Found You", a collaboration with American rapper Sammy Adams. It was released to the US iTunes Store on 25 September 2012. The song was released in UK on 9 December 2012. On 8 December 2012, Iglesias performed at the Z100 Jingle Ball in Miami, and on the iHeartRadio Festival interview session before the show, Iglesias stated he's working on some new music and – when asked about his time in the studio – he said, "It's kind of like going fishing, you never know when you're going to catch a big one." Continuing on to tell what fans can expect to hear, he said he's ready to try something new: "I come out with so many albums and I want to make sure that if I come out with an album it sounds new. At least to me." It was confirmed that Iglesias would be working with Mark Taylor, The Cataracs, and Carlos Paucar for the new album. Iglesias continued to tour during this period returned to India in October 2012 to perform another series of shows called Tri-City tour in Pune, Delhi, and Bangalore playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums. On 31 May 2013, Iglesias performed at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco. The show broke the highest attendance record as more than 120,000 fans gathered to watch the concert. Iglesias released a number of singles prior to the album release, the first of which was "Turn the Night Up" followed by "Heart Attack" which was released to US Top 40 radio stations. Latin stations were served with the song "Loco", a smooth bachata duet with urban bachata superstar Romeo Santos. The single became Iglesias' 24th No. 1 on the Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. A version of the song released in Spain featured Spanish Flamenco singer India Martinez and topped the charts in Spain. This was followed by El Perdedor, a duet with Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solis and was the theme to the telenovela Lo que la vida me robó. The song became his 24th #1 on the Latin charts. Iglesias announced the title of his tenth studio album would be Sex and Love. The album was released on 14 March 2014.The release of the album was accompanied by the single I'm a Freak and featured Pitbull The album also featured a duet with Kylie Minogue called "Beautiful", which appears on her twelfth studio album Kiss Me Once. In addition to the previously stated collaborations the album featured guest appearances by Flo Rida, Yandel, Juan Magan, Jennifer Lopez and Gente de Zona. The next single to be released from the album was "Bailando", featuring Descemer Bueno, and Gente De Zona. "Bailando" was immensely successful becoming his 25th #1 on Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was #1 for 41 consecutive weeks on Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart becoming the longest reigning #1 in the history of the chart beating the record previously held by Shakira's 25 week run. This record was later broken in 2017 when "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber spent 56 weeks on top of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was also a crossover success in part due to a Spanglish version of the song which featured rapper Sean Paul which saw the song peak at #12 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Top 10 on the airplay chart becoming the highest charting Spanish song since the Macarena in 1996. The original Spanish music video of the song was also YouTube's second most watched music video of 2014, behind Katy Perry's hit single, "Dark Horse" and was the first Spanish language video to reach a billion views on the platform. "Bailando" currently has over 3 billion views on YouTube. The song won three Latin Grammy awards including Song of the Year. In addition to the original Spanish version, Iglesias also released two Portuguese versions of the song featuring the Portuguese singer Mickael Carreira and the Brazilian singer Luan Santana. Sex and Love was Spotify's 7th most-streamed album worldwide in 2014, and "Bailando" was the most-streamed song in both Mexico and Spain. Iglesias was also called the King of 2014, due to his tenth album, Sex and Love, and his hit single "Bailando". Billboard called him "The Crowd Pleaser" of 2014. After more than a decade with Universal Music, Iglesias left the record label in 2015 and signed on with Sony Music. 2015–present: Final Since the release of his last studio album Sex and Love, Iglesias continued issuing singles. In 2015, he collaborated with Nicky Jam on the reggaeton megahit "El Perdón" which topped the charts in several countries and has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2016 Iglesias released his first single under that Sony "Duele el Corazón" featuring Wisin which also topped the charts in several countries including the US Latin charts and also has over 1 billion views on YouTube . In 2017, Iglesias released "Súbeme la Radio", which features Descemer Bueno and Zion y Lennox. The song has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2018, Iglesias released two songs, one called "El Baño" with Bad Bunny and the other called "Move to Miami" with Pitbull. During this period Iglesias would feature on songs by other artists such as RedOne's "Don't You Need Somebody," Descemer Bueno's "Nos Fuimos Lejos", Matoma's "I Don't Dance (Without You)", Jon Z's "Después Que Te Perdí" and Anuel AA's "Fútbol y Rumba". In March 2020, it was announced that Iglesias would embark on a tour with Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. The tour was planned to start on 5 September 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona and end on 30 October 2020 in Atlanta, but the tour was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The song "Me Pasé" featuring Farruko was released on 1 July 2021 and became a hit on Latin radio topping the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, as well as extended his record for most #1s on Latin Pop Airplay Chart and reclaiming his record for most #1s on the Latin Airplay Chart. During a chat with Ricky Martin and Sebastian Yatra, Iglesias revealed that his next album would be released in two volumes, titled Final, as it likely would be his last album. Iglesias claimed, "it's something that I have been thinking about for the past few years" but also insisted, "I'm never going to stop writing songs because I love writing songs, but I'm going to do it in a different way, meaning they don't necessarily have to be packaged as an album, so this project to me is important". On 17 September, Iglesias released Final Vol. 1, alongside a new single, "Pendejo". Songwriting, producing, and acting Iglesias has collaborated with songwriter Guy Chambers to write "Un Nuovo Giorno", the lead single from Andrea Bocelli's first pop album. The song was later translated into English as "First Day of My Life" and recorded by Spice Girl Melanie C. The song has since gone to become a huge hit throughout Europe, and peaked in the number one spot in numerous countries. Iglesias also co-wrote the single "The Way" for American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken. Four songs co-written by Iglesias appear on the UK band The Hollies' 2006 album Staying Power. In 2010, Idol Allstars (Swedish Idol Series) released the song "All I Need Is You", co-written by Iglesias with Andreas Carlsson, Kalle Engström, and Kristian Lundin. He also co-wrote Jennifer Lopez's song "Dance Again", released in 2012, which reached number-one position in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. In 2000, Iglesias co-produced an off-Broadway musical called Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. In the musical, four Americans of Latin heritage possess a common interest in music and meet and decide to put on a show. The show contained many references and allusions to many classic and contemporary Latin and pop songs by the likes of Carmen Miranda, Selena, Ritchie Valens, Chayanne, Ricky Martin, and Iglesias himself. Iglesias starred alongside Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Johnny Depp in the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in which he played the well-spoken gun-wielding Lorenzo. In 2007, he had a guest appearance in the TV comedy Two and a Half Men as a carpenter/handyman. He also guest-starred as Gael, an Argentinean guitar playing/surfer/massage therapist love interest of Robin in season 3 of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. Iglesias also played the part of an evil Roman emperor in a Pepsi ad in 2004, as well as appearing in commercials for Tommy Hilfiger, Doritos, and Viceroy watches. Personal life In late 2001, Enrique Iglesias started a relationship with Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. In 2008, he was quoted by the Daily Star as having been married to Kournikova but having split. They reportedly split in October 2013 but reconciled. The couple have a son and daughter, Nicholas and Lucy, who are fraternal twins born on 16 December 2017. On 30 January 2020, their third child, a daughter, Mary, was born. In 2003, Iglesias received surgery to remove a circular mole from the right side of his face, citing concerns that over time it could become cancerous. Philanthropy In 2010, Iglesias was included in the project Download to Donate, run by Music for Relief, an organization started by American rock band Linkin Park. He co-produced Download to Donate for Haiti, a charity album for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, with the co-vocalist of the band Mike Shinoda. Both of them promoted the album at various venues, one of them being Larry King Live, where he and Shinoda explained the project. In 2013, Iglesias urged his followers to donate money through the American Red Cross to help the victims of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The typhoon struck one month after the Philippines was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake which destroyed homes and livelihoods of around 350,000 people. Iglesias has supported City of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Help for Heroes, Live Earth, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Special Olympics, Save the Children, The Salvation Army, and charitable causes like Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and hunger relief. Discography Studio albums Enrique Iglesias (1995) Vivir (1997) Cosas del Amor (1998) Enrique (1999) Escape (2001) Quizás (2002) 7 (2003) Insomniac (2007) Euphoria (2010) Sex and Love (2014) Final (Vol. 1) (2021) Filmography Film and television roles Soundtrack and self appearances Tours Headlining Vivir World Tour Cosas del Amor World Tour 2000 Tour One Night Stand Tour Don't Turn Off The Lights Tour Seven World Tour Insomniac World Tour Greatest Hits Tour Euphoria Tour Sex and Love Tour All the Hits Live Co-headlining Enrique Iglesias & Jennifer Lopez Tour Enrique & Pitbull on Tour Enrique Iglesias And Pitbull Live! Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert Awards and nominations Iglesias has won more than 200 awards from various ceremonies including 23 Billboard Music Awards and 36 Billboard Latin Music Awards, as well as 8 American Music Awards, 1 Grammy (with 3 times nomination), 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 10 World Music Awards, 6 MTV awards, 19 Premios Lo Nuestro Awards (with 24 times nomination) and 15 Premios Juventud Awards (with 21 times nomination) etc. He has been nominated over 465 times for various awards. He also won an award for Best International Pop Act at the MTV India Awards, as well as being named "King of Latin Pop". In 2000, he was awarded Most Fashionable Artist at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. In 2001, for the release of his second English studio album Escape, he received awards for Best-Selling Pop Male Artist and European Male Artist at the World Music Awards. And for the first time ever in the history of Billboard Music Awards Enrique Iglesias was awarded with "Top Latin Artist of All Time" Title and Award at Billboard Latin Music Awards 2020. References External links 1975 births Living people 20th-century Spanish singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century Spanish singers English-language singers from Spain Fonovisa Records artists Grammy Award winners Gulliver Preparatory School alumni Enrique Interscope Records artists Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers MTV Europe Music Award winners Musicians from Madrid Musicians from Miami People from Madrid RCA Records artists Republic Records artists Singers from Florida Singers from Madrid Songwriters from Florida Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish dance musicians Spanish emigrants to the United States Spanish expatriates in the United States Spanish male singers Spanish people of American descent Spanish people of Filipino descent Spanish people of Galician descent Spanish people of Jewish descent Spanish people of Kapampangan descent Spanish people of Puerto Rican descent Spanish philanthropists Spanish pop singers Spanish record producers Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish songwriters Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists University of Miami Business School alumni	true	[ "Grow Up may refer to:\nAdvance in age\nProgress toward psychological maturity\nGrow Up (book), a 2007 book by Keith Allen\nGrow Up (video game), 2016 video game\n\nMusic\nGrow Up (Desperate Journalist album), 2017\nGrow Up (The Queers album), 1990\nGrow Up (Svoy album), 2011\nGrow Up, a 2015 EP by HALO\n\"Grow Up\" (Olly Murs song)\n\"Grow Up\" (Paramore song)\n\"Grow Up\" (Simple Plan song)\n\"Grow Up\", a song by Rockwell\n\"Grow Up\", a song from the Bratz album Rock Angelz\n\"Grow Up\", a song by Cher Lloyd from Sticks and Stones\n\nSee also\nGrowing Up (disambiguation)\nGrow Up, Tony Phillips, a 2013 film by Emily Hagins", "\"When I Grow Up\" is the second single from Swedish recording artist Fever Ray's self-titled debut album, Fever Ray (2009).\n\nCritical reception\nPitchfork Media placed \"When I Grow Up\" at number 36 on the website's list of The Top 100 Tracks of 2009.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video for \"When I Grow Up\" was directed by Martin de Thurah. He said of the video's visual statement:\n\n\"That initial idea was something about something coming out of water—something which was about to take form – a state turning into something new. And a double headed creature not deciding which to turn. But the idea had to take a simpler form, to let the song grow by itself. I remembered a photo I took in Croatia two years ago, a swimming pool with its shining blue color in a grey foggy autumn landscape.\"\n\nThe video premiered on Fever Ray's YouTube channel on 19 February 2009. It has received over 12 million views as of March 2016.\n\n\"When I Grow Up\" was placed at number three on Spins list of The 20 Best Videos of 2009.\n\nTrack listings\niTunes single\n\"When I Grow Up\" – 4:31\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Håkan Lidbo's Encephalitis Remix) – 5:59\n\"When I Grow Up\" (D. Lissvik) – 4:28\n\"Memories from When I Grew Up (Remembered by The Subliminal Kid)\" – 16:41\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Van Rivers Dark Sails on the Horizon Mix) – 9:16\n\"When I Grow Up\" (We Grow Apart Vocal Version by Pär Grindvik) – 6:02\n\"When I Grow Up\" (We Grow Apart Inspiration - Take 2 - By Pär Grindvik) – 7:59\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Scuba's High Up Mix) – 6:17\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Scuba's Straight Down Mix) – 5:54\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Video) – 4:04\n\nSwedish 12\" single \nA1. \"When I Grow Up\" (Van Rivers Dark Sails on the Horizon Mix) – 9:10\nA2. \"When I Grow Up\" (D. Lissvik) – 4:28\nB1. \"Memories from When I Grew Up (Remembered by The Subliminal Kid)\" – 16:41\n\nUK promo CD single \n\"When I Grow Up\" (Edit) – 3:42\n\"When I Grow Up\" (D. Lissvik Radio Edit) – 3:19\n\nNominations\n\nAppearances in other media\nThe song was used as part of the soundtrack for the video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2011.\n\nReferences\n\n2009 singles\n2009 songs\nFever Ray songs\nSongs written by Karin Dreijer" ]
[ "Enrique Iglesias", "Early life and family", "What year was he born?", "I don't know.", "Where did he grow up?", "Madrid, Spain," ]	C_7b955c1cc93f462290e111aa633deec1_1	How long did he remain there?	3	How long did Enrique Iglesias remain in Madrid, Spain?	Enrique Iglesias	Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina-Spanish socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. He was raised with two older siblings: Chabeli and Julio Jr.. One of his mother Preysler's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father Julio Iglesias' family are from Galicia and Andalusia - his father also claims Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. The parents divorced in 1979. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque terrorist group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom he later dedicated his first album. He also lived in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, for one year with his mother. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and he recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernan Martinez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. CANNOTANSWER	1981,	Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-nineties on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the turn of the millennium, he made a successful crossover into the mainstream English-language market. He signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US$68 million with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope Records to release English albums. In 2010, Iglesias parted with Interscope Records and signed with another Universal Music Group label, Republic Records, to release bilingual albums. In 2015, he parted ways with Universal Music Group after being there for over a decade. He signed with Sony Music and his subsequent albums were to be released by Sony Music Latin in Spanish and RCA Records in English. Iglesias is one of the best-selling Latin music artists with estimated sales of over 70 million records worldwide. He has had five Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, including two number-ones. As of October 2020, Iglesias holds the number-one position on the Greatest of All-Latin Artists charts. Iglesias holds the record for the most number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart with 27 songs, the Latin Airplay chart with 32 songs, and the Latin Pop Airplay chart with 24 songs. Iglesias also has 14 number-ones on Billboards Dance charts, more than any other male artist. He has earned the honorific title King of Latin Pop. In December 2016, Billboard magazine named him the 14th most successful and top male dance club artist of all time. In October 2020, Iglesias was awarded the "Top Latin Artist of All Time" at the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Early life and family Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His father Julio is recognized as the most commercially successful continental European singer in the world. Iglesias was raised with two older siblings, Chábeli and Julio Jr. One of his mother's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father's family is from Galicia and Andalusia; his father also claims some Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. Iglesias found out later in life that he was born with a rare congenital condition known as situs inversus where some of the body's major organs, such as the heart, are situated on the opposite side of the body from normal. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father and his girlfriend at the time, Venezuelan top model Virginia Sipli, in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom Enrique later dedicated his first album. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernán Martínez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martínez', with the backstory of being a singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. Music career 1995–1996: Enrique Iglesias On 12 July 1995, Iglesias released Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads, including hits such as "Si Tú Te Vas" and "Experiencia Religiosa". This album, along with Iglesias' next two, was released by the Mexican label Fonovisa. The record sold half a million copies in its first week, a rare accomplishment then for an album recorded in a language other than English, going Gold in Portugal within the first week of release, and sold over a million copies in the next three months. His song "Por Amarte" was included in Televisa's telenovela Marisol, but with a twist: instead of Por amarte daría mi vida (To love you, I'd give my life), the words were Por amarte Marisol, moriría (To love you, Marisol, I'd die). The CD also yielded Italian and Portuguese editions, with most of the songs translated into those languages. Five singles were released from the album, such as "Por Amarte", "No Llores Por Mí", and "Trapecista" all of which topped the Billboards Latin charts. The album still holds the record for producing the most number one singles on the Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart. The album went on to win Iglesias the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance. 1997–1998: Vivir and Cosas del Amor In 1997, Iglesias' stardom continued to rise with the release of Vivir (To Live), which put him up with other English-language music superstars in sales for that year. The album also included a cover version of the Yazoo song "Only You", translated into Spanish as "Solo en Tí". Three singles were released from Vivir: "Enamorado Por Primera Vez", "Sólo en Ti", and "Miente", which topped the Latin singles chart as well as those in several Spanish-speaking countries. Along with his father and Luis Miguel, Iglesias was nominated for an American Music Award in the first-ever awarded category of Favorite Latin Artist. Iglesias lost out to his father, but performed the song "Lluvia Cae" at the event. Insisting on playing stadiums for his first concert tour, that summer, Iglesias, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel, played to sold-out audiences in sixteen countries. Beginning in Odessa, Texas, the tour went on to play three consecutive nights in Mexico's Plaza de Toros, two consecutive nights at Monterrey's Auditorio Coca-Cola, and two at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to over 130,000 people, as well as 19 arenas in the U.S. In 1998, Iglesias released his third album Cosas del Amor (Things of Love). Taking a more mature musical direction, the album, aided by the popular singles "Esperanza" and "Nunca Te Olvidaré", both of which topped the Latin singles chart, helped cement his status in the Latin music scene. Iglesias did a short tour of smaller venues to accompany the release of the album, with one show being televised from Acapulco, Mexico. This was followed by a larger world tour of over eighty shows in even bigger venues. The Cosas del Amor Tour was the first ever concert tour sponsored by McDonald's. He won an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Latin Artist against Ricky Martin and Chayanne. The song "Nunca te Olvidaré" was also used as the theme music for a Spanish soap opera of the same name and he sang the song himself on the last episode of the series. 1999–2000: Enrique In 1999, Iglesias began a successful crossover career into the English-language music market. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably Ricky Martin, Latino artists and music had a great surge in popularity in mainstream music that year. After attending one of his concerts in March 1999, Will Smith asked Iglesias to contribute to the soundtrack of his movie Wild Wild West. His contribution "Bailamos" was released as a single and became a number one hit in the US. After the success of "Bailamos", several mainstream record labels were eager to sign Iglesias. Signing a multi-album deal after weeks of negotiations with Interscope, Iglesias recorded and released his first full CD in English, Enrique. The pop album, with some Latin influences, took two months to complete. It contained the song "Rhythm Divine", a duet with Whitney Houston titled "Could I Have This Kiss Forever", and a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song "Sad Eyes". In 2000, Iglesias performed at the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show alongside Christina Aguilera and Phil Collins and Toni Braxton. Shock jock Howard Stern repeatedly played a tape of a supposedly very off-key Iglesias on his radio show and accused him of not being able to sing live. On 8 June 2000, Iglesias sang the song live on Stern's show with just a guitar accompanying him. After the performance, Stern remarked, "I respect you for coming in here; you really can sing". Iglesias noted that the recording could have been him, but that it was probably a recording made during a television taping where he was required to lip sync and not sing properly. He would remark that the controversy was the best promotion he could have. The album's single "Be with You" became Iglesias' second number-one single on Billboards Hot 100. 2001-2002: Escape and Quizas In 2001, Iglesias released his second English-language album Escape. Where most of the Latin crossover acts of the previous year experienced some difficulty matching the record sales of their first English-language albums, Iglesias actually went on to sell even more with the album being certified Diamond for shipments of over 10 million copies. The album's first single, "Hero", became a number-one hit in the United Kingdom, and in many other countries. The entire album was co-written by Iglesias. Escape is his biggest commercial success to date. The singles "Escape" and "Don't Turn Off the Lights" became radio staples, placing highly or topping various charts both in North America and elsewhere. A second edition of the album was released internationally and contained a new version of one of Iglesias' favorite tracks, "Maybe", as well as a duet with Lionel Richie called "To Love a Woman". Iglesias capitalized on the album's success with his "One-Night Stand World Tour" consisting of fifty sold-out shows in sixteen countries. Including Radio City Music Hall and three consecutive nights in London's Royal Albert Hall, the tour ended with a big show at Lia Manoliu Stadium in Bucharest, Romania. The concert launched MTV Romania, with the video for "Love to See You Cry" being the first to be shown on the channel. In 2002, Iglesias decided to release a fourth Spanish-language album titled Quizás (Perhaps). A more polished musical production than his previous Spanish albums and containing more introspective songs, the album's title track is a song about the strained relationship Iglesias has with his famous father. The album debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the highest placement of a Spanish-language album on the chart at that period. Quizás sold a million copies in a week, making it the fastest-selling album in Spanish in five years. All three singles released from the album all ended up topping the Latin chart, giving Iglesias a total of sixteen number ones on the chart. He currently holds the record for the most number-one singles on Billboards Latin Chart. With the song "Para Qué La Vida" Iglesias reached a million spins on U.S. radio becoming the first Latin act to do so. The video to the song "Quizás" was the first Spanish-language music video to be added to the selection on MTV's popular show Total Request Live.The album went on to win the Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. That year he embarked on an arena tour of the Americas. The "Don't Turn Off the Lights" tour was completed in the summer of 2002, with two sold-out nights in Madison Square Garden and another two in Mexico's National Auditorium. The tour finished with a single show in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2003-2004: Seven By 2003, Iglesias released his seventh album, which he called 7, the second to be co-written by him. Among its more 1980s-inspired material, it features the song "Roamer", which he wrote with his friend and longtime guitarist Tony Bruno. The CD also contained the song "Be Yourself", a song about independence; the chorus talks about how Iglesias' own parents did not believe he'd ever succeed in his singing career. The first single was the song "Addicted", and was followed closely by a remix of the song "Not in Love", featuring Kelis. With this album, Iglesias went on his biggest world tour to date. The highly publicised tour started with twelve shows in the United States ending with Iglesias playing at Houston Rodeo, and continued on to several countries, most of which he'd never previously visited, playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums in Australia, India, Egypt, and Singapore, before ending his tour in South Africa. 2007–2009: Insomniac, 95/08 Éxitos and Greatest Hits After a two-year hiatus, Iglesias released his new album Insomniac on 12 June 2007. The album was so named due to it being recorded mainly at night. The record had a more contemporary pop style than that of his previous albums. Its highlights include the songs "Push", with rapper Lil Wayne, as well as "Ring My Bells" and a cover of Ringside's "Tired of Being Sorry". The album's first single, "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)", was released on 10 April 2007. It was Iglesias' highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 since "Escape". The song was also a hit throughout Europe, peaking in the top 10 in many countries. The Spanish version of the song, titled "Dímelo", was number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for eleven weeks, becoming his second best performing song on that chart at the time. Iglesias followed up with the ballad "Somebody's Me", which was released as a single in North America. The song was played extensively on AC radio and peaked high on Billboards Hot AC. In Europe, the second single was "Tired of Being Sorry", which performed well in many countries; he recorded a version of the song with French singer Nâdiya, which was number one in France for eleven weeks. A solo version of "Push" was added to the soundtrack of the movie Step Up 2 the Streets. The song was regarded as the third single from the album. A music video was shot, which features the film's lead actors. Despite never being officially added to radio, the song has charted in several countries. On 4 July 2007, Iglesias became the first Western artist to play a concert in Syria in three decades when he performed for a sold-out crowd of ten thousand in the capital Damascus and in the same week, he performed on Live Earth in Hamburg. The Insomniac World Tour was launched at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa, the same venue he ended his last world tour, and took him to sold-out arenas throughout Europe. It was his first arena tour of the UK, with him playing venues such as Manchester's MEN Arena and Wembley Arena. The tour ended with Iglesias performing at the newly opened L.A. Live. A second leg of the tour took him throughout Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina. Iglesias's song "Can You Hear Me" was chosen as the official song of the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament. He performed the song live at the 29 June 2008 final in Vienna, Austria. The song featured on a re-issue of Insomniac, which was released in certain countries. Iglesias released a Spanish greatest hits album titled 95/08 Éxitos on 25 March 2008, which included his seventeen number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart plus two new songs. The first single was the song "¿Dónde Están Corazón?", which was written by Argentine star Coti, and became Iglesias's eighteenth number-one single on Billboards Hot Latin Songs. The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and number eighteen on the overall Billboard 200 albums chart. It was Iglesias's second Spanish album to debut in the top 20 of the Billboard 200 (Quizás debuted at number twelve in 2002). The album was certified double Platinum (Latin field) in the U.S. and in some Latin American countries. The record's second single, "Lloro Por Ti", also reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart and had an official remix featuring Wisin & Yandel. Iglesias did a tour of the US to promote the compilation. Beginning in Laredo, Texas, and ending at the Izod Center in New Jersey, he was accompanied through most of the tour with bachata band Aventura, who also performed "Lloro Por Ti" with him at the 2008 Premios Juventud. Iglesias was a surprise performer at the 2008 Lo Nuestro Awards, opening the show with a medley of "¿Dónde Están Corazón?" and "Dímelo". He also performed at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, where he received a special award. After the success of his Spanish greatest hits compilation, Iglesias released a compilation of his English-language hits on 11 November. The album includes "Can You Hear Me" as well as two new songs. The first single, "Away", features Sean Garrett, and was followed by "Takin' Back My Love", featuring Ciara. The album debuted at number three on the official UK Albums Chart and sold over 80,000 copies in its first two weeks of release alone. Iglesias was the winner of two World Music Awards in the categories of "World's Best Selling Latin Performer" and "World's Best Selling Spanish Artist" at the ceremony held in Monaco on 9 November 2008. 2010–2011: Euphoria On 5 July 2010, Iglesias released his ninth studio album Euphoria, his first work to be released under his new label Universal Republic. The album is Iglesias's first bilingual album, with seven original English songs and six original Spanish songs. It won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album, the Billboard Latin Awards for Latin Album of the Year and Latin Pop Album of the Year, and was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Iglesias worked with three producers whom he had collaborated with before: RedOne, Mark Taylor, and Carlos Paucar. The album features collaborations with Akon, Usher, Nicole Scherzinger, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ludacris, DJ Frank E, Pitbull, Juan Luis Guerra, and his third song together with Wisin & Yandel. In a joint venture with Universal Latino, Iglesias released different singles in both English and Spanish simultaneously to different formats. The first English single from the album, "I Like It", which features the rapper Pitbull, was released on 3 May 2010 in the U.S. and became a success, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also featured in the MTV reality series Jersey Shore. "Cuando Me Enamoro" was released as the lead Spanish single from the album, and became the theme song of the Mexican telenovela of the same title, produced by Televisa. The song debuted at number eight and number twenty-five on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart, respectively. It became his twenty-fifth top ten single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and after four weeks of its release date, it became his twenty-first No.1 song on this chart. In January 2011, the album's third English single, "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" broke into the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, also reaching No. 4. The song was released only for digital download in the United States but was featured on some editions of Euphoria in Europe and some Asian areas. The song became Iglesias' first number one on the U.S. Pop Songs and Radio Songs airplay charts. A remix version of the album track "Dirty Dancer" was released as the fourth English single and became his ninth Hot Dance Club Play chart topper, tying with Prince and Michael Jackson as the male with the most No. 1 dance singles. Further, "Ayer" served as the album's third Spanish single and seventh single overall. The Euphoria Tour took Iglesias across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and several European countries. One of the tour's legs took him to Australia, while fellow artist Pitbull joined him as an opening act. Prince Royce also served as opening act during the tour's second leg across North America. In August 2011, Iglesias released the single "I Like How It Feels" to radio. This was planned to serve as the lead single from the Euphoria album's proposed re-issue that never came to fruition, Euphoria Reloaded. 2012–2014: Sex and Love On 25 August 2012, Iglesias unveiled his brand new single, "Finally Found You", a collaboration with American rapper Sammy Adams. It was released to the US iTunes Store on 25 September 2012. The song was released in UK on 9 December 2012. On 8 December 2012, Iglesias performed at the Z100 Jingle Ball in Miami, and on the iHeartRadio Festival interview session before the show, Iglesias stated he's working on some new music and – when asked about his time in the studio – he said, "It's kind of like going fishing, you never know when you're going to catch a big one." Continuing on to tell what fans can expect to hear, he said he's ready to try something new: "I come out with so many albums and I want to make sure that if I come out with an album it sounds new. At least to me." It was confirmed that Iglesias would be working with Mark Taylor, The Cataracs, and Carlos Paucar for the new album. Iglesias continued to tour during this period returned to India in October 2012 to perform another series of shows called Tri-City tour in Pune, Delhi, and Bangalore playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums. On 31 May 2013, Iglesias performed at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco. The show broke the highest attendance record as more than 120,000 fans gathered to watch the concert. Iglesias released a number of singles prior to the album release, the first of which was "Turn the Night Up" followed by "Heart Attack" which was released to US Top 40 radio stations. Latin stations were served with the song "Loco", a smooth bachata duet with urban bachata superstar Romeo Santos. The single became Iglesias' 24th No. 1 on the Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. A version of the song released in Spain featured Spanish Flamenco singer India Martinez and topped the charts in Spain. This was followed by El Perdedor, a duet with Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solis and was the theme to the telenovela Lo que la vida me robó. The song became his 24th #1 on the Latin charts. Iglesias announced the title of his tenth studio album would be Sex and Love. The album was released on 14 March 2014.The release of the album was accompanied by the single I'm a Freak and featured Pitbull The album also featured a duet with Kylie Minogue called "Beautiful", which appears on her twelfth studio album Kiss Me Once. In addition to the previously stated collaborations the album featured guest appearances by Flo Rida, Yandel, Juan Magan, Jennifer Lopez and Gente de Zona. The next single to be released from the album was "Bailando", featuring Descemer Bueno, and Gente De Zona. "Bailando" was immensely successful becoming his 25th #1 on Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was #1 for 41 consecutive weeks on Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart becoming the longest reigning #1 in the history of the chart beating the record previously held by Shakira's 25 week run. This record was later broken in 2017 when "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber spent 56 weeks on top of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was also a crossover success in part due to a Spanglish version of the song which featured rapper Sean Paul which saw the song peak at #12 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Top 10 on the airplay chart becoming the highest charting Spanish song since the Macarena in 1996. The original Spanish music video of the song was also YouTube's second most watched music video of 2014, behind Katy Perry's hit single, "Dark Horse" and was the first Spanish language video to reach a billion views on the platform. "Bailando" currently has over 3 billion views on YouTube. The song won three Latin Grammy awards including Song of the Year. In addition to the original Spanish version, Iglesias also released two Portuguese versions of the song featuring the Portuguese singer Mickael Carreira and the Brazilian singer Luan Santana. Sex and Love was Spotify's 7th most-streamed album worldwide in 2014, and "Bailando" was the most-streamed song in both Mexico and Spain. Iglesias was also called the King of 2014, due to his tenth album, Sex and Love, and his hit single "Bailando". Billboard called him "The Crowd Pleaser" of 2014. After more than a decade with Universal Music, Iglesias left the record label in 2015 and signed on with Sony Music. 2015–present: Final Since the release of his last studio album Sex and Love, Iglesias continued issuing singles. In 2015, he collaborated with Nicky Jam on the reggaeton megahit "El Perdón" which topped the charts in several countries and has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2016 Iglesias released his first single under that Sony "Duele el Corazón" featuring Wisin which also topped the charts in several countries including the US Latin charts and also has over 1 billion views on YouTube . In 2017, Iglesias released "Súbeme la Radio", which features Descemer Bueno and Zion y Lennox. The song has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2018, Iglesias released two songs, one called "El Baño" with Bad Bunny and the other called "Move to Miami" with Pitbull. During this period Iglesias would feature on songs by other artists such as RedOne's "Don't You Need Somebody," Descemer Bueno's "Nos Fuimos Lejos", Matoma's "I Don't Dance (Without You)", Jon Z's "Después Que Te Perdí" and Anuel AA's "Fútbol y Rumba". In March 2020, it was announced that Iglesias would embark on a tour with Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. The tour was planned to start on 5 September 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona and end on 30 October 2020 in Atlanta, but the tour was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The song "Me Pasé" featuring Farruko was released on 1 July 2021 and became a hit on Latin radio topping the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, as well as extended his record for most #1s on Latin Pop Airplay Chart and reclaiming his record for most #1s on the Latin Airplay Chart. During a chat with Ricky Martin and Sebastian Yatra, Iglesias revealed that his next album would be released in two volumes, titled Final, as it likely would be his last album. Iglesias claimed, "it's something that I have been thinking about for the past few years" but also insisted, "I'm never going to stop writing songs because I love writing songs, but I'm going to do it in a different way, meaning they don't necessarily have to be packaged as an album, so this project to me is important". On 17 September, Iglesias released Final Vol. 1, alongside a new single, "Pendejo". Songwriting, producing, and acting Iglesias has collaborated with songwriter Guy Chambers to write "Un Nuovo Giorno", the lead single from Andrea Bocelli's first pop album. The song was later translated into English as "First Day of My Life" and recorded by Spice Girl Melanie C. The song has since gone to become a huge hit throughout Europe, and peaked in the number one spot in numerous countries. Iglesias also co-wrote the single "The Way" for American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken. Four songs co-written by Iglesias appear on the UK band The Hollies' 2006 album Staying Power. In 2010, Idol Allstars (Swedish Idol Series) released the song "All I Need Is You", co-written by Iglesias with Andreas Carlsson, Kalle Engström, and Kristian Lundin. He also co-wrote Jennifer Lopez's song "Dance Again", released in 2012, which reached number-one position in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. In 2000, Iglesias co-produced an off-Broadway musical called Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. In the musical, four Americans of Latin heritage possess a common interest in music and meet and decide to put on a show. The show contained many references and allusions to many classic and contemporary Latin and pop songs by the likes of Carmen Miranda, Selena, Ritchie Valens, Chayanne, Ricky Martin, and Iglesias himself. Iglesias starred alongside Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Johnny Depp in the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in which he played the well-spoken gun-wielding Lorenzo. In 2007, he had a guest appearance in the TV comedy Two and a Half Men as a carpenter/handyman. He also guest-starred as Gael, an Argentinean guitar playing/surfer/massage therapist love interest of Robin in season 3 of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. Iglesias also played the part of an evil Roman emperor in a Pepsi ad in 2004, as well as appearing in commercials for Tommy Hilfiger, Doritos, and Viceroy watches. Personal life In late 2001, Enrique Iglesias started a relationship with Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. In 2008, he was quoted by the Daily Star as having been married to Kournikova but having split. They reportedly split in October 2013 but reconciled. The couple have a son and daughter, Nicholas and Lucy, who are fraternal twins born on 16 December 2017. On 30 January 2020, their third child, a daughter, Mary, was born. In 2003, Iglesias received surgery to remove a circular mole from the right side of his face, citing concerns that over time it could become cancerous. Philanthropy In 2010, Iglesias was included in the project Download to Donate, run by Music for Relief, an organization started by American rock band Linkin Park. He co-produced Download to Donate for Haiti, a charity album for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, with the co-vocalist of the band Mike Shinoda. Both of them promoted the album at various venues, one of them being Larry King Live, where he and Shinoda explained the project. In 2013, Iglesias urged his followers to donate money through the American Red Cross to help the victims of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The typhoon struck one month after the Philippines was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake which destroyed homes and livelihoods of around 350,000 people. Iglesias has supported City of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Help for Heroes, Live Earth, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Special Olympics, Save the Children, The Salvation Army, and charitable causes like Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and hunger relief. Discography Studio albums Enrique Iglesias (1995) Vivir (1997) Cosas del Amor (1998) Enrique (1999) Escape (2001) Quizás (2002) 7 (2003) Insomniac (2007) Euphoria (2010) Sex and Love (2014) Final (Vol. 1) (2021) Filmography Film and television roles Soundtrack and self appearances Tours Headlining Vivir World Tour Cosas del Amor World Tour 2000 Tour One Night Stand Tour Don't Turn Off The Lights Tour Seven World Tour Insomniac World Tour Greatest Hits Tour Euphoria Tour Sex and Love Tour All the Hits Live Co-headlining Enrique Iglesias & Jennifer Lopez Tour Enrique & Pitbull on Tour Enrique Iglesias And Pitbull Live! Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert Awards and nominations Iglesias has won more than 200 awards from various ceremonies including 23 Billboard Music Awards and 36 Billboard Latin Music Awards, as well as 8 American Music Awards, 1 Grammy (with 3 times nomination), 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 10 World Music Awards, 6 MTV awards, 19 Premios Lo Nuestro Awards (with 24 times nomination) and 15 Premios Juventud Awards (with 21 times nomination) etc. He has been nominated over 465 times for various awards. He also won an award for Best International Pop Act at the MTV India Awards, as well as being named "King of Latin Pop". In 2000, he was awarded Most Fashionable Artist at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. In 2001, for the release of his second English studio album Escape, he received awards for Best-Selling Pop Male Artist and European Male Artist at the World Music Awards. And for the first time ever in the history of Billboard Music Awards Enrique Iglesias was awarded with "Top Latin Artist of All Time" Title and Award at Billboard Latin Music Awards 2020. References External links 1975 births Living people 20th-century Spanish singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century Spanish singers English-language singers from Spain Fonovisa Records artists Grammy Award winners Gulliver Preparatory School alumni Enrique Interscope Records artists Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers MTV Europe Music Award winners Musicians from Madrid Musicians from Miami People from Madrid RCA Records artists Republic Records artists Singers from Florida Singers from Madrid Songwriters from Florida Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish dance musicians Spanish emigrants to the United States Spanish expatriates in the United States Spanish male singers Spanish people of American descent Spanish people of Filipino descent Spanish people of Galician descent Spanish people of Jewish descent Spanish people of Kapampangan descent Spanish people of Puerto Rican descent Spanish philanthropists Spanish pop singers Spanish record producers Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish songwriters Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists University of Miami Business School alumni	true	[ "\"How Long, How Long Blues\" (also known as \"How Long Blues\" or \"How Long How Long\") is a blues song recorded by the American blues duo Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell in 1928. It became an early blues standard and its melody inspired many later songs.\n\nOriginal song\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" is based on \"How Long Daddy\", recorded in 1925 by Ida Cox with Papa Charlie Jackson. On June 19, 1928, Leroy Carr, who sang and played piano, and guitarist Scrapper Blackwell recorded the song in Indianapolis, Indiana, for Vocalion Records, shortly after they began performing together. It is a moderately slow-tempo blues with an eight-bar structure. Carr is credited with the lyrics and music for the song, which uses a departed train as a metaphor for a lover who has left:\n\nCarr's and Blackwell's songs reflected a more urban and sophisticated blues, in contrast to the music of rural bluesmen of the time. Carr's blues were \"expressive and evocative\", although his vocals have also been described as emotionally detached, high-pitched and smooth, with clear diction.\n\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" was Carr and Scrapwell's biggest hit. They subsequently recorded six more versions of the song (two of them, unissued at the time), as \"How Long, How Long Blues, Part 2\", \"Part 3\", \"How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone\", \"The New How Long, How Long Blues\", etc. There are considerable variations in the lyrics, but most versions begin with the lyric \"How long, how long, has that evening train been gone?\"\n\nLegacy\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" became an early blues standard and \"its lilting melody inspired hundreds of later compositions\", including the Mississippi Sheiks' \"Sitting on Top of the World\" and Robert Johnson's \"Come On in My Kitchen\". Although his later style would not suggest it, Muddy Waters recalled that it was the first song he learned to play \"off the Leroy Carr record\".\n\nIn 1988, Carr's \"How Long, How Long Blues\" was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in the category \"Classics of Blues Recordings – Singles or Album Tracks\". Blues historian Jim O'Neal commented in the induction statement, \"'How Long, How Long Blues' was a massive hit in the prewar blues era, a song that every blues singer and piano player had to know, and one that has continued to inspire dozens of cover versions.\" In 2012, the song received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which \"honor[s] recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance\".\n\nSee also\nList of train songs\n\nReferences\n\nBlues songs\n1928 songs\nGrammy Hall of Fame Award recipients\nVocalion Records singles\nSongs about trains", "The Mansion of Many Apartments is a metaphor that the poet John Keats expressed in a letter to John Hamilton Reynolds dated Sunday, 3 May 1818. I compare human life to a large Mansion of Many Apartments, two of which I can only describe, the doors of the rest being as yet shut upon me - The first we step into we call the infant or thoughtless Chamber, in which we remain as long as we do not think - We remain there a long while, and notwithstanding the doors of the second Chamber remain wide open, showing a bright appearance, we care not to hasten to it; but are at length imperceptibly impelled by awakening of the thinking principle - within us - we no sooner get into the second Chamber, which I shall call the Chamber of Maiden-Thought, than we become intoxicated with the light and the atmosphere, we see nothing but pleasant wonders, and think of delaying there for ever in delight: However among the effects this breathing is father of is that tremendous one of sharpening one's vision into the nature and heart of Man — of convincing one's nerves that the World is full of misery and Heartbreak, Pain, sickness and oppression — whereby This Chamber of Maiden Thought becomes gradually darken'd and at the same time on all sides of it many doors are set open - but all dark - all leading to dark passages — We see not the balance of good and evil. We are in a Mist - We are now in that state — We feel the burden of the Mystery.Colvin, SidneyJohn Keats: His Life and Poetry, His Friends, Critics and After-Fame, Admant Media Corp 2006, p267 \n\nHere Keats suggests that people were capable of different levels of thought. Those who did not consider the world around them remained in the thoughtless chamber. Even though the door to move on to the next \"apartment\" was open, they had no desire to think any deeper and to go into that next apartment.\n\nWhen you did move on into the next chamber, you would for the first time have a choice of direction, as from this apartment there were several different dark passages. Keats believed that he was at this point when he wrote the letter, as was William Wordsworth when he wrote Tintern Abbey.\n\nKeats expressed this idea in The Fall of Hyperion: A Dream (1819).\n\nSee also\n Keats\n Negative Capability\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links\nhttp://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/keatsltr.html\n\nMetaphors" ]
[ "Enrique Iglesias", "Early life and family", "What year was he born?", "I don't know.", "Where did he grow up?", "Madrid, Spain,", "How long did he remain there?", "1981," ]	C_7b955c1cc93f462290e111aa633deec1_1	Where did he go after that?	4	Where did Enrique Iglesias go after Madrid, Spain?	Enrique Iglesias	Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina-Spanish socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. He was raised with two older siblings: Chabeli and Julio Jr.. One of his mother Preysler's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father Julio Iglesias' family are from Galicia and Andalusia - his father also claims Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. The parents divorced in 1979. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque terrorist group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom he later dedicated his first album. He also lived in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, for one year with his mother. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and he recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernan Martinez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. CANNOTANSWER	Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami.	Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-nineties on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the turn of the millennium, he made a successful crossover into the mainstream English-language market. He signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US$68 million with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope Records to release English albums. In 2010, Iglesias parted with Interscope Records and signed with another Universal Music Group label, Republic Records, to release bilingual albums. In 2015, he parted ways with Universal Music Group after being there for over a decade. He signed with Sony Music and his subsequent albums were to be released by Sony Music Latin in Spanish and RCA Records in English. Iglesias is one of the best-selling Latin music artists with estimated sales of over 70 million records worldwide. He has had five Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, including two number-ones. As of October 2020, Iglesias holds the number-one position on the Greatest of All-Latin Artists charts. Iglesias holds the record for the most number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart with 27 songs, the Latin Airplay chart with 32 songs, and the Latin Pop Airplay chart with 24 songs. Iglesias also has 14 number-ones on Billboards Dance charts, more than any other male artist. He has earned the honorific title King of Latin Pop. In December 2016, Billboard magazine named him the 14th most successful and top male dance club artist of all time. In October 2020, Iglesias was awarded the "Top Latin Artist of All Time" at the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Early life and family Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His father Julio is recognized as the most commercially successful continental European singer in the world. Iglesias was raised with two older siblings, Chábeli and Julio Jr. One of his mother's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father's family is from Galicia and Andalusia; his father also claims some Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. Iglesias found out later in life that he was born with a rare congenital condition known as situs inversus where some of the body's major organs, such as the heart, are situated on the opposite side of the body from normal. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father and his girlfriend at the time, Venezuelan top model Virginia Sipli, in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom Enrique later dedicated his first album. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernán Martínez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martínez', with the backstory of being a singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. Music career 1995–1996: Enrique Iglesias On 12 July 1995, Iglesias released Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads, including hits such as "Si Tú Te Vas" and "Experiencia Religiosa". This album, along with Iglesias' next two, was released by the Mexican label Fonovisa. The record sold half a million copies in its first week, a rare accomplishment then for an album recorded in a language other than English, going Gold in Portugal within the first week of release, and sold over a million copies in the next three months. His song "Por Amarte" was included in Televisa's telenovela Marisol, but with a twist: instead of Por amarte daría mi vida (To love you, I'd give my life), the words were Por amarte Marisol, moriría (To love you, Marisol, I'd die). The CD also yielded Italian and Portuguese editions, with most of the songs translated into those languages. Five singles were released from the album, such as "Por Amarte", "No Llores Por Mí", and "Trapecista" all of which topped the Billboards Latin charts. The album still holds the record for producing the most number one singles on the Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart. The album went on to win Iglesias the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance. 1997–1998: Vivir and Cosas del Amor In 1997, Iglesias' stardom continued to rise with the release of Vivir (To Live), which put him up with other English-language music superstars in sales for that year. The album also included a cover version of the Yazoo song "Only You", translated into Spanish as "Solo en Tí". Three singles were released from Vivir: "Enamorado Por Primera Vez", "Sólo en Ti", and "Miente", which topped the Latin singles chart as well as those in several Spanish-speaking countries. Along with his father and Luis Miguel, Iglesias was nominated for an American Music Award in the first-ever awarded category of Favorite Latin Artist. Iglesias lost out to his father, but performed the song "Lluvia Cae" at the event. Insisting on playing stadiums for his first concert tour, that summer, Iglesias, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel, played to sold-out audiences in sixteen countries. Beginning in Odessa, Texas, the tour went on to play three consecutive nights in Mexico's Plaza de Toros, two consecutive nights at Monterrey's Auditorio Coca-Cola, and two at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to over 130,000 people, as well as 19 arenas in the U.S. In 1998, Iglesias released his third album Cosas del Amor (Things of Love). Taking a more mature musical direction, the album, aided by the popular singles "Esperanza" and "Nunca Te Olvidaré", both of which topped the Latin singles chart, helped cement his status in the Latin music scene. Iglesias did a short tour of smaller venues to accompany the release of the album, with one show being televised from Acapulco, Mexico. This was followed by a larger world tour of over eighty shows in even bigger venues. The Cosas del Amor Tour was the first ever concert tour sponsored by McDonald's. He won an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Latin Artist against Ricky Martin and Chayanne. The song "Nunca te Olvidaré" was also used as the theme music for a Spanish soap opera of the same name and he sang the song himself on the last episode of the series. 1999–2000: Enrique In 1999, Iglesias began a successful crossover career into the English-language music market. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably Ricky Martin, Latino artists and music had a great surge in popularity in mainstream music that year. After attending one of his concerts in March 1999, Will Smith asked Iglesias to contribute to the soundtrack of his movie Wild Wild West. His contribution "Bailamos" was released as a single and became a number one hit in the US. After the success of "Bailamos", several mainstream record labels were eager to sign Iglesias. Signing a multi-album deal after weeks of negotiations with Interscope, Iglesias recorded and released his first full CD in English, Enrique. The pop album, with some Latin influences, took two months to complete. It contained the song "Rhythm Divine", a duet with Whitney Houston titled "Could I Have This Kiss Forever", and a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song "Sad Eyes". In 2000, Iglesias performed at the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show alongside Christina Aguilera and Phil Collins and Toni Braxton. Shock jock Howard Stern repeatedly played a tape of a supposedly very off-key Iglesias on his radio show and accused him of not being able to sing live. On 8 June 2000, Iglesias sang the song live on Stern's show with just a guitar accompanying him. After the performance, Stern remarked, "I respect you for coming in here; you really can sing". Iglesias noted that the recording could have been him, but that it was probably a recording made during a television taping where he was required to lip sync and not sing properly. He would remark that the controversy was the best promotion he could have. The album's single "Be with You" became Iglesias' second number-one single on Billboards Hot 100. 2001-2002: Escape and Quizas In 2001, Iglesias released his second English-language album Escape. Where most of the Latin crossover acts of the previous year experienced some difficulty matching the record sales of their first English-language albums, Iglesias actually went on to sell even more with the album being certified Diamond for shipments of over 10 million copies. The album's first single, "Hero", became a number-one hit in the United Kingdom, and in many other countries. The entire album was co-written by Iglesias. Escape is his biggest commercial success to date. The singles "Escape" and "Don't Turn Off the Lights" became radio staples, placing highly or topping various charts both in North America and elsewhere. A second edition of the album was released internationally and contained a new version of one of Iglesias' favorite tracks, "Maybe", as well as a duet with Lionel Richie called "To Love a Woman". Iglesias capitalized on the album's success with his "One-Night Stand World Tour" consisting of fifty sold-out shows in sixteen countries. Including Radio City Music Hall and three consecutive nights in London's Royal Albert Hall, the tour ended with a big show at Lia Manoliu Stadium in Bucharest, Romania. The concert launched MTV Romania, with the video for "Love to See You Cry" being the first to be shown on the channel. In 2002, Iglesias decided to release a fourth Spanish-language album titled Quizás (Perhaps). A more polished musical production than his previous Spanish albums and containing more introspective songs, the album's title track is a song about the strained relationship Iglesias has with his famous father. The album debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the highest placement of a Spanish-language album on the chart at that period. Quizás sold a million copies in a week, making it the fastest-selling album in Spanish in five years. All three singles released from the album all ended up topping the Latin chart, giving Iglesias a total of sixteen number ones on the chart. He currently holds the record for the most number-one singles on Billboards Latin Chart. With the song "Para Qué La Vida" Iglesias reached a million spins on U.S. radio becoming the first Latin act to do so. The video to the song "Quizás" was the first Spanish-language music video to be added to the selection on MTV's popular show Total Request Live.The album went on to win the Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. That year he embarked on an arena tour of the Americas. The "Don't Turn Off the Lights" tour was completed in the summer of 2002, with two sold-out nights in Madison Square Garden and another two in Mexico's National Auditorium. The tour finished with a single show in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2003-2004: Seven By 2003, Iglesias released his seventh album, which he called 7, the second to be co-written by him. Among its more 1980s-inspired material, it features the song "Roamer", which he wrote with his friend and longtime guitarist Tony Bruno. The CD also contained the song "Be Yourself", a song about independence; the chorus talks about how Iglesias' own parents did not believe he'd ever succeed in his singing career. The first single was the song "Addicted", and was followed closely by a remix of the song "Not in Love", featuring Kelis. With this album, Iglesias went on his biggest world tour to date. The highly publicised tour started with twelve shows in the United States ending with Iglesias playing at Houston Rodeo, and continued on to several countries, most of which he'd never previously visited, playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums in Australia, India, Egypt, and Singapore, before ending his tour in South Africa. 2007–2009: Insomniac, 95/08 Éxitos and Greatest Hits After a two-year hiatus, Iglesias released his new album Insomniac on 12 June 2007. The album was so named due to it being recorded mainly at night. The record had a more contemporary pop style than that of his previous albums. Its highlights include the songs "Push", with rapper Lil Wayne, as well as "Ring My Bells" and a cover of Ringside's "Tired of Being Sorry". The album's first single, "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)", was released on 10 April 2007. It was Iglesias' highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 since "Escape". The song was also a hit throughout Europe, peaking in the top 10 in many countries. The Spanish version of the song, titled "Dímelo", was number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for eleven weeks, becoming his second best performing song on that chart at the time. Iglesias followed up with the ballad "Somebody's Me", which was released as a single in North America. The song was played extensively on AC radio and peaked high on Billboards Hot AC. In Europe, the second single was "Tired of Being Sorry", which performed well in many countries; he recorded a version of the song with French singer Nâdiya, which was number one in France for eleven weeks. A solo version of "Push" was added to the soundtrack of the movie Step Up 2 the Streets. The song was regarded as the third single from the album. A music video was shot, which features the film's lead actors. Despite never being officially added to radio, the song has charted in several countries. On 4 July 2007, Iglesias became the first Western artist to play a concert in Syria in three decades when he performed for a sold-out crowd of ten thousand in the capital Damascus and in the same week, he performed on Live Earth in Hamburg. The Insomniac World Tour was launched at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa, the same venue he ended his last world tour, and took him to sold-out arenas throughout Europe. It was his first arena tour of the UK, with him playing venues such as Manchester's MEN Arena and Wembley Arena. The tour ended with Iglesias performing at the newly opened L.A. Live. A second leg of the tour took him throughout Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina. Iglesias's song "Can You Hear Me" was chosen as the official song of the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament. He performed the song live at the 29 June 2008 final in Vienna, Austria. The song featured on a re-issue of Insomniac, which was released in certain countries. Iglesias released a Spanish greatest hits album titled 95/08 Éxitos on 25 March 2008, which included his seventeen number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart plus two new songs. The first single was the song "¿Dónde Están Corazón?", which was written by Argentine star Coti, and became Iglesias's eighteenth number-one single on Billboards Hot Latin Songs. The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and number eighteen on the overall Billboard 200 albums chart. It was Iglesias's second Spanish album to debut in the top 20 of the Billboard 200 (Quizás debuted at number twelve in 2002). The album was certified double Platinum (Latin field) in the U.S. and in some Latin American countries. The record's second single, "Lloro Por Ti", also reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart and had an official remix featuring Wisin & Yandel. Iglesias did a tour of the US to promote the compilation. Beginning in Laredo, Texas, and ending at the Izod Center in New Jersey, he was accompanied through most of the tour with bachata band Aventura, who also performed "Lloro Por Ti" with him at the 2008 Premios Juventud. Iglesias was a surprise performer at the 2008 Lo Nuestro Awards, opening the show with a medley of "¿Dónde Están Corazón?" and "Dímelo". He also performed at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, where he received a special award. After the success of his Spanish greatest hits compilation, Iglesias released a compilation of his English-language hits on 11 November. The album includes "Can You Hear Me" as well as two new songs. The first single, "Away", features Sean Garrett, and was followed by "Takin' Back My Love", featuring Ciara. The album debuted at number three on the official UK Albums Chart and sold over 80,000 copies in its first two weeks of release alone. Iglesias was the winner of two World Music Awards in the categories of "World's Best Selling Latin Performer" and "World's Best Selling Spanish Artist" at the ceremony held in Monaco on 9 November 2008. 2010–2011: Euphoria On 5 July 2010, Iglesias released his ninth studio album Euphoria, his first work to be released under his new label Universal Republic. The album is Iglesias's first bilingual album, with seven original English songs and six original Spanish songs. It won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album, the Billboard Latin Awards for Latin Album of the Year and Latin Pop Album of the Year, and was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Iglesias worked with three producers whom he had collaborated with before: RedOne, Mark Taylor, and Carlos Paucar. The album features collaborations with Akon, Usher, Nicole Scherzinger, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ludacris, DJ Frank E, Pitbull, Juan Luis Guerra, and his third song together with Wisin & Yandel. In a joint venture with Universal Latino, Iglesias released different singles in both English and Spanish simultaneously to different formats. The first English single from the album, "I Like It", which features the rapper Pitbull, was released on 3 May 2010 in the U.S. and became a success, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also featured in the MTV reality series Jersey Shore. "Cuando Me Enamoro" was released as the lead Spanish single from the album, and became the theme song of the Mexican telenovela of the same title, produced by Televisa. The song debuted at number eight and number twenty-five on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart, respectively. It became his twenty-fifth top ten single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and after four weeks of its release date, it became his twenty-first No.1 song on this chart. In January 2011, the album's third English single, "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" broke into the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, also reaching No. 4. The song was released only for digital download in the United States but was featured on some editions of Euphoria in Europe and some Asian areas. The song became Iglesias' first number one on the U.S. Pop Songs and Radio Songs airplay charts. A remix version of the album track "Dirty Dancer" was released as the fourth English single and became his ninth Hot Dance Club Play chart topper, tying with Prince and Michael Jackson as the male with the most No. 1 dance singles. Further, "Ayer" served as the album's third Spanish single and seventh single overall. The Euphoria Tour took Iglesias across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and several European countries. One of the tour's legs took him to Australia, while fellow artist Pitbull joined him as an opening act. Prince Royce also served as opening act during the tour's second leg across North America. In August 2011, Iglesias released the single "I Like How It Feels" to radio. This was planned to serve as the lead single from the Euphoria album's proposed re-issue that never came to fruition, Euphoria Reloaded. 2012–2014: Sex and Love On 25 August 2012, Iglesias unveiled his brand new single, "Finally Found You", a collaboration with American rapper Sammy Adams. It was released to the US iTunes Store on 25 September 2012. The song was released in UK on 9 December 2012. On 8 December 2012, Iglesias performed at the Z100 Jingle Ball in Miami, and on the iHeartRadio Festival interview session before the show, Iglesias stated he's working on some new music and – when asked about his time in the studio – he said, "It's kind of like going fishing, you never know when you're going to catch a big one." Continuing on to tell what fans can expect to hear, he said he's ready to try something new: "I come out with so many albums and I want to make sure that if I come out with an album it sounds new. At least to me." It was confirmed that Iglesias would be working with Mark Taylor, The Cataracs, and Carlos Paucar for the new album. Iglesias continued to tour during this period returned to India in October 2012 to perform another series of shows called Tri-City tour in Pune, Delhi, and Bangalore playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums. On 31 May 2013, Iglesias performed at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco. The show broke the highest attendance record as more than 120,000 fans gathered to watch the concert. Iglesias released a number of singles prior to the album release, the first of which was "Turn the Night Up" followed by "Heart Attack" which was released to US Top 40 radio stations. Latin stations were served with the song "Loco", a smooth bachata duet with urban bachata superstar Romeo Santos. The single became Iglesias' 24th No. 1 on the Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. A version of the song released in Spain featured Spanish Flamenco singer India Martinez and topped the charts in Spain. This was followed by El Perdedor, a duet with Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solis and was the theme to the telenovela Lo que la vida me robó. The song became his 24th #1 on the Latin charts. Iglesias announced the title of his tenth studio album would be Sex and Love. The album was released on 14 March 2014.The release of the album was accompanied by the single I'm a Freak and featured Pitbull The album also featured a duet with Kylie Minogue called "Beautiful", which appears on her twelfth studio album Kiss Me Once. In addition to the previously stated collaborations the album featured guest appearances by Flo Rida, Yandel, Juan Magan, Jennifer Lopez and Gente de Zona. The next single to be released from the album was "Bailando", featuring Descemer Bueno, and Gente De Zona. "Bailando" was immensely successful becoming his 25th #1 on Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was #1 for 41 consecutive weeks on Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart becoming the longest reigning #1 in the history of the chart beating the record previously held by Shakira's 25 week run. This record was later broken in 2017 when "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber spent 56 weeks on top of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was also a crossover success in part due to a Spanglish version of the song which featured rapper Sean Paul which saw the song peak at #12 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Top 10 on the airplay chart becoming the highest charting Spanish song since the Macarena in 1996. The original Spanish music video of the song was also YouTube's second most watched music video of 2014, behind Katy Perry's hit single, "Dark Horse" and was the first Spanish language video to reach a billion views on the platform. "Bailando" currently has over 3 billion views on YouTube. The song won three Latin Grammy awards including Song of the Year. In addition to the original Spanish version, Iglesias also released two Portuguese versions of the song featuring the Portuguese singer Mickael Carreira and the Brazilian singer Luan Santana. Sex and Love was Spotify's 7th most-streamed album worldwide in 2014, and "Bailando" was the most-streamed song in both Mexico and Spain. Iglesias was also called the King of 2014, due to his tenth album, Sex and Love, and his hit single "Bailando". Billboard called him "The Crowd Pleaser" of 2014. After more than a decade with Universal Music, Iglesias left the record label in 2015 and signed on with Sony Music. 2015–present: Final Since the release of his last studio album Sex and Love, Iglesias continued issuing singles. In 2015, he collaborated with Nicky Jam on the reggaeton megahit "El Perdón" which topped the charts in several countries and has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2016 Iglesias released his first single under that Sony "Duele el Corazón" featuring Wisin which also topped the charts in several countries including the US Latin charts and also has over 1 billion views on YouTube . In 2017, Iglesias released "Súbeme la Radio", which features Descemer Bueno and Zion y Lennox. The song has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2018, Iglesias released two songs, one called "El Baño" with Bad Bunny and the other called "Move to Miami" with Pitbull. During this period Iglesias would feature on songs by other artists such as RedOne's "Don't You Need Somebody," Descemer Bueno's "Nos Fuimos Lejos", Matoma's "I Don't Dance (Without You)", Jon Z's "Después Que Te Perdí" and Anuel AA's "Fútbol y Rumba". In March 2020, it was announced that Iglesias would embark on a tour with Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. The tour was planned to start on 5 September 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona and end on 30 October 2020 in Atlanta, but the tour was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The song "Me Pasé" featuring Farruko was released on 1 July 2021 and became a hit on Latin radio topping the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, as well as extended his record for most #1s on Latin Pop Airplay Chart and reclaiming his record for most #1s on the Latin Airplay Chart. During a chat with Ricky Martin and Sebastian Yatra, Iglesias revealed that his next album would be released in two volumes, titled Final, as it likely would be his last album. Iglesias claimed, "it's something that I have been thinking about for the past few years" but also insisted, "I'm never going to stop writing songs because I love writing songs, but I'm going to do it in a different way, meaning they don't necessarily have to be packaged as an album, so this project to me is important". On 17 September, Iglesias released Final Vol. 1, alongside a new single, "Pendejo". Songwriting, producing, and acting Iglesias has collaborated with songwriter Guy Chambers to write "Un Nuovo Giorno", the lead single from Andrea Bocelli's first pop album. The song was later translated into English as "First Day of My Life" and recorded by Spice Girl Melanie C. The song has since gone to become a huge hit throughout Europe, and peaked in the number one spot in numerous countries. Iglesias also co-wrote the single "The Way" for American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken. Four songs co-written by Iglesias appear on the UK band The Hollies' 2006 album Staying Power. In 2010, Idol Allstars (Swedish Idol Series) released the song "All I Need Is You", co-written by Iglesias with Andreas Carlsson, Kalle Engström, and Kristian Lundin. He also co-wrote Jennifer Lopez's song "Dance Again", released in 2012, which reached number-one position in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. In 2000, Iglesias co-produced an off-Broadway musical called Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. In the musical, four Americans of Latin heritage possess a common interest in music and meet and decide to put on a show. The show contained many references and allusions to many classic and contemporary Latin and pop songs by the likes of Carmen Miranda, Selena, Ritchie Valens, Chayanne, Ricky Martin, and Iglesias himself. Iglesias starred alongside Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Johnny Depp in the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in which he played the well-spoken gun-wielding Lorenzo. In 2007, he had a guest appearance in the TV comedy Two and a Half Men as a carpenter/handyman. He also guest-starred as Gael, an Argentinean guitar playing/surfer/massage therapist love interest of Robin in season 3 of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. Iglesias also played the part of an evil Roman emperor in a Pepsi ad in 2004, as well as appearing in commercials for Tommy Hilfiger, Doritos, and Viceroy watches. Personal life In late 2001, Enrique Iglesias started a relationship with Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. In 2008, he was quoted by the Daily Star as having been married to Kournikova but having split. They reportedly split in October 2013 but reconciled. The couple have a son and daughter, Nicholas and Lucy, who are fraternal twins born on 16 December 2017. On 30 January 2020, their third child, a daughter, Mary, was born. In 2003, Iglesias received surgery to remove a circular mole from the right side of his face, citing concerns that over time it could become cancerous. Philanthropy In 2010, Iglesias was included in the project Download to Donate, run by Music for Relief, an organization started by American rock band Linkin Park. He co-produced Download to Donate for Haiti, a charity album for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, with the co-vocalist of the band Mike Shinoda. Both of them promoted the album at various venues, one of them being Larry King Live, where he and Shinoda explained the project. In 2013, Iglesias urged his followers to donate money through the American Red Cross to help the victims of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The typhoon struck one month after the Philippines was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake which destroyed homes and livelihoods of around 350,000 people. Iglesias has supported City of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Help for Heroes, Live Earth, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Special Olympics, Save the Children, The Salvation Army, and charitable causes like Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and hunger relief. Discography Studio albums Enrique Iglesias (1995) Vivir (1997) Cosas del Amor (1998) Enrique (1999) Escape (2001) Quizás (2002) 7 (2003) Insomniac (2007) Euphoria (2010) Sex and Love (2014) Final (Vol. 1) (2021) Filmography Film and television roles Soundtrack and self appearances Tours Headlining Vivir World Tour Cosas del Amor World Tour 2000 Tour One Night Stand Tour Don't Turn Off The Lights Tour Seven World Tour Insomniac World Tour Greatest Hits Tour Euphoria Tour Sex and Love Tour All the Hits Live Co-headlining Enrique Iglesias & Jennifer Lopez Tour Enrique & Pitbull on Tour Enrique Iglesias And Pitbull Live! Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert Awards and nominations Iglesias has won more than 200 awards from various ceremonies including 23 Billboard Music Awards and 36 Billboard Latin Music Awards, as well as 8 American Music Awards, 1 Grammy (with 3 times nomination), 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 10 World Music Awards, 6 MTV awards, 19 Premios Lo Nuestro Awards (with 24 times nomination) and 15 Premios Juventud Awards (with 21 times nomination) etc. He has been nominated over 465 times for various awards. He also won an award for Best International Pop Act at the MTV India Awards, as well as being named "King of Latin Pop". In 2000, he was awarded Most Fashionable Artist at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. In 2001, for the release of his second English studio album Escape, he received awards for Best-Selling Pop Male Artist and European Male Artist at the World Music Awards. And for the first time ever in the history of Billboard Music Awards Enrique Iglesias was awarded with "Top Latin Artist of All Time" Title and Award at Billboard Latin Music Awards 2020. References External links 1975 births Living people 20th-century Spanish singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century Spanish singers English-language singers from Spain Fonovisa Records artists Grammy Award winners Gulliver Preparatory School alumni Enrique Interscope Records artists Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers MTV Europe Music Award winners Musicians from Madrid Musicians from Miami People from Madrid RCA Records artists Republic Records artists Singers from Florida Singers from Madrid Songwriters from Florida Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish dance musicians Spanish emigrants to the United States Spanish expatriates in the United States Spanish male singers Spanish people of American descent Spanish people of Filipino descent Spanish people of Galician descent Spanish people of Jewish descent Spanish people of Kapampangan descent Spanish people of Puerto Rican descent Spanish philanthropists Spanish pop singers Spanish record producers Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish songwriters Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists University of Miami Business School alumni	false	[ "Where Did We Go Wrong may refer to:\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\" (Dondria song), 2010\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\" (Toni Braxton and Babyface song), 2013\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\", a song by Petula Clark from the album My Love\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\", a song by Diana Ross from the album Ross\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\", a 1980 song by Frankie Valli", "\"Where Did All the Love Go?\" is a song by English rock band Kasabian and is the second official single from their third album, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. It was released on 10 August 2009.\n\nLyrics \nGuitarist Sergio Pizzorno explained the song's meaning to New Musical Express stating that \"It's sitting at home seeing another kid get stabbed, everyone is scared and going, 'What the fuck is going on?\" The song also speaks about the Internet, with Pizzorno elaborating in an interview with The Sun that \"Kids today grow up really quickly and there's too much information. News channels, the internet and social networking sites. People aren't leaving their bedrooms and it's just crazy. The things that make you most happy are quite simple. That song is looking for the romantic image of life, when people looked out for each other.\"\n\nMusic video\nAccording to Serge Pizzorno, the song's music video was inspired by Kenneth Anger's films like Scorpio Rising, Busby Berkeley and French cabaret.\n\nPersonnel\nKasabian\nTom Meighan – lead vocals\nSergio Pizzorno – guitars, synths, backing vocals\nChris Edwards – bass\nIan Matthews – drums\nAdditional personnel\nRosie Danvers – string direction\nWired Strings – strings\n\nChart performance\nFollowing its release in August 2009, \"Where Did All the Love Go?\" entered the UK Singles Chart at a peak of #30. Although not as successful as the previous single \"Fire\", this single did prove popular on the radio.\n\nTrack listings\n2-Track CD PARADISE64\n \"Where Did All the Love Go?\" – 4:18\n \"Vlad the Impaler\" (Zane Lowe Remix) - 4:32\n10\" PARADISE65\n \"Where Did All the Love Go?\" – 4:18\n \"Where Did All the Love Go?\" (Burns Remix) - 6:07\nDigital Download\n \"Where Did All the Love Go?\" (Live at Le Live De La Sema) - 4:30\niTunes Bundle\n \"Where Did All the Love Go?\" – 4:18\n \"Vlad the Impaler\" (Zane Lowe Remix) - 4:32\n \"Where Did All the Love Go?\" (Burns Remix) - 6:07\n \"Take Aim\" (Dan the Automator Remix) - 5:17\n2-Track Radio Promo CD\n \"Where Did All the Love Go?\" (Radio Edit) – 4:14\n \"Where Did All the Love Go?\" (Instrumental) – 4:26\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nTownsend-records.co.uk\n\nKasabian songs\n2009 singles\nSongs written by Sergio Pizzorno\n2009 songs\nRCA Records singles\nColumbia Records singles\nSongs about crime" ]
[ "Enrique Iglesias", "Early life and family", "What year was he born?", "I don't know.", "Where did he grow up?", "Madrid, Spain,", "How long did he remain there?", "1981,", "Where did he go after that?", "Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami." ]	C_7b955c1cc93f462290e111aa633deec1_1	Did he have any siblings?	5	Did Enrique Iglesias have any siblings?	Enrique Iglesias	Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina-Spanish socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. He was raised with two older siblings: Chabeli and Julio Jr.. One of his mother Preysler's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father Julio Iglesias' family are from Galicia and Andalusia - his father also claims Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. The parents divorced in 1979. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque terrorist group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom he later dedicated his first album. He also lived in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, for one year with his mother. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and he recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernan Martinez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. CANNOTANSWER	two siblings	Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-nineties on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the turn of the millennium, he made a successful crossover into the mainstream English-language market. He signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US$68 million with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope Records to release English albums. In 2010, Iglesias parted with Interscope Records and signed with another Universal Music Group label, Republic Records, to release bilingual albums. In 2015, he parted ways with Universal Music Group after being there for over a decade. He signed with Sony Music and his subsequent albums were to be released by Sony Music Latin in Spanish and RCA Records in English. Iglesias is one of the best-selling Latin music artists with estimated sales of over 70 million records worldwide. He has had five Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, including two number-ones. As of October 2020, Iglesias holds the number-one position on the Greatest of All-Latin Artists charts. Iglesias holds the record for the most number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart with 27 songs, the Latin Airplay chart with 32 songs, and the Latin Pop Airplay chart with 24 songs. Iglesias also has 14 number-ones on Billboards Dance charts, more than any other male artist. He has earned the honorific title King of Latin Pop. In December 2016, Billboard magazine named him the 14th most successful and top male dance club artist of all time. In October 2020, Iglesias was awarded the "Top Latin Artist of All Time" at the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Early life and family Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His father Julio is recognized as the most commercially successful continental European singer in the world. Iglesias was raised with two older siblings, Chábeli and Julio Jr. One of his mother's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father's family is from Galicia and Andalusia; his father also claims some Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. Iglesias found out later in life that he was born with a rare congenital condition known as situs inversus where some of the body's major organs, such as the heart, are situated on the opposite side of the body from normal. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father and his girlfriend at the time, Venezuelan top model Virginia Sipli, in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom Enrique later dedicated his first album. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernán Martínez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martínez', with the backstory of being a singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. Music career 1995–1996: Enrique Iglesias On 12 July 1995, Iglesias released Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads, including hits such as "Si Tú Te Vas" and "Experiencia Religiosa". This album, along with Iglesias' next two, was released by the Mexican label Fonovisa. The record sold half a million copies in its first week, a rare accomplishment then for an album recorded in a language other than English, going Gold in Portugal within the first week of release, and sold over a million copies in the next three months. His song "Por Amarte" was included in Televisa's telenovela Marisol, but with a twist: instead of Por amarte daría mi vida (To love you, I'd give my life), the words were Por amarte Marisol, moriría (To love you, Marisol, I'd die). The CD also yielded Italian and Portuguese editions, with most of the songs translated into those languages. Five singles were released from the album, such as "Por Amarte", "No Llores Por Mí", and "Trapecista" all of which topped the Billboards Latin charts. The album still holds the record for producing the most number one singles on the Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart. The album went on to win Iglesias the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance. 1997–1998: Vivir and Cosas del Amor In 1997, Iglesias' stardom continued to rise with the release of Vivir (To Live), which put him up with other English-language music superstars in sales for that year. The album also included a cover version of the Yazoo song "Only You", translated into Spanish as "Solo en Tí". Three singles were released from Vivir: "Enamorado Por Primera Vez", "Sólo en Ti", and "Miente", which topped the Latin singles chart as well as those in several Spanish-speaking countries. Along with his father and Luis Miguel, Iglesias was nominated for an American Music Award in the first-ever awarded category of Favorite Latin Artist. Iglesias lost out to his father, but performed the song "Lluvia Cae" at the event. Insisting on playing stadiums for his first concert tour, that summer, Iglesias, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel, played to sold-out audiences in sixteen countries. Beginning in Odessa, Texas, the tour went on to play three consecutive nights in Mexico's Plaza de Toros, two consecutive nights at Monterrey's Auditorio Coca-Cola, and two at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to over 130,000 people, as well as 19 arenas in the U.S. In 1998, Iglesias released his third album Cosas del Amor (Things of Love). Taking a more mature musical direction, the album, aided by the popular singles "Esperanza" and "Nunca Te Olvidaré", both of which topped the Latin singles chart, helped cement his status in the Latin music scene. Iglesias did a short tour of smaller venues to accompany the release of the album, with one show being televised from Acapulco, Mexico. This was followed by a larger world tour of over eighty shows in even bigger venues. The Cosas del Amor Tour was the first ever concert tour sponsored by McDonald's. He won an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Latin Artist against Ricky Martin and Chayanne. The song "Nunca te Olvidaré" was also used as the theme music for a Spanish soap opera of the same name and he sang the song himself on the last episode of the series. 1999–2000: Enrique In 1999, Iglesias began a successful crossover career into the English-language music market. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably Ricky Martin, Latino artists and music had a great surge in popularity in mainstream music that year. After attending one of his concerts in March 1999, Will Smith asked Iglesias to contribute to the soundtrack of his movie Wild Wild West. His contribution "Bailamos" was released as a single and became a number one hit in the US. After the success of "Bailamos", several mainstream record labels were eager to sign Iglesias. Signing a multi-album deal after weeks of negotiations with Interscope, Iglesias recorded and released his first full CD in English, Enrique. The pop album, with some Latin influences, took two months to complete. It contained the song "Rhythm Divine", a duet with Whitney Houston titled "Could I Have This Kiss Forever", and a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song "Sad Eyes". In 2000, Iglesias performed at the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show alongside Christina Aguilera and Phil Collins and Toni Braxton. Shock jock Howard Stern repeatedly played a tape of a supposedly very off-key Iglesias on his radio show and accused him of not being able to sing live. On 8 June 2000, Iglesias sang the song live on Stern's show with just a guitar accompanying him. After the performance, Stern remarked, "I respect you for coming in here; you really can sing". Iglesias noted that the recording could have been him, but that it was probably a recording made during a television taping where he was required to lip sync and not sing properly. He would remark that the controversy was the best promotion he could have. The album's single "Be with You" became Iglesias' second number-one single on Billboards Hot 100. 2001-2002: Escape and Quizas In 2001, Iglesias released his second English-language album Escape. Where most of the Latin crossover acts of the previous year experienced some difficulty matching the record sales of their first English-language albums, Iglesias actually went on to sell even more with the album being certified Diamond for shipments of over 10 million copies. The album's first single, "Hero", became a number-one hit in the United Kingdom, and in many other countries. The entire album was co-written by Iglesias. Escape is his biggest commercial success to date. The singles "Escape" and "Don't Turn Off the Lights" became radio staples, placing highly or topping various charts both in North America and elsewhere. A second edition of the album was released internationally and contained a new version of one of Iglesias' favorite tracks, "Maybe", as well as a duet with Lionel Richie called "To Love a Woman". Iglesias capitalized on the album's success with his "One-Night Stand World Tour" consisting of fifty sold-out shows in sixteen countries. Including Radio City Music Hall and three consecutive nights in London's Royal Albert Hall, the tour ended with a big show at Lia Manoliu Stadium in Bucharest, Romania. The concert launched MTV Romania, with the video for "Love to See You Cry" being the first to be shown on the channel. In 2002, Iglesias decided to release a fourth Spanish-language album titled Quizás (Perhaps). A more polished musical production than his previous Spanish albums and containing more introspective songs, the album's title track is a song about the strained relationship Iglesias has with his famous father. The album debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the highest placement of a Spanish-language album on the chart at that period. Quizás sold a million copies in a week, making it the fastest-selling album in Spanish in five years. All three singles released from the album all ended up topping the Latin chart, giving Iglesias a total of sixteen number ones on the chart. He currently holds the record for the most number-one singles on Billboards Latin Chart. With the song "Para Qué La Vida" Iglesias reached a million spins on U.S. radio becoming the first Latin act to do so. The video to the song "Quizás" was the first Spanish-language music video to be added to the selection on MTV's popular show Total Request Live.The album went on to win the Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. That year he embarked on an arena tour of the Americas. The "Don't Turn Off the Lights" tour was completed in the summer of 2002, with two sold-out nights in Madison Square Garden and another two in Mexico's National Auditorium. The tour finished with a single show in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2003-2004: Seven By 2003, Iglesias released his seventh album, which he called 7, the second to be co-written by him. Among its more 1980s-inspired material, it features the song "Roamer", which he wrote with his friend and longtime guitarist Tony Bruno. The CD also contained the song "Be Yourself", a song about independence; the chorus talks about how Iglesias' own parents did not believe he'd ever succeed in his singing career. The first single was the song "Addicted", and was followed closely by a remix of the song "Not in Love", featuring Kelis. With this album, Iglesias went on his biggest world tour to date. The highly publicised tour started with twelve shows in the United States ending with Iglesias playing at Houston Rodeo, and continued on to several countries, most of which he'd never previously visited, playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums in Australia, India, Egypt, and Singapore, before ending his tour in South Africa. 2007–2009: Insomniac, 95/08 Éxitos and Greatest Hits After a two-year hiatus, Iglesias released his new album Insomniac on 12 June 2007. The album was so named due to it being recorded mainly at night. The record had a more contemporary pop style than that of his previous albums. Its highlights include the songs "Push", with rapper Lil Wayne, as well as "Ring My Bells" and a cover of Ringside's "Tired of Being Sorry". The album's first single, "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)", was released on 10 April 2007. It was Iglesias' highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 since "Escape". The song was also a hit throughout Europe, peaking in the top 10 in many countries. The Spanish version of the song, titled "Dímelo", was number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for eleven weeks, becoming his second best performing song on that chart at the time. Iglesias followed up with the ballad "Somebody's Me", which was released as a single in North America. The song was played extensively on AC radio and peaked high on Billboards Hot AC. In Europe, the second single was "Tired of Being Sorry", which performed well in many countries; he recorded a version of the song with French singer Nâdiya, which was number one in France for eleven weeks. A solo version of "Push" was added to the soundtrack of the movie Step Up 2 the Streets. The song was regarded as the third single from the album. A music video was shot, which features the film's lead actors. Despite never being officially added to radio, the song has charted in several countries. On 4 July 2007, Iglesias became the first Western artist to play a concert in Syria in three decades when he performed for a sold-out crowd of ten thousand in the capital Damascus and in the same week, he performed on Live Earth in Hamburg. The Insomniac World Tour was launched at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa, the same venue he ended his last world tour, and took him to sold-out arenas throughout Europe. It was his first arena tour of the UK, with him playing venues such as Manchester's MEN Arena and Wembley Arena. The tour ended with Iglesias performing at the newly opened L.A. Live. A second leg of the tour took him throughout Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina. Iglesias's song "Can You Hear Me" was chosen as the official song of the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament. He performed the song live at the 29 June 2008 final in Vienna, Austria. The song featured on a re-issue of Insomniac, which was released in certain countries. Iglesias released a Spanish greatest hits album titled 95/08 Éxitos on 25 March 2008, which included his seventeen number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart plus two new songs. The first single was the song "¿Dónde Están Corazón?", which was written by Argentine star Coti, and became Iglesias's eighteenth number-one single on Billboards Hot Latin Songs. The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and number eighteen on the overall Billboard 200 albums chart. It was Iglesias's second Spanish album to debut in the top 20 of the Billboard 200 (Quizás debuted at number twelve in 2002). The album was certified double Platinum (Latin field) in the U.S. and in some Latin American countries. The record's second single, "Lloro Por Ti", also reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart and had an official remix featuring Wisin & Yandel. Iglesias did a tour of the US to promote the compilation. Beginning in Laredo, Texas, and ending at the Izod Center in New Jersey, he was accompanied through most of the tour with bachata band Aventura, who also performed "Lloro Por Ti" with him at the 2008 Premios Juventud. Iglesias was a surprise performer at the 2008 Lo Nuestro Awards, opening the show with a medley of "¿Dónde Están Corazón?" and "Dímelo". He also performed at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, where he received a special award. After the success of his Spanish greatest hits compilation, Iglesias released a compilation of his English-language hits on 11 November. The album includes "Can You Hear Me" as well as two new songs. The first single, "Away", features Sean Garrett, and was followed by "Takin' Back My Love", featuring Ciara. The album debuted at number three on the official UK Albums Chart and sold over 80,000 copies in its first two weeks of release alone. Iglesias was the winner of two World Music Awards in the categories of "World's Best Selling Latin Performer" and "World's Best Selling Spanish Artist" at the ceremony held in Monaco on 9 November 2008. 2010–2011: Euphoria On 5 July 2010, Iglesias released his ninth studio album Euphoria, his first work to be released under his new label Universal Republic. The album is Iglesias's first bilingual album, with seven original English songs and six original Spanish songs. It won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album, the Billboard Latin Awards for Latin Album of the Year and Latin Pop Album of the Year, and was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Iglesias worked with three producers whom he had collaborated with before: RedOne, Mark Taylor, and Carlos Paucar. The album features collaborations with Akon, Usher, Nicole Scherzinger, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ludacris, DJ Frank E, Pitbull, Juan Luis Guerra, and his third song together with Wisin & Yandel. In a joint venture with Universal Latino, Iglesias released different singles in both English and Spanish simultaneously to different formats. The first English single from the album, "I Like It", which features the rapper Pitbull, was released on 3 May 2010 in the U.S. and became a success, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also featured in the MTV reality series Jersey Shore. "Cuando Me Enamoro" was released as the lead Spanish single from the album, and became the theme song of the Mexican telenovela of the same title, produced by Televisa. The song debuted at number eight and number twenty-five on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart, respectively. It became his twenty-fifth top ten single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and after four weeks of its release date, it became his twenty-first No.1 song on this chart. In January 2011, the album's third English single, "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" broke into the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, also reaching No. 4. The song was released only for digital download in the United States but was featured on some editions of Euphoria in Europe and some Asian areas. The song became Iglesias' first number one on the U.S. Pop Songs and Radio Songs airplay charts. A remix version of the album track "Dirty Dancer" was released as the fourth English single and became his ninth Hot Dance Club Play chart topper, tying with Prince and Michael Jackson as the male with the most No. 1 dance singles. Further, "Ayer" served as the album's third Spanish single and seventh single overall. The Euphoria Tour took Iglesias across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and several European countries. One of the tour's legs took him to Australia, while fellow artist Pitbull joined him as an opening act. Prince Royce also served as opening act during the tour's second leg across North America. In August 2011, Iglesias released the single "I Like How It Feels" to radio. This was planned to serve as the lead single from the Euphoria album's proposed re-issue that never came to fruition, Euphoria Reloaded. 2012–2014: Sex and Love On 25 August 2012, Iglesias unveiled his brand new single, "Finally Found You", a collaboration with American rapper Sammy Adams. It was released to the US iTunes Store on 25 September 2012. The song was released in UK on 9 December 2012. On 8 December 2012, Iglesias performed at the Z100 Jingle Ball in Miami, and on the iHeartRadio Festival interview session before the show, Iglesias stated he's working on some new music and – when asked about his time in the studio – he said, "It's kind of like going fishing, you never know when you're going to catch a big one." Continuing on to tell what fans can expect to hear, he said he's ready to try something new: "I come out with so many albums and I want to make sure that if I come out with an album it sounds new. At least to me." It was confirmed that Iglesias would be working with Mark Taylor, The Cataracs, and Carlos Paucar for the new album. Iglesias continued to tour during this period returned to India in October 2012 to perform another series of shows called Tri-City tour in Pune, Delhi, and Bangalore playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums. On 31 May 2013, Iglesias performed at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco. The show broke the highest attendance record as more than 120,000 fans gathered to watch the concert. Iglesias released a number of singles prior to the album release, the first of which was "Turn the Night Up" followed by "Heart Attack" which was released to US Top 40 radio stations. Latin stations were served with the song "Loco", a smooth bachata duet with urban bachata superstar Romeo Santos. The single became Iglesias' 24th No. 1 on the Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. A version of the song released in Spain featured Spanish Flamenco singer India Martinez and topped the charts in Spain. This was followed by El Perdedor, a duet with Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solis and was the theme to the telenovela Lo que la vida me robó. The song became his 24th #1 on the Latin charts. Iglesias announced the title of his tenth studio album would be Sex and Love. The album was released on 14 March 2014.The release of the album was accompanied by the single I'm a Freak and featured Pitbull The album also featured a duet with Kylie Minogue called "Beautiful", which appears on her twelfth studio album Kiss Me Once. In addition to the previously stated collaborations the album featured guest appearances by Flo Rida, Yandel, Juan Magan, Jennifer Lopez and Gente de Zona. The next single to be released from the album was "Bailando", featuring Descemer Bueno, and Gente De Zona. "Bailando" was immensely successful becoming his 25th #1 on Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was #1 for 41 consecutive weeks on Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart becoming the longest reigning #1 in the history of the chart beating the record previously held by Shakira's 25 week run. This record was later broken in 2017 when "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber spent 56 weeks on top of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was also a crossover success in part due to a Spanglish version of the song which featured rapper Sean Paul which saw the song peak at #12 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Top 10 on the airplay chart becoming the highest charting Spanish song since the Macarena in 1996. The original Spanish music video of the song was also YouTube's second most watched music video of 2014, behind Katy Perry's hit single, "Dark Horse" and was the first Spanish language video to reach a billion views on the platform. "Bailando" currently has over 3 billion views on YouTube. The song won three Latin Grammy awards including Song of the Year. In addition to the original Spanish version, Iglesias also released two Portuguese versions of the song featuring the Portuguese singer Mickael Carreira and the Brazilian singer Luan Santana. Sex and Love was Spotify's 7th most-streamed album worldwide in 2014, and "Bailando" was the most-streamed song in both Mexico and Spain. Iglesias was also called the King of 2014, due to his tenth album, Sex and Love, and his hit single "Bailando". Billboard called him "The Crowd Pleaser" of 2014. After more than a decade with Universal Music, Iglesias left the record label in 2015 and signed on with Sony Music. 2015–present: Final Since the release of his last studio album Sex and Love, Iglesias continued issuing singles. In 2015, he collaborated with Nicky Jam on the reggaeton megahit "El Perdón" which topped the charts in several countries and has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2016 Iglesias released his first single under that Sony "Duele el Corazón" featuring Wisin which also topped the charts in several countries including the US Latin charts and also has over 1 billion views on YouTube . In 2017, Iglesias released "Súbeme la Radio", which features Descemer Bueno and Zion y Lennox. The song has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2018, Iglesias released two songs, one called "El Baño" with Bad Bunny and the other called "Move to Miami" with Pitbull. During this period Iglesias would feature on songs by other artists such as RedOne's "Don't You Need Somebody," Descemer Bueno's "Nos Fuimos Lejos", Matoma's "I Don't Dance (Without You)", Jon Z's "Después Que Te Perdí" and Anuel AA's "Fútbol y Rumba". In March 2020, it was announced that Iglesias would embark on a tour with Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. The tour was planned to start on 5 September 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona and end on 30 October 2020 in Atlanta, but the tour was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The song "Me Pasé" featuring Farruko was released on 1 July 2021 and became a hit on Latin radio topping the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, as well as extended his record for most #1s on Latin Pop Airplay Chart and reclaiming his record for most #1s on the Latin Airplay Chart. During a chat with Ricky Martin and Sebastian Yatra, Iglesias revealed that his next album would be released in two volumes, titled Final, as it likely would be his last album. Iglesias claimed, "it's something that I have been thinking about for the past few years" but also insisted, "I'm never going to stop writing songs because I love writing songs, but I'm going to do it in a different way, meaning they don't necessarily have to be packaged as an album, so this project to me is important". On 17 September, Iglesias released Final Vol. 1, alongside a new single, "Pendejo". Songwriting, producing, and acting Iglesias has collaborated with songwriter Guy Chambers to write "Un Nuovo Giorno", the lead single from Andrea Bocelli's first pop album. The song was later translated into English as "First Day of My Life" and recorded by Spice Girl Melanie C. The song has since gone to become a huge hit throughout Europe, and peaked in the number one spot in numerous countries. Iglesias also co-wrote the single "The Way" for American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken. Four songs co-written by Iglesias appear on the UK band The Hollies' 2006 album Staying Power. In 2010, Idol Allstars (Swedish Idol Series) released the song "All I Need Is You", co-written by Iglesias with Andreas Carlsson, Kalle Engström, and Kristian Lundin. He also co-wrote Jennifer Lopez's song "Dance Again", released in 2012, which reached number-one position in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. In 2000, Iglesias co-produced an off-Broadway musical called Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. In the musical, four Americans of Latin heritage possess a common interest in music and meet and decide to put on a show. The show contained many references and allusions to many classic and contemporary Latin and pop songs by the likes of Carmen Miranda, Selena, Ritchie Valens, Chayanne, Ricky Martin, and Iglesias himself. Iglesias starred alongside Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Johnny Depp in the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in which he played the well-spoken gun-wielding Lorenzo. In 2007, he had a guest appearance in the TV comedy Two and a Half Men as a carpenter/handyman. He also guest-starred as Gael, an Argentinean guitar playing/surfer/massage therapist love interest of Robin in season 3 of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. Iglesias also played the part of an evil Roman emperor in a Pepsi ad in 2004, as well as appearing in commercials for Tommy Hilfiger, Doritos, and Viceroy watches. Personal life In late 2001, Enrique Iglesias started a relationship with Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. In 2008, he was quoted by the Daily Star as having been married to Kournikova but having split. They reportedly split in October 2013 but reconciled. The couple have a son and daughter, Nicholas and Lucy, who are fraternal twins born on 16 December 2017. On 30 January 2020, their third child, a daughter, Mary, was born. In 2003, Iglesias received surgery to remove a circular mole from the right side of his face, citing concerns that over time it could become cancerous. Philanthropy In 2010, Iglesias was included in the project Download to Donate, run by Music for Relief, an organization started by American rock band Linkin Park. He co-produced Download to Donate for Haiti, a charity album for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, with the co-vocalist of the band Mike Shinoda. Both of them promoted the album at various venues, one of them being Larry King Live, where he and Shinoda explained the project. In 2013, Iglesias urged his followers to donate money through the American Red Cross to help the victims of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The typhoon struck one month after the Philippines was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake which destroyed homes and livelihoods of around 350,000 people. Iglesias has supported City of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Help for Heroes, Live Earth, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Special Olympics, Save the Children, The Salvation Army, and charitable causes like Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and hunger relief. Discography Studio albums Enrique Iglesias (1995) Vivir (1997) Cosas del Amor (1998) Enrique (1999) Escape (2001) Quizás (2002) 7 (2003) Insomniac (2007) Euphoria (2010) Sex and Love (2014) Final (Vol. 1) (2021) Filmography Film and television roles Soundtrack and self appearances Tours Headlining Vivir World Tour Cosas del Amor World Tour 2000 Tour One Night Stand Tour Don't Turn Off The Lights Tour Seven World Tour Insomniac World Tour Greatest Hits Tour Euphoria Tour Sex and Love Tour All the Hits Live Co-headlining Enrique Iglesias & Jennifer Lopez Tour Enrique & Pitbull on Tour Enrique Iglesias And Pitbull Live! Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert Awards and nominations Iglesias has won more than 200 awards from various ceremonies including 23 Billboard Music Awards and 36 Billboard Latin Music Awards, as well as 8 American Music Awards, 1 Grammy (with 3 times nomination), 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 10 World Music Awards, 6 MTV awards, 19 Premios Lo Nuestro Awards (with 24 times nomination) and 15 Premios Juventud Awards (with 21 times nomination) etc. He has been nominated over 465 times for various awards. He also won an award for Best International Pop Act at the MTV India Awards, as well as being named "King of Latin Pop". In 2000, he was awarded Most Fashionable Artist at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. In 2001, for the release of his second English studio album Escape, he received awards for Best-Selling Pop Male Artist and European Male Artist at the World Music Awards. And for the first time ever in the history of Billboard Music Awards Enrique Iglesias was awarded with "Top Latin Artist of All Time" Title and Award at Billboard Latin Music Awards 2020. References External links 1975 births Living people 20th-century Spanish singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century Spanish singers English-language singers from Spain Fonovisa Records artists Grammy Award winners Gulliver Preparatory School alumni Enrique Interscope Records artists Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers MTV Europe Music Award winners Musicians from Madrid Musicians from Miami People from Madrid RCA Records artists Republic Records artists Singers from Florida Singers from Madrid Songwriters from Florida Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish dance musicians Spanish emigrants to the United States Spanish expatriates in the United States Spanish male singers Spanish people of American descent Spanish people of Filipino descent Spanish people of Galician descent Spanish people of Jewish descent Spanish people of Kapampangan descent Spanish people of Puerto Rican descent Spanish philanthropists Spanish pop singers Spanish record producers Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish songwriters Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists University of Miami Business School alumni	true	[ "An only child is a person who does not have any siblings, neither biological nor adopted.\n\nOnly Child may also refer to:\n\n Only Child (novel), a novel by Jack Ketchum\n Only Child, a 2020 album by Sasha Sloan", "John August Kusche (1869 – 1934) was a renowned botanist and entomologist, and he discovered many new species of moths and butterflies. The plant of the aster family, Erigeron kuschei is named in his honor.\n\nNotable discoveries \n\nIn 1928, Kusche donated to the Bishop Museum 164 species of Lepidoptera he collected on Kauai between 1919 and 1920. Of those, 55 species had not previously been recorded on Kauai and 6 were new to science, namely Agrotis stenospila, Euxoa charmocrita, Plusia violacea, Nesamiptis senicula, Nesamiptis proterortha and Scotorythra crocorrhoa.\n\nThe Essig Museum of Entomology lists 26 species collected by Kusche from California, Baja California, Arizona, Alaska and on the Solomon Islands.\n\nEarly life \nHis father's name was Johann Karl Wilhelm Kusche, he remarried in 1883 to Johanna Susanna Niesar. He had three siblings from his father (Herman, Ernst and Pauline) and four half siblings from her second marriage (Bertha, Wilhelm, Heinrich and Reinhold. There were two other children from this marriage, which died young and whom were not recorded). His family were farmers, while he lived with them, in Kreuzburg, Germany.\n\nHis siblings quickly accustomed themselves to their new mother, however August, the eldest, did not get on easily with her. He attended a gardening school there in Kreuzburg. He left at a relatively young age after unintentionally setting a forest fire. \"One day on a walk through Kreuzburg forest, he unintentionally caused a huge forest fire. Fearing jail, he fled from home and somehow made it to America.\"\n\nHe wrote letters back to his family, urging them to come to America. His father eventually did, sometime shortly after February 1893. His father started a homestead in Brownsville, Texas. Yellow fever broke out and his father caught it. He managed to survive, while many did not, leaving him a sick old man in his mid-fifties. He wrote to August, who was then living it Prescott, Arizona, asking for money. August wrote back, saying \"Dear father, if you are out of money, see to it that you go back to Germany as soon as possible. Without any money here, you are lost,\" \n\nAugust didn't have any money either, and had been hoping to borrow money from his father. If he had wanted to visit him, then he would have had to make the trip on foot.\n\nWhen August arrived in America, he got a job as a gardener on a Pennsylvania farm. He had an affair with a Swiss woman, which resulted in a child. August denied being the child's father, but married her anyway. He went west, on horseback, and had his horse stolen by Native Americans. He ended up in San Francisco. His family joined him there. By this time he had three sons and a daughter.\n\nAfter his children grew up, he began traveling and collecting moths and butterflies.\n\nLater life \nHe traveled to the South Seas where he collected moths and butterflies. There he caught a terrible fever that very nearly killed him. He was picked up by a government ship in New Guinea, and was unconscious until he awoke in a San Francisco hospital. After that time he had hearing loss and lost all of his teeth. His doctor told him not to take any more trips to Alaska, and this apparently helped his condition.\n\nIn 1924 he lived in San Diego. He had taken a trip to Alaska just before this date. He worked as a gardener in California for nine years (1915–1924) where he died of stomach cancer.\n\nReferences \n\n19th-century German botanists\n1869 births\n1934 deaths\n20th-century American botanists\nGerman emigrants to the United States" ]
[ "Enrique Iglesias", "Early life and family", "What year was he born?", "I don't know.", "Where did he grow up?", "Madrid, Spain,", "How long did he remain there?", "1981,", "Where did he go after that?", "Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami.", "Did he have any siblings?", "two siblings" ]	C_7b955c1cc93f462290e111aa633deec1_1	When did he begin music?	6	When did Enrique Iglesias begin music?	Enrique Iglesias	Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina-Spanish socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. He was raised with two older siblings: Chabeli and Julio Jr.. One of his mother Preysler's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father Julio Iglesias' family are from Galicia and Andalusia - his father also claims Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. The parents divorced in 1979. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque terrorist group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom he later dedicated his first album. He also lived in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, for one year with his mother. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and he recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernan Martinez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-nineties on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the turn of the millennium, he made a successful crossover into the mainstream English-language market. He signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US$68 million with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope Records to release English albums. In 2010, Iglesias parted with Interscope Records and signed with another Universal Music Group label, Republic Records, to release bilingual albums. In 2015, he parted ways with Universal Music Group after being there for over a decade. He signed with Sony Music and his subsequent albums were to be released by Sony Music Latin in Spanish and RCA Records in English. Iglesias is one of the best-selling Latin music artists with estimated sales of over 70 million records worldwide. He has had five Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, including two number-ones. As of October 2020, Iglesias holds the number-one position on the Greatest of All-Latin Artists charts. Iglesias holds the record for the most number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart with 27 songs, the Latin Airplay chart with 32 songs, and the Latin Pop Airplay chart with 24 songs. Iglesias also has 14 number-ones on Billboards Dance charts, more than any other male artist. He has earned the honorific title King of Latin Pop. In December 2016, Billboard magazine named him the 14th most successful and top male dance club artist of all time. In October 2020, Iglesias was awarded the "Top Latin Artist of All Time" at the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Early life and family Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His father Julio is recognized as the most commercially successful continental European singer in the world. Iglesias was raised with two older siblings, Chábeli and Julio Jr. One of his mother's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father's family is from Galicia and Andalusia; his father also claims some Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. Iglesias found out later in life that he was born with a rare congenital condition known as situs inversus where some of the body's major organs, such as the heart, are situated on the opposite side of the body from normal. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father and his girlfriend at the time, Venezuelan top model Virginia Sipli, in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom Enrique later dedicated his first album. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernán Martínez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martínez', with the backstory of being a singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. Music career 1995–1996: Enrique Iglesias On 12 July 1995, Iglesias released Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads, including hits such as "Si Tú Te Vas" and "Experiencia Religiosa". This album, along with Iglesias' next two, was released by the Mexican label Fonovisa. The record sold half a million copies in its first week, a rare accomplishment then for an album recorded in a language other than English, going Gold in Portugal within the first week of release, and sold over a million copies in the next three months. His song "Por Amarte" was included in Televisa's telenovela Marisol, but with a twist: instead of Por amarte daría mi vida (To love you, I'd give my life), the words were Por amarte Marisol, moriría (To love you, Marisol, I'd die). The CD also yielded Italian and Portuguese editions, with most of the songs translated into those languages. Five singles were released from the album, such as "Por Amarte", "No Llores Por Mí", and "Trapecista" all of which topped the Billboards Latin charts. The album still holds the record for producing the most number one singles on the Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart. The album went on to win Iglesias the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance. 1997–1998: Vivir and Cosas del Amor In 1997, Iglesias' stardom continued to rise with the release of Vivir (To Live), which put him up with other English-language music superstars in sales for that year. The album also included a cover version of the Yazoo song "Only You", translated into Spanish as "Solo en Tí". Three singles were released from Vivir: "Enamorado Por Primera Vez", "Sólo en Ti", and "Miente", which topped the Latin singles chart as well as those in several Spanish-speaking countries. Along with his father and Luis Miguel, Iglesias was nominated for an American Music Award in the first-ever awarded category of Favorite Latin Artist. Iglesias lost out to his father, but performed the song "Lluvia Cae" at the event. Insisting on playing stadiums for his first concert tour, that summer, Iglesias, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel, played to sold-out audiences in sixteen countries. Beginning in Odessa, Texas, the tour went on to play three consecutive nights in Mexico's Plaza de Toros, two consecutive nights at Monterrey's Auditorio Coca-Cola, and two at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to over 130,000 people, as well as 19 arenas in the U.S. In 1998, Iglesias released his third album Cosas del Amor (Things of Love). Taking a more mature musical direction, the album, aided by the popular singles "Esperanza" and "Nunca Te Olvidaré", both of which topped the Latin singles chart, helped cement his status in the Latin music scene. Iglesias did a short tour of smaller venues to accompany the release of the album, with one show being televised from Acapulco, Mexico. This was followed by a larger world tour of over eighty shows in even bigger venues. The Cosas del Amor Tour was the first ever concert tour sponsored by McDonald's. He won an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Latin Artist against Ricky Martin and Chayanne. The song "Nunca te Olvidaré" was also used as the theme music for a Spanish soap opera of the same name and he sang the song himself on the last episode of the series. 1999–2000: Enrique In 1999, Iglesias began a successful crossover career into the English-language music market. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably Ricky Martin, Latino artists and music had a great surge in popularity in mainstream music that year. After attending one of his concerts in March 1999, Will Smith asked Iglesias to contribute to the soundtrack of his movie Wild Wild West. His contribution "Bailamos" was released as a single and became a number one hit in the US. After the success of "Bailamos", several mainstream record labels were eager to sign Iglesias. Signing a multi-album deal after weeks of negotiations with Interscope, Iglesias recorded and released his first full CD in English, Enrique. The pop album, with some Latin influences, took two months to complete. It contained the song "Rhythm Divine", a duet with Whitney Houston titled "Could I Have This Kiss Forever", and a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song "Sad Eyes". In 2000, Iglesias performed at the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show alongside Christina Aguilera and Phil Collins and Toni Braxton. Shock jock Howard Stern repeatedly played a tape of a supposedly very off-key Iglesias on his radio show and accused him of not being able to sing live. On 8 June 2000, Iglesias sang the song live on Stern's show with just a guitar accompanying him. After the performance, Stern remarked, "I respect you for coming in here; you really can sing". Iglesias noted that the recording could have been him, but that it was probably a recording made during a television taping where he was required to lip sync and not sing properly. He would remark that the controversy was the best promotion he could have. The album's single "Be with You" became Iglesias' second number-one single on Billboards Hot 100. 2001-2002: Escape and Quizas In 2001, Iglesias released his second English-language album Escape. Where most of the Latin crossover acts of the previous year experienced some difficulty matching the record sales of their first English-language albums, Iglesias actually went on to sell even more with the album being certified Diamond for shipments of over 10 million copies. The album's first single, "Hero", became a number-one hit in the United Kingdom, and in many other countries. The entire album was co-written by Iglesias. Escape is his biggest commercial success to date. The singles "Escape" and "Don't Turn Off the Lights" became radio staples, placing highly or topping various charts both in North America and elsewhere. A second edition of the album was released internationally and contained a new version of one of Iglesias' favorite tracks, "Maybe", as well as a duet with Lionel Richie called "To Love a Woman". Iglesias capitalized on the album's success with his "One-Night Stand World Tour" consisting of fifty sold-out shows in sixteen countries. Including Radio City Music Hall and three consecutive nights in London's Royal Albert Hall, the tour ended with a big show at Lia Manoliu Stadium in Bucharest, Romania. The concert launched MTV Romania, with the video for "Love to See You Cry" being the first to be shown on the channel. In 2002, Iglesias decided to release a fourth Spanish-language album titled Quizás (Perhaps). A more polished musical production than his previous Spanish albums and containing more introspective songs, the album's title track is a song about the strained relationship Iglesias has with his famous father. The album debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the highest placement of a Spanish-language album on the chart at that period. Quizás sold a million copies in a week, making it the fastest-selling album in Spanish in five years. All three singles released from the album all ended up topping the Latin chart, giving Iglesias a total of sixteen number ones on the chart. He currently holds the record for the most number-one singles on Billboards Latin Chart. With the song "Para Qué La Vida" Iglesias reached a million spins on U.S. radio becoming the first Latin act to do so. The video to the song "Quizás" was the first Spanish-language music video to be added to the selection on MTV's popular show Total Request Live.The album went on to win the Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. That year he embarked on an arena tour of the Americas. The "Don't Turn Off the Lights" tour was completed in the summer of 2002, with two sold-out nights in Madison Square Garden and another two in Mexico's National Auditorium. The tour finished with a single show in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2003-2004: Seven By 2003, Iglesias released his seventh album, which he called 7, the second to be co-written by him. Among its more 1980s-inspired material, it features the song "Roamer", which he wrote with his friend and longtime guitarist Tony Bruno. The CD also contained the song "Be Yourself", a song about independence; the chorus talks about how Iglesias' own parents did not believe he'd ever succeed in his singing career. The first single was the song "Addicted", and was followed closely by a remix of the song "Not in Love", featuring Kelis. With this album, Iglesias went on his biggest world tour to date. The highly publicised tour started with twelve shows in the United States ending with Iglesias playing at Houston Rodeo, and continued on to several countries, most of which he'd never previously visited, playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums in Australia, India, Egypt, and Singapore, before ending his tour in South Africa. 2007–2009: Insomniac, 95/08 Éxitos and Greatest Hits After a two-year hiatus, Iglesias released his new album Insomniac on 12 June 2007. The album was so named due to it being recorded mainly at night. The record had a more contemporary pop style than that of his previous albums. Its highlights include the songs "Push", with rapper Lil Wayne, as well as "Ring My Bells" and a cover of Ringside's "Tired of Being Sorry". The album's first single, "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)", was released on 10 April 2007. It was Iglesias' highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 since "Escape". The song was also a hit throughout Europe, peaking in the top 10 in many countries. The Spanish version of the song, titled "Dímelo", was number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for eleven weeks, becoming his second best performing song on that chart at the time. Iglesias followed up with the ballad "Somebody's Me", which was released as a single in North America. The song was played extensively on AC radio and peaked high on Billboards Hot AC. In Europe, the second single was "Tired of Being Sorry", which performed well in many countries; he recorded a version of the song with French singer Nâdiya, which was number one in France for eleven weeks. A solo version of "Push" was added to the soundtrack of the movie Step Up 2 the Streets. The song was regarded as the third single from the album. A music video was shot, which features the film's lead actors. Despite never being officially added to radio, the song has charted in several countries. On 4 July 2007, Iglesias became the first Western artist to play a concert in Syria in three decades when he performed for a sold-out crowd of ten thousand in the capital Damascus and in the same week, he performed on Live Earth in Hamburg. The Insomniac World Tour was launched at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa, the same venue he ended his last world tour, and took him to sold-out arenas throughout Europe. It was his first arena tour of the UK, with him playing venues such as Manchester's MEN Arena and Wembley Arena. The tour ended with Iglesias performing at the newly opened L.A. Live. A second leg of the tour took him throughout Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina. Iglesias's song "Can You Hear Me" was chosen as the official song of the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament. He performed the song live at the 29 June 2008 final in Vienna, Austria. The song featured on a re-issue of Insomniac, which was released in certain countries. Iglesias released a Spanish greatest hits album titled 95/08 Éxitos on 25 March 2008, which included his seventeen number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart plus two new songs. The first single was the song "¿Dónde Están Corazón?", which was written by Argentine star Coti, and became Iglesias's eighteenth number-one single on Billboards Hot Latin Songs. The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and number eighteen on the overall Billboard 200 albums chart. It was Iglesias's second Spanish album to debut in the top 20 of the Billboard 200 (Quizás debuted at number twelve in 2002). The album was certified double Platinum (Latin field) in the U.S. and in some Latin American countries. The record's second single, "Lloro Por Ti", also reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart and had an official remix featuring Wisin & Yandel. Iglesias did a tour of the US to promote the compilation. Beginning in Laredo, Texas, and ending at the Izod Center in New Jersey, he was accompanied through most of the tour with bachata band Aventura, who also performed "Lloro Por Ti" with him at the 2008 Premios Juventud. Iglesias was a surprise performer at the 2008 Lo Nuestro Awards, opening the show with a medley of "¿Dónde Están Corazón?" and "Dímelo". He also performed at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, where he received a special award. After the success of his Spanish greatest hits compilation, Iglesias released a compilation of his English-language hits on 11 November. The album includes "Can You Hear Me" as well as two new songs. The first single, "Away", features Sean Garrett, and was followed by "Takin' Back My Love", featuring Ciara. The album debuted at number three on the official UK Albums Chart and sold over 80,000 copies in its first two weeks of release alone. Iglesias was the winner of two World Music Awards in the categories of "World's Best Selling Latin Performer" and "World's Best Selling Spanish Artist" at the ceremony held in Monaco on 9 November 2008. 2010–2011: Euphoria On 5 July 2010, Iglesias released his ninth studio album Euphoria, his first work to be released under his new label Universal Republic. The album is Iglesias's first bilingual album, with seven original English songs and six original Spanish songs. It won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album, the Billboard Latin Awards for Latin Album of the Year and Latin Pop Album of the Year, and was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Iglesias worked with three producers whom he had collaborated with before: RedOne, Mark Taylor, and Carlos Paucar. The album features collaborations with Akon, Usher, Nicole Scherzinger, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ludacris, DJ Frank E, Pitbull, Juan Luis Guerra, and his third song together with Wisin & Yandel. In a joint venture with Universal Latino, Iglesias released different singles in both English and Spanish simultaneously to different formats. The first English single from the album, "I Like It", which features the rapper Pitbull, was released on 3 May 2010 in the U.S. and became a success, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also featured in the MTV reality series Jersey Shore. "Cuando Me Enamoro" was released as the lead Spanish single from the album, and became the theme song of the Mexican telenovela of the same title, produced by Televisa. The song debuted at number eight and number twenty-five on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart, respectively. It became his twenty-fifth top ten single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and after four weeks of its release date, it became his twenty-first No.1 song on this chart. In January 2011, the album's third English single, "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" broke into the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, also reaching No. 4. The song was released only for digital download in the United States but was featured on some editions of Euphoria in Europe and some Asian areas. The song became Iglesias' first number one on the U.S. Pop Songs and Radio Songs airplay charts. A remix version of the album track "Dirty Dancer" was released as the fourth English single and became his ninth Hot Dance Club Play chart topper, tying with Prince and Michael Jackson as the male with the most No. 1 dance singles. Further, "Ayer" served as the album's third Spanish single and seventh single overall. The Euphoria Tour took Iglesias across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and several European countries. One of the tour's legs took him to Australia, while fellow artist Pitbull joined him as an opening act. Prince Royce also served as opening act during the tour's second leg across North America. In August 2011, Iglesias released the single "I Like How It Feels" to radio. This was planned to serve as the lead single from the Euphoria album's proposed re-issue that never came to fruition, Euphoria Reloaded. 2012–2014: Sex and Love On 25 August 2012, Iglesias unveiled his brand new single, "Finally Found You", a collaboration with American rapper Sammy Adams. It was released to the US iTunes Store on 25 September 2012. The song was released in UK on 9 December 2012. On 8 December 2012, Iglesias performed at the Z100 Jingle Ball in Miami, and on the iHeartRadio Festival interview session before the show, Iglesias stated he's working on some new music and – when asked about his time in the studio – he said, "It's kind of like going fishing, you never know when you're going to catch a big one." Continuing on to tell what fans can expect to hear, he said he's ready to try something new: "I come out with so many albums and I want to make sure that if I come out with an album it sounds new. At least to me." It was confirmed that Iglesias would be working with Mark Taylor, The Cataracs, and Carlos Paucar for the new album. Iglesias continued to tour during this period returned to India in October 2012 to perform another series of shows called Tri-City tour in Pune, Delhi, and Bangalore playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums. On 31 May 2013, Iglesias performed at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco. The show broke the highest attendance record as more than 120,000 fans gathered to watch the concert. Iglesias released a number of singles prior to the album release, the first of which was "Turn the Night Up" followed by "Heart Attack" which was released to US Top 40 radio stations. Latin stations were served with the song "Loco", a smooth bachata duet with urban bachata superstar Romeo Santos. The single became Iglesias' 24th No. 1 on the Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. A version of the song released in Spain featured Spanish Flamenco singer India Martinez and topped the charts in Spain. This was followed by El Perdedor, a duet with Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solis and was the theme to the telenovela Lo que la vida me robó. The song became his 24th #1 on the Latin charts. Iglesias announced the title of his tenth studio album would be Sex and Love. The album was released on 14 March 2014.The release of the album was accompanied by the single I'm a Freak and featured Pitbull The album also featured a duet with Kylie Minogue called "Beautiful", which appears on her twelfth studio album Kiss Me Once. In addition to the previously stated collaborations the album featured guest appearances by Flo Rida, Yandel, Juan Magan, Jennifer Lopez and Gente de Zona. The next single to be released from the album was "Bailando", featuring Descemer Bueno, and Gente De Zona. "Bailando" was immensely successful becoming his 25th #1 on Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was #1 for 41 consecutive weeks on Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart becoming the longest reigning #1 in the history of the chart beating the record previously held by Shakira's 25 week run. This record was later broken in 2017 when "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber spent 56 weeks on top of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was also a crossover success in part due to a Spanglish version of the song which featured rapper Sean Paul which saw the song peak at #12 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Top 10 on the airplay chart becoming the highest charting Spanish song since the Macarena in 1996. The original Spanish music video of the song was also YouTube's second most watched music video of 2014, behind Katy Perry's hit single, "Dark Horse" and was the first Spanish language video to reach a billion views on the platform. "Bailando" currently has over 3 billion views on YouTube. The song won three Latin Grammy awards including Song of the Year. In addition to the original Spanish version, Iglesias also released two Portuguese versions of the song featuring the Portuguese singer Mickael Carreira and the Brazilian singer Luan Santana. Sex and Love was Spotify's 7th most-streamed album worldwide in 2014, and "Bailando" was the most-streamed song in both Mexico and Spain. Iglesias was also called the King of 2014, due to his tenth album, Sex and Love, and his hit single "Bailando". Billboard called him "The Crowd Pleaser" of 2014. After more than a decade with Universal Music, Iglesias left the record label in 2015 and signed on with Sony Music. 2015–present: Final Since the release of his last studio album Sex and Love, Iglesias continued issuing singles. In 2015, he collaborated with Nicky Jam on the reggaeton megahit "El Perdón" which topped the charts in several countries and has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2016 Iglesias released his first single under that Sony "Duele el Corazón" featuring Wisin which also topped the charts in several countries including the US Latin charts and also has over 1 billion views on YouTube . In 2017, Iglesias released "Súbeme la Radio", which features Descemer Bueno and Zion y Lennox. The song has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2018, Iglesias released two songs, one called "El Baño" with Bad Bunny and the other called "Move to Miami" with Pitbull. During this period Iglesias would feature on songs by other artists such as RedOne's "Don't You Need Somebody," Descemer Bueno's "Nos Fuimos Lejos", Matoma's "I Don't Dance (Without You)", Jon Z's "Después Que Te Perdí" and Anuel AA's "Fútbol y Rumba". In March 2020, it was announced that Iglesias would embark on a tour with Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. The tour was planned to start on 5 September 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona and end on 30 October 2020 in Atlanta, but the tour was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The song "Me Pasé" featuring Farruko was released on 1 July 2021 and became a hit on Latin radio topping the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, as well as extended his record for most #1s on Latin Pop Airplay Chart and reclaiming his record for most #1s on the Latin Airplay Chart. During a chat with Ricky Martin and Sebastian Yatra, Iglesias revealed that his next album would be released in two volumes, titled Final, as it likely would be his last album. Iglesias claimed, "it's something that I have been thinking about for the past few years" but also insisted, "I'm never going to stop writing songs because I love writing songs, but I'm going to do it in a different way, meaning they don't necessarily have to be packaged as an album, so this project to me is important". On 17 September, Iglesias released Final Vol. 1, alongside a new single, "Pendejo". Songwriting, producing, and acting Iglesias has collaborated with songwriter Guy Chambers to write "Un Nuovo Giorno", the lead single from Andrea Bocelli's first pop album. The song was later translated into English as "First Day of My Life" and recorded by Spice Girl Melanie C. The song has since gone to become a huge hit throughout Europe, and peaked in the number one spot in numerous countries. Iglesias also co-wrote the single "The Way" for American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken. Four songs co-written by Iglesias appear on the UK band The Hollies' 2006 album Staying Power. In 2010, Idol Allstars (Swedish Idol Series) released the song "All I Need Is You", co-written by Iglesias with Andreas Carlsson, Kalle Engström, and Kristian Lundin. He also co-wrote Jennifer Lopez's song "Dance Again", released in 2012, which reached number-one position in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. In 2000, Iglesias co-produced an off-Broadway musical called Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. In the musical, four Americans of Latin heritage possess a common interest in music and meet and decide to put on a show. The show contained many references and allusions to many classic and contemporary Latin and pop songs by the likes of Carmen Miranda, Selena, Ritchie Valens, Chayanne, Ricky Martin, and Iglesias himself. Iglesias starred alongside Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Johnny Depp in the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in which he played the well-spoken gun-wielding Lorenzo. In 2007, he had a guest appearance in the TV comedy Two and a Half Men as a carpenter/handyman. He also guest-starred as Gael, an Argentinean guitar playing/surfer/massage therapist love interest of Robin in season 3 of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. Iglesias also played the part of an evil Roman emperor in a Pepsi ad in 2004, as well as appearing in commercials for Tommy Hilfiger, Doritos, and Viceroy watches. Personal life In late 2001, Enrique Iglesias started a relationship with Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. In 2008, he was quoted by the Daily Star as having been married to Kournikova but having split. They reportedly split in October 2013 but reconciled. The couple have a son and daughter, Nicholas and Lucy, who are fraternal twins born on 16 December 2017. On 30 January 2020, their third child, a daughter, Mary, was born. In 2003, Iglesias received surgery to remove a circular mole from the right side of his face, citing concerns that over time it could become cancerous. Philanthropy In 2010, Iglesias was included in the project Download to Donate, run by Music for Relief, an organization started by American rock band Linkin Park. He co-produced Download to Donate for Haiti, a charity album for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, with the co-vocalist of the band Mike Shinoda. Both of them promoted the album at various venues, one of them being Larry King Live, where he and Shinoda explained the project. In 2013, Iglesias urged his followers to donate money through the American Red Cross to help the victims of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The typhoon struck one month after the Philippines was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake which destroyed homes and livelihoods of around 350,000 people. Iglesias has supported City of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Help for Heroes, Live Earth, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Special Olympics, Save the Children, The Salvation Army, and charitable causes like Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and hunger relief. Discography Studio albums Enrique Iglesias (1995) Vivir (1997) Cosas del Amor (1998) Enrique (1999) Escape (2001) Quizás (2002) 7 (2003) Insomniac (2007) Euphoria (2010) Sex and Love (2014) Final (Vol. 1) (2021) Filmography Film and television roles Soundtrack and self appearances Tours Headlining Vivir World Tour Cosas del Amor World Tour 2000 Tour One Night Stand Tour Don't Turn Off The Lights Tour Seven World Tour Insomniac World Tour Greatest Hits Tour Euphoria Tour Sex and Love Tour All the Hits Live Co-headlining Enrique Iglesias & Jennifer Lopez Tour Enrique & Pitbull on Tour Enrique Iglesias And Pitbull Live! Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert Awards and nominations Iglesias has won more than 200 awards from various ceremonies including 23 Billboard Music Awards and 36 Billboard Latin Music Awards, as well as 8 American Music Awards, 1 Grammy (with 3 times nomination), 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 10 World Music Awards, 6 MTV awards, 19 Premios Lo Nuestro Awards (with 24 times nomination) and 15 Premios Juventud Awards (with 21 times nomination) etc. He has been nominated over 465 times for various awards. He also won an award for Best International Pop Act at the MTV India Awards, as well as being named "King of Latin Pop". In 2000, he was awarded Most Fashionable Artist at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. In 2001, for the release of his second English studio album Escape, he received awards for Best-Selling Pop Male Artist and European Male Artist at the World Music Awards. And for the first time ever in the history of Billboard Music Awards Enrique Iglesias was awarded with "Top Latin Artist of All Time" Title and Award at Billboard Latin Music Awards 2020. References External links 1975 births Living people 20th-century Spanish singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century Spanish singers English-language singers from Spain Fonovisa Records artists Grammy Award winners Gulliver Preparatory School alumni Enrique Interscope Records artists Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers MTV Europe Music Award winners Musicians from Madrid Musicians from Miami People from Madrid RCA Records artists Republic Records artists Singers from Florida Singers from Madrid Songwriters from Florida Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish dance musicians Spanish emigrants to the United States Spanish expatriates in the United States Spanish male singers Spanish people of American descent Spanish people of Filipino descent Spanish people of Galician descent Spanish people of Jewish descent Spanish people of Kapampangan descent Spanish people of Puerto Rican descent Spanish philanthropists Spanish pop singers Spanish record producers Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish songwriters Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists University of Miami Business School alumni	false	[ "Jared Anderson is a Christian worship leader from Colorado Springs, Colorado. He grew up in the New Life Church where he served for many years as part of New Life Worship and the Desperation Band. Anderson has released four solo albums with Integrity Music, titled Where to Begin (2006), Where Faith Comes From (2008), LIVE From My Church (2009) and The Narrow Road (2012).\n\nDiscography \n\n2001: 12 Off the Shelf (independent)\n2006: Where to Begin (Integrity Music)\n2006: Arise: A Celebration of Worship (Integrity Music)\n2008: Where Faith Comes From (Integrity Music)\n2008: Two Days In the Same Place (independent)\n2009: People of Troy (independent)\n2009: Live from My Church (Integrity Music)\n2012: The Narrow Road (Integrity Music)\n2014: We Belong to Jesus (Integrity Music)\n\nEPs\n2015: Where I Am Right Now\n2019: The Whole Landscape\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\"Where To Begin Review\". Retrieved 2008-08-07.\n Farias, Andree. \"Where Faith Comes From Review\" Retrieved 2008-08-07.\n\nExternal links \n Artist's Label Page\n\nLiving people\nMusicians from Colorado\nPerformers of contemporary worship music\nAmerican performers of Christian music\nYear of birth missing (living people)", "Andes Yue Yi Fat (, born 6 February 1978) is a radio DJ and TV presenter in Hong Kong, nicknamed 發仔 (pronounced faat jai in Cantonese). He went to Centennial College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to study architectural drafting and worked as TV host for a Cantonese weekend show on multicultural station CFMT-TV (now OMNI2) in the early 1990s. Yue is currently a radio personality for the Hong Kong radio station CRHK (Commercial Radio Hong Kong). He has been at CRHK since the mid-1990s, and hosts their overnight program Begin With Music from Monday to Friday, but also has his own Sunday morning program on CR1 (881) called Fat's Breakfast (發式早餐). On television, he hosts a music show on TVB's Music Channel, \"型人型樂館 (內容簡介)\", which is only available on cable channels in Hong Kong.\n\nInterviews\nHe has interviewed many famous Cantopop and Mandopop singers including Dave Wong, Faye Wong, Leon Lai, Andy Lau, Sandy Lam, Eason Chan, Stephanie Cheng, Joey Yung, the late Leslie Cheung, Leehom Wang, Stephy Tang, Alex Fong, Janice Vidal, S.H.E, Twins, 2R, Vanness Wu and Kangta. His interviews are usually aired during CRHK's Begin With Music late on Monday night or early Tuesday morning.\n\nBegin With Music\nAndes has been on the overnight program since December 2005. The program is aired from 2-6am in Hong Kong on CRHK's CR2 (903) and then 3-6am on CR1 (881). \nDuring \"Begin With Music\", Andes welcomes listeners from Hong Kong and overseas to become a part of his 'family', \"Fat's Family\" (發仔大家庭).\n\nOther media appearances\nYue sang a duet with Jade Kwan called \"一起感動過\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAndes Yue's bio on Commercial Radio Hong Kong website 881903.com\nAndes Yue's Instagram\n一切從音樂開始/Begin With Music Listeners Blog\n一切從音樂開始 Archives on 881903.com - Subscription needed.\n\n1978 births\nHong Kong television presenters\nCanadian television personalities\nCentennial College alumni\nHong Kong radio personalities\nPeople from Toronto\nLiving people" ]
[ "Enrique Iglesias", "Early life and family", "What year was he born?", "I don't know.", "Where did he grow up?", "Madrid, Spain,", "How long did he remain there?", "1981,", "Where did he go after that?", "Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami.", "Did he have any siblings?", "two siblings", "When did he begin music?", "I don't know." ]	C_7b955c1cc93f462290e111aa633deec1_1	What was his family life like?	7	What was Enrique Iglesias family life like?	Enrique Iglesias	Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina-Spanish socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. He was raised with two older siblings: Chabeli and Julio Jr.. One of his mother Preysler's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father Julio Iglesias' family are from Galicia and Andalusia - his father also claims Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. The parents divorced in 1979. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque terrorist group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom he later dedicated his first album. He also lived in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, for one year with his mother. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and he recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernan Martinez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. CANNOTANSWER	Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans	Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-nineties on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the turn of the millennium, he made a successful crossover into the mainstream English-language market. He signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US$68 million with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope Records to release English albums. In 2010, Iglesias parted with Interscope Records and signed with another Universal Music Group label, Republic Records, to release bilingual albums. In 2015, he parted ways with Universal Music Group after being there for over a decade. He signed with Sony Music and his subsequent albums were to be released by Sony Music Latin in Spanish and RCA Records in English. Iglesias is one of the best-selling Latin music artists with estimated sales of over 70 million records worldwide. He has had five Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, including two number-ones. As of October 2020, Iglesias holds the number-one position on the Greatest of All-Latin Artists charts. Iglesias holds the record for the most number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart with 27 songs, the Latin Airplay chart with 32 songs, and the Latin Pop Airplay chart with 24 songs. Iglesias also has 14 number-ones on Billboards Dance charts, more than any other male artist. He has earned the honorific title King of Latin Pop. In December 2016, Billboard magazine named him the 14th most successful and top male dance club artist of all time. In October 2020, Iglesias was awarded the "Top Latin Artist of All Time" at the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Early life and family Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His father Julio is recognized as the most commercially successful continental European singer in the world. Iglesias was raised with two older siblings, Chábeli and Julio Jr. One of his mother's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father's family is from Galicia and Andalusia; his father also claims some Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. Iglesias found out later in life that he was born with a rare congenital condition known as situs inversus where some of the body's major organs, such as the heart, are situated on the opposite side of the body from normal. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father and his girlfriend at the time, Venezuelan top model Virginia Sipli, in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom Enrique later dedicated his first album. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernán Martínez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martínez', with the backstory of being a singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. Music career 1995–1996: Enrique Iglesias On 12 July 1995, Iglesias released Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads, including hits such as "Si Tú Te Vas" and "Experiencia Religiosa". This album, along with Iglesias' next two, was released by the Mexican label Fonovisa. The record sold half a million copies in its first week, a rare accomplishment then for an album recorded in a language other than English, going Gold in Portugal within the first week of release, and sold over a million copies in the next three months. His song "Por Amarte" was included in Televisa's telenovela Marisol, but with a twist: instead of Por amarte daría mi vida (To love you, I'd give my life), the words were Por amarte Marisol, moriría (To love you, Marisol, I'd die). The CD also yielded Italian and Portuguese editions, with most of the songs translated into those languages. Five singles were released from the album, such as "Por Amarte", "No Llores Por Mí", and "Trapecista" all of which topped the Billboards Latin charts. The album still holds the record for producing the most number one singles on the Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart. The album went on to win Iglesias the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance. 1997–1998: Vivir and Cosas del Amor In 1997, Iglesias' stardom continued to rise with the release of Vivir (To Live), which put him up with other English-language music superstars in sales for that year. The album also included a cover version of the Yazoo song "Only You", translated into Spanish as "Solo en Tí". Three singles were released from Vivir: "Enamorado Por Primera Vez", "Sólo en Ti", and "Miente", which topped the Latin singles chart as well as those in several Spanish-speaking countries. Along with his father and Luis Miguel, Iglesias was nominated for an American Music Award in the first-ever awarded category of Favorite Latin Artist. Iglesias lost out to his father, but performed the song "Lluvia Cae" at the event. Insisting on playing stadiums for his first concert tour, that summer, Iglesias, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel, played to sold-out audiences in sixteen countries. Beginning in Odessa, Texas, the tour went on to play three consecutive nights in Mexico's Plaza de Toros, two consecutive nights at Monterrey's Auditorio Coca-Cola, and two at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to over 130,000 people, as well as 19 arenas in the U.S. In 1998, Iglesias released his third album Cosas del Amor (Things of Love). Taking a more mature musical direction, the album, aided by the popular singles "Esperanza" and "Nunca Te Olvidaré", both of which topped the Latin singles chart, helped cement his status in the Latin music scene. Iglesias did a short tour of smaller venues to accompany the release of the album, with one show being televised from Acapulco, Mexico. This was followed by a larger world tour of over eighty shows in even bigger venues. The Cosas del Amor Tour was the first ever concert tour sponsored by McDonald's. He won an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Latin Artist against Ricky Martin and Chayanne. The song "Nunca te Olvidaré" was also used as the theme music for a Spanish soap opera of the same name and he sang the song himself on the last episode of the series. 1999–2000: Enrique In 1999, Iglesias began a successful crossover career into the English-language music market. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably Ricky Martin, Latino artists and music had a great surge in popularity in mainstream music that year. After attending one of his concerts in March 1999, Will Smith asked Iglesias to contribute to the soundtrack of his movie Wild Wild West. His contribution "Bailamos" was released as a single and became a number one hit in the US. After the success of "Bailamos", several mainstream record labels were eager to sign Iglesias. Signing a multi-album deal after weeks of negotiations with Interscope, Iglesias recorded and released his first full CD in English, Enrique. The pop album, with some Latin influences, took two months to complete. It contained the song "Rhythm Divine", a duet with Whitney Houston titled "Could I Have This Kiss Forever", and a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song "Sad Eyes". In 2000, Iglesias performed at the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show alongside Christina Aguilera and Phil Collins and Toni Braxton. Shock jock Howard Stern repeatedly played a tape of a supposedly very off-key Iglesias on his radio show and accused him of not being able to sing live. On 8 June 2000, Iglesias sang the song live on Stern's show with just a guitar accompanying him. After the performance, Stern remarked, "I respect you for coming in here; you really can sing". Iglesias noted that the recording could have been him, but that it was probably a recording made during a television taping where he was required to lip sync and not sing properly. He would remark that the controversy was the best promotion he could have. The album's single "Be with You" became Iglesias' second number-one single on Billboards Hot 100. 2001-2002: Escape and Quizas In 2001, Iglesias released his second English-language album Escape. Where most of the Latin crossover acts of the previous year experienced some difficulty matching the record sales of their first English-language albums, Iglesias actually went on to sell even more with the album being certified Diamond for shipments of over 10 million copies. The album's first single, "Hero", became a number-one hit in the United Kingdom, and in many other countries. The entire album was co-written by Iglesias. Escape is his biggest commercial success to date. The singles "Escape" and "Don't Turn Off the Lights" became radio staples, placing highly or topping various charts both in North America and elsewhere. A second edition of the album was released internationally and contained a new version of one of Iglesias' favorite tracks, "Maybe", as well as a duet with Lionel Richie called "To Love a Woman". Iglesias capitalized on the album's success with his "One-Night Stand World Tour" consisting of fifty sold-out shows in sixteen countries. Including Radio City Music Hall and three consecutive nights in London's Royal Albert Hall, the tour ended with a big show at Lia Manoliu Stadium in Bucharest, Romania. The concert launched MTV Romania, with the video for "Love to See You Cry" being the first to be shown on the channel. In 2002, Iglesias decided to release a fourth Spanish-language album titled Quizás (Perhaps). A more polished musical production than his previous Spanish albums and containing more introspective songs, the album's title track is a song about the strained relationship Iglesias has with his famous father. The album debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the highest placement of a Spanish-language album on the chart at that period. Quizás sold a million copies in a week, making it the fastest-selling album in Spanish in five years. All three singles released from the album all ended up topping the Latin chart, giving Iglesias a total of sixteen number ones on the chart. He currently holds the record for the most number-one singles on Billboards Latin Chart. With the song "Para Qué La Vida" Iglesias reached a million spins on U.S. radio becoming the first Latin act to do so. The video to the song "Quizás" was the first Spanish-language music video to be added to the selection on MTV's popular show Total Request Live.The album went on to win the Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. That year he embarked on an arena tour of the Americas. The "Don't Turn Off the Lights" tour was completed in the summer of 2002, with two sold-out nights in Madison Square Garden and another two in Mexico's National Auditorium. The tour finished with a single show in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2003-2004: Seven By 2003, Iglesias released his seventh album, which he called 7, the second to be co-written by him. Among its more 1980s-inspired material, it features the song "Roamer", which he wrote with his friend and longtime guitarist Tony Bruno. The CD also contained the song "Be Yourself", a song about independence; the chorus talks about how Iglesias' own parents did not believe he'd ever succeed in his singing career. The first single was the song "Addicted", and was followed closely by a remix of the song "Not in Love", featuring Kelis. With this album, Iglesias went on his biggest world tour to date. The highly publicised tour started with twelve shows in the United States ending with Iglesias playing at Houston Rodeo, and continued on to several countries, most of which he'd never previously visited, playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums in Australia, India, Egypt, and Singapore, before ending his tour in South Africa. 2007–2009: Insomniac, 95/08 Éxitos and Greatest Hits After a two-year hiatus, Iglesias released his new album Insomniac on 12 June 2007. The album was so named due to it being recorded mainly at night. The record had a more contemporary pop style than that of his previous albums. Its highlights include the songs "Push", with rapper Lil Wayne, as well as "Ring My Bells" and a cover of Ringside's "Tired of Being Sorry". The album's first single, "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)", was released on 10 April 2007. It was Iglesias' highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 since "Escape". The song was also a hit throughout Europe, peaking in the top 10 in many countries. The Spanish version of the song, titled "Dímelo", was number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for eleven weeks, becoming his second best performing song on that chart at the time. Iglesias followed up with the ballad "Somebody's Me", which was released as a single in North America. The song was played extensively on AC radio and peaked high on Billboards Hot AC. In Europe, the second single was "Tired of Being Sorry", which performed well in many countries; he recorded a version of the song with French singer Nâdiya, which was number one in France for eleven weeks. A solo version of "Push" was added to the soundtrack of the movie Step Up 2 the Streets. The song was regarded as the third single from the album. A music video was shot, which features the film's lead actors. Despite never being officially added to radio, the song has charted in several countries. On 4 July 2007, Iglesias became the first Western artist to play a concert in Syria in three decades when he performed for a sold-out crowd of ten thousand in the capital Damascus and in the same week, he performed on Live Earth in Hamburg. The Insomniac World Tour was launched at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa, the same venue he ended his last world tour, and took him to sold-out arenas throughout Europe. It was his first arena tour of the UK, with him playing venues such as Manchester's MEN Arena and Wembley Arena. The tour ended with Iglesias performing at the newly opened L.A. Live. A second leg of the tour took him throughout Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina. Iglesias's song "Can You Hear Me" was chosen as the official song of the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament. He performed the song live at the 29 June 2008 final in Vienna, Austria. The song featured on a re-issue of Insomniac, which was released in certain countries. Iglesias released a Spanish greatest hits album titled 95/08 Éxitos on 25 March 2008, which included his seventeen number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart plus two new songs. The first single was the song "¿Dónde Están Corazón?", which was written by Argentine star Coti, and became Iglesias's eighteenth number-one single on Billboards Hot Latin Songs. The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and number eighteen on the overall Billboard 200 albums chart. It was Iglesias's second Spanish album to debut in the top 20 of the Billboard 200 (Quizás debuted at number twelve in 2002). The album was certified double Platinum (Latin field) in the U.S. and in some Latin American countries. The record's second single, "Lloro Por Ti", also reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart and had an official remix featuring Wisin & Yandel. Iglesias did a tour of the US to promote the compilation. Beginning in Laredo, Texas, and ending at the Izod Center in New Jersey, he was accompanied through most of the tour with bachata band Aventura, who also performed "Lloro Por Ti" with him at the 2008 Premios Juventud. Iglesias was a surprise performer at the 2008 Lo Nuestro Awards, opening the show with a medley of "¿Dónde Están Corazón?" and "Dímelo". He also performed at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, where he received a special award. After the success of his Spanish greatest hits compilation, Iglesias released a compilation of his English-language hits on 11 November. The album includes "Can You Hear Me" as well as two new songs. The first single, "Away", features Sean Garrett, and was followed by "Takin' Back My Love", featuring Ciara. The album debuted at number three on the official UK Albums Chart and sold over 80,000 copies in its first two weeks of release alone. Iglesias was the winner of two World Music Awards in the categories of "World's Best Selling Latin Performer" and "World's Best Selling Spanish Artist" at the ceremony held in Monaco on 9 November 2008. 2010–2011: Euphoria On 5 July 2010, Iglesias released his ninth studio album Euphoria, his first work to be released under his new label Universal Republic. The album is Iglesias's first bilingual album, with seven original English songs and six original Spanish songs. It won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album, the Billboard Latin Awards for Latin Album of the Year and Latin Pop Album of the Year, and was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Iglesias worked with three producers whom he had collaborated with before: RedOne, Mark Taylor, and Carlos Paucar. The album features collaborations with Akon, Usher, Nicole Scherzinger, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ludacris, DJ Frank E, Pitbull, Juan Luis Guerra, and his third song together with Wisin & Yandel. In a joint venture with Universal Latino, Iglesias released different singles in both English and Spanish simultaneously to different formats. The first English single from the album, "I Like It", which features the rapper Pitbull, was released on 3 May 2010 in the U.S. and became a success, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also featured in the MTV reality series Jersey Shore. "Cuando Me Enamoro" was released as the lead Spanish single from the album, and became the theme song of the Mexican telenovela of the same title, produced by Televisa. The song debuted at number eight and number twenty-five on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart, respectively. It became his twenty-fifth top ten single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and after four weeks of its release date, it became his twenty-first No.1 song on this chart. In January 2011, the album's third English single, "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" broke into the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, also reaching No. 4. The song was released only for digital download in the United States but was featured on some editions of Euphoria in Europe and some Asian areas. The song became Iglesias' first number one on the U.S. Pop Songs and Radio Songs airplay charts. A remix version of the album track "Dirty Dancer" was released as the fourth English single and became his ninth Hot Dance Club Play chart topper, tying with Prince and Michael Jackson as the male with the most No. 1 dance singles. Further, "Ayer" served as the album's third Spanish single and seventh single overall. The Euphoria Tour took Iglesias across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and several European countries. One of the tour's legs took him to Australia, while fellow artist Pitbull joined him as an opening act. Prince Royce also served as opening act during the tour's second leg across North America. In August 2011, Iglesias released the single "I Like How It Feels" to radio. This was planned to serve as the lead single from the Euphoria album's proposed re-issue that never came to fruition, Euphoria Reloaded. 2012–2014: Sex and Love On 25 August 2012, Iglesias unveiled his brand new single, "Finally Found You", a collaboration with American rapper Sammy Adams. It was released to the US iTunes Store on 25 September 2012. The song was released in UK on 9 December 2012. On 8 December 2012, Iglesias performed at the Z100 Jingle Ball in Miami, and on the iHeartRadio Festival interview session before the show, Iglesias stated he's working on some new music and – when asked about his time in the studio – he said, "It's kind of like going fishing, you never know when you're going to catch a big one." Continuing on to tell what fans can expect to hear, he said he's ready to try something new: "I come out with so many albums and I want to make sure that if I come out with an album it sounds new. At least to me." It was confirmed that Iglesias would be working with Mark Taylor, The Cataracs, and Carlos Paucar for the new album. Iglesias continued to tour during this period returned to India in October 2012 to perform another series of shows called Tri-City tour in Pune, Delhi, and Bangalore playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums. On 31 May 2013, Iglesias performed at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco. The show broke the highest attendance record as more than 120,000 fans gathered to watch the concert. Iglesias released a number of singles prior to the album release, the first of which was "Turn the Night Up" followed by "Heart Attack" which was released to US Top 40 radio stations. Latin stations were served with the song "Loco", a smooth bachata duet with urban bachata superstar Romeo Santos. The single became Iglesias' 24th No. 1 on the Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. A version of the song released in Spain featured Spanish Flamenco singer India Martinez and topped the charts in Spain. This was followed by El Perdedor, a duet with Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solis and was the theme to the telenovela Lo que la vida me robó. The song became his 24th #1 on the Latin charts. Iglesias announced the title of his tenth studio album would be Sex and Love. The album was released on 14 March 2014.The release of the album was accompanied by the single I'm a Freak and featured Pitbull The album also featured a duet with Kylie Minogue called "Beautiful", which appears on her twelfth studio album Kiss Me Once. In addition to the previously stated collaborations the album featured guest appearances by Flo Rida, Yandel, Juan Magan, Jennifer Lopez and Gente de Zona. The next single to be released from the album was "Bailando", featuring Descemer Bueno, and Gente De Zona. "Bailando" was immensely successful becoming his 25th #1 on Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was #1 for 41 consecutive weeks on Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart becoming the longest reigning #1 in the history of the chart beating the record previously held by Shakira's 25 week run. This record was later broken in 2017 when "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber spent 56 weeks on top of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was also a crossover success in part due to a Spanglish version of the song which featured rapper Sean Paul which saw the song peak at #12 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Top 10 on the airplay chart becoming the highest charting Spanish song since the Macarena in 1996. The original Spanish music video of the song was also YouTube's second most watched music video of 2014, behind Katy Perry's hit single, "Dark Horse" and was the first Spanish language video to reach a billion views on the platform. "Bailando" currently has over 3 billion views on YouTube. The song won three Latin Grammy awards including Song of the Year. In addition to the original Spanish version, Iglesias also released two Portuguese versions of the song featuring the Portuguese singer Mickael Carreira and the Brazilian singer Luan Santana. Sex and Love was Spotify's 7th most-streamed album worldwide in 2014, and "Bailando" was the most-streamed song in both Mexico and Spain. Iglesias was also called the King of 2014, due to his tenth album, Sex and Love, and his hit single "Bailando". Billboard called him "The Crowd Pleaser" of 2014. After more than a decade with Universal Music, Iglesias left the record label in 2015 and signed on with Sony Music. 2015–present: Final Since the release of his last studio album Sex and Love, Iglesias continued issuing singles. In 2015, he collaborated with Nicky Jam on the reggaeton megahit "El Perdón" which topped the charts in several countries and has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2016 Iglesias released his first single under that Sony "Duele el Corazón" featuring Wisin which also topped the charts in several countries including the US Latin charts and also has over 1 billion views on YouTube . In 2017, Iglesias released "Súbeme la Radio", which features Descemer Bueno and Zion y Lennox. The song has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2018, Iglesias released two songs, one called "El Baño" with Bad Bunny and the other called "Move to Miami" with Pitbull. During this period Iglesias would feature on songs by other artists such as RedOne's "Don't You Need Somebody," Descemer Bueno's "Nos Fuimos Lejos", Matoma's "I Don't Dance (Without You)", Jon Z's "Después Que Te Perdí" and Anuel AA's "Fútbol y Rumba". In March 2020, it was announced that Iglesias would embark on a tour with Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. The tour was planned to start on 5 September 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona and end on 30 October 2020 in Atlanta, but the tour was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The song "Me Pasé" featuring Farruko was released on 1 July 2021 and became a hit on Latin radio topping the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, as well as extended his record for most #1s on Latin Pop Airplay Chart and reclaiming his record for most #1s on the Latin Airplay Chart. During a chat with Ricky Martin and Sebastian Yatra, Iglesias revealed that his next album would be released in two volumes, titled Final, as it likely would be his last album. Iglesias claimed, "it's something that I have been thinking about for the past few years" but also insisted, "I'm never going to stop writing songs because I love writing songs, but I'm going to do it in a different way, meaning they don't necessarily have to be packaged as an album, so this project to me is important". On 17 September, Iglesias released Final Vol. 1, alongside a new single, "Pendejo". Songwriting, producing, and acting Iglesias has collaborated with songwriter Guy Chambers to write "Un Nuovo Giorno", the lead single from Andrea Bocelli's first pop album. The song was later translated into English as "First Day of My Life" and recorded by Spice Girl Melanie C. The song has since gone to become a huge hit throughout Europe, and peaked in the number one spot in numerous countries. Iglesias also co-wrote the single "The Way" for American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken. Four songs co-written by Iglesias appear on the UK band The Hollies' 2006 album Staying Power. In 2010, Idol Allstars (Swedish Idol Series) released the song "All I Need Is You", co-written by Iglesias with Andreas Carlsson, Kalle Engström, and Kristian Lundin. He also co-wrote Jennifer Lopez's song "Dance Again", released in 2012, which reached number-one position in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. In 2000, Iglesias co-produced an off-Broadway musical called Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. In the musical, four Americans of Latin heritage possess a common interest in music and meet and decide to put on a show. The show contained many references and allusions to many classic and contemporary Latin and pop songs by the likes of Carmen Miranda, Selena, Ritchie Valens, Chayanne, Ricky Martin, and Iglesias himself. Iglesias starred alongside Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Johnny Depp in the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in which he played the well-spoken gun-wielding Lorenzo. In 2007, he had a guest appearance in the TV comedy Two and a Half Men as a carpenter/handyman. He also guest-starred as Gael, an Argentinean guitar playing/surfer/massage therapist love interest of Robin in season 3 of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. Iglesias also played the part of an evil Roman emperor in a Pepsi ad in 2004, as well as appearing in commercials for Tommy Hilfiger, Doritos, and Viceroy watches. Personal life In late 2001, Enrique Iglesias started a relationship with Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. In 2008, he was quoted by the Daily Star as having been married to Kournikova but having split. They reportedly split in October 2013 but reconciled. The couple have a son and daughter, Nicholas and Lucy, who are fraternal twins born on 16 December 2017. On 30 January 2020, their third child, a daughter, Mary, was born. In 2003, Iglesias received surgery to remove a circular mole from the right side of his face, citing concerns that over time it could become cancerous. Philanthropy In 2010, Iglesias was included in the project Download to Donate, run by Music for Relief, an organization started by American rock band Linkin Park. He co-produced Download to Donate for Haiti, a charity album for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, with the co-vocalist of the band Mike Shinoda. Both of them promoted the album at various venues, one of them being Larry King Live, where he and Shinoda explained the project. In 2013, Iglesias urged his followers to donate money through the American Red Cross to help the victims of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The typhoon struck one month after the Philippines was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake which destroyed homes and livelihoods of around 350,000 people. Iglesias has supported City of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Help for Heroes, Live Earth, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Special Olympics, Save the Children, The Salvation Army, and charitable causes like Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and hunger relief. Discography Studio albums Enrique Iglesias (1995) Vivir (1997) Cosas del Amor (1998) Enrique (1999) Escape (2001) Quizás (2002) 7 (2003) Insomniac (2007) Euphoria (2010) Sex and Love (2014) Final (Vol. 1) (2021) Filmography Film and television roles Soundtrack and self appearances Tours Headlining Vivir World Tour Cosas del Amor World Tour 2000 Tour One Night Stand Tour Don't Turn Off The Lights Tour Seven World Tour Insomniac World Tour Greatest Hits Tour Euphoria Tour Sex and Love Tour All the Hits Live Co-headlining Enrique Iglesias & Jennifer Lopez Tour Enrique & Pitbull on Tour Enrique Iglesias And Pitbull Live! Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert Awards and nominations Iglesias has won more than 200 awards from various ceremonies including 23 Billboard Music Awards and 36 Billboard Latin Music Awards, as well as 8 American Music Awards, 1 Grammy (with 3 times nomination), 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 10 World Music Awards, 6 MTV awards, 19 Premios Lo Nuestro Awards (with 24 times nomination) and 15 Premios Juventud Awards (with 21 times nomination) etc. He has been nominated over 465 times for various awards. He also won an award for Best International Pop Act at the MTV India Awards, as well as being named "King of Latin Pop". In 2000, he was awarded Most Fashionable Artist at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. In 2001, for the release of his second English studio album Escape, he received awards for Best-Selling Pop Male Artist and European Male Artist at the World Music Awards. And for the first time ever in the history of Billboard Music Awards Enrique Iglesias was awarded with "Top Latin Artist of All Time" Title and Award at Billboard Latin Music Awards 2020. References External links 1975 births Living people 20th-century Spanish singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century Spanish singers English-language singers from Spain Fonovisa Records artists Grammy Award winners Gulliver Preparatory School alumni Enrique Interscope Records artists Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers MTV Europe Music Award winners Musicians from Madrid Musicians from Miami People from Madrid RCA Records artists Republic Records artists Singers from Florida Singers from Madrid Songwriters from Florida Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish dance musicians Spanish emigrants to the United States Spanish expatriates in the United States Spanish male singers Spanish people of American descent Spanish people of Filipino descent Spanish people of Galician descent Spanish people of Jewish descent Spanish people of Kapampangan descent Spanish people of Puerto Rican descent Spanish philanthropists Spanish pop singers Spanish record producers Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish songwriters Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists University of Miami Business School alumni	true	[ "\"O What a Savior\" is a Southern gospel song penned by the Free Will Baptist musician Marvin P. Dalton in 1948.\n\nLyrics\nOnce I was straying in sin's dark valley,\nNo hope within could I see,\nHe searched through Heaven, and found a Savior\nTo save a poor lost soul like me.\n\nO what a Savior, O hallelujah!\nHis heart was broken on Calvary,\nHis hands were nail scarred,\nHis side was riven,\nHe gave His life-blood for even me.\n\nHe left the Father with all His riches,\nWith calmness sweet and serene,\nCame down from Heaven and gave His life-blood,\nTo make the vilest sinner clean.\n\nO what a Savior, O hallelujah!\nHis heart was broken on Calvary,\nHis hands were nail scarred,\nHis side was riven,\nHe gave His life-blood for even me.\n\nDeath's chilly waters I'll soon be crossing,\nHis hand will lead me safe o're,\nI'll join the chorus in that bright city,\nAnd sing up there forever more.\n\nO what a Savior, O hallelujah!\nHis heart was broken on Calvary,\nHis hands were nail scarred,\nHis side was riven,\nHe gave His life-blood for even me.\n\nReferences\n O What a Savior as sung by the Cathedrals\n O What a Savior as sung by Ernie Haase & Signature Sound\n\nSouthern gospel songs", "Si-cology 1 is an autobiography by American television personality Silas Robertson, co-written by Mark Schlabach. It was first published on September 3, 2013 and has already become a bestseller. In this book Si talks about his life. He talks about what life was like for him as a young boy living in Louisiana, how he went overseas to Vietnam as a soldier during the war, to what his life is like being Uncle Si on A&E show Duck Dynasty.\n\nReferences\n\nRobertson, Si\n2013 non-fiction books" ]
[ "Enrique Iglesias", "Early life and family", "What year was he born?", "I don't know.", "Where did he grow up?", "Madrid, Spain,", "How long did he remain there?", "1981,", "Where did he go after that?", "Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami.", "Did he have any siblings?", "two siblings", "When did he begin music?", "I don't know.", "What was his family life like?", "Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans" ]	C_7b955c1cc93f462290e111aa633deec1_1	What were his plans?	8	What wereEnrique Iglesias plans?	Enrique Iglesias	Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina-Spanish socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. He was raised with two older siblings: Chabeli and Julio Jr.. One of his mother Preysler's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father Julio Iglesias' family are from Galicia and Andalusia - his father also claims Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. The parents divorced in 1979. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque terrorist group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom he later dedicated his first album. He also lived in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, for one year with his mother. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and he recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernan Martinez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. CANNOTANSWER	backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala.	Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-nineties on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the turn of the millennium, he made a successful crossover into the mainstream English-language market. He signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US$68 million with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope Records to release English albums. In 2010, Iglesias parted with Interscope Records and signed with another Universal Music Group label, Republic Records, to release bilingual albums. In 2015, he parted ways with Universal Music Group after being there for over a decade. He signed with Sony Music and his subsequent albums were to be released by Sony Music Latin in Spanish and RCA Records in English. Iglesias is one of the best-selling Latin music artists with estimated sales of over 70 million records worldwide. He has had five Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, including two number-ones. As of October 2020, Iglesias holds the number-one position on the Greatest of All-Latin Artists charts. Iglesias holds the record for the most number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart with 27 songs, the Latin Airplay chart with 32 songs, and the Latin Pop Airplay chart with 24 songs. Iglesias also has 14 number-ones on Billboards Dance charts, more than any other male artist. He has earned the honorific title King of Latin Pop. In December 2016, Billboard magazine named him the 14th most successful and top male dance club artist of all time. In October 2020, Iglesias was awarded the "Top Latin Artist of All Time" at the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Early life and family Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His father Julio is recognized as the most commercially successful continental European singer in the world. Iglesias was raised with two older siblings, Chábeli and Julio Jr. One of his mother's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father's family is from Galicia and Andalusia; his father also claims some Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. Iglesias found out later in life that he was born with a rare congenital condition known as situs inversus where some of the body's major organs, such as the heart, are situated on the opposite side of the body from normal. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father and his girlfriend at the time, Venezuelan top model Virginia Sipli, in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom Enrique later dedicated his first album. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernán Martínez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martínez', with the backstory of being a singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. Music career 1995–1996: Enrique Iglesias On 12 July 1995, Iglesias released Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads, including hits such as "Si Tú Te Vas" and "Experiencia Religiosa". This album, along with Iglesias' next two, was released by the Mexican label Fonovisa. The record sold half a million copies in its first week, a rare accomplishment then for an album recorded in a language other than English, going Gold in Portugal within the first week of release, and sold over a million copies in the next three months. His song "Por Amarte" was included in Televisa's telenovela Marisol, but with a twist: instead of Por amarte daría mi vida (To love you, I'd give my life), the words were Por amarte Marisol, moriría (To love you, Marisol, I'd die). The CD also yielded Italian and Portuguese editions, with most of the songs translated into those languages. Five singles were released from the album, such as "Por Amarte", "No Llores Por Mí", and "Trapecista" all of which topped the Billboards Latin charts. The album still holds the record for producing the most number one singles on the Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart. The album went on to win Iglesias the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance. 1997–1998: Vivir and Cosas del Amor In 1997, Iglesias' stardom continued to rise with the release of Vivir (To Live), which put him up with other English-language music superstars in sales for that year. The album also included a cover version of the Yazoo song "Only You", translated into Spanish as "Solo en Tí". Three singles were released from Vivir: "Enamorado Por Primera Vez", "Sólo en Ti", and "Miente", which topped the Latin singles chart as well as those in several Spanish-speaking countries. Along with his father and Luis Miguel, Iglesias was nominated for an American Music Award in the first-ever awarded category of Favorite Latin Artist. Iglesias lost out to his father, but performed the song "Lluvia Cae" at the event. Insisting on playing stadiums for his first concert tour, that summer, Iglesias, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel, played to sold-out audiences in sixteen countries. Beginning in Odessa, Texas, the tour went on to play three consecutive nights in Mexico's Plaza de Toros, two consecutive nights at Monterrey's Auditorio Coca-Cola, and two at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to over 130,000 people, as well as 19 arenas in the U.S. In 1998, Iglesias released his third album Cosas del Amor (Things of Love). Taking a more mature musical direction, the album, aided by the popular singles "Esperanza" and "Nunca Te Olvidaré", both of which topped the Latin singles chart, helped cement his status in the Latin music scene. Iglesias did a short tour of smaller venues to accompany the release of the album, with one show being televised from Acapulco, Mexico. This was followed by a larger world tour of over eighty shows in even bigger venues. The Cosas del Amor Tour was the first ever concert tour sponsored by McDonald's. He won an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Latin Artist against Ricky Martin and Chayanne. The song "Nunca te Olvidaré" was also used as the theme music for a Spanish soap opera of the same name and he sang the song himself on the last episode of the series. 1999–2000: Enrique In 1999, Iglesias began a successful crossover career into the English-language music market. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably Ricky Martin, Latino artists and music had a great surge in popularity in mainstream music that year. After attending one of his concerts in March 1999, Will Smith asked Iglesias to contribute to the soundtrack of his movie Wild Wild West. His contribution "Bailamos" was released as a single and became a number one hit in the US. After the success of "Bailamos", several mainstream record labels were eager to sign Iglesias. Signing a multi-album deal after weeks of negotiations with Interscope, Iglesias recorded and released his first full CD in English, Enrique. The pop album, with some Latin influences, took two months to complete. It contained the song "Rhythm Divine", a duet with Whitney Houston titled "Could I Have This Kiss Forever", and a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song "Sad Eyes". In 2000, Iglesias performed at the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show alongside Christina Aguilera and Phil Collins and Toni Braxton. Shock jock Howard Stern repeatedly played a tape of a supposedly very off-key Iglesias on his radio show and accused him of not being able to sing live. On 8 June 2000, Iglesias sang the song live on Stern's show with just a guitar accompanying him. After the performance, Stern remarked, "I respect you for coming in here; you really can sing". Iglesias noted that the recording could have been him, but that it was probably a recording made during a television taping where he was required to lip sync and not sing properly. He would remark that the controversy was the best promotion he could have. The album's single "Be with You" became Iglesias' second number-one single on Billboards Hot 100. 2001-2002: Escape and Quizas In 2001, Iglesias released his second English-language album Escape. Where most of the Latin crossover acts of the previous year experienced some difficulty matching the record sales of their first English-language albums, Iglesias actually went on to sell even more with the album being certified Diamond for shipments of over 10 million copies. The album's first single, "Hero", became a number-one hit in the United Kingdom, and in many other countries. The entire album was co-written by Iglesias. Escape is his biggest commercial success to date. The singles "Escape" and "Don't Turn Off the Lights" became radio staples, placing highly or topping various charts both in North America and elsewhere. A second edition of the album was released internationally and contained a new version of one of Iglesias' favorite tracks, "Maybe", as well as a duet with Lionel Richie called "To Love a Woman". Iglesias capitalized on the album's success with his "One-Night Stand World Tour" consisting of fifty sold-out shows in sixteen countries. Including Radio City Music Hall and three consecutive nights in London's Royal Albert Hall, the tour ended with a big show at Lia Manoliu Stadium in Bucharest, Romania. The concert launched MTV Romania, with the video for "Love to See You Cry" being the first to be shown on the channel. In 2002, Iglesias decided to release a fourth Spanish-language album titled Quizás (Perhaps). A more polished musical production than his previous Spanish albums and containing more introspective songs, the album's title track is a song about the strained relationship Iglesias has with his famous father. The album debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the highest placement of a Spanish-language album on the chart at that period. Quizás sold a million copies in a week, making it the fastest-selling album in Spanish in five years. All three singles released from the album all ended up topping the Latin chart, giving Iglesias a total of sixteen number ones on the chart. He currently holds the record for the most number-one singles on Billboards Latin Chart. With the song "Para Qué La Vida" Iglesias reached a million spins on U.S. radio becoming the first Latin act to do so. The video to the song "Quizás" was the first Spanish-language music video to be added to the selection on MTV's popular show Total Request Live.The album went on to win the Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. That year he embarked on an arena tour of the Americas. The "Don't Turn Off the Lights" tour was completed in the summer of 2002, with two sold-out nights in Madison Square Garden and another two in Mexico's National Auditorium. The tour finished with a single show in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2003-2004: Seven By 2003, Iglesias released his seventh album, which he called 7, the second to be co-written by him. Among its more 1980s-inspired material, it features the song "Roamer", which he wrote with his friend and longtime guitarist Tony Bruno. The CD also contained the song "Be Yourself", a song about independence; the chorus talks about how Iglesias' own parents did not believe he'd ever succeed in his singing career. The first single was the song "Addicted", and was followed closely by a remix of the song "Not in Love", featuring Kelis. With this album, Iglesias went on his biggest world tour to date. The highly publicised tour started with twelve shows in the United States ending with Iglesias playing at Houston Rodeo, and continued on to several countries, most of which he'd never previously visited, playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums in Australia, India, Egypt, and Singapore, before ending his tour in South Africa. 2007–2009: Insomniac, 95/08 Éxitos and Greatest Hits After a two-year hiatus, Iglesias released his new album Insomniac on 12 June 2007. The album was so named due to it being recorded mainly at night. The record had a more contemporary pop style than that of his previous albums. Its highlights include the songs "Push", with rapper Lil Wayne, as well as "Ring My Bells" and a cover of Ringside's "Tired of Being Sorry". The album's first single, "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)", was released on 10 April 2007. It was Iglesias' highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 since "Escape". The song was also a hit throughout Europe, peaking in the top 10 in many countries. The Spanish version of the song, titled "Dímelo", was number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for eleven weeks, becoming his second best performing song on that chart at the time. Iglesias followed up with the ballad "Somebody's Me", which was released as a single in North America. The song was played extensively on AC radio and peaked high on Billboards Hot AC. In Europe, the second single was "Tired of Being Sorry", which performed well in many countries; he recorded a version of the song with French singer Nâdiya, which was number one in France for eleven weeks. A solo version of "Push" was added to the soundtrack of the movie Step Up 2 the Streets. The song was regarded as the third single from the album. A music video was shot, which features the film's lead actors. Despite never being officially added to radio, the song has charted in several countries. On 4 July 2007, Iglesias became the first Western artist to play a concert in Syria in three decades when he performed for a sold-out crowd of ten thousand in the capital Damascus and in the same week, he performed on Live Earth in Hamburg. The Insomniac World Tour was launched at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa, the same venue he ended his last world tour, and took him to sold-out arenas throughout Europe. It was his first arena tour of the UK, with him playing venues such as Manchester's MEN Arena and Wembley Arena. The tour ended with Iglesias performing at the newly opened L.A. Live. A second leg of the tour took him throughout Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina. Iglesias's song "Can You Hear Me" was chosen as the official song of the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament. He performed the song live at the 29 June 2008 final in Vienna, Austria. The song featured on a re-issue of Insomniac, which was released in certain countries. Iglesias released a Spanish greatest hits album titled 95/08 Éxitos on 25 March 2008, which included his seventeen number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart plus two new songs. The first single was the song "¿Dónde Están Corazón?", which was written by Argentine star Coti, and became Iglesias's eighteenth number-one single on Billboards Hot Latin Songs. The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and number eighteen on the overall Billboard 200 albums chart. It was Iglesias's second Spanish album to debut in the top 20 of the Billboard 200 (Quizás debuted at number twelve in 2002). The album was certified double Platinum (Latin field) in the U.S. and in some Latin American countries. The record's second single, "Lloro Por Ti", also reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart and had an official remix featuring Wisin & Yandel. Iglesias did a tour of the US to promote the compilation. Beginning in Laredo, Texas, and ending at the Izod Center in New Jersey, he was accompanied through most of the tour with bachata band Aventura, who also performed "Lloro Por Ti" with him at the 2008 Premios Juventud. Iglesias was a surprise performer at the 2008 Lo Nuestro Awards, opening the show with a medley of "¿Dónde Están Corazón?" and "Dímelo". He also performed at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, where he received a special award. After the success of his Spanish greatest hits compilation, Iglesias released a compilation of his English-language hits on 11 November. The album includes "Can You Hear Me" as well as two new songs. The first single, "Away", features Sean Garrett, and was followed by "Takin' Back My Love", featuring Ciara. The album debuted at number three on the official UK Albums Chart and sold over 80,000 copies in its first two weeks of release alone. Iglesias was the winner of two World Music Awards in the categories of "World's Best Selling Latin Performer" and "World's Best Selling Spanish Artist" at the ceremony held in Monaco on 9 November 2008. 2010–2011: Euphoria On 5 July 2010, Iglesias released his ninth studio album Euphoria, his first work to be released under his new label Universal Republic. The album is Iglesias's first bilingual album, with seven original English songs and six original Spanish songs. It won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album, the Billboard Latin Awards for Latin Album of the Year and Latin Pop Album of the Year, and was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Iglesias worked with three producers whom he had collaborated with before: RedOne, Mark Taylor, and Carlos Paucar. The album features collaborations with Akon, Usher, Nicole Scherzinger, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ludacris, DJ Frank E, Pitbull, Juan Luis Guerra, and his third song together with Wisin & Yandel. In a joint venture with Universal Latino, Iglesias released different singles in both English and Spanish simultaneously to different formats. The first English single from the album, "I Like It", which features the rapper Pitbull, was released on 3 May 2010 in the U.S. and became a success, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also featured in the MTV reality series Jersey Shore. "Cuando Me Enamoro" was released as the lead Spanish single from the album, and became the theme song of the Mexican telenovela of the same title, produced by Televisa. The song debuted at number eight and number twenty-five on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart, respectively. It became his twenty-fifth top ten single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and after four weeks of its release date, it became his twenty-first No.1 song on this chart. In January 2011, the album's third English single, "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" broke into the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, also reaching No. 4. The song was released only for digital download in the United States but was featured on some editions of Euphoria in Europe and some Asian areas. The song became Iglesias' first number one on the U.S. Pop Songs and Radio Songs airplay charts. A remix version of the album track "Dirty Dancer" was released as the fourth English single and became his ninth Hot Dance Club Play chart topper, tying with Prince and Michael Jackson as the male with the most No. 1 dance singles. Further, "Ayer" served as the album's third Spanish single and seventh single overall. The Euphoria Tour took Iglesias across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and several European countries. One of the tour's legs took him to Australia, while fellow artist Pitbull joined him as an opening act. Prince Royce also served as opening act during the tour's second leg across North America. In August 2011, Iglesias released the single "I Like How It Feels" to radio. This was planned to serve as the lead single from the Euphoria album's proposed re-issue that never came to fruition, Euphoria Reloaded. 2012–2014: Sex and Love On 25 August 2012, Iglesias unveiled his brand new single, "Finally Found You", a collaboration with American rapper Sammy Adams. It was released to the US iTunes Store on 25 September 2012. The song was released in UK on 9 December 2012. On 8 December 2012, Iglesias performed at the Z100 Jingle Ball in Miami, and on the iHeartRadio Festival interview session before the show, Iglesias stated he's working on some new music and – when asked about his time in the studio – he said, "It's kind of like going fishing, you never know when you're going to catch a big one." Continuing on to tell what fans can expect to hear, he said he's ready to try something new: "I come out with so many albums and I want to make sure that if I come out with an album it sounds new. At least to me." It was confirmed that Iglesias would be working with Mark Taylor, The Cataracs, and Carlos Paucar for the new album. Iglesias continued to tour during this period returned to India in October 2012 to perform another series of shows called Tri-City tour in Pune, Delhi, and Bangalore playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums. On 31 May 2013, Iglesias performed at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco. The show broke the highest attendance record as more than 120,000 fans gathered to watch the concert. Iglesias released a number of singles prior to the album release, the first of which was "Turn the Night Up" followed by "Heart Attack" which was released to US Top 40 radio stations. Latin stations were served with the song "Loco", a smooth bachata duet with urban bachata superstar Romeo Santos. The single became Iglesias' 24th No. 1 on the Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. A version of the song released in Spain featured Spanish Flamenco singer India Martinez and topped the charts in Spain. This was followed by El Perdedor, a duet with Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solis and was the theme to the telenovela Lo que la vida me robó. The song became his 24th #1 on the Latin charts. Iglesias announced the title of his tenth studio album would be Sex and Love. The album was released on 14 March 2014.The release of the album was accompanied by the single I'm a Freak and featured Pitbull The album also featured a duet with Kylie Minogue called "Beautiful", which appears on her twelfth studio album Kiss Me Once. In addition to the previously stated collaborations the album featured guest appearances by Flo Rida, Yandel, Juan Magan, Jennifer Lopez and Gente de Zona. The next single to be released from the album was "Bailando", featuring Descemer Bueno, and Gente De Zona. "Bailando" was immensely successful becoming his 25th #1 on Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was #1 for 41 consecutive weeks on Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart becoming the longest reigning #1 in the history of the chart beating the record previously held by Shakira's 25 week run. This record was later broken in 2017 when "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber spent 56 weeks on top of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was also a crossover success in part due to a Spanglish version of the song which featured rapper Sean Paul which saw the song peak at #12 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Top 10 on the airplay chart becoming the highest charting Spanish song since the Macarena in 1996. The original Spanish music video of the song was also YouTube's second most watched music video of 2014, behind Katy Perry's hit single, "Dark Horse" and was the first Spanish language video to reach a billion views on the platform. "Bailando" currently has over 3 billion views on YouTube. The song won three Latin Grammy awards including Song of the Year. In addition to the original Spanish version, Iglesias also released two Portuguese versions of the song featuring the Portuguese singer Mickael Carreira and the Brazilian singer Luan Santana. Sex and Love was Spotify's 7th most-streamed album worldwide in 2014, and "Bailando" was the most-streamed song in both Mexico and Spain. Iglesias was also called the King of 2014, due to his tenth album, Sex and Love, and his hit single "Bailando". Billboard called him "The Crowd Pleaser" of 2014. After more than a decade with Universal Music, Iglesias left the record label in 2015 and signed on with Sony Music. 2015–present: Final Since the release of his last studio album Sex and Love, Iglesias continued issuing singles. In 2015, he collaborated with Nicky Jam on the reggaeton megahit "El Perdón" which topped the charts in several countries and has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2016 Iglesias released his first single under that Sony "Duele el Corazón" featuring Wisin which also topped the charts in several countries including the US Latin charts and also has over 1 billion views on YouTube . In 2017, Iglesias released "Súbeme la Radio", which features Descemer Bueno and Zion y Lennox. The song has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2018, Iglesias released two songs, one called "El Baño" with Bad Bunny and the other called "Move to Miami" with Pitbull. During this period Iglesias would feature on songs by other artists such as RedOne's "Don't You Need Somebody," Descemer Bueno's "Nos Fuimos Lejos", Matoma's "I Don't Dance (Without You)", Jon Z's "Después Que Te Perdí" and Anuel AA's "Fútbol y Rumba". In March 2020, it was announced that Iglesias would embark on a tour with Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. The tour was planned to start on 5 September 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona and end on 30 October 2020 in Atlanta, but the tour was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The song "Me Pasé" featuring Farruko was released on 1 July 2021 and became a hit on Latin radio topping the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, as well as extended his record for most #1s on Latin Pop Airplay Chart and reclaiming his record for most #1s on the Latin Airplay Chart. During a chat with Ricky Martin and Sebastian Yatra, Iglesias revealed that his next album would be released in two volumes, titled Final, as it likely would be his last album. Iglesias claimed, "it's something that I have been thinking about for the past few years" but also insisted, "I'm never going to stop writing songs because I love writing songs, but I'm going to do it in a different way, meaning they don't necessarily have to be packaged as an album, so this project to me is important". On 17 September, Iglesias released Final Vol. 1, alongside a new single, "Pendejo". Songwriting, producing, and acting Iglesias has collaborated with songwriter Guy Chambers to write "Un Nuovo Giorno", the lead single from Andrea Bocelli's first pop album. The song was later translated into English as "First Day of My Life" and recorded by Spice Girl Melanie C. The song has since gone to become a huge hit throughout Europe, and peaked in the number one spot in numerous countries. Iglesias also co-wrote the single "The Way" for American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken. Four songs co-written by Iglesias appear on the UK band The Hollies' 2006 album Staying Power. In 2010, Idol Allstars (Swedish Idol Series) released the song "All I Need Is You", co-written by Iglesias with Andreas Carlsson, Kalle Engström, and Kristian Lundin. He also co-wrote Jennifer Lopez's song "Dance Again", released in 2012, which reached number-one position in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. In 2000, Iglesias co-produced an off-Broadway musical called Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. In the musical, four Americans of Latin heritage possess a common interest in music and meet and decide to put on a show. The show contained many references and allusions to many classic and contemporary Latin and pop songs by the likes of Carmen Miranda, Selena, Ritchie Valens, Chayanne, Ricky Martin, and Iglesias himself. Iglesias starred alongside Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Johnny Depp in the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in which he played the well-spoken gun-wielding Lorenzo. In 2007, he had a guest appearance in the TV comedy Two and a Half Men as a carpenter/handyman. He also guest-starred as Gael, an Argentinean guitar playing/surfer/massage therapist love interest of Robin in season 3 of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. Iglesias also played the part of an evil Roman emperor in a Pepsi ad in 2004, as well as appearing in commercials for Tommy Hilfiger, Doritos, and Viceroy watches. Personal life In late 2001, Enrique Iglesias started a relationship with Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. In 2008, he was quoted by the Daily Star as having been married to Kournikova but having split. They reportedly split in October 2013 but reconciled. The couple have a son and daughter, Nicholas and Lucy, who are fraternal twins born on 16 December 2017. On 30 January 2020, their third child, a daughter, Mary, was born. In 2003, Iglesias received surgery to remove a circular mole from the right side of his face, citing concerns that over time it could become cancerous. Philanthropy In 2010, Iglesias was included in the project Download to Donate, run by Music for Relief, an organization started by American rock band Linkin Park. He co-produced Download to Donate for Haiti, a charity album for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, with the co-vocalist of the band Mike Shinoda. Both of them promoted the album at various venues, one of them being Larry King Live, where he and Shinoda explained the project. In 2013, Iglesias urged his followers to donate money through the American Red Cross to help the victims of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The typhoon struck one month after the Philippines was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake which destroyed homes and livelihoods of around 350,000 people. Iglesias has supported City of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Help for Heroes, Live Earth, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Special Olympics, Save the Children, The Salvation Army, and charitable causes like Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and hunger relief. Discography Studio albums Enrique Iglesias (1995) Vivir (1997) Cosas del Amor (1998) Enrique (1999) Escape (2001) Quizás (2002) 7 (2003) Insomniac (2007) Euphoria (2010) Sex and Love (2014) Final (Vol. 1) (2021) Filmography Film and television roles Soundtrack and self appearances Tours Headlining Vivir World Tour Cosas del Amor World Tour 2000 Tour One Night Stand Tour Don't Turn Off The Lights Tour Seven World Tour Insomniac World Tour Greatest Hits Tour Euphoria Tour Sex and Love Tour All the Hits Live Co-headlining Enrique Iglesias & Jennifer Lopez Tour Enrique & Pitbull on Tour Enrique Iglesias And Pitbull Live! Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert Awards and nominations Iglesias has won more than 200 awards from various ceremonies including 23 Billboard Music Awards and 36 Billboard Latin Music Awards, as well as 8 American Music Awards, 1 Grammy (with 3 times nomination), 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 10 World Music Awards, 6 MTV awards, 19 Premios Lo Nuestro Awards (with 24 times nomination) and 15 Premios Juventud Awards (with 21 times nomination) etc. He has been nominated over 465 times for various awards. He also won an award for Best International Pop Act at the MTV India Awards, as well as being named "King of Latin Pop". In 2000, he was awarded Most Fashionable Artist at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. In 2001, for the release of his second English studio album Escape, he received awards for Best-Selling Pop Male Artist and European Male Artist at the World Music Awards. And for the first time ever in the history of Billboard Music Awards Enrique Iglesias was awarded with "Top Latin Artist of All Time" Title and Award at Billboard Latin Music Awards 2020. References External links 1975 births Living people 20th-century Spanish singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century Spanish singers English-language singers from Spain Fonovisa Records artists Grammy Award winners Gulliver Preparatory School alumni Enrique Interscope Records artists Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers MTV Europe Music Award winners Musicians from Madrid Musicians from Miami People from Madrid RCA Records artists Republic Records artists Singers from Florida Singers from Madrid Songwriters from Florida Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish dance musicians Spanish emigrants to the United States Spanish expatriates in the United States Spanish male singers Spanish people of American descent Spanish people of Filipino descent Spanish people of Galician descent Spanish people of Jewish descent Spanish people of Kapampangan descent Spanish people of Puerto Rican descent Spanish philanthropists Spanish pop singers Spanish record producers Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish songwriters Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists University of Miami Business School alumni	false	[ "\"Wait and See\" is a song by Christian contemporary-alternative rock musician Brandon Heath from his second studio album, What If We. It was released sometime in early 2009, as the second single from the album.\n\nBackground \nThis song was produced by Dan Muckala.\n\nBrandon Heath told Kevin Davis of New Release Tuesday that the background for the song is the following:\n\nComposition \n\"Wait and See\" was written by Brandon Heath, which he said the song comes from Jeremiah 29:11, and the verse is about \"For I know the plans I have for you,\" declares the LORD, \"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.\"\n\nRelease \nThe song \"Wait and See\" was digitally released as the second single from What If We in early 2009.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nReferences \n\n2009 singles\nBrandon Heath songs\nSongs written by Brandon Heath\nSong recordings produced by Dan Muckala\n2008 songs", "Hospital dos Marmeleiros is a hospital in Monte (Funchal), Madeira.\n\nHistory\nOn 23 July 1905, the Paris edition of the New York Herald carried a report headed: \"German Company Plans to Make Madeira an up-to-date Resort\". In return for a promise to build a sanatorium and hospitals and treat 40 tuberculosis patients a year free, the Madeira Aktiengesellschaft, headed by Prince Friedrich Karl Hohenlohe-Öhringen, was in an arrangement with the Portuguese government, that in turn for building these facilities it will take over all business concerns on Madeira. When plans for some of the hospitals were exposed as being designs for hotels and holiday camps, the Madeirans realized that they were being colonized through the back door and promptly withdrew the concession. Just before this the Germans were constructing what is today the Hospital dos Marmeleiros (the only building the Germans began to build), the Germans were given a tax break and did not need to pay tax on anything needed to construct the hospital. The site was left abandoned until 1930 when the Madeirans continued to build the Hospital dos Marmeleiros.\n\nLocals say that the reason that the hospital construction was abandoned by the Germans was not just because of their colonization plans being discovered. It was that during the construction of the hospital the Germans needed special materials not available on Madeira, so it was agreed that Madeirans would take the materials up to the site from the German ship in the harbour. The strongest horses were used to bring up the wooden barrels. The local Madeiran with the strongest horses bringing up the materials was suspicious that what he was taking up the hill was heavier than what should be needed to construct the hospital, so he on purpose let one of the barrels roll down the hill and smash open. It is alleged that it was filled with rifles. When the locals looked inside what was already constructed they found ammunition and more guns. This caused the Madeirans to confiscate all German property in Madeira and stop the construction of the hospital.\n\nOn November 1930, the building was completed and the first patients were transferred there, making it one of the first hospitals in the country. The inauguration of the new facilities took place on August 10, 1940.\n\nReferences\n\nHospitals in Madeira\nHospital buildings completed in 1930" ]
[ "Enrique Iglesias", "Early life and family", "What year was he born?", "I don't know.", "Where did he grow up?", "Madrid, Spain,", "How long did he remain there?", "1981,", "Where did he go after that?", "Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami.", "Did he have any siblings?", "two siblings", "When did he begin music?", "I don't know.", "What was his family life like?", "Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans", "What were his plans?", "backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala." ]	C_7b955c1cc93f462290e111aa633deec1_1	Did any of his family believe in his dream?	9	Did any of Enrique Iglesias family believe in his dream?	Enrique Iglesias	Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina-Spanish socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. He was raised with two older siblings: Chabeli and Julio Jr.. One of his mother Preysler's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father Julio Iglesias' family are from Galicia and Andalusia - his father also claims Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. The parents divorced in 1979. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque terrorist group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom he later dedicated his first album. He also lived in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, for one year with his mother. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and he recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernan Martinez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-nineties on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the turn of the millennium, he made a successful crossover into the mainstream English-language market. He signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US$68 million with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope Records to release English albums. In 2010, Iglesias parted with Interscope Records and signed with another Universal Music Group label, Republic Records, to release bilingual albums. In 2015, he parted ways with Universal Music Group after being there for over a decade. He signed with Sony Music and his subsequent albums were to be released by Sony Music Latin in Spanish and RCA Records in English. Iglesias is one of the best-selling Latin music artists with estimated sales of over 70 million records worldwide. He has had five Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, including two number-ones. As of October 2020, Iglesias holds the number-one position on the Greatest of All-Latin Artists charts. Iglesias holds the record for the most number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart with 27 songs, the Latin Airplay chart with 32 songs, and the Latin Pop Airplay chart with 24 songs. Iglesias also has 14 number-ones on Billboards Dance charts, more than any other male artist. He has earned the honorific title King of Latin Pop. In December 2016, Billboard magazine named him the 14th most successful and top male dance club artist of all time. In October 2020, Iglesias was awarded the "Top Latin Artist of All Time" at the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Early life and family Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His father Julio is recognized as the most commercially successful continental European singer in the world. Iglesias was raised with two older siblings, Chábeli and Julio Jr. One of his mother's aunts is actress Neile Adams, the first wife of American actor Steve McQueen, mother of actor Chad McQueen, and grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. His father's family is from Galicia and Andalusia; his father also claims some Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side. Iglesias found out later in life that he was born with a rare congenital condition known as situs inversus where some of the body's major organs, such as the heart, are situated on the opposite side of the body from normal. At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father and his girlfriend at the time, Venezuelan top model Virginia Sipli, in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom Enrique later dedicated his first album. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School and later went on to study business at the University of Miami. Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernán Martínez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martínez', with the backstory of being a singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed on to Fonovisa Records. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album. Music career 1995–1996: Enrique Iglesias On 12 July 1995, Iglesias released Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads, including hits such as "Si Tú Te Vas" and "Experiencia Religiosa". This album, along with Iglesias' next two, was released by the Mexican label Fonovisa. The record sold half a million copies in its first week, a rare accomplishment then for an album recorded in a language other than English, going Gold in Portugal within the first week of release, and sold over a million copies in the next three months. His song "Por Amarte" was included in Televisa's telenovela Marisol, but with a twist: instead of Por amarte daría mi vida (To love you, I'd give my life), the words were Por amarte Marisol, moriría (To love you, Marisol, I'd die). The CD also yielded Italian and Portuguese editions, with most of the songs translated into those languages. Five singles were released from the album, such as "Por Amarte", "No Llores Por Mí", and "Trapecista" all of which topped the Billboards Latin charts. The album still holds the record for producing the most number one singles on the Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart. The album went on to win Iglesias the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance. 1997–1998: Vivir and Cosas del Amor In 1997, Iglesias' stardom continued to rise with the release of Vivir (To Live), which put him up with other English-language music superstars in sales for that year. The album also included a cover version of the Yazoo song "Only You", translated into Spanish as "Solo en Tí". Three singles were released from Vivir: "Enamorado Por Primera Vez", "Sólo en Ti", and "Miente", which topped the Latin singles chart as well as those in several Spanish-speaking countries. Along with his father and Luis Miguel, Iglesias was nominated for an American Music Award in the first-ever awarded category of Favorite Latin Artist. Iglesias lost out to his father, but performed the song "Lluvia Cae" at the event. Insisting on playing stadiums for his first concert tour, that summer, Iglesias, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel, played to sold-out audiences in sixteen countries. Beginning in Odessa, Texas, the tour went on to play three consecutive nights in Mexico's Plaza de Toros, two consecutive nights at Monterrey's Auditorio Coca-Cola, and two at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to over 130,000 people, as well as 19 arenas in the U.S. In 1998, Iglesias released his third album Cosas del Amor (Things of Love). Taking a more mature musical direction, the album, aided by the popular singles "Esperanza" and "Nunca Te Olvidaré", both of which topped the Latin singles chart, helped cement his status in the Latin music scene. Iglesias did a short tour of smaller venues to accompany the release of the album, with one show being televised from Acapulco, Mexico. This was followed by a larger world tour of over eighty shows in even bigger venues. The Cosas del Amor Tour was the first ever concert tour sponsored by McDonald's. He won an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Latin Artist against Ricky Martin and Chayanne. The song "Nunca te Olvidaré" was also used as the theme music for a Spanish soap opera of the same name and he sang the song himself on the last episode of the series. 1999–2000: Enrique In 1999, Iglesias began a successful crossover career into the English-language music market. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably Ricky Martin, Latino artists and music had a great surge in popularity in mainstream music that year. After attending one of his concerts in March 1999, Will Smith asked Iglesias to contribute to the soundtrack of his movie Wild Wild West. His contribution "Bailamos" was released as a single and became a number one hit in the US. After the success of "Bailamos", several mainstream record labels were eager to sign Iglesias. Signing a multi-album deal after weeks of negotiations with Interscope, Iglesias recorded and released his first full CD in English, Enrique. The pop album, with some Latin influences, took two months to complete. It contained the song "Rhythm Divine", a duet with Whitney Houston titled "Could I Have This Kiss Forever", and a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song "Sad Eyes". In 2000, Iglesias performed at the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show alongside Christina Aguilera and Phil Collins and Toni Braxton. Shock jock Howard Stern repeatedly played a tape of a supposedly very off-key Iglesias on his radio show and accused him of not being able to sing live. On 8 June 2000, Iglesias sang the song live on Stern's show with just a guitar accompanying him. After the performance, Stern remarked, "I respect you for coming in here; you really can sing". Iglesias noted that the recording could have been him, but that it was probably a recording made during a television taping where he was required to lip sync and not sing properly. He would remark that the controversy was the best promotion he could have. The album's single "Be with You" became Iglesias' second number-one single on Billboards Hot 100. 2001-2002: Escape and Quizas In 2001, Iglesias released his second English-language album Escape. Where most of the Latin crossover acts of the previous year experienced some difficulty matching the record sales of their first English-language albums, Iglesias actually went on to sell even more with the album being certified Diamond for shipments of over 10 million copies. The album's first single, "Hero", became a number-one hit in the United Kingdom, and in many other countries. The entire album was co-written by Iglesias. Escape is his biggest commercial success to date. The singles "Escape" and "Don't Turn Off the Lights" became radio staples, placing highly or topping various charts both in North America and elsewhere. A second edition of the album was released internationally and contained a new version of one of Iglesias' favorite tracks, "Maybe", as well as a duet with Lionel Richie called "To Love a Woman". Iglesias capitalized on the album's success with his "One-Night Stand World Tour" consisting of fifty sold-out shows in sixteen countries. Including Radio City Music Hall and three consecutive nights in London's Royal Albert Hall, the tour ended with a big show at Lia Manoliu Stadium in Bucharest, Romania. The concert launched MTV Romania, with the video for "Love to See You Cry" being the first to be shown on the channel. In 2002, Iglesias decided to release a fourth Spanish-language album titled Quizás (Perhaps). A more polished musical production than his previous Spanish albums and containing more introspective songs, the album's title track is a song about the strained relationship Iglesias has with his famous father. The album debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the highest placement of a Spanish-language album on the chart at that period. Quizás sold a million copies in a week, making it the fastest-selling album in Spanish in five years. All three singles released from the album all ended up topping the Latin chart, giving Iglesias a total of sixteen number ones on the chart. He currently holds the record for the most number-one singles on Billboards Latin Chart. With the song "Para Qué La Vida" Iglesias reached a million spins on U.S. radio becoming the first Latin act to do so. The video to the song "Quizás" was the first Spanish-language music video to be added to the selection on MTV's popular show Total Request Live.The album went on to win the Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. That year he embarked on an arena tour of the Americas. The "Don't Turn Off the Lights" tour was completed in the summer of 2002, with two sold-out nights in Madison Square Garden and another two in Mexico's National Auditorium. The tour finished with a single show in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2003-2004: Seven By 2003, Iglesias released his seventh album, which he called 7, the second to be co-written by him. Among its more 1980s-inspired material, it features the song "Roamer", which he wrote with his friend and longtime guitarist Tony Bruno. The CD also contained the song "Be Yourself", a song about independence; the chorus talks about how Iglesias' own parents did not believe he'd ever succeed in his singing career. The first single was the song "Addicted", and was followed closely by a remix of the song "Not in Love", featuring Kelis. With this album, Iglesias went on his biggest world tour to date. The highly publicised tour started with twelve shows in the United States ending with Iglesias playing at Houston Rodeo, and continued on to several countries, most of which he'd never previously visited, playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums in Australia, India, Egypt, and Singapore, before ending his tour in South Africa. 2007–2009: Insomniac, 95/08 Éxitos and Greatest Hits After a two-year hiatus, Iglesias released his new album Insomniac on 12 June 2007. The album was so named due to it being recorded mainly at night. The record had a more contemporary pop style than that of his previous albums. Its highlights include the songs "Push", with rapper Lil Wayne, as well as "Ring My Bells" and a cover of Ringside's "Tired of Being Sorry". The album's first single, "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)", was released on 10 April 2007. It was Iglesias' highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 since "Escape". The song was also a hit throughout Europe, peaking in the top 10 in many countries. The Spanish version of the song, titled "Dímelo", was number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for eleven weeks, becoming his second best performing song on that chart at the time. Iglesias followed up with the ballad "Somebody's Me", which was released as a single in North America. The song was played extensively on AC radio and peaked high on Billboards Hot AC. In Europe, the second single was "Tired of Being Sorry", which performed well in many countries; he recorded a version of the song with French singer Nâdiya, which was number one in France for eleven weeks. A solo version of "Push" was added to the soundtrack of the movie Step Up 2 the Streets. The song was regarded as the third single from the album. A music video was shot, which features the film's lead actors. Despite never being officially added to radio, the song has charted in several countries. On 4 July 2007, Iglesias became the first Western artist to play a concert in Syria in three decades when he performed for a sold-out crowd of ten thousand in the capital Damascus and in the same week, he performed on Live Earth in Hamburg. The Insomniac World Tour was launched at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa, the same venue he ended his last world tour, and took him to sold-out arenas throughout Europe. It was his first arena tour of the UK, with him playing venues such as Manchester's MEN Arena and Wembley Arena. The tour ended with Iglesias performing at the newly opened L.A. Live. A second leg of the tour took him throughout Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina. Iglesias's song "Can You Hear Me" was chosen as the official song of the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament. He performed the song live at the 29 June 2008 final in Vienna, Austria. The song featured on a re-issue of Insomniac, which was released in certain countries. Iglesias released a Spanish greatest hits album titled 95/08 Éxitos on 25 March 2008, which included his seventeen number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart plus two new songs. The first single was the song "¿Dónde Están Corazón?", which was written by Argentine star Coti, and became Iglesias's eighteenth number-one single on Billboards Hot Latin Songs. The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and number eighteen on the overall Billboard 200 albums chart. It was Iglesias's second Spanish album to debut in the top 20 of the Billboard 200 (Quizás debuted at number twelve in 2002). The album was certified double Platinum (Latin field) in the U.S. and in some Latin American countries. The record's second single, "Lloro Por Ti", also reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart and had an official remix featuring Wisin & Yandel. Iglesias did a tour of the US to promote the compilation. Beginning in Laredo, Texas, and ending at the Izod Center in New Jersey, he was accompanied through most of the tour with bachata band Aventura, who also performed "Lloro Por Ti" with him at the 2008 Premios Juventud. Iglesias was a surprise performer at the 2008 Lo Nuestro Awards, opening the show with a medley of "¿Dónde Están Corazón?" and "Dímelo". He also performed at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, where he received a special award. After the success of his Spanish greatest hits compilation, Iglesias released a compilation of his English-language hits on 11 November. The album includes "Can You Hear Me" as well as two new songs. The first single, "Away", features Sean Garrett, and was followed by "Takin' Back My Love", featuring Ciara. The album debuted at number three on the official UK Albums Chart and sold over 80,000 copies in its first two weeks of release alone. Iglesias was the winner of two World Music Awards in the categories of "World's Best Selling Latin Performer" and "World's Best Selling Spanish Artist" at the ceremony held in Monaco on 9 November 2008. 2010–2011: Euphoria On 5 July 2010, Iglesias released his ninth studio album Euphoria, his first work to be released under his new label Universal Republic. The album is Iglesias's first bilingual album, with seven original English songs and six original Spanish songs. It won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album, the Billboard Latin Awards for Latin Album of the Year and Latin Pop Album of the Year, and was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Iglesias worked with three producers whom he had collaborated with before: RedOne, Mark Taylor, and Carlos Paucar. The album features collaborations with Akon, Usher, Nicole Scherzinger, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ludacris, DJ Frank E, Pitbull, Juan Luis Guerra, and his third song together with Wisin & Yandel. In a joint venture with Universal Latino, Iglesias released different singles in both English and Spanish simultaneously to different formats. The first English single from the album, "I Like It", which features the rapper Pitbull, was released on 3 May 2010 in the U.S. and became a success, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also featured in the MTV reality series Jersey Shore. "Cuando Me Enamoro" was released as the lead Spanish single from the album, and became the theme song of the Mexican telenovela of the same title, produced by Televisa. The song debuted at number eight and number twenty-five on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart, respectively. It became his twenty-fifth top ten single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and after four weeks of its release date, it became his twenty-first No.1 song on this chart. In January 2011, the album's third English single, "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" broke into the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, also reaching No. 4. The song was released only for digital download in the United States but was featured on some editions of Euphoria in Europe and some Asian areas. The song became Iglesias' first number one on the U.S. Pop Songs and Radio Songs airplay charts. A remix version of the album track "Dirty Dancer" was released as the fourth English single and became his ninth Hot Dance Club Play chart topper, tying with Prince and Michael Jackson as the male with the most No. 1 dance singles. Further, "Ayer" served as the album's third Spanish single and seventh single overall. The Euphoria Tour took Iglesias across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and several European countries. One of the tour's legs took him to Australia, while fellow artist Pitbull joined him as an opening act. Prince Royce also served as opening act during the tour's second leg across North America. In August 2011, Iglesias released the single "I Like How It Feels" to radio. This was planned to serve as the lead single from the Euphoria album's proposed re-issue that never came to fruition, Euphoria Reloaded. 2012–2014: Sex and Love On 25 August 2012, Iglesias unveiled his brand new single, "Finally Found You", a collaboration with American rapper Sammy Adams. It was released to the US iTunes Store on 25 September 2012. The song was released in UK on 9 December 2012. On 8 December 2012, Iglesias performed at the Z100 Jingle Ball in Miami, and on the iHeartRadio Festival interview session before the show, Iglesias stated he's working on some new music and – when asked about his time in the studio – he said, "It's kind of like going fishing, you never know when you're going to catch a big one." Continuing on to tell what fans can expect to hear, he said he's ready to try something new: "I come out with so many albums and I want to make sure that if I come out with an album it sounds new. At least to me." It was confirmed that Iglesias would be working with Mark Taylor, The Cataracs, and Carlos Paucar for the new album. Iglesias continued to tour during this period returned to India in October 2012 to perform another series of shows called Tri-City tour in Pune, Delhi, and Bangalore playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums. On 31 May 2013, Iglesias performed at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco. The show broke the highest attendance record as more than 120,000 fans gathered to watch the concert. Iglesias released a number of singles prior to the album release, the first of which was "Turn the Night Up" followed by "Heart Attack" which was released to US Top 40 radio stations. Latin stations were served with the song "Loco", a smooth bachata duet with urban bachata superstar Romeo Santos. The single became Iglesias' 24th No. 1 on the Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. A version of the song released in Spain featured Spanish Flamenco singer India Martinez and topped the charts in Spain. This was followed by El Perdedor, a duet with Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solis and was the theme to the telenovela Lo que la vida me robó. The song became his 24th #1 on the Latin charts. Iglesias announced the title of his tenth studio album would be Sex and Love. The album was released on 14 March 2014.The release of the album was accompanied by the single I'm a Freak and featured Pitbull The album also featured a duet with Kylie Minogue called "Beautiful", which appears on her twelfth studio album Kiss Me Once. In addition to the previously stated collaborations the album featured guest appearances by Flo Rida, Yandel, Juan Magan, Jennifer Lopez and Gente de Zona. The next single to be released from the album was "Bailando", featuring Descemer Bueno, and Gente De Zona. "Bailando" was immensely successful becoming his 25th #1 on Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was #1 for 41 consecutive weeks on Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart becoming the longest reigning #1 in the history of the chart beating the record previously held by Shakira's 25 week run. This record was later broken in 2017 when "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber spent 56 weeks on top of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Bailando was also a crossover success in part due to a Spanglish version of the song which featured rapper Sean Paul which saw the song peak at #12 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Top 10 on the airplay chart becoming the highest charting Spanish song since the Macarena in 1996. The original Spanish music video of the song was also YouTube's second most watched music video of 2014, behind Katy Perry's hit single, "Dark Horse" and was the first Spanish language video to reach a billion views on the platform. "Bailando" currently has over 3 billion views on YouTube. The song won three Latin Grammy awards including Song of the Year. In addition to the original Spanish version, Iglesias also released two Portuguese versions of the song featuring the Portuguese singer Mickael Carreira and the Brazilian singer Luan Santana. Sex and Love was Spotify's 7th most-streamed album worldwide in 2014, and "Bailando" was the most-streamed song in both Mexico and Spain. Iglesias was also called the King of 2014, due to his tenth album, Sex and Love, and his hit single "Bailando". Billboard called him "The Crowd Pleaser" of 2014. After more than a decade with Universal Music, Iglesias left the record label in 2015 and signed on with Sony Music. 2015–present: Final Since the release of his last studio album Sex and Love, Iglesias continued issuing singles. In 2015, he collaborated with Nicky Jam on the reggaeton megahit "El Perdón" which topped the charts in several countries and has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2016 Iglesias released his first single under that Sony "Duele el Corazón" featuring Wisin which also topped the charts in several countries including the US Latin charts and also has over 1 billion views on YouTube . In 2017, Iglesias released "Súbeme la Radio", which features Descemer Bueno and Zion y Lennox. The song has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. In 2018, Iglesias released two songs, one called "El Baño" with Bad Bunny and the other called "Move to Miami" with Pitbull. During this period Iglesias would feature on songs by other artists such as RedOne's "Don't You Need Somebody," Descemer Bueno's "Nos Fuimos Lejos", Matoma's "I Don't Dance (Without You)", Jon Z's "Después Que Te Perdí" and Anuel AA's "Fútbol y Rumba". In March 2020, it was announced that Iglesias would embark on a tour with Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. The tour was planned to start on 5 September 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona and end on 30 October 2020 in Atlanta, but the tour was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The song "Me Pasé" featuring Farruko was released on 1 July 2021 and became a hit on Latin radio topping the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, as well as extended his record for most #1s on Latin Pop Airplay Chart and reclaiming his record for most #1s on the Latin Airplay Chart. During a chat with Ricky Martin and Sebastian Yatra, Iglesias revealed that his next album would be released in two volumes, titled Final, as it likely would be his last album. Iglesias claimed, "it's something that I have been thinking about for the past few years" but also insisted, "I'm never going to stop writing songs because I love writing songs, but I'm going to do it in a different way, meaning they don't necessarily have to be packaged as an album, so this project to me is important". On 17 September, Iglesias released Final Vol. 1, alongside a new single, "Pendejo". Songwriting, producing, and acting Iglesias has collaborated with songwriter Guy Chambers to write "Un Nuovo Giorno", the lead single from Andrea Bocelli's first pop album. The song was later translated into English as "First Day of My Life" and recorded by Spice Girl Melanie C. The song has since gone to become a huge hit throughout Europe, and peaked in the number one spot in numerous countries. Iglesias also co-wrote the single "The Way" for American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken. Four songs co-written by Iglesias appear on the UK band The Hollies' 2006 album Staying Power. In 2010, Idol Allstars (Swedish Idol Series) released the song "All I Need Is You", co-written by Iglesias with Andreas Carlsson, Kalle Engström, and Kristian Lundin. He also co-wrote Jennifer Lopez's song "Dance Again", released in 2012, which reached number-one position in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. In 2000, Iglesias co-produced an off-Broadway musical called Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. In the musical, four Americans of Latin heritage possess a common interest in music and meet and decide to put on a show. The show contained many references and allusions to many classic and contemporary Latin and pop songs by the likes of Carmen Miranda, Selena, Ritchie Valens, Chayanne, Ricky Martin, and Iglesias himself. Iglesias starred alongside Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Johnny Depp in the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in which he played the well-spoken gun-wielding Lorenzo. In 2007, he had a guest appearance in the TV comedy Two and a Half Men as a carpenter/handyman. He also guest-starred as Gael, an Argentinean guitar playing/surfer/massage therapist love interest of Robin in season 3 of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. Iglesias also played the part of an evil Roman emperor in a Pepsi ad in 2004, as well as appearing in commercials for Tommy Hilfiger, Doritos, and Viceroy watches. Personal life In late 2001, Enrique Iglesias started a relationship with Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. In 2008, he was quoted by the Daily Star as having been married to Kournikova but having split. They reportedly split in October 2013 but reconciled. The couple have a son and daughter, Nicholas and Lucy, who are fraternal twins born on 16 December 2017. On 30 January 2020, their third child, a daughter, Mary, was born. In 2003, Iglesias received surgery to remove a circular mole from the right side of his face, citing concerns that over time it could become cancerous. Philanthropy In 2010, Iglesias was included in the project Download to Donate, run by Music for Relief, an organization started by American rock band Linkin Park. He co-produced Download to Donate for Haiti, a charity album for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, with the co-vocalist of the band Mike Shinoda. Both of them promoted the album at various venues, one of them being Larry King Live, where he and Shinoda explained the project. In 2013, Iglesias urged his followers to donate money through the American Red Cross to help the victims of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The typhoon struck one month after the Philippines was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake which destroyed homes and livelihoods of around 350,000 people. Iglesias has supported City of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Help for Heroes, Live Earth, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Special Olympics, Save the Children, The Salvation Army, and charitable causes like Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and hunger relief. Discography Studio albums Enrique Iglesias (1995) Vivir (1997) Cosas del Amor (1998) Enrique (1999) Escape (2001) Quizás (2002) 7 (2003) Insomniac (2007) Euphoria (2010) Sex and Love (2014) Final (Vol. 1) (2021) Filmography Film and television roles Soundtrack and self appearances Tours Headlining Vivir World Tour Cosas del Amor World Tour 2000 Tour One Night Stand Tour Don't Turn Off The Lights Tour Seven World Tour Insomniac World Tour Greatest Hits Tour Euphoria Tour Sex and Love Tour All the Hits Live Co-headlining Enrique Iglesias & Jennifer Lopez Tour Enrique & Pitbull on Tour Enrique Iglesias And Pitbull Live! Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert Awards and nominations Iglesias has won more than 200 awards from various ceremonies including 23 Billboard Music Awards and 36 Billboard Latin Music Awards, as well as 8 American Music Awards, 1 Grammy (with 3 times nomination), 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 10 World Music Awards, 6 MTV awards, 19 Premios Lo Nuestro Awards (with 24 times nomination) and 15 Premios Juventud Awards (with 21 times nomination) etc. He has been nominated over 465 times for various awards. He also won an award for Best International Pop Act at the MTV India Awards, as well as being named "King of Latin Pop". In 2000, he was awarded Most Fashionable Artist at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. In 2001, for the release of his second English studio album Escape, he received awards for Best-Selling Pop Male Artist and European Male Artist at the World Music Awards. And for the first time ever in the history of Billboard Music Awards Enrique Iglesias was awarded with "Top Latin Artist of All Time" Title and Award at Billboard Latin Music Awards 2020. References External links 1975 births Living people 20th-century Spanish singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century Spanish singers English-language singers from Spain Fonovisa Records artists Grammy Award winners Gulliver Preparatory School alumni Enrique Interscope Records artists Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers MTV Europe Music Award winners Musicians from Madrid Musicians from Miami People from Madrid RCA Records artists Republic Records artists Singers from Florida Singers from Madrid Songwriters from Florida Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish dance musicians Spanish emigrants to the United States Spanish expatriates in the United States Spanish male singers Spanish people of American descent Spanish people of Filipino descent Spanish people of Galician descent Spanish people of Jewish descent Spanish people of Kapampangan descent Spanish people of Puerto Rican descent Spanish philanthropists Spanish pop singers Spanish record producers Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish songwriters Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists University of Miami Business School alumni	false	[ "A dream dictionary (also known as oneirocritic literature) is a tool made for interpreting images in a dream. Dream dictionaries tend to include specific images which are attached to specific interpretations. However, dream dictionaries are generally not considered scientifically viable by those within the psychology community.\n\nHistory\nSince the 19th century, the art of dream interpretation has been transferred to a scientific ground, making it a distinct part of psychology. However, the dream symbols of the \"unscientific\" days—the outcome of hearsay interpretations that differ around the world among different cultures—continued to mark the day of an average human-being, who is most likely unfamiliar with Freudian analysis of dreams.\n\nThe dream dictionary includes interpretations of dreams, giving each symbol in a dream a specific meaning. The argument of what dreams represent has greatly changed over time. With this changing, so have the interpretation of dreams. Dream dictionaries have changed in content since they were first published. The Greeks and Romans saw dreams as having a religious meaning. This made them believe that their dreams were an insight into the future and held the key to the solutions of their problems. Aristotle's view on dreams were that they were merely a function of our physiological make up. He did not believe dreams have a greater meaning, solely that it is a result of how we sleep. In the Middle Ages, dreams were seen as an interpretation of good or evil.\n\nAlthough the dream dictionary is not recognized in the psychology world, Freud is said to have revolutionized the interpretation and study of dreams. Freud came to the conclusion that dreams were a form of wish fulfillment. Dream dictionaries were first based upon Freudian thoughts and ancient interpretations of dreams.\n\nSome examples of dream interpretation are: dreaming you are on a beach means you are facing negativity in your life, or a lion may represent a need to control others. Dream dictionaries typically hold interpretations ranging from A-Z. Dream dictionaries can be found in book form or on the internet.\n\nSee also\n Dream interpretation\n Dream journal\n Dream sharing\n Oneiromancy\n Psychoanalytic dream interpretation\n Recurring dream\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n Condron, Barbara (1994). The Dreamer's Dictionary. School of Metaphysics Publishing. \n Crisp, Tony (2002). Dream Dictionary: An A to Z Guide to Understanding Your Unconscious Mind. \n Freud, Sigmund (1980). The Interpretation of Dreams, Avon.\n Guiley, Rsemary Ellen (1995). The Encyclopedia of Dreams. \n Hadfield, J. A. (1954). Dreams and Nightmares, Penguin.\n Jung, Carl (1964). \"Man and His Symbols\", Doubleday.\n MacKenzie, Norman (1989). \"Dreams and Dreaming\", Bloomsbury Books.\n Van de Castle, Robert (1994). \"Our Dreaming Mind\", Aquarian.\n\nExternal links\n Dream Dictionary \n \n\nDictionary\nSymbols\nDictionaries by type", "Pietro Paolo Pelandi (born 29 June 1959), known by his stage name P. Lion, is an Italian singer, songwriter, musician and producer.\n\nBiography \n\nHe took the name of \"P. Lion\" because of the three \"P\"s in his name and because the symbol of his family is a lion (his father was the count of Alzano Lombardo). He started to play the piano and write his own music at a young age.\n\nLittle is known about his private life. He divorced in 1990 after four years of marriage and now lives with his son Edoardo.\n\nCareer \n\nVery famous in Italy, he achieved international fame with his two hits \"Happy Children\" (1983, produced by Davide Zambelli of the band Scotch) and \"Dream\" (1984). \"Dream\" was the theme of the French TV and radio chart show Top 50 1984-93, and \"Happy Children\" has been remixed to become the new theme of the French Top 50 in France since 2000.\n\nAfter his first album, P. Lion signed to the Milanese label Discomagic Records, the biggest dance label in Italy at the time. There, he produced his own singles such as \"Believe Me\" and \"Under The Moon\" with Durium. In 1995 he released \"A Step In The Right Way\", an album with FMA and the publisher Allione. He collaborates as arranger on some productions such as Betty Villani or Tony Sheridan.\n\nHe was a complete artist, because he did all of his first album \"Springtime\":\n Music & lyrics of all songs by Paolo Pelandi\n Produced by Paolo Pelandi & V. Verdi\n Arranged by Paolo Pelandi, D. Zambelli & V. Verdi\n Keyboards & lead vocals by Paolo Pelandi\n\nDiscography \n\n Springtime (1984)\n A Step In The Right Way... (1995)\n\nSingles:\n Happy Children (Carrère Records, 1984) (Switzerland #11, Germany #15, Netherlands #15, Belgium #5, Spain #14) \n Dream (Carrère Records, 1984) (Germany #24, France #25)\n Reggae radio (Carrère Records, 1984)\n Believe me (Durium, 1985)\n Under the moon (Durium, 1986)\n You'll never break my heart (Durium, 1987)\n Burn In His Hand (P.Lion Production, 1991)\n\nExternal links \n\n \n \n\n1959 births\n20th-century Italian male singers\n21st-century Italian male singers\nItalian male singer-songwriters\nItalian multi-instrumentalists\nItalian pop singers\nItalian dance musicians\nItalian Italo disco musicians\nLiving people\nPeople from Alzano Lombardo" ]
[ "Bruno Latour", "Pandora's Hope" ]	C_f2db5f2b446840bfbd05f446b26a81b2_1	What was pandora's hope?	1	What was pandora's hope?	Bruno Latour	After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naive descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory--that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices-- in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results." Latour's work Nous n'avons jamais ete modernes : Essais d'anthropologie symetrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". CANNOTANSWER	Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern.	Bruno Latour (; ; born 22 June 1947) is a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist. He is especially known for his work in the field of science and technology studies (STS). After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris (Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation) from 1982 to 2006, he became Professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab. He retired from several university activities in 2017. He was also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics. Latour is best known for his books We Have Never Been Modern (1991; English translation, 1993), Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar, 1979) and Science in Action (1987). Although his studies of scientific practice were at one time associated with social constructionist approaches to the philosophy of science, Latour has diverged significantly from such approaches. He is best known for withdrawing from the subjective/objective division and re-developing the approach to work in practice. Latour said in 2017 that he is interested in helping to rebuild trust in science and that some of the authority of science needs to be regained. Along with Michel Callon and John Law, Latour is one of the primary developers of actor–network theory (ANT), a constructionist approach influenced by the ethnomethodology of Harold Garfinkel, the generative semiotics of Algirdas Julien Greimas, and (more recently) the sociology of Émile Durkheim's rival Gabriel Tarde. Biography Latour is related to a well-known family of winemakers from Burgundy, but is not associated with the similarly named estate in Bordeaux. As a student, Latour originally focused on philosophy. In 1971–1972, he ranked second and then first (reçu second, premier) in the French national competitive exam (agrégation/CAPES de philosophie). He was deeply influenced by Michel Serres. Latour went on to earn his Ph.D. in philosophical theology in 1975 at the University of Tours. His thesis title was Exégèse et ontologie: une analyse des textes de resurrection (Exegesis and Ontology: An Analysis of the Texts of Resurrection). He developed an interest in anthropology, and undertook fieldwork in Ivory Coast which resulted in a brief monograph on decolonization, race, and industrial relations. After spending more than twenty years (1982–2006) at the Centre de sociologie de l'innovation at the École des Mines in Paris, Latour moved in 2006 to Sciences Po, where he was the first occupant of a chair named for Gabriel Tarde. In recent years he also served as one of the curators of successful art exhibitions at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie in Karlsruhe, Germany, including "Iconoclash" (2002) and "Making Things Public" (2005). In 2005 he also held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Awards and honors On 22 May 2008, Latour was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Université de Montréal on the occasion of an organizational communication conference held in honor of the work of James R. Taylor, on whom Latour has had an important influence. He holds several other honorary doctorates, as well as France's Légion d'Honneur (2012). The Dutch "International Spinozaprijs Foundation" will award the "Spinozalens 2020" to Bruno Latour on 24 November 2020. In 2021 he received the Kyoto Prize in the category "Thought and Ethics". Holberg Prize On 13 March 2013, he was announced as the winner of the 2013 Holberg Prize. The prize committee stated that "Bruno Latour has undertaken an ambitious analysis and reinterpretation of modernity, and has challenged fundamental concepts such as the distinction between modern and pre-modern, nature and society, human and non-human." The committee states that "the impact of Latour's work is evident internationally and far beyond studies of the history of science, art history, history, philosophy, anthropology, geography, theology, literature and law." A 2013 article in Aftenposten by Jon Elster criticised the conferment to Latour, by saying "The question is, does he deserve the prize. ... If the statutes [of the award] had used new knowledge as a main criteria, instead of one of several, then he would be completely unqualified in my opinion." Main works Laboratory Life After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naïve descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory—that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices—in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results". The Pasteurization of France After a research project examining the sociology of primatologists, Latour followed up the themes in Laboratory Life with Les Microbes: guerre et paix (published in English as The Pasteurization of France in 1988). In it, he reviews the life and career of one of France's most famous scientists Louis Pasteur and his discovery of microbes, in the fashion of a political biography. Latour highlights the social forces at work in and around Pasteur's career and the uneven manner in which his theories were accepted. By providing more explicitly ideological explanations for the acceptance of Pasteur's work more easily in some quarters than in others, he seeks to undermine the notion that the acceptance and rejection of scientific theories is primarily, or even usually, a matter of experiment, evidence or reason. Aramis, or, The Love of Technology Aramis, or, The Love of Technology focuses on the history of an unsuccessful mass-transit project. Aramis PRT (personal rapid transit), a high tech automated subway, had been developed in France during the 70s and 80s and was supposed to be implemented as a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in Paris. It combined the flexibility of an automobile with the efficiency of a subway. Aramis was to be an ideal urban transportation system based on private cars in constant motion and the elimination of unnecessary transfers. This new form of transportation was intended to be as secure and inexpensive as collective transportation. The proposed system had custom-designed motors, sensors, controls, digital electronics, software and a major installation in southern Paris. But in the end, the project died in 1987. Latour argues that the technology failed not because any particular actor killed it, but because the actors failed to sustain it through negotiation and adaptation to a changing social situation. While investigating Aramis's demise, Latour delineates the tenets of actor-network theory. According to Latour's own description of the book, the work aims "at training readers in the booming field of technology studies and at experimenting in the many new literary forms that are necessary to handle mechanisms and automatisms without using the belief that they are mechanical nor automatic." We Have Never Been Modern Latour's work Nous n’avons jamais été modernes : Essai d’anthropologie symétrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". "Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam?" In a 2004 article, Latour questioned the fundamental premises on which he had based most of his career, asking, "Was I wrong to participate in the invention of this field known as science studies?" He undertakes a trenchant critique of his own field of study and, more generally, of social criticism in contemporary academia. He suggests that critique, as currently practiced, is bordering on irrelevancy. To maintain any vitality, Latour argues that social critiques require a drastic reappraisal: "our critical equipment deserves as much critical scrutiny as the Pentagon budget." (p. 231) To regain focus and credibility, Latour argues that social critiques must embrace empiricism, to insist on the "cultivation of a stubbornly realist attitude – to speak like William James". (p. 233) Latour suggests that about 90 per cent of contemporary social criticism displays one of two approaches which he terms "the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 237) The fairy position is anti-fetishist, arguing that "objects of belief" (e.g., religion, arts) are merely concepts created by the projected wishes and desires of the "naive believer"; the "fact position" argues that individuals are dominated, often covertly and without their awareness, by external forces (e.g., economics, gender). (p. 238) "Do you see now why it feels so good to be a critical mind?” asks Latour: no matter which position you take, "You’re always right!" (p. 238–239) Social critics tend to use anti-fetishism against ideas they personally reject; to use "an unrepentant positivist" approach for fields of study they consider valuable; all the while thinking as "a perfectly healthy sturdy realist for what you really cherish." (p. 241) These inconsistencies and double standards go largely unrecognized in social critique because "there is never any crossover between the two lists of objects in the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 241) The practical result of these approaches being taught to millions of students in elite universities for several decades is a widespread and influential "critical barbarity" that has—like a malign virus created by a "mad scientist"—thus far proven impossible to control. Most troubling, Latour notes that critical ideas have been appropriated by those he describes as conspiracy theorists, including global warming deniers and the 9/11 Truth movement: "Maybe I am taking conspiracy theories too seriously, but I am worried to detect, in those mad mixtures of knee-jerk disbelief, punctilious demands for proofs, and free use of powerful explanation from the social neverland, many of the weapons of social critique." (p. 230) The conclusion of the article is to argue for a positive framing of critique, to help understand how matters of concern can be supported rather than undermined: "The critic is not the one who lifts the rugs from under the feet of the naïve believers, but the one who offers the participants arenas in which to gather. The critic is not the one who alternates haphazardly between antifetishism and positivism like the drunk iconoclast drawn by Goya, but the one for whom, if something is constructed, then it means it is fragile and thus in great need of care and caution." Latour's article has been highly influential within the field of postcritique, an intellectual movement within literary criticism and cultural studies that seeks to find new forms of reading and interpretation that go beyond the methods of critique, critical theory, and ideological criticism. The literary critic Rita Felski has named Latour as an important precursor to the project of postcritique. Reassembling the Social In Reassembling the Social (2005), Latour continues a reappraisal of his work, developing what he calls a "practical metaphysics", which calls "real" anything that an actor (one whom we are studying) claims as a source of motivation for action. So if someone says, "I was inspired by God to be charitable to my neighbors" we are obliged to recognize the "ontological weight" of their claim, rather than attempting to replace their belief in God's presence with "social stuff", like class, gender, imperialism, etc. Latour’s nuanced metaphysics demands the existence of a plurality of worlds, and the willingness of the researcher to chart ever more. He argues that researchers must give up the hope of fitting their actors into a structure or framework, but Latour believes the benefits of this sacrifice far outweigh the downsides: "Their complex metaphysics would at least be respected, their recalcitrance recognized, their objections deployed, their multiplicity accepted." For Latour, to talk about metaphysics or ontology–what really is–means paying close empirical attention to the various, contradictory institutions and ideas that bring people together and inspire them to act. Here is Latour's description of metaphysics: If we call metaphysics the discipline . . . that purports to define the basic structure of the world, then empirical metaphysics is what the controversies over agencies lead to since they ceaselessly populate the world with new drives and, as ceaselessly, contest the existence of others. The question then becomes how to explore the actors' own metaphysics. A more traditional metaphysicist might object, arguing that this means there are multiple, contradictory realities, since there are "controversies over agencies" – since there is a plurality of contradictory ideas that people claim as a basis for action (God, nature, the state, sexual drives, personal ambition, and so on). This objection manifests the most important difference between traditional philosophical metaphysics and Latour's nuance: for Latour, there is no "basic structure of reality" or a single, self-consistent world. An unknowably large multiplicity of realities, or "worlds" in his terms, exists–one for each actor's sources of agency, inspirations for action. Actors bring "the real" (metaphysics) into being. The task of the researcher is not to find one "basic structure" that explains agency, but to recognize "the metaphysical innovations proposed by ordinary actors". Mapping those metaphysical innovations involves a strong dedication to relativism, Latour argues. The relativist researcher "learns the actors' language," records what they say about what they do, and does not appeal to a higher "structure" to "explain" the actor's motivations. The relativist "takes seriously what [actors] are obstinately saying" and "follows the direction indicated by their fingers when they designate what 'makes them act'". The relativist recognizes the plurality of metaphysics that actors bring into being, and attempts to map them rather than reducing them to a single structure or explanation. Selected bibliography Books Originally published 1979 in Los Angeles, by Sage Publications Chapters in books Journal articles See also Actant Blackboxing Fashionable Nonsense Graphism thesis Mapping controversies Obligatory passage point Science wars Social construction of technology Technological determinism References Sources External links Bruno Latour's website 1947 births Living people People from Beaune Sociologists of science Science and technology studies scholars Social constructionism Sociology of scientific knowledge French sociologists French anthropologists Mines ParisTech faculty Actor-network theory French Roman Catholics Catholic philosophers Holberg Prize laureates French male writers French male essayists 20th-century French philosophers 21st-century French philosophers Philosophers of science Philosophers of technology Posthumanists Continental philosophers Recipients of the Legion of Honour 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers Sciences Po faculty	true	[ "In Greek mythology, Elpis () is the spirit of hope (usually seen as an extension to suffering by the Greeks, not as a god). She was depicted as a young woman, usually carrying flowers or a cornucopia in her hands.\n\nFamily \nElpis is perhaps a child of Nyx and mother of Pheme, the goddess of fame, renown and rumor.\n\nMythology\nIn Hesiod's Works and Days, Elpis was the last item in Pandora's box (or jar). Based on Hesiod's description, the debate is still alive to determine if Elpis was only hope, or more generally expectation. Her equivalent in Roman mythology was Spes.\n\nHesiod's Works and Days\nThe more famous version of the Pandora myth comes from one of Hesiod's poems, Works and Days. In this version of the myth (lines 60–105), Hesiod expands upon her origin, and moreover widens the scope of the misery she inflicts on mankind. Pandora brings with her a jar containing \"burdensome toil and sickness that brings death to men\" (91–92), diseases (102) and \"a myriad other pains\" (100). Prometheus had – fearing further reprisals – warned his brother Epimetheus not to accept any gifts from Zeus. But Epimetheus did not listen; he accepted Pandora, who promptly scattered the contents of her jar. As a result, Hesiod tells us, \"the earth and sea are full of evils\" (101). One item, however, did not escape the jar (96–99), hope:\n\nOnly Hope was left within her unbreakable house,\nshe remained under the lip of the jar, and did not\nfly away. Before [she could], Pandora replaced the\nlid of the jar. This was the will of aegis-bearing\nZeus the Cloudgatherer.\n\nHesiod does not say why hope (elpis) remained in the jar. The implications of Elpis remaining in the jar were the subject of intense debate even in antiquity.\n\nHesiod closes with this moral (105): \"Thus it is not possible to escape the mind of Zeus.\"\n\nNamesakes\n The asteroid 59 Elpis is named after her.\n Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! takes place on Elpis, the moon of the fictional planet Pandora, setting of the previous Borderlands games.\n Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker features a flower named after Elpis that responds to emotional energy.\n\nReferences\nNotes\n\nCitations\n\nBibliography\n\n{{citation \|last=Verdenius \|first=Willem Jacob \|author-link=Willem Jacob Verdenius \|title=A Commentary on Hesiod Works and Days vv 1–382 \|year=1985 \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Kk3AAAAIAAJ \|publisher=E. J. Brill \|isbn=90-04-07465-1}}\n\nFurther reading\n\nWest, M. L. Hesiod, Theogony, ed. with prolegomena and commentary (Oxford 1966).\nWest, M. L. Hesiod, Works and Days'', ed. with prolegomena and commentary (Oxford 1978).\n\nExternal links\nGodchecker (Greek Mythology) - Elpis\n\nGreek goddesses\nPersonifications in Greek mythology\nWomen in Greek mythology\nCharacters in Greek mythology", "Pandora is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is based on Pandora of Greek mythology.\n\nPublication history\nIn August 2010, DC Comics released Wonder Woman #45, which introduced Pandora in a back story that involved how Diana Prince and Pandora are connected to the fate of the Amazons. She went on to appear in Flashpoint #5 (October 2011), created by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert. Subsequently, Pandora made a cameo appearance in every initial title of The New 52. DC Comics released Trinity War in August 2013, a comic book story arc from Pandora's point of view that involved her resuming a cursed crusade to destroy the seven deadly sins. Pandora's solo series, Trinity of Sin: Pandora, lasted 14 issues and left her fate open for further story development.\n\nFictional character biography\n\nPre-Crisis\nPandora first appears in New Comics #5 (June 1936). Pandora was a woman who was constructed long ago by Hephaestus and blessed by the Olympian Gods under order of Zeus to act as the living embodiment of all that is woman. Pandora was eventually given a box by Zeus as a keepsake to be presented to her mate which she was charged with never opening under any conditions. Pandora eventually chose Epimetheus as her mate and convinced him to open the box which released great evils onto the world while containing the force of Hope within the box. Pandora was eventually forced to wander the lands as a reviled figure until she was assimilated back into Earth by Gaea at her behest.\n\nFlashpoint and New 52\nPandora first appears in Flashpoint #5 (October 2011), the conclusion to the \"Flashpoint\" event. She is responsible for causing the Flash to merge three separate timelines (the DC Universe, the Wildstorm Universe and select Vertigo titles) in order to create the new universe that is seen in the publications of The New 52. After this storyline, Pandora made a cameo appearance in the first issue of each initial New 52 title. Pandora was not named until January 2012, when Bob Harras posted a teaser on DC Comics' blog, stating her name.\n\nPandora next appeared having a dialogue with the Phantom Stranger. It was revealed that the two have a connection, via the Circle of Eternity, who had cursed them to walk the Earth forever yet unable to get involved.\n\nThe origins of Pandora and those who would become The Question and the Phantom Stranger are later explained. Summoned to the Rock of Eternity by the Circle of Eternity, the three are labeled as the \"Trinity of Sin\" and are each given a punishment. For opening a box and releasing the evil contents, Pandora was sentenced to an eternity of loneliness, pain and being told that she is evil. It is also revealed that she had re-obtained her box from A.R.G.U.S.'s Black Room, where it had been stored along with various other mystical items.\n\nThe last wizard of the Council of Eternity later appears before Pandora and tells her that she did not deserve the punishment that she was given. When Pandora questions him on how to open the box, he states that \"only the strongest of heart or the darkest... can open the box and claim its power... and can transform the...\" before disappearing in a bolt of lightning. Pandora's own series was only 14 issues plus a New 52's Future's End one-shot.\n\nPandora's box was later revealed, in Forever Evil, not to be a mystical artifact at all, but a device for accessing Earth-3, underlining Pandora's innocence. Pandora recurred throughout the Forever Evil: Blight crossover event, taking place in Constantine, the Trinity of Sin titles and Justice League Dark. After visiting Heaven with the Justice League Dark, Pandora begins to understand more about her true nature, which has something to do with lights, and she uncovers an ability to manifest herself in a much more powerful, golden angel form. Ultimately, her discovery of these powers is instrumental in defeating Blight, a powerful evil entity made up of humanity's dark side and potential for evil.\n\nIn Trinity of Sin — Pandora: Futures-End, it is revealed that the \"Seven Deadly Sins\" are in reality part of Pandora herself and that they are part of an unending cycle that ended with one of the Sins being victorious and causing the multiverse to collapse and restart. This time, however, the part of Pandora that is Hope wins and ends the cycle.\n\nIn the DC Universe 80-page Rebirth special, Pandora is murdered and disintegrated by a mysterious assailant after she implies that he was the one responsible for all of the sins for which she had been blamed.\n\nPowers and abilities\nPandora's powers consist of immortality, magic and supernatural knowledge. She is skilled in martial arts and is also a weapons expert, having access to magical weaponry. She is omnilingual as well.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Pandora overview\n\nCharacters created by Andy Kubert\nComics characters introduced in 2011\nCharacters created by Geoff Johns\nDC Comics characters who use magic\nDC Comics female superheroes\nClassical mythology in DC Comics\nFictional Greek people" ]
[ "Bruno Latour", "Pandora's Hope", "What was pandora's hope?", "Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern." ]	C_f2db5f2b446840bfbd05f446b26a81b2_1	What did Bruno say about these findings?	2	What did Bruno say about Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern findings?	Bruno Latour	After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naive descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory--that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices-- in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results." Latour's work Nous n'avons jamais ete modernes : Essais d'anthropologie symetrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". CANNOTANSWER	Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "	Bruno Latour (; ; born 22 June 1947) is a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist. He is especially known for his work in the field of science and technology studies (STS). After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris (Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation) from 1982 to 2006, he became Professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab. He retired from several university activities in 2017. He was also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics. Latour is best known for his books We Have Never Been Modern (1991; English translation, 1993), Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar, 1979) and Science in Action (1987). Although his studies of scientific practice were at one time associated with social constructionist approaches to the philosophy of science, Latour has diverged significantly from such approaches. He is best known for withdrawing from the subjective/objective division and re-developing the approach to work in practice. Latour said in 2017 that he is interested in helping to rebuild trust in science and that some of the authority of science needs to be regained. Along with Michel Callon and John Law, Latour is one of the primary developers of actor–network theory (ANT), a constructionist approach influenced by the ethnomethodology of Harold Garfinkel, the generative semiotics of Algirdas Julien Greimas, and (more recently) the sociology of Émile Durkheim's rival Gabriel Tarde. Biography Latour is related to a well-known family of winemakers from Burgundy, but is not associated with the similarly named estate in Bordeaux. As a student, Latour originally focused on philosophy. In 1971–1972, he ranked second and then first (reçu second, premier) in the French national competitive exam (agrégation/CAPES de philosophie). He was deeply influenced by Michel Serres. Latour went on to earn his Ph.D. in philosophical theology in 1975 at the University of Tours. His thesis title was Exégèse et ontologie: une analyse des textes de resurrection (Exegesis and Ontology: An Analysis of the Texts of Resurrection). He developed an interest in anthropology, and undertook fieldwork in Ivory Coast which resulted in a brief monograph on decolonization, race, and industrial relations. After spending more than twenty years (1982–2006) at the Centre de sociologie de l'innovation at the École des Mines in Paris, Latour moved in 2006 to Sciences Po, where he was the first occupant of a chair named for Gabriel Tarde. In recent years he also served as one of the curators of successful art exhibitions at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie in Karlsruhe, Germany, including "Iconoclash" (2002) and "Making Things Public" (2005). In 2005 he also held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Awards and honors On 22 May 2008, Latour was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Université de Montréal on the occasion of an organizational communication conference held in honor of the work of James R. Taylor, on whom Latour has had an important influence. He holds several other honorary doctorates, as well as France's Légion d'Honneur (2012). The Dutch "International Spinozaprijs Foundation" will award the "Spinozalens 2020" to Bruno Latour on 24 November 2020. In 2021 he received the Kyoto Prize in the category "Thought and Ethics". Holberg Prize On 13 March 2013, he was announced as the winner of the 2013 Holberg Prize. The prize committee stated that "Bruno Latour has undertaken an ambitious analysis and reinterpretation of modernity, and has challenged fundamental concepts such as the distinction between modern and pre-modern, nature and society, human and non-human." The committee states that "the impact of Latour's work is evident internationally and far beyond studies of the history of science, art history, history, philosophy, anthropology, geography, theology, literature and law." A 2013 article in Aftenposten by Jon Elster criticised the conferment to Latour, by saying "The question is, does he deserve the prize. ... If the statutes [of the award] had used new knowledge as a main criteria, instead of one of several, then he would be completely unqualified in my opinion." Main works Laboratory Life After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naïve descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory—that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices—in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results". The Pasteurization of France After a research project examining the sociology of primatologists, Latour followed up the themes in Laboratory Life with Les Microbes: guerre et paix (published in English as The Pasteurization of France in 1988). In it, he reviews the life and career of one of France's most famous scientists Louis Pasteur and his discovery of microbes, in the fashion of a political biography. Latour highlights the social forces at work in and around Pasteur's career and the uneven manner in which his theories were accepted. By providing more explicitly ideological explanations for the acceptance of Pasteur's work more easily in some quarters than in others, he seeks to undermine the notion that the acceptance and rejection of scientific theories is primarily, or even usually, a matter of experiment, evidence or reason. Aramis, or, The Love of Technology Aramis, or, The Love of Technology focuses on the history of an unsuccessful mass-transit project. Aramis PRT (personal rapid transit), a high tech automated subway, had been developed in France during the 70s and 80s and was supposed to be implemented as a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in Paris. It combined the flexibility of an automobile with the efficiency of a subway. Aramis was to be an ideal urban transportation system based on private cars in constant motion and the elimination of unnecessary transfers. This new form of transportation was intended to be as secure and inexpensive as collective transportation. The proposed system had custom-designed motors, sensors, controls, digital electronics, software and a major installation in southern Paris. But in the end, the project died in 1987. Latour argues that the technology failed not because any particular actor killed it, but because the actors failed to sustain it through negotiation and adaptation to a changing social situation. While investigating Aramis's demise, Latour delineates the tenets of actor-network theory. According to Latour's own description of the book, the work aims "at training readers in the booming field of technology studies and at experimenting in the many new literary forms that are necessary to handle mechanisms and automatisms without using the belief that they are mechanical nor automatic." We Have Never Been Modern Latour's work Nous n’avons jamais été modernes : Essai d’anthropologie symétrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". "Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam?" In a 2004 article, Latour questioned the fundamental premises on which he had based most of his career, asking, "Was I wrong to participate in the invention of this field known as science studies?" He undertakes a trenchant critique of his own field of study and, more generally, of social criticism in contemporary academia. He suggests that critique, as currently practiced, is bordering on irrelevancy. To maintain any vitality, Latour argues that social critiques require a drastic reappraisal: "our critical equipment deserves as much critical scrutiny as the Pentagon budget." (p. 231) To regain focus and credibility, Latour argues that social critiques must embrace empiricism, to insist on the "cultivation of a stubbornly realist attitude – to speak like William James". (p. 233) Latour suggests that about 90 per cent of contemporary social criticism displays one of two approaches which he terms "the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 237) The fairy position is anti-fetishist, arguing that "objects of belief" (e.g., religion, arts) are merely concepts created by the projected wishes and desires of the "naive believer"; the "fact position" argues that individuals are dominated, often covertly and without their awareness, by external forces (e.g., economics, gender). (p. 238) "Do you see now why it feels so good to be a critical mind?” asks Latour: no matter which position you take, "You’re always right!" (p. 238–239) Social critics tend to use anti-fetishism against ideas they personally reject; to use "an unrepentant positivist" approach for fields of study they consider valuable; all the while thinking as "a perfectly healthy sturdy realist for what you really cherish." (p. 241) These inconsistencies and double standards go largely unrecognized in social critique because "there is never any crossover between the two lists of objects in the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 241) The practical result of these approaches being taught to millions of students in elite universities for several decades is a widespread and influential "critical barbarity" that has—like a malign virus created by a "mad scientist"—thus far proven impossible to control. Most troubling, Latour notes that critical ideas have been appropriated by those he describes as conspiracy theorists, including global warming deniers and the 9/11 Truth movement: "Maybe I am taking conspiracy theories too seriously, but I am worried to detect, in those mad mixtures of knee-jerk disbelief, punctilious demands for proofs, and free use of powerful explanation from the social neverland, many of the weapons of social critique." (p. 230) The conclusion of the article is to argue for a positive framing of critique, to help understand how matters of concern can be supported rather than undermined: "The critic is not the one who lifts the rugs from under the feet of the naïve believers, but the one who offers the participants arenas in which to gather. The critic is not the one who alternates haphazardly between antifetishism and positivism like the drunk iconoclast drawn by Goya, but the one for whom, if something is constructed, then it means it is fragile and thus in great need of care and caution." Latour's article has been highly influential within the field of postcritique, an intellectual movement within literary criticism and cultural studies that seeks to find new forms of reading and interpretation that go beyond the methods of critique, critical theory, and ideological criticism. The literary critic Rita Felski has named Latour as an important precursor to the project of postcritique. Reassembling the Social In Reassembling the Social (2005), Latour continues a reappraisal of his work, developing what he calls a "practical metaphysics", which calls "real" anything that an actor (one whom we are studying) claims as a source of motivation for action. So if someone says, "I was inspired by God to be charitable to my neighbors" we are obliged to recognize the "ontological weight" of their claim, rather than attempting to replace their belief in God's presence with "social stuff", like class, gender, imperialism, etc. Latour’s nuanced metaphysics demands the existence of a plurality of worlds, and the willingness of the researcher to chart ever more. He argues that researchers must give up the hope of fitting their actors into a structure or framework, but Latour believes the benefits of this sacrifice far outweigh the downsides: "Their complex metaphysics would at least be respected, their recalcitrance recognized, their objections deployed, their multiplicity accepted." For Latour, to talk about metaphysics or ontology–what really is–means paying close empirical attention to the various, contradictory institutions and ideas that bring people together and inspire them to act. Here is Latour's description of metaphysics: If we call metaphysics the discipline . . . that purports to define the basic structure of the world, then empirical metaphysics is what the controversies over agencies lead to since they ceaselessly populate the world with new drives and, as ceaselessly, contest the existence of others. The question then becomes how to explore the actors' own metaphysics. A more traditional metaphysicist might object, arguing that this means there are multiple, contradictory realities, since there are "controversies over agencies" – since there is a plurality of contradictory ideas that people claim as a basis for action (God, nature, the state, sexual drives, personal ambition, and so on). This objection manifests the most important difference between traditional philosophical metaphysics and Latour's nuance: for Latour, there is no "basic structure of reality" or a single, self-consistent world. An unknowably large multiplicity of realities, or "worlds" in his terms, exists–one for each actor's sources of agency, inspirations for action. Actors bring "the real" (metaphysics) into being. The task of the researcher is not to find one "basic structure" that explains agency, but to recognize "the metaphysical innovations proposed by ordinary actors". Mapping those metaphysical innovations involves a strong dedication to relativism, Latour argues. The relativist researcher "learns the actors' language," records what they say about what they do, and does not appeal to a higher "structure" to "explain" the actor's motivations. The relativist "takes seriously what [actors] are obstinately saying" and "follows the direction indicated by their fingers when they designate what 'makes them act'". The relativist recognizes the plurality of metaphysics that actors bring into being, and attempts to map them rather than reducing them to a single structure or explanation. Selected bibliography Books Originally published 1979 in Los Angeles, by Sage Publications Chapters in books Journal articles See also Actant Blackboxing Fashionable Nonsense Graphism thesis Mapping controversies Obligatory passage point Science wars Social construction of technology Technological determinism References Sources External links Bruno Latour's website 1947 births Living people People from Beaune Sociologists of science Science and technology studies scholars Social constructionism Sociology of scientific knowledge French sociologists French anthropologists Mines ParisTech faculty Actor-network theory French Roman Catholics Catholic philosophers Holberg Prize laureates French male writers French male essayists 20th-century French philosophers 21st-century French philosophers Philosophers of science Philosophers of technology Posthumanists Continental philosophers Recipients of the Legion of Honour 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers Sciences Po faculty	true	[ "Rats: Night of Terror () is a 1984 post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Bruno Mattei and Claudio Fragasso about a biker-gang that find themselves trapped in an abandoned research lab fighting for their lives against hordes of bloodthirsty killer rats.\n\nPlot\nSet 225 years after a nuclear holocaust in 2015 in the modern day, the survivors are divided between those who live in comfortable underground cities and the \"New Primitives\" who live in the sunlight. A group of 11 of these people come across a mysterious, abandoned village. Despite the presence of numerous horribly mutilated corpses, the adventurers decide to settle in town after discovering a large amount of food, a greenhouse with various fruit trees and a reservoir of drinking water. The following night hundreds and hundreds of hungry genetically mutated rats are ready to attack them one by one.\n\nIn the end, Chocolate and Video are the sole survivors but are surrounded by voracious, contaminated rats. As they contemplate suicide, teams in hazmat suits appear from the sewers, gas all the rats and save the pair. As the pair thank their saviors and remark they are all friends because they are of the same human race, the leader of the rescue team removes his mask, revealing himself to be a humanoid rat.\n\nCast\n\nProduction\nRats: Night of Terror used some of the sets from Sergio Leone's film Once Upon a Time in America. Geretta Geretta took the role after her roommate Dale Wyatt was offered it. Geretta believed it was her second film she did in Italy and she did not speak any Italian. Geretta translated her script with a pocket dictionary.\n\nWhen asked if Claudio Fragasso directed anything of the film, Geretta replied \"Hell no\" and that \"I hear the same crap regarding Dario and Lamberto when we were all on Demons - is that really talented people like Bruno, allow other people to have opinions, chime in, come up with stuff. But Rats is Bruno's film.\" Geretta continued that Fragasso \"had lots of good ideas and Bruno would sort of pull on his chin in silence then if he liked it he'd say \"Va bene\" and plenty of times he did not say \"Va bene\".\"\n\nRelease\nRats: Night of Terror was released in 1984. It was released in Canada with a R rating, after it had been previously submitted and rejected twice.\n\nRats was released on DVD by Anchor Bay, in their 2005 Fright Pack. It was later re-released by Blue Underground in 2007.\n\nCritical reception \n\nAllmovie wrote, \"for what it's worth, Rats remains one of Mattei's more watchable efforts.\"\n\nReferences\n\nFootnotes\n\nSources\n\nExternal links\n\n1980s science fiction horror films\n1984 films\n1984 horror films\nItalian films\nItalian science fiction horror films\nFilms set in the 23rd century\nItalian post-apocalyptic films\nNatural horror films\nFilms directed by Bruno Mattei\nFilms scored by Luigi Ceccarelli\nFilms about mice and rats", "The Eliot Spitzer political surveillance controversy (also known as Troopergate) broke out on July 23, 2007 when New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office admonished Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer's administration for ordering the State Police to create special records of Senate majority leader Joseph Bruno's whereabouts when he traveled with police escorts in New York City.\n\nInvestigations of the event, dubbed Troopergate by media outlets, were not affected by Spitzer's resignation. As of March 2008, four probes by the state Attorney General's office, the State Senate Investigations Committee, the Albany County District Attorney's office, and the Spitzer-appointed state ethics board, the New York Commission on Public Integrity, were ongoing.\n\nCreation of documents\nAt the direction of top officials of the Spitzer administration, the New York State Police created documents meant to cause political damage to Bruno. The governor's staff had stated they were responding to a Freedom of Information request from the Albany Times Union in late June. On May 23, Spitzer's Communications Director Darren Dopp wrote an e-mail to Rich Baum, a senior Spitzer adviser, stating that \"records exist going way back\" about Bruno's use of state aircraft, and that \"also, I think there is a new and different way to proceed re media. Will explain tomorrow.\" Dopp later wrote another e-mail to Baum after a story ran in the Times Union about a federal grand jury investigation of Bruno's investments in thoroughbred racing horses, and wrote: \"Think travel story would fit nicely in the mix.\" The first Freedom of Information Act request about Bruno's travel was filed by the Times Union on June 27.\n\nAttorney General's report\nA lengthy report issued by the Attorney General's office concluded that Spitzer engaged in creating media coverage concerning Senator Bruno's travel before any Freedom of Information Law request was made. The investigation looked into both Bruno's travel and the Senate leader's allegation that Spitzer used State Police to spy on him. Cuomo concluded that \"These e-mails show that persons in the governor's office did not merely produce records under a FOIL request, but were instead engaged in planning and producing media coverage concerning Senator Bruno's travel on state aircraft before any FOIL request was made.\" It noted that the Times Union's initial FOIL request did not even ask for the records involving Bruno that the paper was later given by aides to Spitzer. It also suggests that the governor's staff lied when they tried to explain what they had done and forced the State Police to go far beyond their normal procedures in documenting Mr. Bruno's whereabouts.\n\nThe Times Union's requests sought documents on use of state aircraft by seven officials, including Spitzer, Bruno and Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, yet Spitzer's office released only Bruno's itinerary. The Spitzer administration and the State Police provided far more details about Bruno than about other officials to the Times Union, including records to reply to a request under the state's Freedom of Information laws, though no such request had even been made. The report noted that the state acted outside the laws in what it released, such as documents that resembled official state travel records, \"which they were not\" according to Ellen Nachtigall Biben, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's office, who contributed to the report. The report stated that the Times Union request came after the story about Bruno's travels was published, and was \"not consistent\" with Spitzer administration claims that all it did was respond to a FOIL request. No other officials were subject to the same scrutiny as Bruno, and in some cases, the reports created by State Police were pieced together long after the trips, based sometimes on the memory of the police escorts involved.\n\nThe report cleared Bruno of any misuse of the state's air fleet, which had been alleged. Spitzer also used the state aircraft during the first six months of his term as governor for political purposes, including a stop in Rochester to attend an event for the Monroe County Democratic Committee on a day in which he had a number of stops related to public business. The report criticized Spitzer's office for using State Police resources to gather information about Bruno's travel and releasing the information to the media. New York Republican State Committee Chairman Joseph Mondello claimed that \"Today's explosive report by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo validates the frightening charges that Governor Spitzer's administration abused the New York State Police and New York's FOIL laws in an attempt to set up Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno\" and that \"This disturbing abuse of power by a Governor is unprecedented.\" The findings of the report were endorsed by Mr. Spitzer's own Inspector General, Kristine Hamann.\n\nGovernor's response\nSpitzer responded at a July 23 press conference that \"As governor, I am accountable for what goes on in the executive branch and I accept responsibility for the actions of my office\" and that his administration had \"grossly mishandled\" the situation. The Governor issued an apology to Senator Bruno and stated that \"I apologized to Senator Bruno and I did so personally this morning.\" He added \"In addition, I apologized to the men and women of the State Police, and to acting Superintendent Preston Felton personally for allowing this esteemed institution to be drawn into this matter.\" Felton said he did not realize he was part of a political scheme, and claimed in a written statement that \"I have never, in my 26-year career with the state police, knowingly undertaken any such action and never would,\" and that \"To the extent that circumstances previously not known to me have now given rise to that appearance, I am particularly saddened.\"\n\nSpitzer subsequently announced that he would indefinitely suspend his communications director, Darren Dopp, and reassign another top official. When questioned about his promise to bring a new dawn of ethical responsibility to state politics, Spitzer responded by saying \"I will not tolerate this behavior\", \"ethics and accountability must and will remain rigorous in my administration,\" and that \"I have always stated that I want ethics and integrity to be the hallmarks of my administration. That is why I requested that the State Inspector General review the allegations with respect to my office, and that is why we have fully cooperated with both inquiries.\" As of July 2007, Cuomo's office was considering recommending disciplinary action against the Governor's office.\n\nReaction\nOn July 27, 2007, the New York Post reported on Dopp's past interactions with the press on behalf of Spitzer. Reporter Charles Gasparino claimed that he was threatened by Dopp while covering then Attorney General Spitzer's investigation of the over-compensation of former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso. Gasparino feels he was targeted by Dopp after publishing a piece claiming that Attorney General's office did not also pursue Spitzer ally H. Carl McCall who, as the compensation-committee chief, guided the board when it approved Grasso's compensation package. The New York State Supreme Court summarily ordered Grasso to repay a significant amount of the $188M package.\n\nRepublican State Senator Dean Skelos asked, \"Did the governor know?\" and stated that the report \"leaves many questions open in terms of how far up the chain of command were the acts of — at least the acts of Dopp and Howard — known?\". Mr. Skelos added that he believed it would be \"totally appropriate\" for the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations, which has subpoena power and of which Skelos is a member, to review the matter. Skelos called the matter \"the makings of a real conspiracy here\", and was echoed by Assemblyman Keith Wright, a Harlem Democrat who said the findings of the report sound \"very Nixonian.\" Douglas Muzzio, a Baruch College political scientist, commented that \"The Watergate analogy is inescapable.\" Republican George Winner, Chairman of the Senate Investigations Committee, stated that the governor was \"stonewalling\" and remarked that it \"Sounds like he didn't learn too much from Nixon, that the cover-up is worse than the crime.\" Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the Legislature's top Democrat, called what was done to Mr. Bruno \"horrendous\", and added \"The real question here is how much did the governor know and when did he know it.\"\n\nSkelos noted Cuomo's investigators never questioned Spitzer or a top aide mentioned in the report, Secretary to the Governor Rich Baum, who received e-mails related to the plot. Cuomo spokesman Jeffrey Lerner said Spitzer's counsel provided the e-mails and that Baum and Dopp refused requests to be interviewed, opting instead to provide sworn written statements. He added that speaking to Spitzer would be unnecessary because there was little evidence of criminal or improper activity. Democrat Amy Paulin, an Assemblywoman, acknowledged that \"The general public wants to know who knew what when,\" noting that \"Until we put this behind us, there will be a credibility gap.\" Assemblyman William Parment, also a Democrat, added that \"Coming clean would be the best thing to do.\"\n\nSpitzer defended the decision not to provide testimony, saying that it was not necessary for Baum and Dopp to be questioned after Cuomo determined no crime was committed. The attorney general's office said investigators rejected the sworn statements of Dopp and Baum since both men refused to testify, and some observers have noted this has left several questions unanswered. These omissions have prompted speculation that the governor may have been involved in some way. Jeffrey Lerner, a spokesman for the Attorney General, stated that \"We told the Governor's Counsel's office that we wanted to interview Darren Dopp and Richard Baum. The Governor's Counsel's office declined and instead sent sworn written statements. We had no power to compel testimony,\" and that \"our investigators decided not (to) include the written statements as they did not have the chance to interview Dopp and Baum.\" The Governor said that the written statements by Baum and Dopp were \"sufficient for the attorney general to close its investigation,\" and reiterated that he was not involved in the decision to not have Baum and Dopp testify before Cuomo. Still, their sworn statements were not accepted for use in the report.\n\nSenate investigation\nBoth the state Ethics Commission and the Senate investigations committee have announced they have requested all interview transcripts, notes, e-mail and other material from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's investigation and would review the matter. The Governor said he would allow both senior aides to testify, and testify himself if subpoenaed by the State Ethics Commission. When asked about the possibility, Spitzer said \"that might happen. I don't know what path to take,\" and that \"if there are investigations, we cooperate with investigations. I'm not sure where this will go.\" The State Assembly is not expected to conduct its own inquire or participate in any joint legislative investigation, after Speaker Silver stated that \"I have no need to hold any hearings to go further,\" and that \"We heard from the top law enforcement officer in the state, Andrew Cuomo. A lot of misjudgments were made, but there was no criminality.\"\n\nState Senate Majority Leader Bruno did not rule out using subpoena powers to get under oath Spitzer's statements on the matter, telling reporters that the facts will \"speak for themselves as they unfold.\" While some have questioned the Senate's motives and constitutional authority to conduct an investigation, Assembly Democrat Richard Brodsky explained that the Governor's office may not be able to claim executive privilege to resist an investigation, stating \"Assertions of executive privilege have usually not been upheld under New York law and in the most recent litigation, which I conducted, the governor's office appeared asserting executive privilege and was unsuccessful,\" in reference to a 2004 case in which a State Supreme Court judge rejected Governor George Pataki's claim of executive privilege, saying the governor's staff could not withhold documents from a legislative committee seeking information about a controversial contract to develop property along the Erie Canal. Bruno concluded that \"What I want is the truth, and there are others that are third parties who are going to be objective, pragmatic. All we want is the truth. And people will, once they know the truth, then we'll know what the guilt is on the part of whoever's been involved.\"\n\nAlbany County District Attorney investigation\nOn August 1, 2007, Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares announced that his office would start investigations of possible wrongdoing by the Spitzer administration. That investigation concluded September 20, finding \"no illegal conduct. To the contrary, we found that the governor, his staff and the New York State Police were acting within their authority in compiling and releasing documents to the media concerning the use of state aircraft.\" The New York Times reported that \"Republicans questioned Mr. Soares's approach, particularly conducting the interviews without putting the subjects under oath and without issuing subpoenas\", but that Soares, while a Democrat, \"has shown a willingness to prosecute corruption cases aggressively against fellow party members.\" Then on November 12, the New York Post alleged that various Spitzer aides had been directed to lie to investigators by their superiors. On December 17, 2007, Spitzer's office acknowledged it had received additional subpoenas, in a second investigation by the Albany D.A.'s office.\n\nOn March 29, 2008, The Buffalo News reported that \"former Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer lied to prosecutors\" about his role in Troopergate but \"the Albany County district attorney said he will not pursue any criminal charges against the already-disgraced ex-governor.\"\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading \nPaterson, David \"Black, Blind, & In Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity.\" New York, New York, 2020\n\nExternal links\nReport of Investigation into the Alleged Misuse of New York State Aircraft and the Resources of the New York State Police (New York State Attorney General)\n\nPolitical scandals in New York (state)\nHistory of New York (state)\nEliot Spitzer\n2008 in American politics\n2007 in New York (state)\n2007 politics in New York (state)\nAndrew Cuomo" ]
[ "Bruno Latour", "Pandora's Hope", "What was pandora's hope?", "Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern.", "What did Bruno say about these findings?", "Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: \"" ]	C_f2db5f2b446840bfbd05f446b26a81b2_1	Did anyone oppose these views?	3	Did anyone oppose Latour's views?	Bruno Latour	After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naive descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory--that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices-- in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results." Latour's work Nous n'avons jamais ete modernes : Essais d'anthropologie symetrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". CANNOTANSWER	Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma.	Bruno Latour (; ; born 22 June 1947) is a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist. He is especially known for his work in the field of science and technology studies (STS). After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris (Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation) from 1982 to 2006, he became Professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab. He retired from several university activities in 2017. He was also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics. Latour is best known for his books We Have Never Been Modern (1991; English translation, 1993), Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar, 1979) and Science in Action (1987). Although his studies of scientific practice were at one time associated with social constructionist approaches to the philosophy of science, Latour has diverged significantly from such approaches. He is best known for withdrawing from the subjective/objective division and re-developing the approach to work in practice. Latour said in 2017 that he is interested in helping to rebuild trust in science and that some of the authority of science needs to be regained. Along with Michel Callon and John Law, Latour is one of the primary developers of actor–network theory (ANT), a constructionist approach influenced by the ethnomethodology of Harold Garfinkel, the generative semiotics of Algirdas Julien Greimas, and (more recently) the sociology of Émile Durkheim's rival Gabriel Tarde. Biography Latour is related to a well-known family of winemakers from Burgundy, but is not associated with the similarly named estate in Bordeaux. As a student, Latour originally focused on philosophy. In 1971–1972, he ranked second and then first (reçu second, premier) in the French national competitive exam (agrégation/CAPES de philosophie). He was deeply influenced by Michel Serres. Latour went on to earn his Ph.D. in philosophical theology in 1975 at the University of Tours. His thesis title was Exégèse et ontologie: une analyse des textes de resurrection (Exegesis and Ontology: An Analysis of the Texts of Resurrection). He developed an interest in anthropology, and undertook fieldwork in Ivory Coast which resulted in a brief monograph on decolonization, race, and industrial relations. After spending more than twenty years (1982–2006) at the Centre de sociologie de l'innovation at the École des Mines in Paris, Latour moved in 2006 to Sciences Po, where he was the first occupant of a chair named for Gabriel Tarde. In recent years he also served as one of the curators of successful art exhibitions at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie in Karlsruhe, Germany, including "Iconoclash" (2002) and "Making Things Public" (2005). In 2005 he also held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Awards and honors On 22 May 2008, Latour was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Université de Montréal on the occasion of an organizational communication conference held in honor of the work of James R. Taylor, on whom Latour has had an important influence. He holds several other honorary doctorates, as well as France's Légion d'Honneur (2012). The Dutch "International Spinozaprijs Foundation" will award the "Spinozalens 2020" to Bruno Latour on 24 November 2020. In 2021 he received the Kyoto Prize in the category "Thought and Ethics". Holberg Prize On 13 March 2013, he was announced as the winner of the 2013 Holberg Prize. The prize committee stated that "Bruno Latour has undertaken an ambitious analysis and reinterpretation of modernity, and has challenged fundamental concepts such as the distinction between modern and pre-modern, nature and society, human and non-human." The committee states that "the impact of Latour's work is evident internationally and far beyond studies of the history of science, art history, history, philosophy, anthropology, geography, theology, literature and law." A 2013 article in Aftenposten by Jon Elster criticised the conferment to Latour, by saying "The question is, does he deserve the prize. ... If the statutes [of the award] had used new knowledge as a main criteria, instead of one of several, then he would be completely unqualified in my opinion." Main works Laboratory Life After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naïve descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory—that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices—in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results". The Pasteurization of France After a research project examining the sociology of primatologists, Latour followed up the themes in Laboratory Life with Les Microbes: guerre et paix (published in English as The Pasteurization of France in 1988). In it, he reviews the life and career of one of France's most famous scientists Louis Pasteur and his discovery of microbes, in the fashion of a political biography. Latour highlights the social forces at work in and around Pasteur's career and the uneven manner in which his theories were accepted. By providing more explicitly ideological explanations for the acceptance of Pasteur's work more easily in some quarters than in others, he seeks to undermine the notion that the acceptance and rejection of scientific theories is primarily, or even usually, a matter of experiment, evidence or reason. Aramis, or, The Love of Technology Aramis, or, The Love of Technology focuses on the history of an unsuccessful mass-transit project. Aramis PRT (personal rapid transit), a high tech automated subway, had been developed in France during the 70s and 80s and was supposed to be implemented as a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in Paris. It combined the flexibility of an automobile with the efficiency of a subway. Aramis was to be an ideal urban transportation system based on private cars in constant motion and the elimination of unnecessary transfers. This new form of transportation was intended to be as secure and inexpensive as collective transportation. The proposed system had custom-designed motors, sensors, controls, digital electronics, software and a major installation in southern Paris. But in the end, the project died in 1987. Latour argues that the technology failed not because any particular actor killed it, but because the actors failed to sustain it through negotiation and adaptation to a changing social situation. While investigating Aramis's demise, Latour delineates the tenets of actor-network theory. According to Latour's own description of the book, the work aims "at training readers in the booming field of technology studies and at experimenting in the many new literary forms that are necessary to handle mechanisms and automatisms without using the belief that they are mechanical nor automatic." We Have Never Been Modern Latour's work Nous n’avons jamais été modernes : Essai d’anthropologie symétrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". "Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam?" In a 2004 article, Latour questioned the fundamental premises on which he had based most of his career, asking, "Was I wrong to participate in the invention of this field known as science studies?" He undertakes a trenchant critique of his own field of study and, more generally, of social criticism in contemporary academia. He suggests that critique, as currently practiced, is bordering on irrelevancy. To maintain any vitality, Latour argues that social critiques require a drastic reappraisal: "our critical equipment deserves as much critical scrutiny as the Pentagon budget." (p. 231) To regain focus and credibility, Latour argues that social critiques must embrace empiricism, to insist on the "cultivation of a stubbornly realist attitude – to speak like William James". (p. 233) Latour suggests that about 90 per cent of contemporary social criticism displays one of two approaches which he terms "the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 237) The fairy position is anti-fetishist, arguing that "objects of belief" (e.g., religion, arts) are merely concepts created by the projected wishes and desires of the "naive believer"; the "fact position" argues that individuals are dominated, often covertly and without their awareness, by external forces (e.g., economics, gender). (p. 238) "Do you see now why it feels so good to be a critical mind?” asks Latour: no matter which position you take, "You’re always right!" (p. 238–239) Social critics tend to use anti-fetishism against ideas they personally reject; to use "an unrepentant positivist" approach for fields of study they consider valuable; all the while thinking as "a perfectly healthy sturdy realist for what you really cherish." (p. 241) These inconsistencies and double standards go largely unrecognized in social critique because "there is never any crossover between the two lists of objects in the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 241) The practical result of these approaches being taught to millions of students in elite universities for several decades is a widespread and influential "critical barbarity" that has—like a malign virus created by a "mad scientist"—thus far proven impossible to control. Most troubling, Latour notes that critical ideas have been appropriated by those he describes as conspiracy theorists, including global warming deniers and the 9/11 Truth movement: "Maybe I am taking conspiracy theories too seriously, but I am worried to detect, in those mad mixtures of knee-jerk disbelief, punctilious demands for proofs, and free use of powerful explanation from the social neverland, many of the weapons of social critique." (p. 230) The conclusion of the article is to argue for a positive framing of critique, to help understand how matters of concern can be supported rather than undermined: "The critic is not the one who lifts the rugs from under the feet of the naïve believers, but the one who offers the participants arenas in which to gather. The critic is not the one who alternates haphazardly between antifetishism and positivism like the drunk iconoclast drawn by Goya, but the one for whom, if something is constructed, then it means it is fragile and thus in great need of care and caution." Latour's article has been highly influential within the field of postcritique, an intellectual movement within literary criticism and cultural studies that seeks to find new forms of reading and interpretation that go beyond the methods of critique, critical theory, and ideological criticism. The literary critic Rita Felski has named Latour as an important precursor to the project of postcritique. Reassembling the Social In Reassembling the Social (2005), Latour continues a reappraisal of his work, developing what he calls a "practical metaphysics", which calls "real" anything that an actor (one whom we are studying) claims as a source of motivation for action. So if someone says, "I was inspired by God to be charitable to my neighbors" we are obliged to recognize the "ontological weight" of their claim, rather than attempting to replace their belief in God's presence with "social stuff", like class, gender, imperialism, etc. Latour’s nuanced metaphysics demands the existence of a plurality of worlds, and the willingness of the researcher to chart ever more. He argues that researchers must give up the hope of fitting their actors into a structure or framework, but Latour believes the benefits of this sacrifice far outweigh the downsides: "Their complex metaphysics would at least be respected, their recalcitrance recognized, their objections deployed, their multiplicity accepted." For Latour, to talk about metaphysics or ontology–what really is–means paying close empirical attention to the various, contradictory institutions and ideas that bring people together and inspire them to act. Here is Latour's description of metaphysics: If we call metaphysics the discipline . . . that purports to define the basic structure of the world, then empirical metaphysics is what the controversies over agencies lead to since they ceaselessly populate the world with new drives and, as ceaselessly, contest the existence of others. The question then becomes how to explore the actors' own metaphysics. A more traditional metaphysicist might object, arguing that this means there are multiple, contradictory realities, since there are "controversies over agencies" – since there is a plurality of contradictory ideas that people claim as a basis for action (God, nature, the state, sexual drives, personal ambition, and so on). This objection manifests the most important difference between traditional philosophical metaphysics and Latour's nuance: for Latour, there is no "basic structure of reality" or a single, self-consistent world. An unknowably large multiplicity of realities, or "worlds" in his terms, exists–one for each actor's sources of agency, inspirations for action. Actors bring "the real" (metaphysics) into being. The task of the researcher is not to find one "basic structure" that explains agency, but to recognize "the metaphysical innovations proposed by ordinary actors". Mapping those metaphysical innovations involves a strong dedication to relativism, Latour argues. The relativist researcher "learns the actors' language," records what they say about what they do, and does not appeal to a higher "structure" to "explain" the actor's motivations. The relativist "takes seriously what [actors] are obstinately saying" and "follows the direction indicated by their fingers when they designate what 'makes them act'". The relativist recognizes the plurality of metaphysics that actors bring into being, and attempts to map them rather than reducing them to a single structure or explanation. Selected bibliography Books Originally published 1979 in Los Angeles, by Sage Publications Chapters in books Journal articles See also Actant Blackboxing Fashionable Nonsense Graphism thesis Mapping controversies Obligatory passage point Science wars Social construction of technology Technological determinism References Sources External links Bruno Latour's website 1947 births Living people People from Beaune Sociologists of science Science and technology studies scholars Social constructionism Sociology of scientific knowledge French sociologists French anthropologists Mines ParisTech faculty Actor-network theory French Roman Catholics Catholic philosophers Holberg Prize laureates French male writers French male essayists 20th-century French philosophers 21st-century French philosophers Philosophers of science Philosophers of technology Posthumanists Continental philosophers Recipients of the Legion of Honour 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers Sciences Po faculty	true	[ "Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views and major social change. In United States politics, a moderate is considered someone occupying a centre position on the left–right political spectrum.\n\nPolitical position \n\nIn recent years, the term political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword. The existence of the ideal moderate is disputed because of a lack of a moderate political ideology. Voters who describe themselves as centrist often mean that they are moderate in their political views, advocating neither extreme left-wing politics nor extreme right-wing politics.\n\nGallup polling indicated that American voters identified as moderate between 35–38% of the time during the 1990s and 2000s. Voters may identify with moderation for a number of reasons: pragmatic, ideological, or otherwise. It has also been suggested that individuals vote for centrist parties for purely statistical reasons.\n\nReligious position \nIn religion, the moderate position is centered and opposed to liberalism or conservatism. \n\nFor Christianity, moderates in evangelicalism would oppose the ideas of Christian right and Christian fundamentalism, may be for or against same-sex marriage but oppose discrimination based on sexual orientation, as well as liberal Christians and the Christian left. For Islam, moderates oppose the extreme views of Islamic extremism and Islamic fundamentalism.\n\nSee also \n\n Centrism\n Centre-left politics\n Centre-right politics\n Independent voter\n Moderate Democrats\n Moderate Islam\n Moderate Party (disambiguation)\n Moderate Republican\n Radical centrism\n The Establishment\n\nReferences \n\n \n\nCentrism\nPolitical terminology", "\n\nAlso see: NIMBYism\n\nCAVE (Citizens Against Virtually Everything), sometimes known as BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing At All Near Anyone/Anything) is a pejorative term for citizens who regularly oppose any changes in their community, organization or workplace.\n\nThe phenomenon is linked to the so-called NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard). In NIMBYism, residents generally support a policy in principle, but do not support it being applied in there particular area. A common example is wind turbines, where most people are supportive, but do not wish to live near one. \n\nOn the other hand, CAVE/BANANA people do not support the policy in any form, regardless of what local residents or stakeholders feel. This attitude is manifested in opposition to changes in public policy as varied as tax levies, sewer rates, public transportation routes, parking regulations and municipal mergers or annexations. CAVE/BANANA people often express their views publicly by attending community meetings, writing letters to the local newspaper, or calling in to talk radio shows, similar to NIMBYs. This can sometimes create an effect where those who oppose a policy are more vocal than those who support it or are indifferent, however, exact rates are often difficult to identify.\n\nOrigin\nA reference to the term \"CAVE dwellers\" can be found in the September 30, 1990 edition of the Orlando Sentinel. The term apparently existed before the publication of this article.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMention in the Orlando Sentinel, September 30, 1990\nDefinition at Word Spy\n\nActivism\nPejorative terms for people\nPolitical terminology" ]
[ "Bruno Latour", "Pandora's Hope", "What was pandora's hope?", "Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern.", "What did Bruno say about these findings?", "Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: \"", "Did anyone oppose these views?", "Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma." ]	C_f2db5f2b446840bfbd05f446b26a81b2_1	What did they oppose?	4	What did Katherine Pandora oppose?	Bruno Latour	After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naive descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory--that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices-- in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results." Latour's work Nous n'avons jamais ete modernes : Essais d'anthropologie symetrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". CANNOTANSWER	writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors,	Bruno Latour (; ; born 22 June 1947) is a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist. He is especially known for his work in the field of science and technology studies (STS). After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris (Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation) from 1982 to 2006, he became Professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab. He retired from several university activities in 2017. He was also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics. Latour is best known for his books We Have Never Been Modern (1991; English translation, 1993), Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar, 1979) and Science in Action (1987). Although his studies of scientific practice were at one time associated with social constructionist approaches to the philosophy of science, Latour has diverged significantly from such approaches. He is best known for withdrawing from the subjective/objective division and re-developing the approach to work in practice. Latour said in 2017 that he is interested in helping to rebuild trust in science and that some of the authority of science needs to be regained. Along with Michel Callon and John Law, Latour is one of the primary developers of actor–network theory (ANT), a constructionist approach influenced by the ethnomethodology of Harold Garfinkel, the generative semiotics of Algirdas Julien Greimas, and (more recently) the sociology of Émile Durkheim's rival Gabriel Tarde. Biography Latour is related to a well-known family of winemakers from Burgundy, but is not associated with the similarly named estate in Bordeaux. As a student, Latour originally focused on philosophy. In 1971–1972, he ranked second and then first (reçu second, premier) in the French national competitive exam (agrégation/CAPES de philosophie). He was deeply influenced by Michel Serres. Latour went on to earn his Ph.D. in philosophical theology in 1975 at the University of Tours. His thesis title was Exégèse et ontologie: une analyse des textes de resurrection (Exegesis and Ontology: An Analysis of the Texts of Resurrection). He developed an interest in anthropology, and undertook fieldwork in Ivory Coast which resulted in a brief monograph on decolonization, race, and industrial relations. After spending more than twenty years (1982–2006) at the Centre de sociologie de l'innovation at the École des Mines in Paris, Latour moved in 2006 to Sciences Po, where he was the first occupant of a chair named for Gabriel Tarde. In recent years he also served as one of the curators of successful art exhibitions at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie in Karlsruhe, Germany, including "Iconoclash" (2002) and "Making Things Public" (2005). In 2005 he also held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Awards and honors On 22 May 2008, Latour was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Université de Montréal on the occasion of an organizational communication conference held in honor of the work of James R. Taylor, on whom Latour has had an important influence. He holds several other honorary doctorates, as well as France's Légion d'Honneur (2012). The Dutch "International Spinozaprijs Foundation" will award the "Spinozalens 2020" to Bruno Latour on 24 November 2020. In 2021 he received the Kyoto Prize in the category "Thought and Ethics". Holberg Prize On 13 March 2013, he was announced as the winner of the 2013 Holberg Prize. The prize committee stated that "Bruno Latour has undertaken an ambitious analysis and reinterpretation of modernity, and has challenged fundamental concepts such as the distinction between modern and pre-modern, nature and society, human and non-human." The committee states that "the impact of Latour's work is evident internationally and far beyond studies of the history of science, art history, history, philosophy, anthropology, geography, theology, literature and law." A 2013 article in Aftenposten by Jon Elster criticised the conferment to Latour, by saying "The question is, does he deserve the prize. ... If the statutes [of the award] had used new knowledge as a main criteria, instead of one of several, then he would be completely unqualified in my opinion." Main works Laboratory Life After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naïve descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory—that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices—in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results". The Pasteurization of France After a research project examining the sociology of primatologists, Latour followed up the themes in Laboratory Life with Les Microbes: guerre et paix (published in English as The Pasteurization of France in 1988). In it, he reviews the life and career of one of France's most famous scientists Louis Pasteur and his discovery of microbes, in the fashion of a political biography. Latour highlights the social forces at work in and around Pasteur's career and the uneven manner in which his theories were accepted. By providing more explicitly ideological explanations for the acceptance of Pasteur's work more easily in some quarters than in others, he seeks to undermine the notion that the acceptance and rejection of scientific theories is primarily, or even usually, a matter of experiment, evidence or reason. Aramis, or, The Love of Technology Aramis, or, The Love of Technology focuses on the history of an unsuccessful mass-transit project. Aramis PRT (personal rapid transit), a high tech automated subway, had been developed in France during the 70s and 80s and was supposed to be implemented as a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in Paris. It combined the flexibility of an automobile with the efficiency of a subway. Aramis was to be an ideal urban transportation system based on private cars in constant motion and the elimination of unnecessary transfers. This new form of transportation was intended to be as secure and inexpensive as collective transportation. The proposed system had custom-designed motors, sensors, controls, digital electronics, software and a major installation in southern Paris. But in the end, the project died in 1987. Latour argues that the technology failed not because any particular actor killed it, but because the actors failed to sustain it through negotiation and adaptation to a changing social situation. While investigating Aramis's demise, Latour delineates the tenets of actor-network theory. According to Latour's own description of the book, the work aims "at training readers in the booming field of technology studies and at experimenting in the many new literary forms that are necessary to handle mechanisms and automatisms without using the belief that they are mechanical nor automatic." We Have Never Been Modern Latour's work Nous n’avons jamais été modernes : Essai d’anthropologie symétrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". "Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam?" In a 2004 article, Latour questioned the fundamental premises on which he had based most of his career, asking, "Was I wrong to participate in the invention of this field known as science studies?" He undertakes a trenchant critique of his own field of study and, more generally, of social criticism in contemporary academia. He suggests that critique, as currently practiced, is bordering on irrelevancy. To maintain any vitality, Latour argues that social critiques require a drastic reappraisal: "our critical equipment deserves as much critical scrutiny as the Pentagon budget." (p. 231) To regain focus and credibility, Latour argues that social critiques must embrace empiricism, to insist on the "cultivation of a stubbornly realist attitude – to speak like William James". (p. 233) Latour suggests that about 90 per cent of contemporary social criticism displays one of two approaches which he terms "the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 237) The fairy position is anti-fetishist, arguing that "objects of belief" (e.g., religion, arts) are merely concepts created by the projected wishes and desires of the "naive believer"; the "fact position" argues that individuals are dominated, often covertly and without their awareness, by external forces (e.g., economics, gender). (p. 238) "Do you see now why it feels so good to be a critical mind?” asks Latour: no matter which position you take, "You’re always right!" (p. 238–239) Social critics tend to use anti-fetishism against ideas they personally reject; to use "an unrepentant positivist" approach for fields of study they consider valuable; all the while thinking as "a perfectly healthy sturdy realist for what you really cherish." (p. 241) These inconsistencies and double standards go largely unrecognized in social critique because "there is never any crossover between the two lists of objects in the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 241) The practical result of these approaches being taught to millions of students in elite universities for several decades is a widespread and influential "critical barbarity" that has—like a malign virus created by a "mad scientist"—thus far proven impossible to control. Most troubling, Latour notes that critical ideas have been appropriated by those he describes as conspiracy theorists, including global warming deniers and the 9/11 Truth movement: "Maybe I am taking conspiracy theories too seriously, but I am worried to detect, in those mad mixtures of knee-jerk disbelief, punctilious demands for proofs, and free use of powerful explanation from the social neverland, many of the weapons of social critique." (p. 230) The conclusion of the article is to argue for a positive framing of critique, to help understand how matters of concern can be supported rather than undermined: "The critic is not the one who lifts the rugs from under the feet of the naïve believers, but the one who offers the participants arenas in which to gather. The critic is not the one who alternates haphazardly between antifetishism and positivism like the drunk iconoclast drawn by Goya, but the one for whom, if something is constructed, then it means it is fragile and thus in great need of care and caution." Latour's article has been highly influential within the field of postcritique, an intellectual movement within literary criticism and cultural studies that seeks to find new forms of reading and interpretation that go beyond the methods of critique, critical theory, and ideological criticism. The literary critic Rita Felski has named Latour as an important precursor to the project of postcritique. Reassembling the Social In Reassembling the Social (2005), Latour continues a reappraisal of his work, developing what he calls a "practical metaphysics", which calls "real" anything that an actor (one whom we are studying) claims as a source of motivation for action. So if someone says, "I was inspired by God to be charitable to my neighbors" we are obliged to recognize the "ontological weight" of their claim, rather than attempting to replace their belief in God's presence with "social stuff", like class, gender, imperialism, etc. Latour’s nuanced metaphysics demands the existence of a plurality of worlds, and the willingness of the researcher to chart ever more. He argues that researchers must give up the hope of fitting their actors into a structure or framework, but Latour believes the benefits of this sacrifice far outweigh the downsides: "Their complex metaphysics would at least be respected, their recalcitrance recognized, their objections deployed, their multiplicity accepted." For Latour, to talk about metaphysics or ontology–what really is–means paying close empirical attention to the various, contradictory institutions and ideas that bring people together and inspire them to act. Here is Latour's description of metaphysics: If we call metaphysics the discipline . . . that purports to define the basic structure of the world, then empirical metaphysics is what the controversies over agencies lead to since they ceaselessly populate the world with new drives and, as ceaselessly, contest the existence of others. The question then becomes how to explore the actors' own metaphysics. A more traditional metaphysicist might object, arguing that this means there are multiple, contradictory realities, since there are "controversies over agencies" – since there is a plurality of contradictory ideas that people claim as a basis for action (God, nature, the state, sexual drives, personal ambition, and so on). This objection manifests the most important difference between traditional philosophical metaphysics and Latour's nuance: for Latour, there is no "basic structure of reality" or a single, self-consistent world. An unknowably large multiplicity of realities, or "worlds" in his terms, exists–one for each actor's sources of agency, inspirations for action. Actors bring "the real" (metaphysics) into being. The task of the researcher is not to find one "basic structure" that explains agency, but to recognize "the metaphysical innovations proposed by ordinary actors". Mapping those metaphysical innovations involves a strong dedication to relativism, Latour argues. The relativist researcher "learns the actors' language," records what they say about what they do, and does not appeal to a higher "structure" to "explain" the actor's motivations. The relativist "takes seriously what [actors] are obstinately saying" and "follows the direction indicated by their fingers when they designate what 'makes them act'". The relativist recognizes the plurality of metaphysics that actors bring into being, and attempts to map them rather than reducing them to a single structure or explanation. Selected bibliography Books Originally published 1979 in Los Angeles, by Sage Publications Chapters in books Journal articles See also Actant Blackboxing Fashionable Nonsense Graphism thesis Mapping controversies Obligatory passage point Science wars Social construction of technology Technological determinism References Sources External links Bruno Latour's website 1947 births Living people People from Beaune Sociologists of science Science and technology studies scholars Social constructionism Sociology of scientific knowledge French sociologists French anthropologists Mines ParisTech faculty Actor-network theory French Roman Catholics Catholic philosophers Holberg Prize laureates French male writers French male essayists 20th-century French philosophers 21st-century French philosophers Philosophers of science Philosophers of technology Posthumanists Continental philosophers Recipients of the Legion of Honour 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers Sciences Po faculty	true	[ "The Melbourne Palestine Solidarity Network (MPSN) are a grouping of individuals, community groups and activists based in Melbourne, Australia. They oppose what they see as Israeli aggression towards not just Palestinians but neighboring countries such as Lebanon. MPSN is known for organising demonstrations and campaigns against Israel and its supporters.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Melbourne Palestine Solidarity Network website\n\nNon-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process\nPalestinian solidarity movement", "The Salarzai are one of the four Tarkani clans. They inhabit what is now Bajaur District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. In 2014 they may have been the majority tribe among the area's 600,000 population. In common with some other tribes of the area, it has been reported that they have formed militias to oppose the Taliban.\n\nThe Salarzai have a close connection to some inhabitants of the neighbouring Kunar Province.\n\nReferences\n\nSarbani Pashtun tribes\nPeople from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa\nPeople from Bajaur District" ]
[ "Bruno Latour", "Pandora's Hope", "What was pandora's hope?", "Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern.", "What did Bruno say about these findings?", "Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: \"", "Did anyone oppose these views?", "Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma.", "What did they oppose?", "writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors," ]	C_f2db5f2b446840bfbd05f446b26a81b2_1	Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?	5	Are there any other interesting aspects about this article besides opposition to Latour's views?	Bruno Latour	After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naive descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory--that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices-- in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results." Latour's work Nous n'avons jamais ete modernes : Essais d'anthropologie symetrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". CANNOTANSWER	After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life:	Bruno Latour (; ; born 22 June 1947) is a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist. He is especially known for his work in the field of science and technology studies (STS). After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris (Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation) from 1982 to 2006, he became Professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab. He retired from several university activities in 2017. He was also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics. Latour is best known for his books We Have Never Been Modern (1991; English translation, 1993), Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar, 1979) and Science in Action (1987). Although his studies of scientific practice were at one time associated with social constructionist approaches to the philosophy of science, Latour has diverged significantly from such approaches. He is best known for withdrawing from the subjective/objective division and re-developing the approach to work in practice. Latour said in 2017 that he is interested in helping to rebuild trust in science and that some of the authority of science needs to be regained. Along with Michel Callon and John Law, Latour is one of the primary developers of actor–network theory (ANT), a constructionist approach influenced by the ethnomethodology of Harold Garfinkel, the generative semiotics of Algirdas Julien Greimas, and (more recently) the sociology of Émile Durkheim's rival Gabriel Tarde. Biography Latour is related to a well-known family of winemakers from Burgundy, but is not associated with the similarly named estate in Bordeaux. As a student, Latour originally focused on philosophy. In 1971–1972, he ranked second and then first (reçu second, premier) in the French national competitive exam (agrégation/CAPES de philosophie). He was deeply influenced by Michel Serres. Latour went on to earn his Ph.D. in philosophical theology in 1975 at the University of Tours. His thesis title was Exégèse et ontologie: une analyse des textes de resurrection (Exegesis and Ontology: An Analysis of the Texts of Resurrection). He developed an interest in anthropology, and undertook fieldwork in Ivory Coast which resulted in a brief monograph on decolonization, race, and industrial relations. After spending more than twenty years (1982–2006) at the Centre de sociologie de l'innovation at the École des Mines in Paris, Latour moved in 2006 to Sciences Po, where he was the first occupant of a chair named for Gabriel Tarde. In recent years he also served as one of the curators of successful art exhibitions at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie in Karlsruhe, Germany, including "Iconoclash" (2002) and "Making Things Public" (2005). In 2005 he also held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Awards and honors On 22 May 2008, Latour was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Université de Montréal on the occasion of an organizational communication conference held in honor of the work of James R. Taylor, on whom Latour has had an important influence. He holds several other honorary doctorates, as well as France's Légion d'Honneur (2012). The Dutch "International Spinozaprijs Foundation" will award the "Spinozalens 2020" to Bruno Latour on 24 November 2020. In 2021 he received the Kyoto Prize in the category "Thought and Ethics". Holberg Prize On 13 March 2013, he was announced as the winner of the 2013 Holberg Prize. The prize committee stated that "Bruno Latour has undertaken an ambitious analysis and reinterpretation of modernity, and has challenged fundamental concepts such as the distinction between modern and pre-modern, nature and society, human and non-human." The committee states that "the impact of Latour's work is evident internationally and far beyond studies of the history of science, art history, history, philosophy, anthropology, geography, theology, literature and law." A 2013 article in Aftenposten by Jon Elster criticised the conferment to Latour, by saying "The question is, does he deserve the prize. ... If the statutes [of the award] had used new knowledge as a main criteria, instead of one of several, then he would be completely unqualified in my opinion." Main works Laboratory Life After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naïve descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory—that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices—in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results". The Pasteurization of France After a research project examining the sociology of primatologists, Latour followed up the themes in Laboratory Life with Les Microbes: guerre et paix (published in English as The Pasteurization of France in 1988). In it, he reviews the life and career of one of France's most famous scientists Louis Pasteur and his discovery of microbes, in the fashion of a political biography. Latour highlights the social forces at work in and around Pasteur's career and the uneven manner in which his theories were accepted. By providing more explicitly ideological explanations for the acceptance of Pasteur's work more easily in some quarters than in others, he seeks to undermine the notion that the acceptance and rejection of scientific theories is primarily, or even usually, a matter of experiment, evidence or reason. Aramis, or, The Love of Technology Aramis, or, The Love of Technology focuses on the history of an unsuccessful mass-transit project. Aramis PRT (personal rapid transit), a high tech automated subway, had been developed in France during the 70s and 80s and was supposed to be implemented as a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in Paris. It combined the flexibility of an automobile with the efficiency of a subway. Aramis was to be an ideal urban transportation system based on private cars in constant motion and the elimination of unnecessary transfers. This new form of transportation was intended to be as secure and inexpensive as collective transportation. The proposed system had custom-designed motors, sensors, controls, digital electronics, software and a major installation in southern Paris. But in the end, the project died in 1987. Latour argues that the technology failed not because any particular actor killed it, but because the actors failed to sustain it through negotiation and adaptation to a changing social situation. While investigating Aramis's demise, Latour delineates the tenets of actor-network theory. According to Latour's own description of the book, the work aims "at training readers in the booming field of technology studies and at experimenting in the many new literary forms that are necessary to handle mechanisms and automatisms without using the belief that they are mechanical nor automatic." We Have Never Been Modern Latour's work Nous n’avons jamais été modernes : Essai d’anthropologie symétrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". "Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam?" In a 2004 article, Latour questioned the fundamental premises on which he had based most of his career, asking, "Was I wrong to participate in the invention of this field known as science studies?" He undertakes a trenchant critique of his own field of study and, more generally, of social criticism in contemporary academia. He suggests that critique, as currently practiced, is bordering on irrelevancy. To maintain any vitality, Latour argues that social critiques require a drastic reappraisal: "our critical equipment deserves as much critical scrutiny as the Pentagon budget." (p. 231) To regain focus and credibility, Latour argues that social critiques must embrace empiricism, to insist on the "cultivation of a stubbornly realist attitude – to speak like William James". (p. 233) Latour suggests that about 90 per cent of contemporary social criticism displays one of two approaches which he terms "the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 237) The fairy position is anti-fetishist, arguing that "objects of belief" (e.g., religion, arts) are merely concepts created by the projected wishes and desires of the "naive believer"; the "fact position" argues that individuals are dominated, often covertly and without their awareness, by external forces (e.g., economics, gender). (p. 238) "Do you see now why it feels so good to be a critical mind?” asks Latour: no matter which position you take, "You’re always right!" (p. 238–239) Social critics tend to use anti-fetishism against ideas they personally reject; to use "an unrepentant positivist" approach for fields of study they consider valuable; all the while thinking as "a perfectly healthy sturdy realist for what you really cherish." (p. 241) These inconsistencies and double standards go largely unrecognized in social critique because "there is never any crossover between the two lists of objects in the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 241) The practical result of these approaches being taught to millions of students in elite universities for several decades is a widespread and influential "critical barbarity" that has—like a malign virus created by a "mad scientist"—thus far proven impossible to control. Most troubling, Latour notes that critical ideas have been appropriated by those he describes as conspiracy theorists, including global warming deniers and the 9/11 Truth movement: "Maybe I am taking conspiracy theories too seriously, but I am worried to detect, in those mad mixtures of knee-jerk disbelief, punctilious demands for proofs, and free use of powerful explanation from the social neverland, many of the weapons of social critique." (p. 230) The conclusion of the article is to argue for a positive framing of critique, to help understand how matters of concern can be supported rather than undermined: "The critic is not the one who lifts the rugs from under the feet of the naïve believers, but the one who offers the participants arenas in which to gather. The critic is not the one who alternates haphazardly between antifetishism and positivism like the drunk iconoclast drawn by Goya, but the one for whom, if something is constructed, then it means it is fragile and thus in great need of care and caution." Latour's article has been highly influential within the field of postcritique, an intellectual movement within literary criticism and cultural studies that seeks to find new forms of reading and interpretation that go beyond the methods of critique, critical theory, and ideological criticism. The literary critic Rita Felski has named Latour as an important precursor to the project of postcritique. Reassembling the Social In Reassembling the Social (2005), Latour continues a reappraisal of his work, developing what he calls a "practical metaphysics", which calls "real" anything that an actor (one whom we are studying) claims as a source of motivation for action. So if someone says, "I was inspired by God to be charitable to my neighbors" we are obliged to recognize the "ontological weight" of their claim, rather than attempting to replace their belief in God's presence with "social stuff", like class, gender, imperialism, etc. Latour’s nuanced metaphysics demands the existence of a plurality of worlds, and the willingness of the researcher to chart ever more. He argues that researchers must give up the hope of fitting their actors into a structure or framework, but Latour believes the benefits of this sacrifice far outweigh the downsides: "Their complex metaphysics would at least be respected, their recalcitrance recognized, their objections deployed, their multiplicity accepted." For Latour, to talk about metaphysics or ontology–what really is–means paying close empirical attention to the various, contradictory institutions and ideas that bring people together and inspire them to act. Here is Latour's description of metaphysics: If we call metaphysics the discipline . . . that purports to define the basic structure of the world, then empirical metaphysics is what the controversies over agencies lead to since they ceaselessly populate the world with new drives and, as ceaselessly, contest the existence of others. The question then becomes how to explore the actors' own metaphysics. A more traditional metaphysicist might object, arguing that this means there are multiple, contradictory realities, since there are "controversies over agencies" – since there is a plurality of contradictory ideas that people claim as a basis for action (God, nature, the state, sexual drives, personal ambition, and so on). This objection manifests the most important difference between traditional philosophical metaphysics and Latour's nuance: for Latour, there is no "basic structure of reality" or a single, self-consistent world. An unknowably large multiplicity of realities, or "worlds" in his terms, exists–one for each actor's sources of agency, inspirations for action. Actors bring "the real" (metaphysics) into being. The task of the researcher is not to find one "basic structure" that explains agency, but to recognize "the metaphysical innovations proposed by ordinary actors". Mapping those metaphysical innovations involves a strong dedication to relativism, Latour argues. The relativist researcher "learns the actors' language," records what they say about what they do, and does not appeal to a higher "structure" to "explain" the actor's motivations. The relativist "takes seriously what [actors] are obstinately saying" and "follows the direction indicated by their fingers when they designate what 'makes them act'". The relativist recognizes the plurality of metaphysics that actors bring into being, and attempts to map them rather than reducing them to a single structure or explanation. Selected bibliography Books Originally published 1979 in Los Angeles, by Sage Publications Chapters in books Journal articles See also Actant Blackboxing Fashionable Nonsense Graphism thesis Mapping controversies Obligatory passage point Science wars Social construction of technology Technological determinism References Sources External links Bruno Latour's website 1947 births Living people People from Beaune Sociologists of science Science and technology studies scholars Social constructionism Sociology of scientific knowledge French sociologists French anthropologists Mines ParisTech faculty Actor-network theory French Roman Catholics Catholic philosophers Holberg Prize laureates French male writers French male essayists 20th-century French philosophers 21st-century French philosophers Philosophers of science Philosophers of technology Posthumanists Continental philosophers Recipients of the Legion of Honour 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers Sciences Po 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" ]
[ "Bruno Latour", "Pandora's Hope", "What was pandora's hope?", "Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern.", "What did Bruno say about these findings?", "Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: \"", "Did anyone oppose these views?", "Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma.", "What did they oppose?", "writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors,", "Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?", "After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life:" ]	C_f2db5f2b446840bfbd05f446b26a81b2_1	What did this research yield?	6	What did Latour's research on laboratory scientists yield?	Bruno Latour	After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naive descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory--that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices-- in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results." Latour's work Nous n'avons jamais ete modernes : Essais d'anthropologie symetrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". CANNOTANSWER	In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute.	Bruno Latour (; ; born 22 June 1947) is a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist. He is especially known for his work in the field of science and technology studies (STS). After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris (Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation) from 1982 to 2006, he became Professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab. He retired from several university activities in 2017. He was also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics. Latour is best known for his books We Have Never Been Modern (1991; English translation, 1993), Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar, 1979) and Science in Action (1987). Although his studies of scientific practice were at one time associated with social constructionist approaches to the philosophy of science, Latour has diverged significantly from such approaches. He is best known for withdrawing from the subjective/objective division and re-developing the approach to work in practice. Latour said in 2017 that he is interested in helping to rebuild trust in science and that some of the authority of science needs to be regained. Along with Michel Callon and John Law, Latour is one of the primary developers of actor–network theory (ANT), a constructionist approach influenced by the ethnomethodology of Harold Garfinkel, the generative semiotics of Algirdas Julien Greimas, and (more recently) the sociology of Émile Durkheim's rival Gabriel Tarde. Biography Latour is related to a well-known family of winemakers from Burgundy, but is not associated with the similarly named estate in Bordeaux. As a student, Latour originally focused on philosophy. In 1971–1972, he ranked second and then first (reçu second, premier) in the French national competitive exam (agrégation/CAPES de philosophie). He was deeply influenced by Michel Serres. Latour went on to earn his Ph.D. in philosophical theology in 1975 at the University of Tours. His thesis title was Exégèse et ontologie: une analyse des textes de resurrection (Exegesis and Ontology: An Analysis of the Texts of Resurrection). He developed an interest in anthropology, and undertook fieldwork in Ivory Coast which resulted in a brief monograph on decolonization, race, and industrial relations. After spending more than twenty years (1982–2006) at the Centre de sociologie de l'innovation at the École des Mines in Paris, Latour moved in 2006 to Sciences Po, where he was the first occupant of a chair named for Gabriel Tarde. In recent years he also served as one of the curators of successful art exhibitions at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie in Karlsruhe, Germany, including "Iconoclash" (2002) and "Making Things Public" (2005). In 2005 he also held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Awards and honors On 22 May 2008, Latour was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Université de Montréal on the occasion of an organizational communication conference held in honor of the work of James R. Taylor, on whom Latour has had an important influence. He holds several other honorary doctorates, as well as France's Légion d'Honneur (2012). The Dutch "International Spinozaprijs Foundation" will award the "Spinozalens 2020" to Bruno Latour on 24 November 2020. In 2021 he received the Kyoto Prize in the category "Thought and Ethics". Holberg Prize On 13 March 2013, he was announced as the winner of the 2013 Holberg Prize. The prize committee stated that "Bruno Latour has undertaken an ambitious analysis and reinterpretation of modernity, and has challenged fundamental concepts such as the distinction between modern and pre-modern, nature and society, human and non-human." The committee states that "the impact of Latour's work is evident internationally and far beyond studies of the history of science, art history, history, philosophy, anthropology, geography, theology, literature and law." A 2013 article in Aftenposten by Jon Elster criticised the conferment to Latour, by saying "The question is, does he deserve the prize. ... If the statutes [of the award] had used new knowledge as a main criteria, instead of one of several, then he would be completely unqualified in my opinion." Main works Laboratory Life After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naïve descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory—that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices—in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results". The Pasteurization of France After a research project examining the sociology of primatologists, Latour followed up the themes in Laboratory Life with Les Microbes: guerre et paix (published in English as The Pasteurization of France in 1988). In it, he reviews the life and career of one of France's most famous scientists Louis Pasteur and his discovery of microbes, in the fashion of a political biography. Latour highlights the social forces at work in and around Pasteur's career and the uneven manner in which his theories were accepted. By providing more explicitly ideological explanations for the acceptance of Pasteur's work more easily in some quarters than in others, he seeks to undermine the notion that the acceptance and rejection of scientific theories is primarily, or even usually, a matter of experiment, evidence or reason. Aramis, or, The Love of Technology Aramis, or, The Love of Technology focuses on the history of an unsuccessful mass-transit project. Aramis PRT (personal rapid transit), a high tech automated subway, had been developed in France during the 70s and 80s and was supposed to be implemented as a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in Paris. It combined the flexibility of an automobile with the efficiency of a subway. Aramis was to be an ideal urban transportation system based on private cars in constant motion and the elimination of unnecessary transfers. This new form of transportation was intended to be as secure and inexpensive as collective transportation. The proposed system had custom-designed motors, sensors, controls, digital electronics, software and a major installation in southern Paris. But in the end, the project died in 1987. Latour argues that the technology failed not because any particular actor killed it, but because the actors failed to sustain it through negotiation and adaptation to a changing social situation. While investigating Aramis's demise, Latour delineates the tenets of actor-network theory. According to Latour's own description of the book, the work aims "at training readers in the booming field of technology studies and at experimenting in the many new literary forms that are necessary to handle mechanisms and automatisms without using the belief that they are mechanical nor automatic." We Have Never Been Modern Latour's work Nous n’avons jamais été modernes : Essai d’anthropologie symétrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". "Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam?" In a 2004 article, Latour questioned the fundamental premises on which he had based most of his career, asking, "Was I wrong to participate in the invention of this field known as science studies?" He undertakes a trenchant critique of his own field of study and, more generally, of social criticism in contemporary academia. He suggests that critique, as currently practiced, is bordering on irrelevancy. To maintain any vitality, Latour argues that social critiques require a drastic reappraisal: "our critical equipment deserves as much critical scrutiny as the Pentagon budget." (p. 231) To regain focus and credibility, Latour argues that social critiques must embrace empiricism, to insist on the "cultivation of a stubbornly realist attitude – to speak like William James". (p. 233) Latour suggests that about 90 per cent of contemporary social criticism displays one of two approaches which he terms "the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 237) The fairy position is anti-fetishist, arguing that "objects of belief" (e.g., religion, arts) are merely concepts created by the projected wishes and desires of the "naive believer"; the "fact position" argues that individuals are dominated, often covertly and without their awareness, by external forces (e.g., economics, gender). (p. 238) "Do you see now why it feels so good to be a critical mind?” asks Latour: no matter which position you take, "You’re always right!" (p. 238–239) Social critics tend to use anti-fetishism against ideas they personally reject; to use "an unrepentant positivist" approach for fields of study they consider valuable; all the while thinking as "a perfectly healthy sturdy realist for what you really cherish." (p. 241) These inconsistencies and double standards go largely unrecognized in social critique because "there is never any crossover between the two lists of objects in the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 241) The practical result of these approaches being taught to millions of students in elite universities for several decades is a widespread and influential "critical barbarity" that has—like a malign virus created by a "mad scientist"—thus far proven impossible to control. Most troubling, Latour notes that critical ideas have been appropriated by those he describes as conspiracy theorists, including global warming deniers and the 9/11 Truth movement: "Maybe I am taking conspiracy theories too seriously, but I am worried to detect, in those mad mixtures of knee-jerk disbelief, punctilious demands for proofs, and free use of powerful explanation from the social neverland, many of the weapons of social critique." (p. 230) The conclusion of the article is to argue for a positive framing of critique, to help understand how matters of concern can be supported rather than undermined: "The critic is not the one who lifts the rugs from under the feet of the naïve believers, but the one who offers the participants arenas in which to gather. The critic is not the one who alternates haphazardly between antifetishism and positivism like the drunk iconoclast drawn by Goya, but the one for whom, if something is constructed, then it means it is fragile and thus in great need of care and caution." Latour's article has been highly influential within the field of postcritique, an intellectual movement within literary criticism and cultural studies that seeks to find new forms of reading and interpretation that go beyond the methods of critique, critical theory, and ideological criticism. The literary critic Rita Felski has named Latour as an important precursor to the project of postcritique. Reassembling the Social In Reassembling the Social (2005), Latour continues a reappraisal of his work, developing what he calls a "practical metaphysics", which calls "real" anything that an actor (one whom we are studying) claims as a source of motivation for action. So if someone says, "I was inspired by God to be charitable to my neighbors" we are obliged to recognize the "ontological weight" of their claim, rather than attempting to replace their belief in God's presence with "social stuff", like class, gender, imperialism, etc. Latour’s nuanced metaphysics demands the existence of a plurality of worlds, and the willingness of the researcher to chart ever more. He argues that researchers must give up the hope of fitting their actors into a structure or framework, but Latour believes the benefits of this sacrifice far outweigh the downsides: "Their complex metaphysics would at least be respected, their recalcitrance recognized, their objections deployed, their multiplicity accepted." For Latour, to talk about metaphysics or ontology–what really is–means paying close empirical attention to the various, contradictory institutions and ideas that bring people together and inspire them to act. Here is Latour's description of metaphysics: If we call metaphysics the discipline . . . that purports to define the basic structure of the world, then empirical metaphysics is what the controversies over agencies lead to since they ceaselessly populate the world with new drives and, as ceaselessly, contest the existence of others. The question then becomes how to explore the actors' own metaphysics. A more traditional metaphysicist might object, arguing that this means there are multiple, contradictory realities, since there are "controversies over agencies" – since there is a plurality of contradictory ideas that people claim as a basis for action (God, nature, the state, sexual drives, personal ambition, and so on). This objection manifests the most important difference between traditional philosophical metaphysics and Latour's nuance: for Latour, there is no "basic structure of reality" or a single, self-consistent world. An unknowably large multiplicity of realities, or "worlds" in his terms, exists–one for each actor's sources of agency, inspirations for action. Actors bring "the real" (metaphysics) into being. The task of the researcher is not to find one "basic structure" that explains agency, but to recognize "the metaphysical innovations proposed by ordinary actors". Mapping those metaphysical innovations involves a strong dedication to relativism, Latour argues. The relativist researcher "learns the actors' language," records what they say about what they do, and does not appeal to a higher "structure" to "explain" the actor's motivations. The relativist "takes seriously what [actors] are obstinately saying" and "follows the direction indicated by their fingers when they designate what 'makes them act'". The relativist recognizes the plurality of metaphysics that actors bring into being, and attempts to map them rather than reducing them to a single structure or explanation. Selected bibliography Books Originally published 1979 in Los Angeles, by Sage Publications Chapters in books Journal articles See also Actant Blackboxing Fashionable Nonsense Graphism thesis Mapping controversies Obligatory passage point Science wars Social construction of technology Technological determinism References Sources External links Bruno Latour's website 1947 births Living people People from Beaune Sociologists of science Science and technology studies scholars Social constructionism Sociology of scientific knowledge French sociologists French anthropologists Mines ParisTech faculty Actor-network theory French Roman Catholics Catholic philosophers Holberg Prize laureates French male writers French male essayists 20th-century French philosophers 21st-century French philosophers Philosophers of science Philosophers of technology Posthumanists Continental philosophers Recipients of the Legion of Honour 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers Sciences Po faculty	true	[ "Yield may refer to:\n\nMeasures of output/function\n\nComputer science\n Yield (multithreading) is an action that occurs in a computer program during multithreading\n See generator (computer programming)\n\nPhysics/chemistry\n Yield (chemistry), the amount of product obtained in a chemical reaction\n The arrow symbol in a chemical equation\n Yield (engineering), yield strength of a material as defined in engineering and material science\n Fission product yield\n Nuclear weapon yield\n\nEarth science\n Crop yield\n Yield (wine)\n Specific yield, a measure of aquifer capacity\n\nProduction/manufacturing\n Yield (casting)\n Throughput yield, a manufacturing evaluation method\n A measure of functioning devices in semiconductor testing, see Semiconductor device fabrication#Device test\n The number of servings provided by a recipe and hulk\n\nFinance\n Yield (finance), a rate of return for a security\n Dividend yield and earnings yield, measures of dividends paid on stock\n\nOther uses\n Yield (college admissions), a statistic describing what percent of applicants choose to enroll\n Yield (album), by Pearl Jam\n Yield sign, a traffic sign\n Yield, a feature of a coroutine in computer programming\n Yield, an element of the TV series The Amazing Race", "Earning yield is the quotient of earnings per share (E), divided by the share price (P), giving E/P. It is the reciprocal of the P/E ratio.\n\nThe earning yield is quoted as a percentage, and therefore allows immediate comparison to prevailing long-term interest rates (e.g. the Fed model).\n\nApplications\nThe earning yield can be used to compare the earnings of a stock, sector, or the whole market against bond yields. Generally, the earnings yields of equities are higher than the yield of risk-free treasury bonds. Some of this may result in dividends, while some may be kept as retained earnings. The market price of stocks may increase or decrease, reflecting the additional risk involved in equity investments. The average P/E ratio for U.S. stocks from 1900 to 2005 is 14, which equates to an earnings yield of over 7%. \n\nThe Fed model is an example of a system that uses the earnings yield as a method to assess aggregate stock market valuation levels, although it is disputed.\n\nAdjusted versions\nEarning yield is one of the factors discussed in Joel Greenblatt's The Little Book That Beats the Market. However, Greenblatt uses an adjusted earning yield formula to account for the fact that different companies have different debt levels and tax rates.\n\nEarnings Yield = (Earnings Before Interest & Taxes + Depreciation – CapEx) / Enterprise Value (Market Value + Debt – Cash)\n\nThis tells you how expensive a company is in relation to the earnings the company generates. When looking at the Earning Yield, we make certain adjustments to a company’s market capitalization to estimate what it would take to buy the entire company. This involves penalizing companies carrying much debt and rewarding those having much cash.\n\nSee also \n\n Dividend yield\n Fed model\n\nReferences\n\nFinancial ratios\nFactor income distribution" ]
[ "Bruno Latour", "Pandora's Hope", "What was pandora's hope?", "Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern.", "What did Bruno say about these findings?", "Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: \"", "Did anyone oppose these views?", "Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma.", "What did they oppose?", "writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors,", "Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?", "After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life:", "What did this research yield?", "In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute." ]	C_f2db5f2b446840bfbd05f446b26a81b2_1	Does anyone oppose their research?	7	Does anyone oppose Latour's author's research?	Bruno Latour	After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naive descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory--that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices-- in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results." Latour's work Nous n'avons jamais ete modernes : Essais d'anthropologie symetrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". CANNOTANSWER	Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g.,	Bruno Latour (; ; born 22 June 1947) is a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist. He is especially known for his work in the field of science and technology studies (STS). After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris (Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation) from 1982 to 2006, he became Professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab. He retired from several university activities in 2017. He was also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics. Latour is best known for his books We Have Never Been Modern (1991; English translation, 1993), Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar, 1979) and Science in Action (1987). Although his studies of scientific practice were at one time associated with social constructionist approaches to the philosophy of science, Latour has diverged significantly from such approaches. He is best known for withdrawing from the subjective/objective division and re-developing the approach to work in practice. Latour said in 2017 that he is interested in helping to rebuild trust in science and that some of the authority of science needs to be regained. Along with Michel Callon and John Law, Latour is one of the primary developers of actor–network theory (ANT), a constructionist approach influenced by the ethnomethodology of Harold Garfinkel, the generative semiotics of Algirdas Julien Greimas, and (more recently) the sociology of Émile Durkheim's rival Gabriel Tarde. Biography Latour is related to a well-known family of winemakers from Burgundy, but is not associated with the similarly named estate in Bordeaux. As a student, Latour originally focused on philosophy. In 1971–1972, he ranked second and then first (reçu second, premier) in the French national competitive exam (agrégation/CAPES de philosophie). He was deeply influenced by Michel Serres. Latour went on to earn his Ph.D. in philosophical theology in 1975 at the University of Tours. His thesis title was Exégèse et ontologie: une analyse des textes de resurrection (Exegesis and Ontology: An Analysis of the Texts of Resurrection). He developed an interest in anthropology, and undertook fieldwork in Ivory Coast which resulted in a brief monograph on decolonization, race, and industrial relations. After spending more than twenty years (1982–2006) at the Centre de sociologie de l'innovation at the École des Mines in Paris, Latour moved in 2006 to Sciences Po, where he was the first occupant of a chair named for Gabriel Tarde. In recent years he also served as one of the curators of successful art exhibitions at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie in Karlsruhe, Germany, including "Iconoclash" (2002) and "Making Things Public" (2005). In 2005 he also held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Awards and honors On 22 May 2008, Latour was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Université de Montréal on the occasion of an organizational communication conference held in honor of the work of James R. Taylor, on whom Latour has had an important influence. He holds several other honorary doctorates, as well as France's Légion d'Honneur (2012). The Dutch "International Spinozaprijs Foundation" will award the "Spinozalens 2020" to Bruno Latour on 24 November 2020. In 2021 he received the Kyoto Prize in the category "Thought and Ethics". Holberg Prize On 13 March 2013, he was announced as the winner of the 2013 Holberg Prize. The prize committee stated that "Bruno Latour has undertaken an ambitious analysis and reinterpretation of modernity, and has challenged fundamental concepts such as the distinction between modern and pre-modern, nature and society, human and non-human." The committee states that "the impact of Latour's work is evident internationally and far beyond studies of the history of science, art history, history, philosophy, anthropology, geography, theology, literature and law." A 2013 article in Aftenposten by Jon Elster criticised the conferment to Latour, by saying "The question is, does he deserve the prize. ... If the statutes [of the award] had used new knowledge as a main criteria, instead of one of several, then he would be completely unqualified in my opinion." Main works Laboratory Life After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naïve descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory—that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices—in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results". The Pasteurization of France After a research project examining the sociology of primatologists, Latour followed up the themes in Laboratory Life with Les Microbes: guerre et paix (published in English as The Pasteurization of France in 1988). In it, he reviews the life and career of one of France's most famous scientists Louis Pasteur and his discovery of microbes, in the fashion of a political biography. Latour highlights the social forces at work in and around Pasteur's career and the uneven manner in which his theories were accepted. By providing more explicitly ideological explanations for the acceptance of Pasteur's work more easily in some quarters than in others, he seeks to undermine the notion that the acceptance and rejection of scientific theories is primarily, or even usually, a matter of experiment, evidence or reason. Aramis, or, The Love of Technology Aramis, or, The Love of Technology focuses on the history of an unsuccessful mass-transit project. Aramis PRT (personal rapid transit), a high tech automated subway, had been developed in France during the 70s and 80s and was supposed to be implemented as a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in Paris. It combined the flexibility of an automobile with the efficiency of a subway. Aramis was to be an ideal urban transportation system based on private cars in constant motion and the elimination of unnecessary transfers. This new form of transportation was intended to be as secure and inexpensive as collective transportation. The proposed system had custom-designed motors, sensors, controls, digital electronics, software and a major installation in southern Paris. But in the end, the project died in 1987. Latour argues that the technology failed not because any particular actor killed it, but because the actors failed to sustain it through negotiation and adaptation to a changing social situation. While investigating Aramis's demise, Latour delineates the tenets of actor-network theory. According to Latour's own description of the book, the work aims "at training readers in the booming field of technology studies and at experimenting in the many new literary forms that are necessary to handle mechanisms and automatisms without using the belief that they are mechanical nor automatic." We Have Never Been Modern Latour's work Nous n’avons jamais été modernes : Essai d’anthropologie symétrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". "Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam?" In a 2004 article, Latour questioned the fundamental premises on which he had based most of his career, asking, "Was I wrong to participate in the invention of this field known as science studies?" He undertakes a trenchant critique of his own field of study and, more generally, of social criticism in contemporary academia. He suggests that critique, as currently practiced, is bordering on irrelevancy. To maintain any vitality, Latour argues that social critiques require a drastic reappraisal: "our critical equipment deserves as much critical scrutiny as the Pentagon budget." (p. 231) To regain focus and credibility, Latour argues that social critiques must embrace empiricism, to insist on the "cultivation of a stubbornly realist attitude – to speak like William James". (p. 233) Latour suggests that about 90 per cent of contemporary social criticism displays one of two approaches which he terms "the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 237) The fairy position is anti-fetishist, arguing that "objects of belief" (e.g., religion, arts) are merely concepts created by the projected wishes and desires of the "naive believer"; the "fact position" argues that individuals are dominated, often covertly and without their awareness, by external forces (e.g., economics, gender). (p. 238) "Do you see now why it feels so good to be a critical mind?” asks Latour: no matter which position you take, "You’re always right!" (p. 238–239) Social critics tend to use anti-fetishism against ideas they personally reject; to use "an unrepentant positivist" approach for fields of study they consider valuable; all the while thinking as "a perfectly healthy sturdy realist for what you really cherish." (p. 241) These inconsistencies and double standards go largely unrecognized in social critique because "there is never any crossover between the two lists of objects in the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 241) The practical result of these approaches being taught to millions of students in elite universities for several decades is a widespread and influential "critical barbarity" that has—like a malign virus created by a "mad scientist"—thus far proven impossible to control. Most troubling, Latour notes that critical ideas have been appropriated by those he describes as conspiracy theorists, including global warming deniers and the 9/11 Truth movement: "Maybe I am taking conspiracy theories too seriously, but I am worried to detect, in those mad mixtures of knee-jerk disbelief, punctilious demands for proofs, and free use of powerful explanation from the social neverland, many of the weapons of social critique." (p. 230) The conclusion of the article is to argue for a positive framing of critique, to help understand how matters of concern can be supported rather than undermined: "The critic is not the one who lifts the rugs from under the feet of the naïve believers, but the one who offers the participants arenas in which to gather. The critic is not the one who alternates haphazardly between antifetishism and positivism like the drunk iconoclast drawn by Goya, but the one for whom, if something is constructed, then it means it is fragile and thus in great need of care and caution." Latour's article has been highly influential within the field of postcritique, an intellectual movement within literary criticism and cultural studies that seeks to find new forms of reading and interpretation that go beyond the methods of critique, critical theory, and ideological criticism. The literary critic Rita Felski has named Latour as an important precursor to the project of postcritique. Reassembling the Social In Reassembling the Social (2005), Latour continues a reappraisal of his work, developing what he calls a "practical metaphysics", which calls "real" anything that an actor (one whom we are studying) claims as a source of motivation for action. So if someone says, "I was inspired by God to be charitable to my neighbors" we are obliged to recognize the "ontological weight" of their claim, rather than attempting to replace their belief in God's presence with "social stuff", like class, gender, imperialism, etc. Latour’s nuanced metaphysics demands the existence of a plurality of worlds, and the willingness of the researcher to chart ever more. He argues that researchers must give up the hope of fitting their actors into a structure or framework, but Latour believes the benefits of this sacrifice far outweigh the downsides: "Their complex metaphysics would at least be respected, their recalcitrance recognized, their objections deployed, their multiplicity accepted." For Latour, to talk about metaphysics or ontology–what really is–means paying close empirical attention to the various, contradictory institutions and ideas that bring people together and inspire them to act. Here is Latour's description of metaphysics: If we call metaphysics the discipline . . . that purports to define the basic structure of the world, then empirical metaphysics is what the controversies over agencies lead to since they ceaselessly populate the world with new drives and, as ceaselessly, contest the existence of others. The question then becomes how to explore the actors' own metaphysics. A more traditional metaphysicist might object, arguing that this means there are multiple, contradictory realities, since there are "controversies over agencies" – since there is a plurality of contradictory ideas that people claim as a basis for action (God, nature, the state, sexual drives, personal ambition, and so on). This objection manifests the most important difference between traditional philosophical metaphysics and Latour's nuance: for Latour, there is no "basic structure of reality" or a single, self-consistent world. An unknowably large multiplicity of realities, or "worlds" in his terms, exists–one for each actor's sources of agency, inspirations for action. Actors bring "the real" (metaphysics) into being. The task of the researcher is not to find one "basic structure" that explains agency, but to recognize "the metaphysical innovations proposed by ordinary actors". Mapping those metaphysical innovations involves a strong dedication to relativism, Latour argues. The relativist researcher "learns the actors' language," records what they say about what they do, and does not appeal to a higher "structure" to "explain" the actor's motivations. The relativist "takes seriously what [actors] are obstinately saying" and "follows the direction indicated by their fingers when they designate what 'makes them act'". The relativist recognizes the plurality of metaphysics that actors bring into being, and attempts to map them rather than reducing them to a single structure or explanation. Selected bibliography Books Originally published 1979 in Los Angeles, by Sage Publications Chapters in books Journal articles See also Actant Blackboxing Fashionable Nonsense Graphism thesis Mapping controversies Obligatory passage point Science wars Social construction of technology Technological determinism References Sources External links Bruno Latour's website 1947 births Living people People from Beaune Sociologists of science Science and technology studies scholars Social constructionism Sociology of scientific knowledge French sociologists French anthropologists Mines ParisTech faculty Actor-network theory French Roman Catholics Catholic philosophers Holberg Prize laureates French male writers French male essayists 20th-century French philosophers 21st-century French philosophers Philosophers of science Philosophers of technology Posthumanists Continental philosophers Recipients of the Legion of Honour 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers Sciences Po faculty	true	[ "PRRI may refer to:\n\n Public Religion Research Institute, an education and research organization based in Washington, D.C.\n Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia (), an alternative government established in Sumatra to oppose the Indonesian national government", "I Don't Need Anyone may refer to:\n\n\"I Don't Need Anyone\", song by Hamilton Leithauser from Black Hours\n\"I Don’t Need Anyone\", song by soulDecision from No One Does It Better\n\"I Don't Need Anyone\", song by Kylie Minogue from Impossible Princess" ]
[ "Bruno Latour", "Pandora's Hope", "What was pandora's hope?", "Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern.", "What did Bruno say about these findings?", "Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: \"", "Did anyone oppose these views?", "Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma.", "What did they oppose?", "writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors,", "Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?", "After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life:", "What did this research yield?", "In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute.", "Does anyone oppose their research?", "Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g.," ]	C_f2db5f2b446840bfbd05f446b26a81b2_1	How does Latour counter that point?	8	How does Latour counter the point about Latour?	Bruno Latour	After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naive descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory--that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices-- in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results." Latour's work Nous n'avons jamais ete modernes : Essais d'anthropologie symetrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Bruno Latour (; ; born 22 June 1947) is a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist. He is especially known for his work in the field of science and technology studies (STS). After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris (Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation) from 1982 to 2006, he became Professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab. He retired from several university activities in 2017. He was also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics. Latour is best known for his books We Have Never Been Modern (1991; English translation, 1993), Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar, 1979) and Science in Action (1987). Although his studies of scientific practice were at one time associated with social constructionist approaches to the philosophy of science, Latour has diverged significantly from such approaches. He is best known for withdrawing from the subjective/objective division and re-developing the approach to work in practice. Latour said in 2017 that he is interested in helping to rebuild trust in science and that some of the authority of science needs to be regained. Along with Michel Callon and John Law, Latour is one of the primary developers of actor–network theory (ANT), a constructionist approach influenced by the ethnomethodology of Harold Garfinkel, the generative semiotics of Algirdas Julien Greimas, and (more recently) the sociology of Émile Durkheim's rival Gabriel Tarde. Biography Latour is related to a well-known family of winemakers from Burgundy, but is not associated with the similarly named estate in Bordeaux. As a student, Latour originally focused on philosophy. In 1971–1972, he ranked second and then first (reçu second, premier) in the French national competitive exam (agrégation/CAPES de philosophie). He was deeply influenced by Michel Serres. Latour went on to earn his Ph.D. in philosophical theology in 1975 at the University of Tours. His thesis title was Exégèse et ontologie: une analyse des textes de resurrection (Exegesis and Ontology: An Analysis of the Texts of Resurrection). He developed an interest in anthropology, and undertook fieldwork in Ivory Coast which resulted in a brief monograph on decolonization, race, and industrial relations. After spending more than twenty years (1982–2006) at the Centre de sociologie de l'innovation at the École des Mines in Paris, Latour moved in 2006 to Sciences Po, where he was the first occupant of a chair named for Gabriel Tarde. In recent years he also served as one of the curators of successful art exhibitions at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie in Karlsruhe, Germany, including "Iconoclash" (2002) and "Making Things Public" (2005). In 2005 he also held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Awards and honors On 22 May 2008, Latour was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Université de Montréal on the occasion of an organizational communication conference held in honor of the work of James R. Taylor, on whom Latour has had an important influence. He holds several other honorary doctorates, as well as France's Légion d'Honneur (2012). The Dutch "International Spinozaprijs Foundation" will award the "Spinozalens 2020" to Bruno Latour on 24 November 2020. In 2021 he received the Kyoto Prize in the category "Thought and Ethics". Holberg Prize On 13 March 2013, he was announced as the winner of the 2013 Holberg Prize. The prize committee stated that "Bruno Latour has undertaken an ambitious analysis and reinterpretation of modernity, and has challenged fundamental concepts such as the distinction between modern and pre-modern, nature and society, human and non-human." The committee states that "the impact of Latour's work is evident internationally and far beyond studies of the history of science, art history, history, philosophy, anthropology, geography, theology, literature and law." A 2013 article in Aftenposten by Jon Elster criticised the conferment to Latour, by saying "The question is, does he deserve the prize. ... If the statutes [of the award] had used new knowledge as a main criteria, instead of one of several, then he would be completely unqualified in my opinion." Main works Laboratory Life After his early career efforts, Latour shifted his research interests to focus on laboratory scientists. Latour rose in importance following the 1979 publication of Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts with co-author Steve Woolgar. In the book, the authors undertake an ethnographic study of a neuroendocrinology research laboratory at the Salk Institute. This early work argued that naïve descriptions of the scientific method, in which theories stand or fall on the outcome of a single experiment, are inconsistent with actual laboratory practice. In the laboratory, Latour and Woolgar observed that a typical experiment produces only inconclusive data that is attributed to failure of the apparatus or experimental method, and that a large part of scientific training involves learning how to make the subjective decision of what data to keep and what data to throw out. Latour and Woolgar argued that, for untrained observers, the entire process resembles not an unbiased search for truth and accuracy but a mechanism for ignoring data that contradicts scientific orthodoxy. Latour and Woolgar produced a highly heterodox and controversial picture of the sciences. Drawing on the work of Gaston Bachelard, they advance the notion that the objects of scientific study are socially constructed within the laboratory—that they cannot be attributed with an existence outside of the instruments that measure them and the minds that interpret them. They view scientific activity as a system of beliefs, oral traditions and culturally specific practices—in short, science is reconstructed not as a procedure or as a set of principles but as a culture. Latour's 1987 book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is one of the key texts of the sociology of scientific knowledge in which he famously wrote his Second Principle as follows: "Scientist and engineers speak in the name of new allies that they have shaped and enrolled; representatives among other representatives, they add these unexpected resources to tip the balance of force in their favor." Some of Latour's position and findings in this era provoked vehement rebuttals. Gross and Leavitt argue that Latour's position becomes absurd when applied to non-scientific contexts: e.g., if a group of coworkers in a windowless room were debating whether or not it were raining outside and went outdoors to discover raindrops in the air and puddles on the soil, Latour's hypothesis would assert that the rain was socially constructed. Similarly, philosopher John Searle argues that Latour's "extreme social constructivist" position is seriously flawed on several points, and furthermore has inadvertently "comical results". The Pasteurization of France After a research project examining the sociology of primatologists, Latour followed up the themes in Laboratory Life with Les Microbes: guerre et paix (published in English as The Pasteurization of France in 1988). In it, he reviews the life and career of one of France's most famous scientists Louis Pasteur and his discovery of microbes, in the fashion of a political biography. Latour highlights the social forces at work in and around Pasteur's career and the uneven manner in which his theories were accepted. By providing more explicitly ideological explanations for the acceptance of Pasteur's work more easily in some quarters than in others, he seeks to undermine the notion that the acceptance and rejection of scientific theories is primarily, or even usually, a matter of experiment, evidence or reason. Aramis, or, The Love of Technology Aramis, or, The Love of Technology focuses on the history of an unsuccessful mass-transit project. Aramis PRT (personal rapid transit), a high tech automated subway, had been developed in France during the 70s and 80s and was supposed to be implemented as a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in Paris. It combined the flexibility of an automobile with the efficiency of a subway. Aramis was to be an ideal urban transportation system based on private cars in constant motion and the elimination of unnecessary transfers. This new form of transportation was intended to be as secure and inexpensive as collective transportation. The proposed system had custom-designed motors, sensors, controls, digital electronics, software and a major installation in southern Paris. But in the end, the project died in 1987. Latour argues that the technology failed not because any particular actor killed it, but because the actors failed to sustain it through negotiation and adaptation to a changing social situation. While investigating Aramis's demise, Latour delineates the tenets of actor-network theory. According to Latour's own description of the book, the work aims "at training readers in the booming field of technology studies and at experimenting in the many new literary forms that are necessary to handle mechanisms and automatisms without using the belief that they are mechanical nor automatic." We Have Never Been Modern Latour's work Nous n’avons jamais été modernes : Essai d’anthropologie symétrique was first published in French in 1991, and then in English in 1993 as We Have Never Been Modern. Latour encouraged the reader of this anthropology of science to re-think and re-evaluate our mental landscape. He evaluated the work of scientists and contemplated the contribution of the scientific method to knowledge and work, blurring the distinction across various fields and disciplines. Latour argued that society has never really been modern and promoted nonmodernism (or amodernism) over postmodernism, modernism, or antimodernism. His stance was that we have never been modern and minor divisions alone separate Westerners now from other collectives. Latour viewed modernism as an era that believed it had annulled the entire past in its wake. He presented the antimodern reaction as defending such entities as spirit, rationality, liberty, society, God, or even the past. Postmoderns, according to Latour, also accepted the modernistic abstractions as if they were real. In contrast, the nonmodern approach reestablished symmetry between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other. Latour also referred to the impossibility of returning to premodernism because it precluded the large scale experimentation which was a benefit of modernism. Latour attempted to prove through case studies the fallacy in the old object/subject and Nature/Society compacts of modernity, which can be traced back to Plato. He refused the concept of "out there" versus "in here". He rendered the object/subject distinction as simply unusable and charted a new approach towards knowledge, work, and circulating reference. Latour considered nonmoderns to be playing on a different field, one vastly different than that of post-moderns. He referred to it as much broader and much less polemical, a creation of an unknown territory, which he playfully referred to as the Middle Kingdom. In 1998, historian of science Margaret C. Jacob argued that Latour's politicized account of the development of modernism in the 17th century is "a fanciful escape from modern Western history". Pandora's Hope Pandora's Hope (1999) marks a return to the themes Latour explored in Science in Action and We Have Never Been Modern. It uses independent but thematically linked essays and case studies to question the authority and reliability of scientific knowledge. Latour uses a narrative, anecdotal approach in a number of the essays, describing his work with pedologists in the Amazon rainforest, the development of the pasteurization process, and the research of French atomic scientists at the outbreak of the Second World War. Latour states that this specific, anecdotal approach to science studies is essential to gaining a full understanding of the discipline: "The only way to understand the reality of science studies is to follow what science studies do best, that is, paying close attention to the details of scientific practice" (p. 24). Some authors have criticized Latour's methodology, including Katherine Pandora, a history of science professor at the University of Oklahoma. In her review of Pandora's Hope, Katherine Pandora states: "[Latour's] writing can be stimulating, fresh and at times genuinely moving, but it can also display a distractingly mannered style in which a rococo zeal for compounding metaphors, examples, definitions and abstractions can frustrate even readers who approach his work with the best of intentions (notwithstanding the inclusion of a nine-page glossary of terms and liberal use of diagrams in an attempt to achieve the utmost clarity)". In addition to his epistemological concerns, Latour also explores the political dimension of science studies in Pandora's Hope. Two of the chapters draw on Plato's Gorgias as a means of investigating and highlighting the distinction between content and context. As Katherine Pandora states in her review: "It is hard not to be caught up in the author's obvious delight in deploying a classic work from antiquity to bring current concerns into sharper focus, following along as he manages to leave the reader with the impression that the protagonists Socrates and Callicles are not only in dialogue with each other but with Latour as well." Although Latour frames his discussion with a classical model, his examples of fraught political issues are all current and of continuing relevance: global warming, the spread of mad cow disease, and the carcinogenic effects of smoking are all mentioned at various points in Pandora's Hope. In Felix Stalder's article "Beyond constructivism: towards a realistic realism", he summarizes Latour's position on the political dimension of science studies as follows: "These scientific debates have been artificially kept open in order to render impossible any political action against these problems and those who profit from them". "Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam?" In a 2004 article, Latour questioned the fundamental premises on which he had based most of his career, asking, "Was I wrong to participate in the invention of this field known as science studies?" He undertakes a trenchant critique of his own field of study and, more generally, of social criticism in contemporary academia. He suggests that critique, as currently practiced, is bordering on irrelevancy. To maintain any vitality, Latour argues that social critiques require a drastic reappraisal: "our critical equipment deserves as much critical scrutiny as the Pentagon budget." (p. 231) To regain focus and credibility, Latour argues that social critiques must embrace empiricism, to insist on the "cultivation of a stubbornly realist attitude – to speak like William James". (p. 233) Latour suggests that about 90 per cent of contemporary social criticism displays one of two approaches which he terms "the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 237) The fairy position is anti-fetishist, arguing that "objects of belief" (e.g., religion, arts) are merely concepts created by the projected wishes and desires of the "naive believer"; the "fact position" argues that individuals are dominated, often covertly and without their awareness, by external forces (e.g., economics, gender). (p. 238) "Do you see now why it feels so good to be a critical mind?” asks Latour: no matter which position you take, "You’re always right!" (p. 238–239) Social critics tend to use anti-fetishism against ideas they personally reject; to use "an unrepentant positivist" approach for fields of study they consider valuable; all the while thinking as "a perfectly healthy sturdy realist for what you really cherish." (p. 241) These inconsistencies and double standards go largely unrecognized in social critique because "there is never any crossover between the two lists of objects in the fact position and the fairy position." (p. 241) The practical result of these approaches being taught to millions of students in elite universities for several decades is a widespread and influential "critical barbarity" that has—like a malign virus created by a "mad scientist"—thus far proven impossible to control. Most troubling, Latour notes that critical ideas have been appropriated by those he describes as conspiracy theorists, including global warming deniers and the 9/11 Truth movement: "Maybe I am taking conspiracy theories too seriously, but I am worried to detect, in those mad mixtures of knee-jerk disbelief, punctilious demands for proofs, and free use of powerful explanation from the social neverland, many of the weapons of social critique." (p. 230) The conclusion of the article is to argue for a positive framing of critique, to help understand how matters of concern can be supported rather than undermined: "The critic is not the one who lifts the rugs from under the feet of the naïve believers, but the one who offers the participants arenas in which to gather. The critic is not the one who alternates haphazardly between antifetishism and positivism like the drunk iconoclast drawn by Goya, but the one for whom, if something is constructed, then it means it is fragile and thus in great need of care and caution." Latour's article has been highly influential within the field of postcritique, an intellectual movement within literary criticism and cultural studies that seeks to find new forms of reading and interpretation that go beyond the methods of critique, critical theory, and ideological criticism. The literary critic Rita Felski has named Latour as an important precursor to the project of postcritique. Reassembling the Social In Reassembling the Social (2005), Latour continues a reappraisal of his work, developing what he calls a "practical metaphysics", which calls "real" anything that an actor (one whom we are studying) claims as a source of motivation for action. So if someone says, "I was inspired by God to be charitable to my neighbors" we are obliged to recognize the "ontological weight" of their claim, rather than attempting to replace their belief in God's presence with "social stuff", like class, gender, imperialism, etc. Latour’s nuanced metaphysics demands the existence of a plurality of worlds, and the willingness of the researcher to chart ever more. He argues that researchers must give up the hope of fitting their actors into a structure or framework, but Latour believes the benefits of this sacrifice far outweigh the downsides: "Their complex metaphysics would at least be respected, their recalcitrance recognized, their objections deployed, their multiplicity accepted." For Latour, to talk about metaphysics or ontology–what really is–means paying close empirical attention to the various, contradictory institutions and ideas that bring people together and inspire them to act. Here is Latour's description of metaphysics: If we call metaphysics the discipline . . . that purports to define the basic structure of the world, then empirical metaphysics is what the controversies over agencies lead to since they ceaselessly populate the world with new drives and, as ceaselessly, contest the existence of others. The question then becomes how to explore the actors' own metaphysics. A more traditional metaphysicist might object, arguing that this means there are multiple, contradictory realities, since there are "controversies over agencies" – since there is a plurality of contradictory ideas that people claim as a basis for action (God, nature, the state, sexual drives, personal ambition, and so on). This objection manifests the most important difference between traditional philosophical metaphysics and Latour's nuance: for Latour, there is no "basic structure of reality" or a single, self-consistent world. An unknowably large multiplicity of realities, or "worlds" in his terms, exists–one for each actor's sources of agency, inspirations for action. Actors bring "the real" (metaphysics) into being. The task of the researcher is not to find one "basic structure" that explains agency, but to recognize "the metaphysical innovations proposed by ordinary actors". Mapping those metaphysical innovations involves a strong dedication to relativism, Latour argues. The relativist researcher "learns the actors' language," records what they say about what they do, and does not appeal to a higher "structure" to "explain" the actor's motivations. The relativist "takes seriously what [actors] are obstinately saying" and "follows the direction indicated by their fingers when they designate what 'makes them act'". The relativist recognizes the plurality of metaphysics that actors bring into being, and attempts to map them rather than reducing them to a single structure or explanation. Selected bibliography Books Originally published 1979 in Los Angeles, by Sage Publications Chapters in books Journal articles See also Actant Blackboxing Fashionable Nonsense Graphism thesis Mapping controversies Obligatory passage point Science wars Social construction of technology Technological determinism References Sources External links Bruno Latour's website 1947 births Living people People from Beaune Sociologists of science Science and technology studies scholars Social constructionism Sociology of scientific knowledge French sociologists French anthropologists Mines ParisTech faculty Actor-network theory French Roman Catholics Catholic philosophers Holberg Prize laureates French male writers French male essayists 20th-century French philosophers 21st-century French philosophers Philosophers of science Philosophers of technology Posthumanists Continental philosophers Recipients of the Legion of Honour 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers Sciences Po faculty	false	[ "Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society () is an influential book by Bruno Latour. The English edition was published in 1987 by Harvard University Press. It is written in a textbook style, and contains a full-featured approach to the empirical study of science and technology. It also entertains ontological conceptions and theoretical discussions making it a research monograph and not a methodological handbook per se.\n\nIn the first chapter Latour develops the methodological dictum that science and technology must be studied \"in action\", or \"in the making\". Because scientific discoveries turn esoteric and difficult to understand, it has to be studied where discoveries are made in practice. For example, Latour turns back time in the case of the discovery of the \"double helix\". Going back in time, deconstructing statements, machines and articles, it is possible to arrive at a point where scientific discovery could have chosen to take many other directions (contingency). Also the concept of \"black box\" is introduced. A black box is a metaphor borrowed from cybernetics denoting a piece of machinery that \"runs by itself\". That is, when a series of instructions are too complicated to be repeated all the time, a black box is drawn around it, allowing it to function only by giving it \"input\" and \"output\" data. For example, a CPU inside a computer is a black box. Its inner complexity doesn't have to be known; one only needs to use it in his/her daily activities.\n\nCriticism\nLatour's work, including Science in Action, has received heavy criticism from some scholars. Olga Amsterdamska's highly critical book review concluded with the following sentence: \"Somehow, the ideal of a social science whose only goal is to tell inconsistent, false, and incoherent stories about nothing in particular does not strike me as very appealing or sufficiently ambitious.\"\n\nSee also\n Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar)\n Politics of Nature\n We Have Never Been Modern\n\nReferences\n\n1987 non-fiction books\nScience books\nSociology of scientific knowledge\nHarvard University Press books\nWorks by Bruno Latour\nScience and technology studies works", "\"The Berlin key or how to do words with things\" is an essay by sociologist Bruno Latour, that originally appeared as La clef de Berlin et autres lecons d'un amateur de sciences, La Découverte, in 1993. \"The Berlin key or how to do words with things\" was later published as the first chapter in P.M. Graves-Brown's Matter, Materiality and Modern Culture. \n\nIn the 15-page chapter, written informally in third-person narrative, Latour describes a common object used in Berlin, a \"Berlin Key\" which is constructed so that after opening leaving one's apartment house, after unlocking the street door from the inside, one can only retrieve the key from the outside in a manner which locks the door behind oneself; upon entering, after one unlocks the door with the key, one must retrieve it from the inside, again locking the door behind oneself; this prevents leaving the door open but unlocked. The essay shows how many layers of significance a key can connote. In the P.M. Graves-Brown version, Lydia Davis translated the piece into English. Additional editing was completed and illustrations redrawn by PMGB. The title could have been chosen as a witty word-play off of J.L. Austin's How to Do Things With Words.\n\nLatour argues that while an object's purposefully designed material nature may recommend or permit a highly controlled set of functional purposes, it may also offer a broad range of valuable possibilities.\n\nLatour uses the Berlin key to show that there are social constraints which force people to do whatever it is that the object makes them do; thus, the object (the Berlin key) is a sign, of sorts, telling the inhabitants to 'lock their doors at night, but never during the day.'\n\nLatour discusses the relationship between the social realm and the technological realm. He asserts that the Sociologist and the Technologist are \"enemy brothers\", thinking they will come to an end—the sociologist with the social and the technologist with objects.\n\nReferences \n\n1993 documents\nWorks by Bruno Latour\nScience and technology studies works" ]
[ "Faouzi Chaouchi", "International career" ]	C_35f6288ff70c4c5c80eeaa7077606bc5_0	What team did he start his international career with?	1	What team did Faouzi Chaouchi start his international career with?	Faouzi Chaouchi	Chaouchi received his first call-up to the Algerian national team on 4 February 2008 for training which was due to be held in France, after his good form for club JS Kabylie did not go unnoticed by the national team coach Saadane. On 26 March 2008, he made his debut for Algeria in a friendly against DR Congo coming on as a substitute at half-time for Lounes Gaouaoui. On 18 November 2009, Chaouchi was selected to play fierce rivals Egypt in what was to be the most important game of his football career, the reward being the remaining African place for the 2010 World Cup finals as first-choice goalkeeper Lounes Gaouaoui was ruled out through suspension. Chaouchi put in a heroic performance in the play-off as he constantly denied Egypt to send Algeria through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the final score being 1-0 with centre-back Antar Yahia scoring the only goal with a stunning first-half volley at an angle eight yards out from Karim Ziani's punt into the box. After his heroic performance Chaouchi gave Saadane something to think about whilst preparing for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. In December 2009, Chaouchi was selected by Saadane to play in the 2010 African Cup of Nations hosted in Angola. He was normally regarded as second-choice goalkeeper under coach Rabah Saadane, who had been using Lounes Gaouaoui as his first-choice goalkeeper, but due to Chaouchi's heroic performance in Khartoum and Lounes Gaouaoui withdrawing from the 2010 African Cup of Nations due to an attack of acute appendicitis, Rabah Saadane did not hesitate in using Chaouchi as first-choice goalkeeper in the 2010 African Cup of Nations. Chaouchi's sending off in the semi-final against Egypt for receiving two cautions along with his head-butting of referee Coffi Codjia saw him earn a suspension for 3 matches and $10,000 fine from CAF. Chaouchi started his country's first match of the World Cup against Slovenia and was at fault for the Slovenian winner scored by captain Robert Koren. The goalkeeper allowed the shot to squirm past his body, condemning Algeria to a 1-0 defeat. He was replaced by Rais M'Bohli for the match against England. CANNOTANSWER	Chaouchi received his first call-up to the Algerian national team on 4 February 2008 for training which was due to be held in France,	Faouzi Chaouchi (; born 5 December 1984) is an Algerian professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 club CA Bordj Bou Arréridj and the Algerian national team. Chaouchi is considered to be national hero by many Algerians, as he put in a heroic performance in the play-off that put the Algerian national team into their first World Cup finals since 1986 at the expense of their bitter rivals Egypt. He constantly denied the Egyptian national team all scoring opportunities. Chaouchi was only 23 years of age at the time of the play-off and played in place of suspended Lounès Gaouaoui. It was only Chaouchi's third cap during the unforgettable night in Al Merreikh Stadium, Omdurman (Sudan). In 2010, Chaouchi was known to have been Algeria's highest-paid footballer, earning roughly around 13 million Algerian dinars. Chaouchi was not employed by a club during the 2013–14 season, and has not been called up by the Algerian national team since 2010. Early life Born in Bordj Ménaïel, Boumerdès, Chaouchi was born to Houria and Rachid Chaouchi a former goalkeeper himself that played for JS Bordj Ménaïel. It was his father Rachid Chaouchi that noticed Faouzi's talent when he watched him play with other children in their neighbourhood. A few days later Faouzi asked his father if he could sign the authorization form so that he could join the JS Bordj Ménaïel youth team. According to his mother he abandoned his education in favour of having a career in what he loved most – football, which angered her at the time, but acknowledged that she knew he had a great future ahead of him in football at the time. Club career JS Bordj Ménaïel Chaouchi began his career playing for his hometown club JS Bordj Ménaïel. He was the captain of the team during the 2005/06 season. His good form that season, conceding just seven goals in 32 games, had begun to create interest from other clubs. JS Kabylie Chaouchi signed for JS Kabylie from Inter-Régions club JS Bordj Ménaïel in 2006. It was confirmed that the goalkeeper was joining after agreeing terms and signing a three-year contract. He was pleased to be joining such a club He won the Algerian Championnat National in 2008, which was his greatest achievement as well as the highlight of his three season spell at the club from 2006 to 2009. He is also remembered by the canary fans for scoring a penalty against Cotonsport Garoua in the CAF Champions League with a powerful shot. He was nicknamed “The Canary” by the supporters of the club and is fondly remembered. Whilst at JS Kabylie, Chaouchi was rumoured to be leaving the club at the end of the season and had talks with various clubs such as Lille OSC, ES Sétif and MC Alger. Chaouchi had a string of discipline problems with manager's and the team president since replacing Gaouaoui in the starting line up in the 2007–08 season. ES Sétif Chaouchi signed for ES Sétif in June 2009, after the club won the race to recruit the goalkeeper who was known for his outstanding performances at JS Kabylie, where he had shown his abilities and his dramatic shot stopping. He was also known for his extrovert humour prior to making his move to ES Sétif. In December 2009, Chaouchi helped his side win the North African Cup of Champions tournament by beating ES Tunis in the final, after a penalty shoot-out. Chaouchi was selected as the best goalkeeper in the tournament. On 1 May 2010, Chaouchi played in the final of the Algerian Cup (coupe d'Algerie) against CA Batna by winning 3–0 and helping the club lift the Algerian Cup for the first time in twenty years and the seventh in their history, with the last being in 1989. The Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika presented the trophy with the head of state presenting the medals. In 2009, a number of European clubs had shown an interest in Chaouchi, predominantly Olympique de Marseille. In 2010, during an interview a few days after the win against CA Batna in the Algerian Cup final he was asked if he had received any new offers from clubs abroad, he replied by confirming that his agent had been informed that representatives from Marseille would be attending the friendly between the Republic of Ireland and Algeria in Dublin on 28 May 2010 to have another look at him. whilst also confirming that he is still in contact with French club Le Mans since the previous transfer window. He also confirmed he had just received a proposal from a club in the gulf, but didn't want to mention the club as he had no interest in joining any Arabian clubs as he wanted to join an ambitious club based in Europe. On 17 October 2010, there were reports that Chaouchi was involved in a car accident. These reports were verified, stating that Chaouchi was involved in a minor car accident whilst visiting family and friends in his home-town Bordj Ménaïel. According to the reports he did not sustain any serious injuries, but the car was damaged beyond repair. On 30 November, the Ligue National de football disciplinary committee decided to give a one match ban to Chaouchi, and a fine of 20.000,00 Algerian dinars along with Khaled Lemmouchia for contesting the decision of the penalty against AS Khroub, which ended 3–3. He was suspended for the game against MC Oran. MC Alger On 19 July 2011, Chaouchi joined MC Alger, signing a one-year contract with the club. In June 2012, Chaouchi flew to Turkey to negotiate contract offers with newly promoted Süper Lig clubs Elazığspor and Kasımpaşa S.K. International career Chaouchi received his first call-up to the Algerian national team on 4 February 2008 for training which was due to be held in France, after his good form for club JS Kabylie did not go unnoticed by the national team coach Rabah Saâdane. On 26 March 2008, he made his debut for Algeria in a friendly against DR Congo coming on as a substitute at half-time for Lounès Gaouaoui. On 18 November 2009, Chaouchi was selected to play fierce rivals Egypot in what was to be the most important game of his football career, the reward being the remaining African place for the 2010 World Cup finals as first-choice goalkeeper Lounès Gaouaoui was ruled out through suspension. Chaouchi put in a heroic performance in the play-off as he constantly denied Egypt to send Algeria through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the final score being 1–0 with centre-back Antar Yahia scoring the only goal with a stunning first-half volley at an angle eight yards out from Karim Ziani's punt into the box. After his heroic performance Chaouchi gave Saâdane something to think about whilst preparing for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. In December 2009, Chaouchi was selected by Saâdane to play in the 2010 African Cup of Nations hosted in Angola. He was normally regarded as second-choice goalkeeper under coach Saâdane, who had been using Lounès Gaouaoui as his first-choice goalkeeper, but due to Chaouchi's heroic performance in Khartoum and Lounès Gaouaoui withdrawing from the 2010 African Cup of Nations due to an attack of acute appendicitis, Saâdane did not hesitate in using Chaouchi as first-choice goalkeeper in the 2010 African Cup of Nations. Chaouchi's sending off in the semi-final against Egypt for receiving two cautions along with his head-butting of referee Coffi Codjia saw him earn a suspension for 3 matches and $10,000 fine from CAF. Chaouchi started his country's first match of the World Cup against Slovenia and was at fault for the Slovenian winner scored by captain Robert Koren. The goalkeeper allowed the shot to squirm past his body, condemning Algeria to a 1–0 defeat. He was replaced by Rais M'Bohli for the match against England. Career statistics Honours Club JS Kabylie Algerian Championnat National: 2007–08 ES Sétif Algerian Championnat National runner-up: 2009–10 North African Cup of Champions: 2009 Algerian Cup: 2009–10 North African Super Cup: 2010 North African Cup Winners Cup: 2010 References External links 1984 births Living people People from Bordj Menaïel People from Bordj Menaïel District People from Boumerdès Province Kabyle people Algerian footballers JS Kabylie players ES Sétif players MC Alger players JS Bordj Ménaïel players CA Bordj Bou Arréridj players Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Algeria international footballers 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Association football goalkeepers 21st-century Algerian people	true	[ "Felice Gasperi (; 26 December 1903 – 23 May 1982) was an Italian footballer who played as a defender. He competed with Italy in the 1928 Summer Olympics.\n\nInternational career\nWith Italy, Gasperi won the Olympic bronze medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics in the men's football team competition, but because of a disputed game in some accounts of that history, his name is not listed among the medal winners.\nWhat is without a doubt though is, that he did start in two matches for Italy in the silver winning 1931-32 Central European International Cup campaign.\n\nHonours\n\nClub\nBologna\nItalian Football Championship: 1924–25, 1928–29, 1935–36, 1936–37\n\nInternational \nItaly\n Central European International Cup: Runner-up: 1931-32\n Summer Olympics: Bronze 1928\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Athlete profile at the Enciclopedia-football.com\n\n1903 births\n1982 deaths\nItalian footballers\nFootballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics\nOlympic footballers of Italy\nOlympic bronze medalists for Italy\nOlympic medalists in football\nMedalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics\nAssociation football defenders\nItaly international footballers\nSportspeople from Bologna\nBologna F.C. 1909 players", "Miguel Start (born 30 November 1987) is a former Samoa international rugby league footballer who played as a .\n\nBackground\nStart was born in Auckland, New Zealand.\n\nPlaying career\nStart was educated at Mount Albert Grammar School, and played for the Pakuranga Jaguars in the Auckland Rugby League competition.\n\nIn 2005 Start represented the Junior Kiwis in 2005. He played for both the New Zealand Residents and Samoa in 2006.\n\nStart was signed with the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League competition for 2007. Start did not make his NRL debut but did appear in the NSWRL Premier League for the Auckland Lions.\n\nReferences\n\nNew Zealand rugby league players\n1987 births\nLiving people\nPakuranga Jaguars players\nAuckland rugby league team players\nNew Zealand people of Samoan descent\nSamoa national rugby league team players\nJunior Kiwis players\nRugby league centres" ]
[ "Faouzi Chaouchi", "International career", "What team did he start his international career with?", "Chaouchi received his first call-up to the Algerian national team on 4 February 2008 for training which was due to be held in France," ]	C_35f6288ff70c4c5c80eeaa7077606bc5_0	did he play with any other international clubs?	2	Did Faouzi Chaouchi play with any other international clubs other than the Algerian national team?	Faouzi Chaouchi	Chaouchi received his first call-up to the Algerian national team on 4 February 2008 for training which was due to be held in France, after his good form for club JS Kabylie did not go unnoticed by the national team coach Saadane. On 26 March 2008, he made his debut for Algeria in a friendly against DR Congo coming on as a substitute at half-time for Lounes Gaouaoui. On 18 November 2009, Chaouchi was selected to play fierce rivals Egypt in what was to be the most important game of his football career, the reward being the remaining African place for the 2010 World Cup finals as first-choice goalkeeper Lounes Gaouaoui was ruled out through suspension. Chaouchi put in a heroic performance in the play-off as he constantly denied Egypt to send Algeria through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the final score being 1-0 with centre-back Antar Yahia scoring the only goal with a stunning first-half volley at an angle eight yards out from Karim Ziani's punt into the box. After his heroic performance Chaouchi gave Saadane something to think about whilst preparing for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. In December 2009, Chaouchi was selected by Saadane to play in the 2010 African Cup of Nations hosted in Angola. He was normally regarded as second-choice goalkeeper under coach Rabah Saadane, who had been using Lounes Gaouaoui as his first-choice goalkeeper, but due to Chaouchi's heroic performance in Khartoum and Lounes Gaouaoui withdrawing from the 2010 African Cup of Nations due to an attack of acute appendicitis, Rabah Saadane did not hesitate in using Chaouchi as first-choice goalkeeper in the 2010 African Cup of Nations. Chaouchi's sending off in the semi-final against Egypt for receiving two cautions along with his head-butting of referee Coffi Codjia saw him earn a suspension for 3 matches and $10,000 fine from CAF. Chaouchi started his country's first match of the World Cup against Slovenia and was at fault for the Slovenian winner scored by captain Robert Koren. The goalkeeper allowed the shot to squirm past his body, condemning Algeria to a 1-0 defeat. He was replaced by Rais M'Bohli for the match against England. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Faouzi Chaouchi (; born 5 December 1984) is an Algerian professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 club CA Bordj Bou Arréridj and the Algerian national team. Chaouchi is considered to be national hero by many Algerians, as he put in a heroic performance in the play-off that put the Algerian national team into their first World Cup finals since 1986 at the expense of their bitter rivals Egypt. He constantly denied the Egyptian national team all scoring opportunities. Chaouchi was only 23 years of age at the time of the play-off and played in place of suspended Lounès Gaouaoui. It was only Chaouchi's third cap during the unforgettable night in Al Merreikh Stadium, Omdurman (Sudan). In 2010, Chaouchi was known to have been Algeria's highest-paid footballer, earning roughly around 13 million Algerian dinars. Chaouchi was not employed by a club during the 2013–14 season, and has not been called up by the Algerian national team since 2010. Early life Born in Bordj Ménaïel, Boumerdès, Chaouchi was born to Houria and Rachid Chaouchi a former goalkeeper himself that played for JS Bordj Ménaïel. It was his father Rachid Chaouchi that noticed Faouzi's talent when he watched him play with other children in their neighbourhood. A few days later Faouzi asked his father if he could sign the authorization form so that he could join the JS Bordj Ménaïel youth team. According to his mother he abandoned his education in favour of having a career in what he loved most – football, which angered her at the time, but acknowledged that she knew he had a great future ahead of him in football at the time. Club career JS Bordj Ménaïel Chaouchi began his career playing for his hometown club JS Bordj Ménaïel. He was the captain of the team during the 2005/06 season. His good form that season, conceding just seven goals in 32 games, had begun to create interest from other clubs. JS Kabylie Chaouchi signed for JS Kabylie from Inter-Régions club JS Bordj Ménaïel in 2006. It was confirmed that the goalkeeper was joining after agreeing terms and signing a three-year contract. He was pleased to be joining such a club He won the Algerian Championnat National in 2008, which was his greatest achievement as well as the highlight of his three season spell at the club from 2006 to 2009. He is also remembered by the canary fans for scoring a penalty against Cotonsport Garoua in the CAF Champions League with a powerful shot. He was nicknamed “The Canary” by the supporters of the club and is fondly remembered. Whilst at JS Kabylie, Chaouchi was rumoured to be leaving the club at the end of the season and had talks with various clubs such as Lille OSC, ES Sétif and MC Alger. Chaouchi had a string of discipline problems with manager's and the team president since replacing Gaouaoui in the starting line up in the 2007–08 season. ES Sétif Chaouchi signed for ES Sétif in June 2009, after the club won the race to recruit the goalkeeper who was known for his outstanding performances at JS Kabylie, where he had shown his abilities and his dramatic shot stopping. He was also known for his extrovert humour prior to making his move to ES Sétif. In December 2009, Chaouchi helped his side win the North African Cup of Champions tournament by beating ES Tunis in the final, after a penalty shoot-out. Chaouchi was selected as the best goalkeeper in the tournament. On 1 May 2010, Chaouchi played in the final of the Algerian Cup (coupe d'Algerie) against CA Batna by winning 3–0 and helping the club lift the Algerian Cup for the first time in twenty years and the seventh in their history, with the last being in 1989. The Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika presented the trophy with the head of state presenting the medals. In 2009, a number of European clubs had shown an interest in Chaouchi, predominantly Olympique de Marseille. In 2010, during an interview a few days after the win against CA Batna in the Algerian Cup final he was asked if he had received any new offers from clubs abroad, he replied by confirming that his agent had been informed that representatives from Marseille would be attending the friendly between the Republic of Ireland and Algeria in Dublin on 28 May 2010 to have another look at him. whilst also confirming that he is still in contact with French club Le Mans since the previous transfer window. He also confirmed he had just received a proposal from a club in the gulf, but didn't want to mention the club as he had no interest in joining any Arabian clubs as he wanted to join an ambitious club based in Europe. On 17 October 2010, there were reports that Chaouchi was involved in a car accident. These reports were verified, stating that Chaouchi was involved in a minor car accident whilst visiting family and friends in his home-town Bordj Ménaïel. According to the reports he did not sustain any serious injuries, but the car was damaged beyond repair. On 30 November, the Ligue National de football disciplinary committee decided to give a one match ban to Chaouchi, and a fine of 20.000,00 Algerian dinars along with Khaled Lemmouchia for contesting the decision of the penalty against AS Khroub, which ended 3–3. He was suspended for the game against MC Oran. MC Alger On 19 July 2011, Chaouchi joined MC Alger, signing a one-year contract with the club. In June 2012, Chaouchi flew to Turkey to negotiate contract offers with newly promoted Süper Lig clubs Elazığspor and Kasımpaşa S.K. International career Chaouchi received his first call-up to the Algerian national team on 4 February 2008 for training which was due to be held in France, after his good form for club JS Kabylie did not go unnoticed by the national team coach Rabah Saâdane. On 26 March 2008, he made his debut for Algeria in a friendly against DR Congo coming on as a substitute at half-time for Lounès Gaouaoui. On 18 November 2009, Chaouchi was selected to play fierce rivals Egypot in what was to be the most important game of his football career, the reward being the remaining African place for the 2010 World Cup finals as first-choice goalkeeper Lounès Gaouaoui was ruled out through suspension. Chaouchi put in a heroic performance in the play-off as he constantly denied Egypt to send Algeria through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the final score being 1–0 with centre-back Antar Yahia scoring the only goal with a stunning first-half volley at an angle eight yards out from Karim Ziani's punt into the box. After his heroic performance Chaouchi gave Saâdane something to think about whilst preparing for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. In December 2009, Chaouchi was selected by Saâdane to play in the 2010 African Cup of Nations hosted in Angola. He was normally regarded as second-choice goalkeeper under coach Saâdane, who had been using Lounès Gaouaoui as his first-choice goalkeeper, but due to Chaouchi's heroic performance in Khartoum and Lounès Gaouaoui withdrawing from the 2010 African Cup of Nations due to an attack of acute appendicitis, Saâdane did not hesitate in using Chaouchi as first-choice goalkeeper in the 2010 African Cup of Nations. Chaouchi's sending off in the semi-final against Egypt for receiving two cautions along with his head-butting of referee Coffi Codjia saw him earn a suspension for 3 matches and $10,000 fine from CAF. Chaouchi started his country's first match of the World Cup against Slovenia and was at fault for the Slovenian winner scored by captain Robert Koren. The goalkeeper allowed the shot to squirm past his body, condemning Algeria to a 1–0 defeat. He was replaced by Rais M'Bohli for the match against England. Career statistics Honours Club JS Kabylie Algerian Championnat National: 2007–08 ES Sétif Algerian Championnat National runner-up: 2009–10 North African Cup of Champions: 2009 Algerian Cup: 2009–10 North African Super Cup: 2010 North African Cup Winners Cup: 2010 References External links 1984 births Living people People from Bordj Menaïel People from Bordj Menaïel District People from Boumerdès Province Kabyle people Algerian footballers JS Kabylie players ES Sétif players MC Alger players JS Bordj Ménaïel players CA Bordj Bou Arréridj players Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Algeria international footballers 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Association football goalkeepers 21st-century Algerian people	false	[ "The Football Federation of Kosovo (; FFK) is the governing body of football in Kosovo, with headquarters in Pristina. The Football Federation of Kosovo was established in 1946 as a branch of the Football Association of Yugoslavia, it has since become independent and was headed by Fadil Vokrri until his sudden death in 2018. It organizes eight competitions of football in Kosovo.\n\nHistory\n\nOn 17 February 2008. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. A number of countries such as France, the United States and the United Kingdom immediately recognised the new country. Others, such as Serbia, Russia and the People's Republic of China are fiercely opposed to independence.\n\nOn 6 May 2008, Kosovo applied for FIFA membership. \"It's an historical moment for our country. We hope to be accepted\", said Fadil Vokrri, president of the FFK. Kosovo's application was discussed at the FIFA Congress in Zurich in October 2008. FIFA rejected the membership application and denied Kosovo the right to play any friendly matches, as it was deemed not to comply with Article 10 of the FIFA Statutes, which states that only \"an independent state recognized by the international community\" may be admitted into FIFA. FIFA reverted that decision in 22 May 2012, stating that Kosovo may play other nations in international friendlies according to Article 79 of the FIFA Statutes. The Football Association of Serbia protested and felt the decision by FIFA's executive committee \"blatantly contravenes the FIFA statutes\". Three days later, permission was withdrawn by FIFA and a decision was delayed following pressure from the Football Association of Serbia and Michel Platini.\n\nIn September 2012, Albanian international Lorik Cana, along with Swiss internationals Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka and Valon Behrami (all of whom are of Kosovar Albanian origin) wrote a declaration to the president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, asking him to allow the Kosovo national team to be allowed to play friendly matches. The declaration was also signed by 5 other Albanian footballers. This came about as a consequence of the decision by FIFA not to allow the Kosovo team to play friendly matches against other national teams. In a meeting held in May 2012, FIFA decided to allow friendly matches to be played, a decision it later revoked following a strong protest issued by Football Association of Serbia. A new meeting was planned to be held at FIFA on 27 and 28 September same year in which the Kosovo issue was again planned to be discussed, which was then postponed until December.\n\nIn February 2013, FIFA announced that they would allow Kosovo to play against other nations in non-official competitions at youth and amateur level, female international level, and at club level providing that they did not display national symbols on the kit such as a national flag or play a Kosovar national anthem. If the FFK wished for Kosovo to play a game within the Kosovo region, they would require permission to play from the Football Association of Serbia. The first competition that a Kosovar national team entered was the Valais Youth Cup in which the Kosovo Under 21 national team participated, losing on penalties after a 2–2 with Ghana and losing 8-0 to Egypt in the third place playoff.\n\nThe Football Associations of Serbia and Kosovo met with FIFA on 10 January 2014 to discuss whether Kosovo should be allowed to play friendlies against other FIFA member associations at full international level. On 13 January 2014, FIFA issued a public statement stating that Kosovo would be allowed to play international friendlies against full FIFA members. FIFA maintained that the Kosovar playing kit should not contain national symbols nor should a Kosovar national anthem be played. FIFA also required that they acted as the intermediary between Serbia and Kosovo, and Kosovo would need to give 21 days' notice should they wish to a host a game.\n\nSome football clubs, especially from North Kosovo, refuse to enter the Republic of Kosovo's institutions and continue to be part of Football Association of Serbia. The Serbian Zone League, the fourth tier of Serbian football, contains two leagues with clubs from Kosovo: Morava Zone League and League of North Kosovo.\n\nIn September 2015, UEFA announced that FFK's application for membership would be decided in May 2016. In May 2016, FFK was approved to become a member of UEFA following a secret ballot at the 40th Ordinary Congress in Budapest. Following this, on 13 May 2016, Kosovo was voted into FIFA during their 66th congress in Mexico, with 141 votes in favour and 23 against; its existing UEFA membership was cited as a factor in the decision.\n\nStructure\n\nCompetitions\n\nMen's\nFootball\nSuperleague with 10 clubs\nFirst League with 20 clubs (separated in 2 groups)\nSecond League with 16 clubs\nThird League with 34 clubs (separated in 2 groups)\nCup with 106 clubs\nSupercup with 2 clubs\n\nYouth\nU21 League (coming soon)\nU19 Superleague with 18 clubs\nU19 First League with 17 clubs (separated in 2 groups)\nU17 League with 11 clubs\n\nFutsal\nSuperleague with 10 clubs\nFirst League with 10 clubs\n\nWomen's\nFootball League with 11 clubs\nCup with 11 clubs\n\nExecutive committee\n\nNational teams\nThe Football Federation of Kosovo also organises national football teams representing Kosovo at all age levels:\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1946 establishments in Kosovo\nSports organizations established in 1946\nSports governing bodies in Kosovo\nFootball in Kosovo\nKosovo", "Dennico Ashante Wellman Hollis (born 17 August 1988) is a cricketer who has played one One Day International for Bermuda. Currently playing Stenhousemuir Cricket Club in Scotland one of the most successful clubs in Scotland.He quoted “I love this club and it’s home for me now. I wouldn’t want to play with any other club” \n\nDennico also plays with some legends of stenhousemuir cricket. He says it’s always a pleasure. \n\nWithin the 2021 season, he scored over 400 runs in all competitions. Taking 15 wickets with the ball too.\n\nExternal links \nCricketArchive\nCricinfo\n\n1988 births\nLiving people\nBermuda One Day International cricketers\nBermudian cricketers" ]
[ "Faouzi Chaouchi", "International career", "What team did he start his international career with?", "Chaouchi received his first call-up to the Algerian national team on 4 February 2008 for training which was due to be held in France,", "did he play with any other international clubs?", "I don't know." ]	C_35f6288ff70c4c5c80eeaa7077606bc5_0	Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?	3	Are there any other interesting aspects about this article besides Faouzi Chaouchi first call-up to the Algerian National team in 2008??	Faouzi Chaouchi	Chaouchi received his first call-up to the Algerian national team on 4 February 2008 for training which was due to be held in France, after his good form for club JS Kabylie did not go unnoticed by the national team coach Saadane. On 26 March 2008, he made his debut for Algeria in a friendly against DR Congo coming on as a substitute at half-time for Lounes Gaouaoui. On 18 November 2009, Chaouchi was selected to play fierce rivals Egypt in what was to be the most important game of his football career, the reward being the remaining African place for the 2010 World Cup finals as first-choice goalkeeper Lounes Gaouaoui was ruled out through suspension. Chaouchi put in a heroic performance in the play-off as he constantly denied Egypt to send Algeria through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the final score being 1-0 with centre-back Antar Yahia scoring the only goal with a stunning first-half volley at an angle eight yards out from Karim Ziani's punt into the box. After his heroic performance Chaouchi gave Saadane something to think about whilst preparing for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. In December 2009, Chaouchi was selected by Saadane to play in the 2010 African Cup of Nations hosted in Angola. He was normally regarded as second-choice goalkeeper under coach Rabah Saadane, who had been using Lounes Gaouaoui as his first-choice goalkeeper, but due to Chaouchi's heroic performance in Khartoum and Lounes Gaouaoui withdrawing from the 2010 African Cup of Nations due to an attack of acute appendicitis, Rabah Saadane did not hesitate in using Chaouchi as first-choice goalkeeper in the 2010 African Cup of Nations. Chaouchi's sending off in the semi-final against Egypt for receiving two cautions along with his head-butting of referee Coffi Codjia saw him earn a suspension for 3 matches and $10,000 fine from CAF. Chaouchi started his country's first match of the World Cup against Slovenia and was at fault for the Slovenian winner scored by captain Robert Koren. The goalkeeper allowed the shot to squirm past his body, condemning Algeria to a 1-0 defeat. He was replaced by Rais M'Bohli for the match against England. CANNOTANSWER	Chaouchi started his country's first match of the World Cup against Slovenia and was at fault for the Slovenian winner scored by captain Robert Koren.	Faouzi Chaouchi (; born 5 December 1984) is an Algerian professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 club CA Bordj Bou Arréridj and the Algerian national team. Chaouchi is considered to be national hero by many Algerians, as he put in a heroic performance in the play-off that put the Algerian national team into their first World Cup finals since 1986 at the expense of their bitter rivals Egypt. He constantly denied the Egyptian national team all scoring opportunities. Chaouchi was only 23 years of age at the time of the play-off and played in place of suspended Lounès Gaouaoui. It was only Chaouchi's third cap during the unforgettable night in Al Merreikh Stadium, Omdurman (Sudan). In 2010, Chaouchi was known to have been Algeria's highest-paid footballer, earning roughly around 13 million Algerian dinars. Chaouchi was not employed by a club during the 2013–14 season, and has not been called up by the Algerian national team since 2010. Early life Born in Bordj Ménaïel, Boumerdès, Chaouchi was born to Houria and Rachid Chaouchi a former goalkeeper himself that played for JS Bordj Ménaïel. It was his father Rachid Chaouchi that noticed Faouzi's talent when he watched him play with other children in their neighbourhood. A few days later Faouzi asked his father if he could sign the authorization form so that he could join the JS Bordj Ménaïel youth team. According to his mother he abandoned his education in favour of having a career in what he loved most – football, which angered her at the time, but acknowledged that she knew he had a great future ahead of him in football at the time. Club career JS Bordj Ménaïel Chaouchi began his career playing for his hometown club JS Bordj Ménaïel. He was the captain of the team during the 2005/06 season. His good form that season, conceding just seven goals in 32 games, had begun to create interest from other clubs. JS Kabylie Chaouchi signed for JS Kabylie from Inter-Régions club JS Bordj Ménaïel in 2006. It was confirmed that the goalkeeper was joining after agreeing terms and signing a three-year contract. He was pleased to be joining such a club He won the Algerian Championnat National in 2008, which was his greatest achievement as well as the highlight of his three season spell at the club from 2006 to 2009. He is also remembered by the canary fans for scoring a penalty against Cotonsport Garoua in the CAF Champions League with a powerful shot. He was nicknamed “The Canary” by the supporters of the club and is fondly remembered. Whilst at JS Kabylie, Chaouchi was rumoured to be leaving the club at the end of the season and had talks with various clubs such as Lille OSC, ES Sétif and MC Alger. Chaouchi had a string of discipline problems with manager's and the team president since replacing Gaouaoui in the starting line up in the 2007–08 season. ES Sétif Chaouchi signed for ES Sétif in June 2009, after the club won the race to recruit the goalkeeper who was known for his outstanding performances at JS Kabylie, where he had shown his abilities and his dramatic shot stopping. He was also known for his extrovert humour prior to making his move to ES Sétif. In December 2009, Chaouchi helped his side win the North African Cup of Champions tournament by beating ES Tunis in the final, after a penalty shoot-out. Chaouchi was selected as the best goalkeeper in the tournament. On 1 May 2010, Chaouchi played in the final of the Algerian Cup (coupe d'Algerie) against CA Batna by winning 3–0 and helping the club lift the Algerian Cup for the first time in twenty years and the seventh in their history, with the last being in 1989. The Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika presented the trophy with the head of state presenting the medals. In 2009, a number of European clubs had shown an interest in Chaouchi, predominantly Olympique de Marseille. In 2010, during an interview a few days after the win against CA Batna in the Algerian Cup final he was asked if he had received any new offers from clubs abroad, he replied by confirming that his agent had been informed that representatives from Marseille would be attending the friendly between the Republic of Ireland and Algeria in Dublin on 28 May 2010 to have another look at him. whilst also confirming that he is still in contact with French club Le Mans since the previous transfer window. He also confirmed he had just received a proposal from a club in the gulf, but didn't want to mention the club as he had no interest in joining any Arabian clubs as he wanted to join an ambitious club based in Europe. On 17 October 2010, there were reports that Chaouchi was involved in a car accident. These reports were verified, stating that Chaouchi was involved in a minor car accident whilst visiting family and friends in his home-town Bordj Ménaïel. According to the reports he did not sustain any serious injuries, but the car was damaged beyond repair. On 30 November, the Ligue National de football disciplinary committee decided to give a one match ban to Chaouchi, and a fine of 20.000,00 Algerian dinars along with Khaled Lemmouchia for contesting the decision of the penalty against AS Khroub, which ended 3–3. He was suspended for the game against MC Oran. MC Alger On 19 July 2011, Chaouchi joined MC Alger, signing a one-year contract with the club. In June 2012, Chaouchi flew to Turkey to negotiate contract offers with newly promoted Süper Lig clubs Elazığspor and Kasımpaşa S.K. International career Chaouchi received his first call-up to the Algerian national team on 4 February 2008 for training which was due to be held in France, after his good form for club JS Kabylie did not go unnoticed by the national team coach Rabah Saâdane. On 26 March 2008, he made his debut for Algeria in a friendly against DR Congo coming on as a substitute at half-time for Lounès Gaouaoui. On 18 November 2009, Chaouchi was selected to play fierce rivals Egypot in what was to be the most important game of his football career, the reward being the remaining African place for the 2010 World Cup finals as first-choice goalkeeper Lounès Gaouaoui was ruled out through suspension. Chaouchi put in a heroic performance in the play-off as he constantly denied Egypt to send Algeria through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the final score being 1–0 with centre-back Antar Yahia scoring the only goal with a stunning first-half volley at an angle eight yards out from Karim Ziani's punt into the box. After his heroic performance Chaouchi gave Saâdane something to think about whilst preparing for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. In December 2009, Chaouchi was selected by Saâdane to play in the 2010 African Cup of Nations hosted in Angola. He was normally regarded as second-choice goalkeeper under coach Saâdane, who had been using Lounès Gaouaoui as his first-choice goalkeeper, but due to Chaouchi's heroic performance in Khartoum and Lounès Gaouaoui withdrawing from the 2010 African Cup of Nations due to an attack of acute appendicitis, Saâdane did not hesitate in using Chaouchi as first-choice goalkeeper in the 2010 African Cup of Nations. Chaouchi's sending off in the semi-final against Egypt for receiving two cautions along with his head-butting of referee Coffi Codjia saw him earn a suspension for 3 matches and $10,000 fine from CAF. Chaouchi started his country's first match of the World Cup against Slovenia and was at fault for the Slovenian winner scored by captain Robert Koren. The goalkeeper allowed the shot to squirm past his body, condemning Algeria to a 1–0 defeat. He was replaced by Rais M'Bohli for the match against England. Career statistics Honours Club JS Kabylie Algerian Championnat National: 2007–08 ES Sétif Algerian Championnat National runner-up: 2009–10 North African Cup of Champions: 2009 Algerian Cup: 2009–10 North African Super Cup: 2010 North African Cup Winners Cup: 2010 References External links 1984 births Living people People from Bordj Menaïel People from Bordj Menaïel District People from Boumerdès Province Kabyle people Algerian footballers JS Kabylie players ES Sétif players MC Alger players JS Bordj Ménaïel players CA Bordj Bou Arréridj players Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Algeria international footballers 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Association football goalkeepers 21st-century Algerian people	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" ]
[ "Faouzi Chaouchi", "International career", "What team did he start his international career with?", "Chaouchi received his first call-up to the Algerian national team on 4 February 2008 for training which was due to be held in France,", "did he play with any other international clubs?", "I don't know.", "Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?", "Chaouchi started his country's first match of the World Cup against Slovenia and was at fault for the Slovenian winner scored by captain Robert Koren." ]	C_35f6288ff70c4c5c80eeaa7077606bc5_0	how was he at fault?	4	How was Faouzi Chaouchi at fault for the Slovenian winner scored by captain Robert Coren in his country's first match of the World Cup against Slovenia?	Faouzi Chaouchi	Chaouchi received his first call-up to the Algerian national team on 4 February 2008 for training which was due to be held in France, after his good form for club JS Kabylie did not go unnoticed by the national team coach Saadane. On 26 March 2008, he made his debut for Algeria in a friendly against DR Congo coming on as a substitute at half-time for Lounes Gaouaoui. On 18 November 2009, Chaouchi was selected to play fierce rivals Egypt in what was to be the most important game of his football career, the reward being the remaining African place for the 2010 World Cup finals as first-choice goalkeeper Lounes Gaouaoui was ruled out through suspension. Chaouchi put in a heroic performance in the play-off as he constantly denied Egypt to send Algeria through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the final score being 1-0 with centre-back Antar Yahia scoring the only goal with a stunning first-half volley at an angle eight yards out from Karim Ziani's punt into the box. After his heroic performance Chaouchi gave Saadane something to think about whilst preparing for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. In December 2009, Chaouchi was selected by Saadane to play in the 2010 African Cup of Nations hosted in Angola. He was normally regarded as second-choice goalkeeper under coach Rabah Saadane, who had been using Lounes Gaouaoui as his first-choice goalkeeper, but due to Chaouchi's heroic performance in Khartoum and Lounes Gaouaoui withdrawing from the 2010 African Cup of Nations due to an attack of acute appendicitis, Rabah Saadane did not hesitate in using Chaouchi as first-choice goalkeeper in the 2010 African Cup of Nations. Chaouchi's sending off in the semi-final against Egypt for receiving two cautions along with his head-butting of referee Coffi Codjia saw him earn a suspension for 3 matches and $10,000 fine from CAF. Chaouchi started his country's first match of the World Cup against Slovenia and was at fault for the Slovenian winner scored by captain Robert Koren. The goalkeeper allowed the shot to squirm past his body, condemning Algeria to a 1-0 defeat. He was replaced by Rais M'Bohli for the match against England. CANNOTANSWER	The goalkeeper allowed the shot to squirm past his body, condemning Algeria to a 1-0 defeat.	Faouzi Chaouchi (; born 5 December 1984) is an Algerian professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 club CA Bordj Bou Arréridj and the Algerian national team. Chaouchi is considered to be national hero by many Algerians, as he put in a heroic performance in the play-off that put the Algerian national team into their first World Cup finals since 1986 at the expense of their bitter rivals Egypt. He constantly denied the Egyptian national team all scoring opportunities. Chaouchi was only 23 years of age at the time of the play-off and played in place of suspended Lounès Gaouaoui. It was only Chaouchi's third cap during the unforgettable night in Al Merreikh Stadium, Omdurman (Sudan). In 2010, Chaouchi was known to have been Algeria's highest-paid footballer, earning roughly around 13 million Algerian dinars. Chaouchi was not employed by a club during the 2013–14 season, and has not been called up by the Algerian national team since 2010. Early life Born in Bordj Ménaïel, Boumerdès, Chaouchi was born to Houria and Rachid Chaouchi a former goalkeeper himself that played for JS Bordj Ménaïel. It was his father Rachid Chaouchi that noticed Faouzi's talent when he watched him play with other children in their neighbourhood. A few days later Faouzi asked his father if he could sign the authorization form so that he could join the JS Bordj Ménaïel youth team. According to his mother he abandoned his education in favour of having a career in what he loved most – football, which angered her at the time, but acknowledged that she knew he had a great future ahead of him in football at the time. Club career JS Bordj Ménaïel Chaouchi began his career playing for his hometown club JS Bordj Ménaïel. He was the captain of the team during the 2005/06 season. His good form that season, conceding just seven goals in 32 games, had begun to create interest from other clubs. JS Kabylie Chaouchi signed for JS Kabylie from Inter-Régions club JS Bordj Ménaïel in 2006. It was confirmed that the goalkeeper was joining after agreeing terms and signing a three-year contract. He was pleased to be joining such a club He won the Algerian Championnat National in 2008, which was his greatest achievement as well as the highlight of his three season spell at the club from 2006 to 2009. He is also remembered by the canary fans for scoring a penalty against Cotonsport Garoua in the CAF Champions League with a powerful shot. He was nicknamed “The Canary” by the supporters of the club and is fondly remembered. Whilst at JS Kabylie, Chaouchi was rumoured to be leaving the club at the end of the season and had talks with various clubs such as Lille OSC, ES Sétif and MC Alger. Chaouchi had a string of discipline problems with manager's and the team president since replacing Gaouaoui in the starting line up in the 2007–08 season. ES Sétif Chaouchi signed for ES Sétif in June 2009, after the club won the race to recruit the goalkeeper who was known for his outstanding performances at JS Kabylie, where he had shown his abilities and his dramatic shot stopping. He was also known for his extrovert humour prior to making his move to ES Sétif. In December 2009, Chaouchi helped his side win the North African Cup of Champions tournament by beating ES Tunis in the final, after a penalty shoot-out. Chaouchi was selected as the best goalkeeper in the tournament. On 1 May 2010, Chaouchi played in the final of the Algerian Cup (coupe d'Algerie) against CA Batna by winning 3–0 and helping the club lift the Algerian Cup for the first time in twenty years and the seventh in their history, with the last being in 1989. The Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika presented the trophy with the head of state presenting the medals. In 2009, a number of European clubs had shown an interest in Chaouchi, predominantly Olympique de Marseille. In 2010, during an interview a few days after the win against CA Batna in the Algerian Cup final he was asked if he had received any new offers from clubs abroad, he replied by confirming that his agent had been informed that representatives from Marseille would be attending the friendly between the Republic of Ireland and Algeria in Dublin on 28 May 2010 to have another look at him. whilst also confirming that he is still in contact with French club Le Mans since the previous transfer window. He also confirmed he had just received a proposal from a club in the gulf, but didn't want to mention the club as he had no interest in joining any Arabian clubs as he wanted to join an ambitious club based in Europe. On 17 October 2010, there were reports that Chaouchi was involved in a car accident. These reports were verified, stating that Chaouchi was involved in a minor car accident whilst visiting family and friends in his home-town Bordj Ménaïel. According to the reports he did not sustain any serious injuries, but the car was damaged beyond repair. On 30 November, the Ligue National de football disciplinary committee decided to give a one match ban to Chaouchi, and a fine of 20.000,00 Algerian dinars along with Khaled Lemmouchia for contesting the decision of the penalty against AS Khroub, which ended 3–3. He was suspended for the game against MC Oran. MC Alger On 19 July 2011, Chaouchi joined MC Alger, signing a one-year contract with the club. In June 2012, Chaouchi flew to Turkey to negotiate contract offers with newly promoted Süper Lig clubs Elazığspor and Kasımpaşa S.K. International career Chaouchi received his first call-up to the Algerian national team on 4 February 2008 for training which was due to be held in France, after his good form for club JS Kabylie did not go unnoticed by the national team coach Rabah Saâdane. On 26 March 2008, he made his debut for Algeria in a friendly against DR Congo coming on as a substitute at half-time for Lounès Gaouaoui. On 18 November 2009, Chaouchi was selected to play fierce rivals Egypot in what was to be the most important game of his football career, the reward being the remaining African place for the 2010 World Cup finals as first-choice goalkeeper Lounès Gaouaoui was ruled out through suspension. Chaouchi put in a heroic performance in the play-off as he constantly denied Egypt to send Algeria through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the final score being 1–0 with centre-back Antar Yahia scoring the only goal with a stunning first-half volley at an angle eight yards out from Karim Ziani's punt into the box. After his heroic performance Chaouchi gave Saâdane something to think about whilst preparing for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. In December 2009, Chaouchi was selected by Saâdane to play in the 2010 African Cup of Nations hosted in Angola. He was normally regarded as second-choice goalkeeper under coach Saâdane, who had been using Lounès Gaouaoui as his first-choice goalkeeper, but due to Chaouchi's heroic performance in Khartoum and Lounès Gaouaoui withdrawing from the 2010 African Cup of Nations due to an attack of acute appendicitis, Saâdane did not hesitate in using Chaouchi as first-choice goalkeeper in the 2010 African Cup of Nations. Chaouchi's sending off in the semi-final against Egypt for receiving two cautions along with his head-butting of referee Coffi Codjia saw him earn a suspension for 3 matches and $10,000 fine from CAF. Chaouchi started his country's first match of the World Cup against Slovenia and was at fault for the Slovenian winner scored by captain Robert Koren. The goalkeeper allowed the shot to squirm past his body, condemning Algeria to a 1–0 defeat. He was replaced by Rais M'Bohli for the match against England. Career statistics Honours Club JS Kabylie Algerian Championnat National: 2007–08 ES Sétif Algerian Championnat National runner-up: 2009–10 North African Cup of Champions: 2009 Algerian Cup: 2009–10 North African Super Cup: 2010 North African Cup Winners Cup: 2010 References External links 1984 births Living people People from Bordj Menaïel People from Bordj Menaïel District People from Boumerdès Province Kabyle people Algerian footballers JS Kabylie players ES Sétif players MC Alger players JS Bordj Ménaïel players CA Bordj Bou Arréridj players Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Algeria international footballers 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Association football goalkeepers 21st-century Algerian people	false	[ "The 1931 Myitkyina earthquake, or also known as the 1931 Kamaing earthquake, occurred on January 28 at 02:35 local time (20:9 January 27 UTC). It was located in northern Burma, then part of British India. The magnitude of this earthquake was put at 7.6. According to some sources the depth was 35 km, and according to a study of Phyo M. M. the depth was 5 to 30 km.\n\nThe shock was very violent and lasted at least 30 seconds. The intensity reached MMI IX. There were numerous fissures and cracks. Sand blows were reported. The earthquake may have been caused by slip along the Sagaing Fault. The Sagaing Fault is a continental transform fault between the India Plate and the Sunda Plate. This earthquake is located along the northern Sagaing Fault. Sagaing Fault at 22° N is narrow, about 10 km wide. The part of Sagaing Fault between 25°30' and 26° is wider, with a shear zone about 70 km wide, and has four branches identified.\n\nSee also \n List of earthquakes in 1931\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n1931 earthquakes\nEarthquakes in Myanmar\nJanuary 1931 events\n1931 in Burma", "The Claerwen Fault is a major SW-NE trending fault in central Wales. It was active as a normal fault during deposition of Late Ordovician to mid-Silurian sedimentary rocks, downthrowing to the northwest. The estimated throw on the fault increases from about 100 m at a shallow level to about 1000 m at depth. There is no discernible change in the grade of metamorphism associated with the Caledonian Orogeny across the fault, suggesting that it was not reactivated later.\n\nSee also\nList of geological faults of Wales\n\nReferences\n\nGeology of Wales" ]
[ "Maurice Merleau-Ponty", "Art" ]	C_ab5979e60f144e2d9121eb1b0a2f4bc1_0	Did he create art?	1	Did Maurice Merleau-Ponty create art?	Maurice Merleau-Ponty	Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression. This distinction appears in Phenomenology of Perception (p. 207, 2nd note [Fr. ed.]) and is sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language (le langage parle et le langage parlant) (The Prose of the World, p. 10). Spoken language (le langage parle), or secondary expression, returns to our linguistic baggage, to the cultural heritage that we have acquired, as well as the brute mass of relationships between signs and significations. Speaking language (le langage parlant), or primary expression, such as it is, is language in the production of a sense, language at the advent of a thought, at the moment where it makes itself an advent of sense. It is speaking language, that is to say, primary expression, that interests Merleau-Ponty and which keeps his attention through his treatment of the nature of production and the reception of expressions, a subject which also overlaps with an analysis of action, of intentionality, of perception, as well as the links between freedom and external conditions. The notion of style occupies an important place in "Indirect Language and the Voices of Silence". In spite of certain similarities with Andre Malraux, Merleau-Ponty distinguishes himself from Malraux in respect to three conceptions of style, the last of which is employed in Malraux's The Voices of Silence. Merleau-Ponty remarks that in this work "style" is sometimes used by Malraux in a highly subjective sense, understood as a projection of the artist's individuality. Sometimes it is used, on the contrary, in a very metaphysical sense (in Merleau-Ponty's opinion, a mystical sense), in which style is connected with a conception of an "uber-artist" expressing "the Spirit of Painting". Finally, it sometimes is reduced to simply designating a categorization of an artistic school or movement. (However, this account of Malraux's notion of style--a key element in his thinking--is open to serious question.) For Merleau-Ponty, it is these uses of the notion of style that lead Malraux to postulate a cleavage between the objectivity of Italian Renaissance painting and the subjectivity of painting in his own time, a conclusion that Merleau-Ponty disputes. According to Merleau-Ponty, it is important to consider the heart of this problematic, by recognizing that style is first of all a demand owed to the primacy of perception, which also implies taking into consideration the dimensions of historicity and intersubjectivity. (However, Merleau-Ponty's reading of Malraux has been questioned in a recent major study of Malraux's theory of art which argues that Merleau-Ponty seriously misunderstood Malraux.) For Merleau-Ponty, style is born of the interaction between two or more fields of being. Rather than being exclusive to individual human consciousness, consciousness is born of the pre-conscious style of the world, of Nature. CANNOTANSWER	Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression.	Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty (; 14 March 1908 – 3 May 1961) was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The constitution of meaning in human experience was his main interest and he wrote on perception, art, politics, religion, biology, psychology, psychoanalysis, language, nature, and history. He was the lead editor of Les Temps modernes, the leftist magazine he established with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir in 1945. At the core of Merleau-Ponty's philosophy is a sustained argument for the foundational role perception plays in our experience of the world. Merleau-Ponty understands perception to be an ongoing dialogue between one's lived body and the world which it perceives, in which perceivers passively and actively strive to express the perceived world in concert with others. He was the only major phenomenologist of the first half of the twentieth century to engage extensively with the sciences and especially with Gestalt psychology. It is through this engagement that his writings became influential in the project of naturalizing phenomenology, in which phenomenologists use the results of psychology and cognitive science. Merleau-Ponty emphasized the body as the primary site of knowing the world, a corrective to the long philosophical tradition of placing consciousness as the source of knowledge, and maintained that the body and that which it perceived could not be disentangled from each other. The articulation of the primacy of embodiment (corporéité) led him away from phenomenology towards what he was to call “indirect ontology” or the ontology of “the flesh of the world” (la chair du monde), seen in his final and incomplete work, The Visible and Invisible, and his last published essay, “Eye and Mind”. Merleau-Ponty engaged with Marxism throughout his career. His 1947 book, Humanism and Terror, has been widely (mis)understood as a defence of the Soviet show trials. In fact, this text avoids the definitive endorsement of a view on the Soviet Union, but instead engages with the Marxist theory of history as a critique of liberalism, in order to reveal an unresolved antinomy in modern politics, between humanism and terror: if human values can only be achieved through violent force, and if liberal ideas hide illiberal realities, how is just political action to be decided? Merleau-Ponty maintained an engaged though critical relationship to the Marxist left until the end of his life, particularly during his time as the political editor of the journal Les Temps Modernes. Life Maurice Merleau-Ponty was born in 1908 in Rochefort-sur-Mer, Charente-Inférieure (now Charente-Maritime), France. His father died in 1913 when Merleau-Ponty was five years old. After secondary schooling at the lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, Merleau-Ponty became a student at the École Normale Supérieure, where he studied alongside Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Simone Weil, Jean Hyppolite, and Jean Wahl. As Beauvoir recounts in her autobiography, she developed a close friendship with Merleau-Ponty and became smitten with him, but ultimately found him too well-adjusted to bourgeois life and values for her taste. He attended Edmund Husserl's "Paris Lectures" in February 1929. In 1929, Merleau-Ponty received his DES degree (, roughly equivalent to an MA thesis) from the University of Paris, on the basis of the (now-lost) thesis La Notion de multiple intelligible chez Plotin ("Plotinus's Notion of the Intelligible Many"), directed by Émile Bréhier. He passed the agrégation in philosophy in 1930. Merleau-Ponty was raised as a Catholic. He was friends with the Christian existentialist Gabriel Marcel, and he wrote articles for the Christian leftist journal Esprit, but he left the Church in 1937 because he felt his socialist politics were not compatible with the social and political teaching of the Catholic Church. An article published in French newspaper Le Monde in October 2014 makes the case of recent discoveries about Merleau-Ponty's likely authorship of the novel Nord. Récit de l'arctique (Grasset, 1928). Convergent sources from close friends (Beauvoir, Elisabeth "Zaza" Lacoin) seem to leave little doubt that Jacques Heller was a pseudonym of the 20-year-old Merleau-Ponty. Merleau-Ponty taught first at the Lycée de Beauvais (1931–33) and then got a fellowship to do research from the . From 1934 to 1935 he taught at the Lycée de Chartres. He then in 1935 became a tutor at the École Normale Supérieure, where he tutored a young Michel Foucault and Trần Đức Thảo and was awarded his doctorate on the basis of two important books: La structure du comportement (1942) and Phénoménologie de la Perception (1945). During this time, he attended Alexandre Kojeve's influential seminars on Hegel and Aron Gurwitsch's lectures on Gestalt psychology. In the spring of 1939, he was the first foreign visitor to the newly established Husserl Archives, where he consulted Husserl's unpublished manuscripts and met Eugen Fink and Father Hermann Van Breda. In the summer of 1939, as France entered war against Germany, he served on the frontlines in the French army, where he was wounded in battle in June 1940. Upon returning to Paris in the fall of 1940, he married Suzanne Jolibois, a Lacanian psychoanalyst, and founded an underground resistance group with Jean-Paul Sartre called "Under the Boot". He participated in an armed demonstration against the Nazis during the Liberation of Paris. After teaching at the University of Lyon from 1945 to 1948, Merleau-Ponty lectured on child psychology and education at the Sorbonne from 1949 to 1952. He was awarded the Chair of Philosophy at the Collège de France from 1952 until his death in 1961, making him the youngest person to have been elected to a chair. Besides his teaching, Merleau-Ponty was also political editor for the leftist Les Temps modernes from the founding of the journal in October 1945 until December 1952. In his youth he had read Karl Marx's writings and Sartre even claimed that Merleau-Ponty converted him to Marxism. While he was not a member of the French Communist Party and did not identify as a Communist, he laid out an argument justifying the Soviet show trials and violence for progressive ends in general in the work Humanism and Terror in 1947. However, about three years later, he renounced his earlier support for political violence, and he rejected Marxism and advocated a liberal left position in Adventures of the Dialectic (1955). His friendship with Sartre and work with Les Temps modernes ended because of that, since Sartre still had a more favourable attitude towards Soviet communism. Merleau-Ponty was subsequently active in the French non-communist left and in particular in the Union of the Democratic Forces. Merleau-Ponty died suddenly of a stroke in 1961 at age 53, apparently while preparing for a class on René Descartes, leaving an unfinished manuscript which was posthumously published in 1964, along with a selection of Merleau-Ponty's working notes, by Claude Lefort as The Visible and the Invisible. He is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris with his mother Louise, his wife Suzanne and their daughter Marianne. Thought Consciousness In his Phenomenology of Perception (first published in French in 1945), Merleau-Ponty develops the concept of the body-subject (le corps propre) as an alternative to the Cartesian "cogito". This distinction is especially important in that Merleau-Ponty perceives the essences of the world existentially. Consciousness, the world, and the human body as a perceiving thing are intricately intertwined and mutually "engaged". The phenomenal thing is not the unchanging object of the natural sciences, but a correlate of our body and its sensory-motor functions. Taking up and "communing with" (Merleau-Ponty's phrase) the sensible qualities it encounters, the body as incarnated subjectivity intentionally elaborates things within an ever-present world frame, through use of its pre-conscious, pre-predicative understanding of the world's makeup. The elaboration, however, is "inexhaustible" (the hallmark of any perception according to Merleau-Ponty). Things are that upon which our body has a "grip" (prise), while the grip itself is a function of our connaturality with the world's things. The world and the sense of self are emergent phenomena in an ongoing "becoming". The essential partiality of our view of things, their being given only in a certain perspective and at a certain moment in time does not diminish their reality, but on the contrary establishes it, as there is no other way for things to be copresent with us and with other things than through such "Abschattungen" (sketches, faint outlines, adumbrations). The thing transcends our view, but is manifest precisely by presenting itself to a range of possible views. The object of perception is immanently tied to its background—to the nexus of meaningful relations among objects within the world. Because the object is inextricably within the world of meaningful relations, each object reflects the other (much in the style of Leibniz's monads). Through involvement in the world – being-in-the-world – the perceiver tacitly experiences all the perspectives upon that object coming from all the surrounding things of its environment, as well as the potential perspectives that that object has upon the beings around it. Each object is a "mirror of all others". Our perception of the object through all perspectives is not that of a propositional, or clearly delineated, perception; rather, it is an ambiguous perception founded upon the body's primordial involvement and understanding of the world and of the meanings that constitute the landscape's perceptual Gestalt. Only after we have been integrated within the environment so as to perceive objects as such can we turn our attention toward particular objects within the landscape so as to define them more clearly. This attention, however, does not operate by clarifying what is already seen, but by constructing a new Gestalt oriented toward a particular object. Because our bodily involvement with things is always provisional and indeterminate, we encounter meaningful things in a unified though ever open-ended world. The primacy of perception From the time of writing Structure of Behavior and Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty wanted to show, in opposition to the idea that drove the tradition beginning with John Locke, that perception was not the causal product of atomic sensations. This atomist-causal conception was being perpetuated in certain psychological currents of the time, particularly in behaviourism. According to Merleau-Ponty, perception has an active dimension, in that it is a primordial openness to the lifeworld (the "Lebenswelt"). This primordial openness is at the heart of his thesis of the primacy of perception. The slogan of Husserl's phenomenology is "all consciousness is consciousness of something", which implies a distinction between "acts of thought" (the noesis) and "intentional objects of thought" (the noema). Thus, the correlation between noesis and noema becomes the first step in the constitution of analyses of consciousness. However, in studying the posthumous manuscripts of Husserl, who remained one of his major influences, Merleau-Ponty remarked that, in their evolution, Husserl's work brings to light phenomena which are not assimilable to noesis–noema correlation. This is particularly the case when one attends to the phenomena of the body (which is at once body-subject and body-object), subjective time (the consciousness of time is neither an act of consciousness nor an object of thought) and the other (the first considerations of the other in Husserl led to solipsism). The distinction between "acts of thought" (noesis) and "intentional objects of thought" (noema) does not seem, therefore, to constitute an irreducible ground. It appears rather at a higher level of analysis. Thus, Merleau-Ponty does not postulate that "all consciousness is consciousness of something", which supposes at the outset a noetic-noematic ground. Instead, he develops the thesis according to which "all consciousness is perceptual consciousness". In doing so, he establishes a significant turn in the development of phenomenology, indicating that its conceptualisations should be re-examined in the light of the primacy of perception, in weighing up the philosophical consequences of this thesis. Corporeity Taking the study of perception as his point of departure, Merleau-Ponty was led to recognize that one's own body (le corps propre) is not only a thing, a potential object of study for science, but is also a permanent condition of experience, a constituent of the perceptual openness to the world. He therefore underlines the fact that there is an inherence of consciousness and of the body of which the analysis of perception should take account. The primacy of perception signifies a primacy of experience, so to speak, insofar as perception becomes an active and constitutive dimension. Merleau-Ponty demonstrates a corporeity of consciousness as much as an intentionality of the body, and so stands in contrast with the dualist ontology of mind and body in Descartes, a philosopher to whom Merleau-Ponty continually returned, despite the important differences that separate them. In the Phenomenology of Perception Merleau-Ponty wrote: “Insofar as I have hands, feet, a body, I sustain around me intentions which are not dependent on my decisions and which affect my surroundings in a way that I do not choose” (1962, p. 440). Spatiality The question concerning corporeity connects also with Merleau-Ponty's reflections on space (l'espace) and the primacy of the dimension of depth (la profondeur) as implied in the notion of being in the world (être au monde; to echo Heidegger's In-der-Welt-sein) and of one's own body (le corps propre). Reflections on spatiality in phenomenology are also central to the advanced philosophical deliberations in architectural theory. Language The highlighting of the fact that corporeity intrinsically has a dimension of expressivity which proves to be fundamental to the constitution of the ego is one of the conclusions of The Structure of Behavior that is constantly reiterated in Merleau-Ponty's later works. Following this theme of expressivity, he goes on to examine how an incarnate subject is in a position to undertake actions that transcend the organic level of the body, such as in intellectual operations and the products of one's cultural life. He carefully considers language, then, as the core of culture, by examining in particular the connections between the unfolding of thought and sense—enriching his perspective not only by an analysis of the acquisition of language and the expressivity of the body, but also by taking into account pathologies of language, painting, cinema, literature, poetry and song. This work deals mainly with language, beginning with the reflection on artistic expression in The Structure of Behavior—which contains a passage on El Greco (p. 203ff) that prefigures the remarks that he develops in "Cézanne's Doubt" (1945) and follows the discussion in Phenomenology of Perception. The work, undertaken while serving as the Chair of Child Psychology and Pedagogy at the University of the Sorbonne, is not a departure from his philosophical and phenomenological works, but rather an important continuation in the development of his thought. As the course outlines of his Sorbonne lectures indicate, during this period he continues a dialogue between phenomenology and the diverse work carried out in psychology, all in order to return to the study of the acquisition of language in children, as well as to broadly take advantage of the contribution of Ferdinand de Saussure to linguistics, and to work on the notion of structure through a discussion of work in psychology, linguistics and social anthropology. Art Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression. This distinction appears in Phenomenology of Perception (p. 207, 2nd note [Fr. ed.]) and is sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language () (The Prose of the World, p. 10). Spoken language (), or secondary expression, returns to our linguistic baggage, to the cultural heritage that we have acquired, as well as the brute mass of relationships between signs and significations. Speaking language (), or primary expression, such as it is, is language in the production of a sense, language at the advent of a thought, at the moment where it makes itself an advent of sense. It is speaking language, that is to say, primary expression, that interests Merleau-Ponty and which keeps his attention through his treatment of the nature of production and the reception of expressions, a subject which also overlaps with an analysis of action, of intentionality, of perception, as well as the links between freedom and external conditions. The notion of style occupies an important place in "Indirect Language and the Voices of Silence". In spite of certain similarities with André Malraux, Merleau-Ponty distinguishes himself from Malraux in respect to three conceptions of style, the last of which is employed in Malraux's The Voices of Silence. Merleau-Ponty remarks that in this work "style" is sometimes used by Malraux in a highly subjective sense, understood as a projection of the artist's individuality. Sometimes it is used, on the contrary, in a very metaphysical sense (in Merleau-Ponty's opinion, a mystical sense), in which style is connected with a conception of an "über-artist" expressing "the Spirit of Painting". Finally, it sometimes is reduced to simply designating a categorization of an artistic school or movement. (However, this account of Malraux's notion of style—a key element in his thinking—is open to serious question.) For Merleau-Ponty, it is these uses of the notion of style that lead Malraux to postulate a cleavage between the objectivity of Italian Renaissance painting and the subjectivity of painting in his own time, a conclusion that Merleau-Ponty disputes. According to Merleau-Ponty, it is important to consider the heart of this problematic, by recognizing that style is first of all a demand owed to the primacy of perception, which also implies taking into consideration the dimensions of historicity and intersubjectivity. (However, Merleau-Ponty's reading of Malraux has been questioned in a recent major study of Malraux's theory of art which argues that Merleau-Ponty seriously misunderstood Malraux.) For Merleau-Ponty, style is born of the interaction between two or more fields of being. Rather than being exclusive to individual human consciousness, consciousness is born of the pre-conscious style of the world, of Nature. Science In his essay "Cézanne's Doubt", in which he identifies Paul Cézanne's impressionistic theory of painting as analogous to his own concept of radical reflection, the attempt to return to, and reflect on, prereflective consciousness, Merleau-Ponty identifies science as the opposite of art. In Merleau-Ponty's account, whereas art is an attempt to capture an individual's perception, science is anti-individualistic. In the preface to his Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty presents a phenomenological objection to positivism: that it can tell us nothing about human subjectivity. All that a scientific text can explain is the particular individual experience of that scientist, which cannot be transcended. For Merleau-Ponty, science neglects the depth and profundity of the phenomena that it endeavors to explain. Merleau-Ponty understood science to be an ex post facto abstraction. Causal and physiological accounts of perception, for example, explain perception in terms that are arrived at only after abstracting from the phenomenon itself. Merleau-Ponty chastised science for taking itself to be the area in which a complete account of nature may be given. The subjective depth of phenomena cannot be given in science as it is. This characterizes Merleau-Ponty's attempt to ground science in phenomenological objectivity and, in essence, to institute a "return to the phenomena". Influence Anticognitivist cognitive science Merleau-Ponty's critical position with respect to science was stated in his Preface to the Phenomenology: he described scientific points of view as "always both naive and at the same time dishonest". Despite, or perhaps because of, this view, his work influenced and anticipated the strands of modern psychology known as post-cognitivism. Hubert Dreyfus has been instrumental in emphasising the relevance of Merleau-Ponty's work to current post-cognitive research, and its criticism of the traditional view of cognitive science. Dreyfus's seminal critique of cognitivism (or the computational account of the mind), What Computers Can't Do, consciously replays Merleau-Ponty's critique of intellectualist psychology to argue for the irreducibility of corporeal know-how to discrete, syntactic processes. Through the influence of Dreyfus's critique and neurophysiological alternative, Merleau-Ponty became associated with neurophysiological, connectionist accounts of cognition. With the publication in 1991 of The Embodied Mind by Francisco Varela, Evan Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch, this association was extended, if only partially, to another strand of "anti-cognitivist" or post-representationalist cognitive science: embodied or enactive cognitive science, and later in the decade, to neurophenomenology. In addition, Merleau-Ponty's work has also influenced researchers trying to integrate neuroscience with the principles of chaos theory. It was through this relationship with Merleau-Ponty's work that cognitive science's affair with phenomenology was born, which is represented by a growing number of works, including Ron McClamrock's Existential Cognition: Computational Minds in the World (1995), Andy Clark's Being There (1997), Naturalizing Phenomenology edited by Petitot et al. (1999), Alva Noë's Action in Perception (2004), Shaun Gallagher's How the Body Shapes the Mind (2005), Grammont, Franck Dorothée Legrand, and Pierre Livet (eds.) 2010, Naturalizing Intention in Action, MIT Press 2010 . The journal Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. Feminist philosophy Merleau-Ponty has also been picked up by Australian and Nordic philosophers inspired by the French feminist tradition, including Rosalyn Diprose and . Heinämaa has argued for a rereading of Merleau-Ponty's influence on Simone de Beauvoir. (She has also challenged Dreyfus's reading of Merleau-Ponty as behaviorist, and as neglecting the importance of the phenomenological reduction to Merleau-Ponty's thought.) Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of the body has also been taken up by Iris Young in her essay "Throwing Like a Girl," and its follow-up, "'Throwing Like a Girl': Twenty Years Later". Young analyzes the particular modalities of feminine bodily comportment as they differ from that of men. Young observes that while a man who throws a ball puts his whole body into the motion, a woman throwing a ball generally restricts her own movements as she makes them, and that, generally, in sports, women move in a more tentative, reactive way. Merleau-Ponty argues that we experience the world in terms of the "I can" – that is, oriented towards certain projects based on our capacity and habituality. Young's thesis is that in women, this intentionality is inhibited and ambivalent, rather than confident, experienced as an "I cannot". Ecophenomenology Ecophenomenology can be described as the pursuit of the relationalities of worldly engagement, both human and those of other creatures (Brown & Toadvine 2003). This engagement is situated in a kind of middle ground of relationality, a space that is neither purely objective, because it is reciprocally constituted by a diversity of lived experiences motivating the movements of countless organisms, nor purely subjective, because it is nonetheless a field of material relationships between bodies. It is governed exclusively neither by causality, nor by intentionality. In this space of in-betweenness, phenomenology can overcome its inaugural opposition to naturalism. David Abram explains Merleau-Ponty's concept of "flesh" (chair) as "the mysterious tissue or matrix that underlies and gives rise to both the perceiver and the perceived as interdependent aspects of its spontaneous activity", and he identifies this elemental matrix with the interdependent web of earthly life. This concept unites subject and object dialectically as determinations within a more primordial reality, which Merleau-Ponty calls "the flesh" and which Abram refers to variously as "the animate earth", "the breathing biosphere" or "the more-than-human natural world". Yet this is not nature or the biosphere conceived as a complex set of objects and objective processes, but rather "the biosphere as it is experienced and lived from within by the intelligent body — by the attentive human animal who is entirely a part of the world that he or she experiences. Merleau-Ponty's ecophenemonology with its emphasis on holistic dialog within the larger-than-human world also has implications for the ontogenesis and phylogenesis of language; indeed he states that "language is the very voice of the trees, the waves and the forest". Merleau-Ponty himself refers to "that primordial being which is not yet the subject-being nor the object-being and which in every respect baffles reflection. From this primordial being to us, there is no derivation, nor any break..." Among the many working notes found on his desk at the time of his death, and published with the half-complete manuscript of The Visible and the Invisible, several make it evident that Merleau-Ponty himself recognized a deep affinity between his notion of a primordial "flesh" and a radically transformed understanding of "nature". Hence, in November 1960 he writes: "Do a psychoanalysis of Nature: it is the flesh, the mother." And in the last published working note, written in March 1961, he writes: "Nature as the other side of humanity (as flesh, nowise as 'matter')." This resonates with the conception of space, place, dwelling, and embodiment (in the flesh and physical, vs. virtual and cybernetic), especially as they are addressed against the background of the unfolding of the essence of modern technology. Such analytics figure in a Heideggerian take on “econtology” as an extension of Heidegger's consideration of the question of being (Seinsfrage) by way of the fourfold (Das Geviert) of earth-sky-mortals-divinities (Erde und Himmel, Sterblichen und Göttlichen). In this strand of “ecophenomenology”, ecology is co-entangled with ontology, whereby the worldly existential analytics are grounded in earthiness, and environmentalism is orientated by ontological thinking. Bibliography The following table gives a selection of Merleau-Ponty's works in French and English translation. See also Gestalt psychology Process philosophy Embodied cognition Enactivism Difference (philosophy) Virtuality (philosophy) Field (physics) Hylomorphism Autopoiesis Emergence Umwelt Habit Body schema Affordance Perspectivism Reflexivity Invagination (philosophy) Incarnation Notes References Abram, D. (1988). "Merleau-Ponty and the Voice of the Earth" Environmental Ethics 10, no. 2 (Summer 1988): 101–20. Alloa, E. (2017) Resistance of the Sensible World. An Introduction to Merleau-Ponty, New York: Fordham University Press. Alloa,E., F. Chouraqui & R. Kaushik, (2019) (eds.) Merleau-Ponty and Contemporary Philosophy, Albany: SUNY Press. Barbaras, R. (2004) The Being of the Phenomenon. Merleau-Ponty's Ontology Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Carbone, M. (2004) The Thinking of the Sensible. Merleau-Ponty's A-Philosophy, Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Clark, A. (1997) Being There: Putting Brain, Body, and World Together Again. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Dillon, M. C. (1997) Merleau-Ponty's Ontology. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Gallagher, S. (2003) How the Body Shapes the Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Guilherme, Alexandre and Morgan, W. John, 'Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961)-dialogue as being present to the other'. Chapter 6 in Philosophy, Dialogue, and Education: Nine modern European philosophers, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 89–108, . Johnson, G., Smith, M. B. (eds.) (1993) The Merleau-Ponty Aesthetics Reader: Philosophy and Painting, Chicago: Northwestern UP 1993. Landes, D. (2013) Merleau-Ponty and the Paradoxes of Expression, New York-London: Bloomsbury. Lawlor, L., Evans, F. (eds.) (2000) Chiasms: Merleau-Ponty's Notion of Flesh, Albany: SUNY Press. Petitot, J., Varela, F., Pachoud, B. and Roy, J-M. (eds.) (1999) Naturalizing Phenomenology: Issues in Contemporary Phenomenology and Cognitive Science. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Toadvine, T. (2009) Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy of Nature. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Tilliette, X. (1970) Maurice Merleau-Ponty ou la mesure de l'homme, Seghers, 1970. Varela, F. J., Thompson, E. and Rosch, E. (1991) The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience. Cambridge: MIT Press. External links Maurice Merleau-Ponty at 18 from the French Government website English Translations of Merleau-Ponty's Work Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Maurice Merleau-Ponty by Jack Reynolds Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Maurice Merleau-Ponty by Ted Toadvine The Merleau-Ponty Circle — Association of scholars interested in the works of Merleau-Ponty Maurice Merleau-Ponty page at Mythos & Logos Chiasmi International — Studies Concerning the Thought of Maurice Merleau-Ponty in English, French and Italian O’Loughlin, Marjorie, 1995, "Intelligent Bodies and Ecological Subjectivities: Merleau-Ponty’s Corrective to Postmodernism’s “Subjects” of Education." Popen, Shari, 1995, "Merleau-Ponty Confronts Postmodernism: A Reply to O’Loughlin." Merleau-Ponty: Reckoning with the Possibility of an 'Other.' The Journal of French Philosophy — the online home of the Bulletin de la Société Américaine de Philosophie de Langue Française Online Merleau-Ponty Bibliography at PhilPapers.org 1908 births 1961 deaths 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French philosophers Action theorists Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Collège de France faculty Consciousness researchers and theorists Continental philosophers Cultural critics École Normale Supérieure alumni Ecophenomenologists Enactive cognition Environmental philosophers Epistemologists Existentialists French communists French socialists French humanists French male non-fiction writers French male writers Lycée Carnot teachers Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni Marxist theorists Moral philosophers Ontologists People from Rochefort, Charente-Maritime Phenomenologists Philosophers of art Philosophers of culture Philosophers of education Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of language Philosophers of mind Philosophers of psychology Philosophers of science Philosophy writers Political philosophers Social critics Social philosophers University of Lyon faculty University of Paris faculty French magazine founders	true	[ "Mansheng Wang is a Chinese artist who moved to Dobbs Ferry in 1996. He is a calligrapher and painter. His influences include traditional literati art, Buddhist art, and the Hudson Valley, which he began painting after he relocated there and continued to create artwork depicting it for ten years. Wang's interest in art began when he was a child during the Chinese cultural revolution. He uses materials such as reeds from the Hudson river and homemade paint made from crushed walnuts and acrylic paint combined as well as cardboard to create his pieces. Mansheng Wang's work has been exhibited in China at the Beijing art museum as well as in America at the Brooklyn Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Huntington Art Museum and Connecticut college.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\n21st-century Chinese calligraphers\n21st-century Chinese painters\nYear of birth missing (living people)", "Ada Elizabeth Edith Swanwick RA (1915–1989), always known as Betty Swanwick, was an English artist, novelist and art teacher. She was head of illustration at Goldsmiths College and is known for her work for London Transport and an album cover for Genesis.\n\nLife\nAda Elizabeth Edith Swanwick was born in Forest Hill in London in 1915. Her father, Henry Gerard Swanwick, who was in the naval reserve, painted marine watercolours. She was inspired by her father, and her mother, Ethel Priscilla (née Bacon), gave her pencils which she had retrieved from shipwrecks on the Scilly Isles.\n\nSwanwick enrolled at Goldsmiths College at the age of fifteen and by 1934 she was simultaneously attending classes at Goldsmith's, the Royal College of Art and the Central School of Arts and Crafts. She was a student of Edward Bawden. This academic activity continued until 1936.\n\nSwanwick started to create work for London Transport in 1936 and she continued to create posters for them until 1954.\n\nIn 1945 she published the first of her novels The Cross Purposes in 1945. She published, Hoodwinked which featured pencil illustrations. She appears as 'Bertha Swan' in a short story, \"The Party\", written by her fellow Goldsmiths student Denton Welch (in his posthumous collection A Last Sheaf (1951)).\n\nIn 1951 the Regatta and the Rocket restaurants at the Festival of Britain included murals by Ben Nicholson and Swanwick. She would later create another mural for Evelina Children's Hospital in 1960.\n\nA painting by Swanwick titled The Dream was used on the cover of the 1973 Genesis album Selling England by the Pound. The original painting did not include a lawn mower; the band had Swanwick add it later as an allusion to the track \"I Know What I Like\", because Swanwick told them she did not have enough time to paint a new picture for the cover. Her drawings could take 200 hours to create and she had strong views. She was appalled to find that her students did not have to attend life drawing classes.\n\nSwanwick died in 1989. Her life and the intriguing paintings that she made after 1965 are included in the book by her friend Paddy Rossmore.\n\nWorks include\n The Cross Purposes (1945)\n Hoodwinked (1957) \n Beauty and the Burglar (1958)\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1915 births\n1989 deaths\n20th-century British women artists\nAlumni of the Central School of Art and Design\nAlumni of Goldsmiths, University of London\nAlumni of the Royal College of Art\nArtists from London\nRoyal Academicians" ]
[ "Maurice Merleau-Ponty", "Art", "Did he create art?", "Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression." ]	C_ab5979e60f144e2d9121eb1b0a2f4bc1_0	What are the distinctions between them?	2	What are the distinctions between primary and secondary modes of expression?	Maurice Merleau-Ponty	Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression. This distinction appears in Phenomenology of Perception (p. 207, 2nd note [Fr. ed.]) and is sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language (le langage parle et le langage parlant) (The Prose of the World, p. 10). Spoken language (le langage parle), or secondary expression, returns to our linguistic baggage, to the cultural heritage that we have acquired, as well as the brute mass of relationships between signs and significations. Speaking language (le langage parlant), or primary expression, such as it is, is language in the production of a sense, language at the advent of a thought, at the moment where it makes itself an advent of sense. It is speaking language, that is to say, primary expression, that interests Merleau-Ponty and which keeps his attention through his treatment of the nature of production and the reception of expressions, a subject which also overlaps with an analysis of action, of intentionality, of perception, as well as the links between freedom and external conditions. The notion of style occupies an important place in "Indirect Language and the Voices of Silence". In spite of certain similarities with Andre Malraux, Merleau-Ponty distinguishes himself from Malraux in respect to three conceptions of style, the last of which is employed in Malraux's The Voices of Silence. Merleau-Ponty remarks that in this work "style" is sometimes used by Malraux in a highly subjective sense, understood as a projection of the artist's individuality. Sometimes it is used, on the contrary, in a very metaphysical sense (in Merleau-Ponty's opinion, a mystical sense), in which style is connected with a conception of an "uber-artist" expressing "the Spirit of Painting". Finally, it sometimes is reduced to simply designating a categorization of an artistic school or movement. (However, this account of Malraux's notion of style--a key element in his thinking--is open to serious question.) For Merleau-Ponty, it is these uses of the notion of style that lead Malraux to postulate a cleavage between the objectivity of Italian Renaissance painting and the subjectivity of painting in his own time, a conclusion that Merleau-Ponty disputes. According to Merleau-Ponty, it is important to consider the heart of this problematic, by recognizing that style is first of all a demand owed to the primacy of perception, which also implies taking into consideration the dimensions of historicity and intersubjectivity. (However, Merleau-Ponty's reading of Malraux has been questioned in a recent major study of Malraux's theory of art which argues that Merleau-Ponty seriously misunderstood Malraux.) For Merleau-Ponty, style is born of the interaction between two or more fields of being. Rather than being exclusive to individual human consciousness, consciousness is born of the pre-conscious style of the world, of Nature. CANNOTANSWER	sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language	Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty (; 14 March 1908 – 3 May 1961) was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The constitution of meaning in human experience was his main interest and he wrote on perception, art, politics, religion, biology, psychology, psychoanalysis, language, nature, and history. He was the lead editor of Les Temps modernes, the leftist magazine he established with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir in 1945. At the core of Merleau-Ponty's philosophy is a sustained argument for the foundational role perception plays in our experience of the world. Merleau-Ponty understands perception to be an ongoing dialogue between one's lived body and the world which it perceives, in which perceivers passively and actively strive to express the perceived world in concert with others. He was the only major phenomenologist of the first half of the twentieth century to engage extensively with the sciences and especially with Gestalt psychology. It is through this engagement that his writings became influential in the project of naturalizing phenomenology, in which phenomenologists use the results of psychology and cognitive science. Merleau-Ponty emphasized the body as the primary site of knowing the world, a corrective to the long philosophical tradition of placing consciousness as the source of knowledge, and maintained that the body and that which it perceived could not be disentangled from each other. The articulation of the primacy of embodiment (corporéité) led him away from phenomenology towards what he was to call “indirect ontology” or the ontology of “the flesh of the world” (la chair du monde), seen in his final and incomplete work, The Visible and Invisible, and his last published essay, “Eye and Mind”. Merleau-Ponty engaged with Marxism throughout his career. His 1947 book, Humanism and Terror, has been widely (mis)understood as a defence of the Soviet show trials. In fact, this text avoids the definitive endorsement of a view on the Soviet Union, but instead engages with the Marxist theory of history as a critique of liberalism, in order to reveal an unresolved antinomy in modern politics, between humanism and terror: if human values can only be achieved through violent force, and if liberal ideas hide illiberal realities, how is just political action to be decided? Merleau-Ponty maintained an engaged though critical relationship to the Marxist left until the end of his life, particularly during his time as the political editor of the journal Les Temps Modernes. Life Maurice Merleau-Ponty was born in 1908 in Rochefort-sur-Mer, Charente-Inférieure (now Charente-Maritime), France. His father died in 1913 when Merleau-Ponty was five years old. After secondary schooling at the lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, Merleau-Ponty became a student at the École Normale Supérieure, where he studied alongside Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Simone Weil, Jean Hyppolite, and Jean Wahl. As Beauvoir recounts in her autobiography, she developed a close friendship with Merleau-Ponty and became smitten with him, but ultimately found him too well-adjusted to bourgeois life and values for her taste. He attended Edmund Husserl's "Paris Lectures" in February 1929. In 1929, Merleau-Ponty received his DES degree (, roughly equivalent to an MA thesis) from the University of Paris, on the basis of the (now-lost) thesis La Notion de multiple intelligible chez Plotin ("Plotinus's Notion of the Intelligible Many"), directed by Émile Bréhier. He passed the agrégation in philosophy in 1930. Merleau-Ponty was raised as a Catholic. He was friends with the Christian existentialist Gabriel Marcel, and he wrote articles for the Christian leftist journal Esprit, but he left the Church in 1937 because he felt his socialist politics were not compatible with the social and political teaching of the Catholic Church. An article published in French newspaper Le Monde in October 2014 makes the case of recent discoveries about Merleau-Ponty's likely authorship of the novel Nord. Récit de l'arctique (Grasset, 1928). Convergent sources from close friends (Beauvoir, Elisabeth "Zaza" Lacoin) seem to leave little doubt that Jacques Heller was a pseudonym of the 20-year-old Merleau-Ponty. Merleau-Ponty taught first at the Lycée de Beauvais (1931–33) and then got a fellowship to do research from the . From 1934 to 1935 he taught at the Lycée de Chartres. He then in 1935 became a tutor at the École Normale Supérieure, where he tutored a young Michel Foucault and Trần Đức Thảo and was awarded his doctorate on the basis of two important books: La structure du comportement (1942) and Phénoménologie de la Perception (1945). During this time, he attended Alexandre Kojeve's influential seminars on Hegel and Aron Gurwitsch's lectures on Gestalt psychology. In the spring of 1939, he was the first foreign visitor to the newly established Husserl Archives, where he consulted Husserl's unpublished manuscripts and met Eugen Fink and Father Hermann Van Breda. In the summer of 1939, as France entered war against Germany, he served on the frontlines in the French army, where he was wounded in battle in June 1940. Upon returning to Paris in the fall of 1940, he married Suzanne Jolibois, a Lacanian psychoanalyst, and founded an underground resistance group with Jean-Paul Sartre called "Under the Boot". He participated in an armed demonstration against the Nazis during the Liberation of Paris. After teaching at the University of Lyon from 1945 to 1948, Merleau-Ponty lectured on child psychology and education at the Sorbonne from 1949 to 1952. He was awarded the Chair of Philosophy at the Collège de France from 1952 until his death in 1961, making him the youngest person to have been elected to a chair. Besides his teaching, Merleau-Ponty was also political editor for the leftist Les Temps modernes from the founding of the journal in October 1945 until December 1952. In his youth he had read Karl Marx's writings and Sartre even claimed that Merleau-Ponty converted him to Marxism. While he was not a member of the French Communist Party and did not identify as a Communist, he laid out an argument justifying the Soviet show trials and violence for progressive ends in general in the work Humanism and Terror in 1947. However, about three years later, he renounced his earlier support for political violence, and he rejected Marxism and advocated a liberal left position in Adventures of the Dialectic (1955). His friendship with Sartre and work with Les Temps modernes ended because of that, since Sartre still had a more favourable attitude towards Soviet communism. Merleau-Ponty was subsequently active in the French non-communist left and in particular in the Union of the Democratic Forces. Merleau-Ponty died suddenly of a stroke in 1961 at age 53, apparently while preparing for a class on René Descartes, leaving an unfinished manuscript which was posthumously published in 1964, along with a selection of Merleau-Ponty's working notes, by Claude Lefort as The Visible and the Invisible. He is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris with his mother Louise, his wife Suzanne and their daughter Marianne. Thought Consciousness In his Phenomenology of Perception (first published in French in 1945), Merleau-Ponty develops the concept of the body-subject (le corps propre) as an alternative to the Cartesian "cogito". This distinction is especially important in that Merleau-Ponty perceives the essences of the world existentially. Consciousness, the world, and the human body as a perceiving thing are intricately intertwined and mutually "engaged". The phenomenal thing is not the unchanging object of the natural sciences, but a correlate of our body and its sensory-motor functions. Taking up and "communing with" (Merleau-Ponty's phrase) the sensible qualities it encounters, the body as incarnated subjectivity intentionally elaborates things within an ever-present world frame, through use of its pre-conscious, pre-predicative understanding of the world's makeup. The elaboration, however, is "inexhaustible" (the hallmark of any perception according to Merleau-Ponty). Things are that upon which our body has a "grip" (prise), while the grip itself is a function of our connaturality with the world's things. The world and the sense of self are emergent phenomena in an ongoing "becoming". The essential partiality of our view of things, their being given only in a certain perspective and at a certain moment in time does not diminish their reality, but on the contrary establishes it, as there is no other way for things to be copresent with us and with other things than through such "Abschattungen" (sketches, faint outlines, adumbrations). The thing transcends our view, but is manifest precisely by presenting itself to a range of possible views. The object of perception is immanently tied to its background—to the nexus of meaningful relations among objects within the world. Because the object is inextricably within the world of meaningful relations, each object reflects the other (much in the style of Leibniz's monads). Through involvement in the world – being-in-the-world – the perceiver tacitly experiences all the perspectives upon that object coming from all the surrounding things of its environment, as well as the potential perspectives that that object has upon the beings around it. Each object is a "mirror of all others". Our perception of the object through all perspectives is not that of a propositional, or clearly delineated, perception; rather, it is an ambiguous perception founded upon the body's primordial involvement and understanding of the world and of the meanings that constitute the landscape's perceptual Gestalt. Only after we have been integrated within the environment so as to perceive objects as such can we turn our attention toward particular objects within the landscape so as to define them more clearly. This attention, however, does not operate by clarifying what is already seen, but by constructing a new Gestalt oriented toward a particular object. Because our bodily involvement with things is always provisional and indeterminate, we encounter meaningful things in a unified though ever open-ended world. The primacy of perception From the time of writing Structure of Behavior and Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty wanted to show, in opposition to the idea that drove the tradition beginning with John Locke, that perception was not the causal product of atomic sensations. This atomist-causal conception was being perpetuated in certain psychological currents of the time, particularly in behaviourism. According to Merleau-Ponty, perception has an active dimension, in that it is a primordial openness to the lifeworld (the "Lebenswelt"). This primordial openness is at the heart of his thesis of the primacy of perception. The slogan of Husserl's phenomenology is "all consciousness is consciousness of something", which implies a distinction between "acts of thought" (the noesis) and "intentional objects of thought" (the noema). Thus, the correlation between noesis and noema becomes the first step in the constitution of analyses of consciousness. However, in studying the posthumous manuscripts of Husserl, who remained one of his major influences, Merleau-Ponty remarked that, in their evolution, Husserl's work brings to light phenomena which are not assimilable to noesis–noema correlation. This is particularly the case when one attends to the phenomena of the body (which is at once body-subject and body-object), subjective time (the consciousness of time is neither an act of consciousness nor an object of thought) and the other (the first considerations of the other in Husserl led to solipsism). The distinction between "acts of thought" (noesis) and "intentional objects of thought" (noema) does not seem, therefore, to constitute an irreducible ground. It appears rather at a higher level of analysis. Thus, Merleau-Ponty does not postulate that "all consciousness is consciousness of something", which supposes at the outset a noetic-noematic ground. Instead, he develops the thesis according to which "all consciousness is perceptual consciousness". In doing so, he establishes a significant turn in the development of phenomenology, indicating that its conceptualisations should be re-examined in the light of the primacy of perception, in weighing up the philosophical consequences of this thesis. Corporeity Taking the study of perception as his point of departure, Merleau-Ponty was led to recognize that one's own body (le corps propre) is not only a thing, a potential object of study for science, but is also a permanent condition of experience, a constituent of the perceptual openness to the world. He therefore underlines the fact that there is an inherence of consciousness and of the body of which the analysis of perception should take account. The primacy of perception signifies a primacy of experience, so to speak, insofar as perception becomes an active and constitutive dimension. Merleau-Ponty demonstrates a corporeity of consciousness as much as an intentionality of the body, and so stands in contrast with the dualist ontology of mind and body in Descartes, a philosopher to whom Merleau-Ponty continually returned, despite the important differences that separate them. In the Phenomenology of Perception Merleau-Ponty wrote: “Insofar as I have hands, feet, a body, I sustain around me intentions which are not dependent on my decisions and which affect my surroundings in a way that I do not choose” (1962, p. 440). Spatiality The question concerning corporeity connects also with Merleau-Ponty's reflections on space (l'espace) and the primacy of the dimension of depth (la profondeur) as implied in the notion of being in the world (être au monde; to echo Heidegger's In-der-Welt-sein) and of one's own body (le corps propre). Reflections on spatiality in phenomenology are also central to the advanced philosophical deliberations in architectural theory. Language The highlighting of the fact that corporeity intrinsically has a dimension of expressivity which proves to be fundamental to the constitution of the ego is one of the conclusions of The Structure of Behavior that is constantly reiterated in Merleau-Ponty's later works. Following this theme of expressivity, he goes on to examine how an incarnate subject is in a position to undertake actions that transcend the organic level of the body, such as in intellectual operations and the products of one's cultural life. He carefully considers language, then, as the core of culture, by examining in particular the connections between the unfolding of thought and sense—enriching his perspective not only by an analysis of the acquisition of language and the expressivity of the body, but also by taking into account pathologies of language, painting, cinema, literature, poetry and song. This work deals mainly with language, beginning with the reflection on artistic expression in The Structure of Behavior—which contains a passage on El Greco (p. 203ff) that prefigures the remarks that he develops in "Cézanne's Doubt" (1945) and follows the discussion in Phenomenology of Perception. The work, undertaken while serving as the Chair of Child Psychology and Pedagogy at the University of the Sorbonne, is not a departure from his philosophical and phenomenological works, but rather an important continuation in the development of his thought. As the course outlines of his Sorbonne lectures indicate, during this period he continues a dialogue between phenomenology and the diverse work carried out in psychology, all in order to return to the study of the acquisition of language in children, as well as to broadly take advantage of the contribution of Ferdinand de Saussure to linguistics, and to work on the notion of structure through a discussion of work in psychology, linguistics and social anthropology. Art Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression. This distinction appears in Phenomenology of Perception (p. 207, 2nd note [Fr. ed.]) and is sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language () (The Prose of the World, p. 10). Spoken language (), or secondary expression, returns to our linguistic baggage, to the cultural heritage that we have acquired, as well as the brute mass of relationships between signs and significations. Speaking language (), or primary expression, such as it is, is language in the production of a sense, language at the advent of a thought, at the moment where it makes itself an advent of sense. It is speaking language, that is to say, primary expression, that interests Merleau-Ponty and which keeps his attention through his treatment of the nature of production and the reception of expressions, a subject which also overlaps with an analysis of action, of intentionality, of perception, as well as the links between freedom and external conditions. The notion of style occupies an important place in "Indirect Language and the Voices of Silence". In spite of certain similarities with André Malraux, Merleau-Ponty distinguishes himself from Malraux in respect to three conceptions of style, the last of which is employed in Malraux's The Voices of Silence. Merleau-Ponty remarks that in this work "style" is sometimes used by Malraux in a highly subjective sense, understood as a projection of the artist's individuality. Sometimes it is used, on the contrary, in a very metaphysical sense (in Merleau-Ponty's opinion, a mystical sense), in which style is connected with a conception of an "über-artist" expressing "the Spirit of Painting". Finally, it sometimes is reduced to simply designating a categorization of an artistic school or movement. (However, this account of Malraux's notion of style—a key element in his thinking—is open to serious question.) For Merleau-Ponty, it is these uses of the notion of style that lead Malraux to postulate a cleavage between the objectivity of Italian Renaissance painting and the subjectivity of painting in his own time, a conclusion that Merleau-Ponty disputes. According to Merleau-Ponty, it is important to consider the heart of this problematic, by recognizing that style is first of all a demand owed to the primacy of perception, which also implies taking into consideration the dimensions of historicity and intersubjectivity. (However, Merleau-Ponty's reading of Malraux has been questioned in a recent major study of Malraux's theory of art which argues that Merleau-Ponty seriously misunderstood Malraux.) For Merleau-Ponty, style is born of the interaction between two or more fields of being. Rather than being exclusive to individual human consciousness, consciousness is born of the pre-conscious style of the world, of Nature. Science In his essay "Cézanne's Doubt", in which he identifies Paul Cézanne's impressionistic theory of painting as analogous to his own concept of radical reflection, the attempt to return to, and reflect on, prereflective consciousness, Merleau-Ponty identifies science as the opposite of art. In Merleau-Ponty's account, whereas art is an attempt to capture an individual's perception, science is anti-individualistic. In the preface to his Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty presents a phenomenological objection to positivism: that it can tell us nothing about human subjectivity. All that a scientific text can explain is the particular individual experience of that scientist, which cannot be transcended. For Merleau-Ponty, science neglects the depth and profundity of the phenomena that it endeavors to explain. Merleau-Ponty understood science to be an ex post facto abstraction. Causal and physiological accounts of perception, for example, explain perception in terms that are arrived at only after abstracting from the phenomenon itself. Merleau-Ponty chastised science for taking itself to be the area in which a complete account of nature may be given. The subjective depth of phenomena cannot be given in science as it is. This characterizes Merleau-Ponty's attempt to ground science in phenomenological objectivity and, in essence, to institute a "return to the phenomena". Influence Anticognitivist cognitive science Merleau-Ponty's critical position with respect to science was stated in his Preface to the Phenomenology: he described scientific points of view as "always both naive and at the same time dishonest". Despite, or perhaps because of, this view, his work influenced and anticipated the strands of modern psychology known as post-cognitivism. Hubert Dreyfus has been instrumental in emphasising the relevance of Merleau-Ponty's work to current post-cognitive research, and its criticism of the traditional view of cognitive science. Dreyfus's seminal critique of cognitivism (or the computational account of the mind), What Computers Can't Do, consciously replays Merleau-Ponty's critique of intellectualist psychology to argue for the irreducibility of corporeal know-how to discrete, syntactic processes. Through the influence of Dreyfus's critique and neurophysiological alternative, Merleau-Ponty became associated with neurophysiological, connectionist accounts of cognition. With the publication in 1991 of The Embodied Mind by Francisco Varela, Evan Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch, this association was extended, if only partially, to another strand of "anti-cognitivist" or post-representationalist cognitive science: embodied or enactive cognitive science, and later in the decade, to neurophenomenology. In addition, Merleau-Ponty's work has also influenced researchers trying to integrate neuroscience with the principles of chaos theory. It was through this relationship with Merleau-Ponty's work that cognitive science's affair with phenomenology was born, which is represented by a growing number of works, including Ron McClamrock's Existential Cognition: Computational Minds in the World (1995), Andy Clark's Being There (1997), Naturalizing Phenomenology edited by Petitot et al. (1999), Alva Noë's Action in Perception (2004), Shaun Gallagher's How the Body Shapes the Mind (2005), Grammont, Franck Dorothée Legrand, and Pierre Livet (eds.) 2010, Naturalizing Intention in Action, MIT Press 2010 . The journal Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. Feminist philosophy Merleau-Ponty has also been picked up by Australian and Nordic philosophers inspired by the French feminist tradition, including Rosalyn Diprose and . Heinämaa has argued for a rereading of Merleau-Ponty's influence on Simone de Beauvoir. (She has also challenged Dreyfus's reading of Merleau-Ponty as behaviorist, and as neglecting the importance of the phenomenological reduction to Merleau-Ponty's thought.) Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of the body has also been taken up by Iris Young in her essay "Throwing Like a Girl," and its follow-up, "'Throwing Like a Girl': Twenty Years Later". Young analyzes the particular modalities of feminine bodily comportment as they differ from that of men. Young observes that while a man who throws a ball puts his whole body into the motion, a woman throwing a ball generally restricts her own movements as she makes them, and that, generally, in sports, women move in a more tentative, reactive way. Merleau-Ponty argues that we experience the world in terms of the "I can" – that is, oriented towards certain projects based on our capacity and habituality. Young's thesis is that in women, this intentionality is inhibited and ambivalent, rather than confident, experienced as an "I cannot". Ecophenomenology Ecophenomenology can be described as the pursuit of the relationalities of worldly engagement, both human and those of other creatures (Brown & Toadvine 2003). This engagement is situated in a kind of middle ground of relationality, a space that is neither purely objective, because it is reciprocally constituted by a diversity of lived experiences motivating the movements of countless organisms, nor purely subjective, because it is nonetheless a field of material relationships between bodies. It is governed exclusively neither by causality, nor by intentionality. In this space of in-betweenness, phenomenology can overcome its inaugural opposition to naturalism. David Abram explains Merleau-Ponty's concept of "flesh" (chair) as "the mysterious tissue or matrix that underlies and gives rise to both the perceiver and the perceived as interdependent aspects of its spontaneous activity", and he identifies this elemental matrix with the interdependent web of earthly life. This concept unites subject and object dialectically as determinations within a more primordial reality, which Merleau-Ponty calls "the flesh" and which Abram refers to variously as "the animate earth", "the breathing biosphere" or "the more-than-human natural world". Yet this is not nature or the biosphere conceived as a complex set of objects and objective processes, but rather "the biosphere as it is experienced and lived from within by the intelligent body — by the attentive human animal who is entirely a part of the world that he or she experiences. Merleau-Ponty's ecophenemonology with its emphasis on holistic dialog within the larger-than-human world also has implications for the ontogenesis and phylogenesis of language; indeed he states that "language is the very voice of the trees, the waves and the forest". Merleau-Ponty himself refers to "that primordial being which is not yet the subject-being nor the object-being and which in every respect baffles reflection. From this primordial being to us, there is no derivation, nor any break..." Among the many working notes found on his desk at the time of his death, and published with the half-complete manuscript of The Visible and the Invisible, several make it evident that Merleau-Ponty himself recognized a deep affinity between his notion of a primordial "flesh" and a radically transformed understanding of "nature". Hence, in November 1960 he writes: "Do a psychoanalysis of Nature: it is the flesh, the mother." And in the last published working note, written in March 1961, he writes: "Nature as the other side of humanity (as flesh, nowise as 'matter')." This resonates with the conception of space, place, dwelling, and embodiment (in the flesh and physical, vs. virtual and cybernetic), especially as they are addressed against the background of the unfolding of the essence of modern technology. Such analytics figure in a Heideggerian take on “econtology” as an extension of Heidegger's consideration of the question of being (Seinsfrage) by way of the fourfold (Das Geviert) of earth-sky-mortals-divinities (Erde und Himmel, Sterblichen und Göttlichen). In this strand of “ecophenomenology”, ecology is co-entangled with ontology, whereby the worldly existential analytics are grounded in earthiness, and environmentalism is orientated by ontological thinking. Bibliography The following table gives a selection of Merleau-Ponty's works in French and English translation. See also Gestalt psychology Process philosophy Embodied cognition Enactivism Difference (philosophy) Virtuality (philosophy) Field (physics) Hylomorphism Autopoiesis Emergence Umwelt Habit Body schema Affordance Perspectivism Reflexivity Invagination (philosophy) Incarnation Notes References Abram, D. (1988). "Merleau-Ponty and the Voice of the Earth" Environmental Ethics 10, no. 2 (Summer 1988): 101–20. Alloa, E. (2017) Resistance of the Sensible World. An Introduction to Merleau-Ponty, New York: Fordham University Press. Alloa,E., F. Chouraqui & R. Kaushik, (2019) (eds.) Merleau-Ponty and Contemporary Philosophy, Albany: SUNY Press. Barbaras, R. (2004) The Being of the Phenomenon. Merleau-Ponty's Ontology Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Carbone, M. (2004) The Thinking of the Sensible. Merleau-Ponty's A-Philosophy, Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Clark, A. (1997) Being There: Putting Brain, Body, and World Together Again. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Dillon, M. C. (1997) Merleau-Ponty's Ontology. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Gallagher, S. (2003) How the Body Shapes the Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Guilherme, Alexandre and Morgan, W. John, 'Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961)-dialogue as being present to the other'. Chapter 6 in Philosophy, Dialogue, and Education: Nine modern European philosophers, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 89–108, . Johnson, G., Smith, M. B. (eds.) (1993) The Merleau-Ponty Aesthetics Reader: Philosophy and Painting, Chicago: Northwestern UP 1993. Landes, D. (2013) Merleau-Ponty and the Paradoxes of Expression, New York-London: Bloomsbury. Lawlor, L., Evans, F. (eds.) (2000) Chiasms: Merleau-Ponty's Notion of Flesh, Albany: SUNY Press. Petitot, J., Varela, F., Pachoud, B. and Roy, J-M. (eds.) (1999) Naturalizing Phenomenology: Issues in Contemporary Phenomenology and Cognitive Science. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Toadvine, T. (2009) Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy of Nature. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Tilliette, X. (1970) Maurice Merleau-Ponty ou la mesure de l'homme, Seghers, 1970. Varela, F. J., Thompson, E. and Rosch, E. (1991) The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience. Cambridge: MIT Press. External links Maurice Merleau-Ponty at 18 from the French Government website English Translations of Merleau-Ponty's Work Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Maurice Merleau-Ponty by Jack Reynolds Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Maurice Merleau-Ponty by Ted Toadvine The Merleau-Ponty Circle — Association of scholars interested in the works of Merleau-Ponty Maurice Merleau-Ponty page at Mythos & Logos Chiasmi International — Studies Concerning the Thought of Maurice Merleau-Ponty in English, French and Italian O’Loughlin, Marjorie, 1995, "Intelligent Bodies and Ecological Subjectivities: Merleau-Ponty’s Corrective to Postmodernism’s “Subjects” of Education." Popen, Shari, 1995, "Merleau-Ponty Confronts Postmodernism: A Reply to O’Loughlin." Merleau-Ponty: Reckoning with the Possibility of an 'Other.' The Journal of French Philosophy — the online home of the Bulletin de la Société Américaine de Philosophie de Langue Française Online Merleau-Ponty Bibliography at PhilPapers.org 1908 births 1961 deaths 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French philosophers Action theorists Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Collège de France faculty Consciousness researchers and theorists Continental philosophers Cultural critics École Normale Supérieure alumni Ecophenomenologists Enactive cognition Environmental philosophers Epistemologists Existentialists French communists French socialists French humanists French male non-fiction writers French male writers Lycée Carnot teachers Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni Marxist theorists Moral philosophers Ontologists People from Rochefort, Charente-Maritime Phenomenologists Philosophers of art Philosophers of culture Philosophers of education Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of language Philosophers of mind Philosophers of psychology Philosophers of science Philosophy writers Political philosophers Social critics Social philosophers University of Lyon faculty University of Paris faculty French magazine founders	true	[ "Christopher Cumingham is an American artist, photographer, and filmmaker who produces and directspornographic films known as Nu Fetish. \n\nThe Miami New Times describes his work as something which \"stays in your head all day long, popping in your subconscious, arousing you when you least expect. It's porn for intellectuals.\" \n\nCumingham's work is described as often being a collaborative effort, with ideas coming directly from the performers themselves and conveyed in unscripted short videos. They are usually created in single takes, driven by the intensity of the performers' own erotic desires.\n\nWebsite\nIn early 2010 Cumingham created a new website to explore societal distinctions between pornography and erotica as well as art and sex. \"Our society tends to draw distinctions between pornography and erotica, art and sex. On GIM@ we allow them to intersect without exclusivity as we seek to cross the boundaries between these categories to create a one-of-a-kind visual experience. Our content meditates on the value of the explicit and the unseen, the realities of hidden sexual desires and the beauty of actually making them come true.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nGirlsIMetAt.com Is Hipster Porn AKA \"Nu Fetish.\" This Ain't BangBros\nhttp://www.apar.tv/cinema/lerotisme-autrement/\nThe Arsenale Miami Presents: Christopher Cumingham\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nAmerican pornographic film producers\nAmerican pornographic film directors\nAmerican photographers", "The Geomori or Geomoroi () were one of the three classes into which Theseus is said to have divided the inhabitants of Attica. The exact divisions between the three classes is uncertain, but the geomori ranked between the wealthy eupatrids, the only class who were permitted to hold the highest civil and religious offices, and the poorer demiourgoi.\n\nClass distinctions \nSome scholars have noted that the precise meaning of these classes, as well as the nature of the division, are obscure. Even though one can say that nobles, husbandmen, and artisans belong to the eupatrids, geomori, and demiourgoi classes, respectively, there are no methods to ascertain any particulars respecting the relation in which the geomoroi stood to the two other classes. It is also not known whether an individual can transcend or be demoted to another class such as the case of the poorer nobles who might have fallen into the ranks of the geomori. One, however, could turn to Grecian historians for insight, particularly in the way they described geomori and two other social classes in the Athenian society as \"quasi equal\" with the eupatrids exceeding the others in dignity; the geomori exceeded in usefulness; and, the demiourgi exceeded in number.\n\nGeomori concept \nThe term geomori may either signify independent land-owners, or peasants who cultivated the lands of others as tenants. The geomoroi have, accordingly, by some writers been thought to be free land-owners, while others have conceived them to have been a class of tenants. It seems, however, inconsistent with the state of affairs in Attica, as well as with the manner in which the name geomoroi was used in other Greek states, to suppose that the whole class consisted of the latter only; there were undoubtedly among them a considerable number of freemen who cultivated their own lands, but had by their birth no claims to the rights and privileges of the nobles. What is certain for some historians is that geomori and the social stratification in Attica is similar to the social distinctions adopted by other societies that have emerged from nomadism. \n\nThere are no recorded political distinctions between the geomoroi and the demiourgoi; and it may either be that there existed none at all or if there were any originally, that they gradually vanished. This would account for the fact that Dionysius (ii. 8) only mentions two classes of Atticans; one corresponding to the Roman patricians, the other to the plebeians. There are sources, however, such as Aristotle whose works indicated that the class divisions by Theseus marked the modification to the constitution in the direction of popular government. Some authors also consider the social divisions as a mechanism to unite the separate communities into a united country by describing the function and privileges of the people who came from these within the new society.\n\nIn Samos, the name geomoroi was applied to the oligarchical party, consisting of the wealthy and powerful. In Syracuse, the aristocratic party was likewise called gamoroi, in opposition to the demos.\n\nReferences\n\nSocial classes of ancient Athens\nAncient Greek titles" ]
[ "Maurice Merleau-Ponty", "Art", "Did he create art?", "Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression.", "What are the distinctions between them?", "sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language" ]	C_ab5979e60f144e2d9121eb1b0a2f4bc1_0	What is repeated?	3	What is repeated in spoken and speaking language?	Maurice Merleau-Ponty	Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression. This distinction appears in Phenomenology of Perception (p. 207, 2nd note [Fr. ed.]) and is sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language (le langage parle et le langage parlant) (The Prose of the World, p. 10). Spoken language (le langage parle), or secondary expression, returns to our linguistic baggage, to the cultural heritage that we have acquired, as well as the brute mass of relationships between signs and significations. Speaking language (le langage parlant), or primary expression, such as it is, is language in the production of a sense, language at the advent of a thought, at the moment where it makes itself an advent of sense. It is speaking language, that is to say, primary expression, that interests Merleau-Ponty and which keeps his attention through his treatment of the nature of production and the reception of expressions, a subject which also overlaps with an analysis of action, of intentionality, of perception, as well as the links between freedom and external conditions. The notion of style occupies an important place in "Indirect Language and the Voices of Silence". In spite of certain similarities with Andre Malraux, Merleau-Ponty distinguishes himself from Malraux in respect to three conceptions of style, the last of which is employed in Malraux's The Voices of Silence. Merleau-Ponty remarks that in this work "style" is sometimes used by Malraux in a highly subjective sense, understood as a projection of the artist's individuality. Sometimes it is used, on the contrary, in a very metaphysical sense (in Merleau-Ponty's opinion, a mystical sense), in which style is connected with a conception of an "uber-artist" expressing "the Spirit of Painting". Finally, it sometimes is reduced to simply designating a categorization of an artistic school or movement. (However, this account of Malraux's notion of style--a key element in his thinking--is open to serious question.) For Merleau-Ponty, it is these uses of the notion of style that lead Malraux to postulate a cleavage between the objectivity of Italian Renaissance painting and the subjectivity of painting in his own time, a conclusion that Merleau-Ponty disputes. According to Merleau-Ponty, it is important to consider the heart of this problematic, by recognizing that style is first of all a demand owed to the primacy of perception, which also implies taking into consideration the dimensions of historicity and intersubjectivity. (However, Merleau-Ponty's reading of Malraux has been questioned in a recent major study of Malraux's theory of art which argues that Merleau-Ponty seriously misunderstood Malraux.) For Merleau-Ponty, style is born of the interaction between two or more fields of being. Rather than being exclusive to individual human consciousness, consciousness is born of the pre-conscious style of the world, of Nature. CANNOTANSWER	distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression.	Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty (; 14 March 1908 – 3 May 1961) was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The constitution of meaning in human experience was his main interest and he wrote on perception, art, politics, religion, biology, psychology, psychoanalysis, language, nature, and history. He was the lead editor of Les Temps modernes, the leftist magazine he established with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir in 1945. At the core of Merleau-Ponty's philosophy is a sustained argument for the foundational role perception plays in our experience of the world. Merleau-Ponty understands perception to be an ongoing dialogue between one's lived body and the world which it perceives, in which perceivers passively and actively strive to express the perceived world in concert with others. He was the only major phenomenologist of the first half of the twentieth century to engage extensively with the sciences and especially with Gestalt psychology. It is through this engagement that his writings became influential in the project of naturalizing phenomenology, in which phenomenologists use the results of psychology and cognitive science. Merleau-Ponty emphasized the body as the primary site of knowing the world, a corrective to the long philosophical tradition of placing consciousness as the source of knowledge, and maintained that the body and that which it perceived could not be disentangled from each other. The articulation of the primacy of embodiment (corporéité) led him away from phenomenology towards what he was to call “indirect ontology” or the ontology of “the flesh of the world” (la chair du monde), seen in his final and incomplete work, The Visible and Invisible, and his last published essay, “Eye and Mind”. Merleau-Ponty engaged with Marxism throughout his career. His 1947 book, Humanism and Terror, has been widely (mis)understood as a defence of the Soviet show trials. In fact, this text avoids the definitive endorsement of a view on the Soviet Union, but instead engages with the Marxist theory of history as a critique of liberalism, in order to reveal an unresolved antinomy in modern politics, between humanism and terror: if human values can only be achieved through violent force, and if liberal ideas hide illiberal realities, how is just political action to be decided? Merleau-Ponty maintained an engaged though critical relationship to the Marxist left until the end of his life, particularly during his time as the political editor of the journal Les Temps Modernes. Life Maurice Merleau-Ponty was born in 1908 in Rochefort-sur-Mer, Charente-Inférieure (now Charente-Maritime), France. His father died in 1913 when Merleau-Ponty was five years old. After secondary schooling at the lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, Merleau-Ponty became a student at the École Normale Supérieure, where he studied alongside Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Simone Weil, Jean Hyppolite, and Jean Wahl. As Beauvoir recounts in her autobiography, she developed a close friendship with Merleau-Ponty and became smitten with him, but ultimately found him too well-adjusted to bourgeois life and values for her taste. He attended Edmund Husserl's "Paris Lectures" in February 1929. In 1929, Merleau-Ponty received his DES degree (, roughly equivalent to an MA thesis) from the University of Paris, on the basis of the (now-lost) thesis La Notion de multiple intelligible chez Plotin ("Plotinus's Notion of the Intelligible Many"), directed by Émile Bréhier. He passed the agrégation in philosophy in 1930. Merleau-Ponty was raised as a Catholic. He was friends with the Christian existentialist Gabriel Marcel, and he wrote articles for the Christian leftist journal Esprit, but he left the Church in 1937 because he felt his socialist politics were not compatible with the social and political teaching of the Catholic Church. An article published in French newspaper Le Monde in October 2014 makes the case of recent discoveries about Merleau-Ponty's likely authorship of the novel Nord. Récit de l'arctique (Grasset, 1928). Convergent sources from close friends (Beauvoir, Elisabeth "Zaza" Lacoin) seem to leave little doubt that Jacques Heller was a pseudonym of the 20-year-old Merleau-Ponty. Merleau-Ponty taught first at the Lycée de Beauvais (1931–33) and then got a fellowship to do research from the . From 1934 to 1935 he taught at the Lycée de Chartres. He then in 1935 became a tutor at the École Normale Supérieure, where he tutored a young Michel Foucault and Trần Đức Thảo and was awarded his doctorate on the basis of two important books: La structure du comportement (1942) and Phénoménologie de la Perception (1945). During this time, he attended Alexandre Kojeve's influential seminars on Hegel and Aron Gurwitsch's lectures on Gestalt psychology. In the spring of 1939, he was the first foreign visitor to the newly established Husserl Archives, where he consulted Husserl's unpublished manuscripts and met Eugen Fink and Father Hermann Van Breda. In the summer of 1939, as France entered war against Germany, he served on the frontlines in the French army, where he was wounded in battle in June 1940. Upon returning to Paris in the fall of 1940, he married Suzanne Jolibois, a Lacanian psychoanalyst, and founded an underground resistance group with Jean-Paul Sartre called "Under the Boot". He participated in an armed demonstration against the Nazis during the Liberation of Paris. After teaching at the University of Lyon from 1945 to 1948, Merleau-Ponty lectured on child psychology and education at the Sorbonne from 1949 to 1952. He was awarded the Chair of Philosophy at the Collège de France from 1952 until his death in 1961, making him the youngest person to have been elected to a chair. Besides his teaching, Merleau-Ponty was also political editor for the leftist Les Temps modernes from the founding of the journal in October 1945 until December 1952. In his youth he had read Karl Marx's writings and Sartre even claimed that Merleau-Ponty converted him to Marxism. While he was not a member of the French Communist Party and did not identify as a Communist, he laid out an argument justifying the Soviet show trials and violence for progressive ends in general in the work Humanism and Terror in 1947. However, about three years later, he renounced his earlier support for political violence, and he rejected Marxism and advocated a liberal left position in Adventures of the Dialectic (1955). His friendship with Sartre and work with Les Temps modernes ended because of that, since Sartre still had a more favourable attitude towards Soviet communism. Merleau-Ponty was subsequently active in the French non-communist left and in particular in the Union of the Democratic Forces. Merleau-Ponty died suddenly of a stroke in 1961 at age 53, apparently while preparing for a class on René Descartes, leaving an unfinished manuscript which was posthumously published in 1964, along with a selection of Merleau-Ponty's working notes, by Claude Lefort as The Visible and the Invisible. He is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris with his mother Louise, his wife Suzanne and their daughter Marianne. Thought Consciousness In his Phenomenology of Perception (first published in French in 1945), Merleau-Ponty develops the concept of the body-subject (le corps propre) as an alternative to the Cartesian "cogito". This distinction is especially important in that Merleau-Ponty perceives the essences of the world existentially. Consciousness, the world, and the human body as a perceiving thing are intricately intertwined and mutually "engaged". The phenomenal thing is not the unchanging object of the natural sciences, but a correlate of our body and its sensory-motor functions. Taking up and "communing with" (Merleau-Ponty's phrase) the sensible qualities it encounters, the body as incarnated subjectivity intentionally elaborates things within an ever-present world frame, through use of its pre-conscious, pre-predicative understanding of the world's makeup. The elaboration, however, is "inexhaustible" (the hallmark of any perception according to Merleau-Ponty). Things are that upon which our body has a "grip" (prise), while the grip itself is a function of our connaturality with the world's things. The world and the sense of self are emergent phenomena in an ongoing "becoming". The essential partiality of our view of things, their being given only in a certain perspective and at a certain moment in time does not diminish their reality, but on the contrary establishes it, as there is no other way for things to be copresent with us and with other things than through such "Abschattungen" (sketches, faint outlines, adumbrations). The thing transcends our view, but is manifest precisely by presenting itself to a range of possible views. The object of perception is immanently tied to its background—to the nexus of meaningful relations among objects within the world. Because the object is inextricably within the world of meaningful relations, each object reflects the other (much in the style of Leibniz's monads). Through involvement in the world – being-in-the-world – the perceiver tacitly experiences all the perspectives upon that object coming from all the surrounding things of its environment, as well as the potential perspectives that that object has upon the beings around it. Each object is a "mirror of all others". Our perception of the object through all perspectives is not that of a propositional, or clearly delineated, perception; rather, it is an ambiguous perception founded upon the body's primordial involvement and understanding of the world and of the meanings that constitute the landscape's perceptual Gestalt. Only after we have been integrated within the environment so as to perceive objects as such can we turn our attention toward particular objects within the landscape so as to define them more clearly. This attention, however, does not operate by clarifying what is already seen, but by constructing a new Gestalt oriented toward a particular object. Because our bodily involvement with things is always provisional and indeterminate, we encounter meaningful things in a unified though ever open-ended world. The primacy of perception From the time of writing Structure of Behavior and Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty wanted to show, in opposition to the idea that drove the tradition beginning with John Locke, that perception was not the causal product of atomic sensations. This atomist-causal conception was being perpetuated in certain psychological currents of the time, particularly in behaviourism. According to Merleau-Ponty, perception has an active dimension, in that it is a primordial openness to the lifeworld (the "Lebenswelt"). This primordial openness is at the heart of his thesis of the primacy of perception. The slogan of Husserl's phenomenology is "all consciousness is consciousness of something", which implies a distinction between "acts of thought" (the noesis) and "intentional objects of thought" (the noema). Thus, the correlation between noesis and noema becomes the first step in the constitution of analyses of consciousness. However, in studying the posthumous manuscripts of Husserl, who remained one of his major influences, Merleau-Ponty remarked that, in their evolution, Husserl's work brings to light phenomena which are not assimilable to noesis–noema correlation. This is particularly the case when one attends to the phenomena of the body (which is at once body-subject and body-object), subjective time (the consciousness of time is neither an act of consciousness nor an object of thought) and the other (the first considerations of the other in Husserl led to solipsism). The distinction between "acts of thought" (noesis) and "intentional objects of thought" (noema) does not seem, therefore, to constitute an irreducible ground. It appears rather at a higher level of analysis. Thus, Merleau-Ponty does not postulate that "all consciousness is consciousness of something", which supposes at the outset a noetic-noematic ground. Instead, he develops the thesis according to which "all consciousness is perceptual consciousness". In doing so, he establishes a significant turn in the development of phenomenology, indicating that its conceptualisations should be re-examined in the light of the primacy of perception, in weighing up the philosophical consequences of this thesis. Corporeity Taking the study of perception as his point of departure, Merleau-Ponty was led to recognize that one's own body (le corps propre) is not only a thing, a potential object of study for science, but is also a permanent condition of experience, a constituent of the perceptual openness to the world. He therefore underlines the fact that there is an inherence of consciousness and of the body of which the analysis of perception should take account. The primacy of perception signifies a primacy of experience, so to speak, insofar as perception becomes an active and constitutive dimension. Merleau-Ponty demonstrates a corporeity of consciousness as much as an intentionality of the body, and so stands in contrast with the dualist ontology of mind and body in Descartes, a philosopher to whom Merleau-Ponty continually returned, despite the important differences that separate them. In the Phenomenology of Perception Merleau-Ponty wrote: “Insofar as I have hands, feet, a body, I sustain around me intentions which are not dependent on my decisions and which affect my surroundings in a way that I do not choose” (1962, p. 440). Spatiality The question concerning corporeity connects also with Merleau-Ponty's reflections on space (l'espace) and the primacy of the dimension of depth (la profondeur) as implied in the notion of being in the world (être au monde; to echo Heidegger's In-der-Welt-sein) and of one's own body (le corps propre). Reflections on spatiality in phenomenology are also central to the advanced philosophical deliberations in architectural theory. Language The highlighting of the fact that corporeity intrinsically has a dimension of expressivity which proves to be fundamental to the constitution of the ego is one of the conclusions of The Structure of Behavior that is constantly reiterated in Merleau-Ponty's later works. Following this theme of expressivity, he goes on to examine how an incarnate subject is in a position to undertake actions that transcend the organic level of the body, such as in intellectual operations and the products of one's cultural life. He carefully considers language, then, as the core of culture, by examining in particular the connections between the unfolding of thought and sense—enriching his perspective not only by an analysis of the acquisition of language and the expressivity of the body, but also by taking into account pathologies of language, painting, cinema, literature, poetry and song. This work deals mainly with language, beginning with the reflection on artistic expression in The Structure of Behavior—which contains a passage on El Greco (p. 203ff) that prefigures the remarks that he develops in "Cézanne's Doubt" (1945) and follows the discussion in Phenomenology of Perception. The work, undertaken while serving as the Chair of Child Psychology and Pedagogy at the University of the Sorbonne, is not a departure from his philosophical and phenomenological works, but rather an important continuation in the development of his thought. As the course outlines of his Sorbonne lectures indicate, during this period he continues a dialogue between phenomenology and the diverse work carried out in psychology, all in order to return to the study of the acquisition of language in children, as well as to broadly take advantage of the contribution of Ferdinand de Saussure to linguistics, and to work on the notion of structure through a discussion of work in psychology, linguistics and social anthropology. Art Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression. This distinction appears in Phenomenology of Perception (p. 207, 2nd note [Fr. ed.]) and is sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language () (The Prose of the World, p. 10). Spoken language (), or secondary expression, returns to our linguistic baggage, to the cultural heritage that we have acquired, as well as the brute mass of relationships between signs and significations. Speaking language (), or primary expression, such as it is, is language in the production of a sense, language at the advent of a thought, at the moment where it makes itself an advent of sense. It is speaking language, that is to say, primary expression, that interests Merleau-Ponty and which keeps his attention through his treatment of the nature of production and the reception of expressions, a subject which also overlaps with an analysis of action, of intentionality, of perception, as well as the links between freedom and external conditions. The notion of style occupies an important place in "Indirect Language and the Voices of Silence". In spite of certain similarities with André Malraux, Merleau-Ponty distinguishes himself from Malraux in respect to three conceptions of style, the last of which is employed in Malraux's The Voices of Silence. Merleau-Ponty remarks that in this work "style" is sometimes used by Malraux in a highly subjective sense, understood as a projection of the artist's individuality. Sometimes it is used, on the contrary, in a very metaphysical sense (in Merleau-Ponty's opinion, a mystical sense), in which style is connected with a conception of an "über-artist" expressing "the Spirit of Painting". Finally, it sometimes is reduced to simply designating a categorization of an artistic school or movement. (However, this account of Malraux's notion of style—a key element in his thinking—is open to serious question.) For Merleau-Ponty, it is these uses of the notion of style that lead Malraux to postulate a cleavage between the objectivity of Italian Renaissance painting and the subjectivity of painting in his own time, a conclusion that Merleau-Ponty disputes. According to Merleau-Ponty, it is important to consider the heart of this problematic, by recognizing that style is first of all a demand owed to the primacy of perception, which also implies taking into consideration the dimensions of historicity and intersubjectivity. (However, Merleau-Ponty's reading of Malraux has been questioned in a recent major study of Malraux's theory of art which argues that Merleau-Ponty seriously misunderstood Malraux.) For Merleau-Ponty, style is born of the interaction between two or more fields of being. Rather than being exclusive to individual human consciousness, consciousness is born of the pre-conscious style of the world, of Nature. Science In his essay "Cézanne's Doubt", in which he identifies Paul Cézanne's impressionistic theory of painting as analogous to his own concept of radical reflection, the attempt to return to, and reflect on, prereflective consciousness, Merleau-Ponty identifies science as the opposite of art. In Merleau-Ponty's account, whereas art is an attempt to capture an individual's perception, science is anti-individualistic. In the preface to his Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty presents a phenomenological objection to positivism: that it can tell us nothing about human subjectivity. All that a scientific text can explain is the particular individual experience of that scientist, which cannot be transcended. For Merleau-Ponty, science neglects the depth and profundity of the phenomena that it endeavors to explain. Merleau-Ponty understood science to be an ex post facto abstraction. Causal and physiological accounts of perception, for example, explain perception in terms that are arrived at only after abstracting from the phenomenon itself. Merleau-Ponty chastised science for taking itself to be the area in which a complete account of nature may be given. The subjective depth of phenomena cannot be given in science as it is. This characterizes Merleau-Ponty's attempt to ground science in phenomenological objectivity and, in essence, to institute a "return to the phenomena". Influence Anticognitivist cognitive science Merleau-Ponty's critical position with respect to science was stated in his Preface to the Phenomenology: he described scientific points of view as "always both naive and at the same time dishonest". Despite, or perhaps because of, this view, his work influenced and anticipated the strands of modern psychology known as post-cognitivism. Hubert Dreyfus has been instrumental in emphasising the relevance of Merleau-Ponty's work to current post-cognitive research, and its criticism of the traditional view of cognitive science. Dreyfus's seminal critique of cognitivism (or the computational account of the mind), What Computers Can't Do, consciously replays Merleau-Ponty's critique of intellectualist psychology to argue for the irreducibility of corporeal know-how to discrete, syntactic processes. Through the influence of Dreyfus's critique and neurophysiological alternative, Merleau-Ponty became associated with neurophysiological, connectionist accounts of cognition. With the publication in 1991 of The Embodied Mind by Francisco Varela, Evan Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch, this association was extended, if only partially, to another strand of "anti-cognitivist" or post-representationalist cognitive science: embodied or enactive cognitive science, and later in the decade, to neurophenomenology. In addition, Merleau-Ponty's work has also influenced researchers trying to integrate neuroscience with the principles of chaos theory. It was through this relationship with Merleau-Ponty's work that cognitive science's affair with phenomenology was born, which is represented by a growing number of works, including Ron McClamrock's Existential Cognition: Computational Minds in the World (1995), Andy Clark's Being There (1997), Naturalizing Phenomenology edited by Petitot et al. (1999), Alva Noë's Action in Perception (2004), Shaun Gallagher's How the Body Shapes the Mind (2005), Grammont, Franck Dorothée Legrand, and Pierre Livet (eds.) 2010, Naturalizing Intention in Action, MIT Press 2010 . The journal Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. Feminist philosophy Merleau-Ponty has also been picked up by Australian and Nordic philosophers inspired by the French feminist tradition, including Rosalyn Diprose and . Heinämaa has argued for a rereading of Merleau-Ponty's influence on Simone de Beauvoir. (She has also challenged Dreyfus's reading of Merleau-Ponty as behaviorist, and as neglecting the importance of the phenomenological reduction to Merleau-Ponty's thought.) Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of the body has also been taken up by Iris Young in her essay "Throwing Like a Girl," and its follow-up, "'Throwing Like a Girl': Twenty Years Later". Young analyzes the particular modalities of feminine bodily comportment as they differ from that of men. Young observes that while a man who throws a ball puts his whole body into the motion, a woman throwing a ball generally restricts her own movements as she makes them, and that, generally, in sports, women move in a more tentative, reactive way. Merleau-Ponty argues that we experience the world in terms of the "I can" – that is, oriented towards certain projects based on our capacity and habituality. Young's thesis is that in women, this intentionality is inhibited and ambivalent, rather than confident, experienced as an "I cannot". Ecophenomenology Ecophenomenology can be described as the pursuit of the relationalities of worldly engagement, both human and those of other creatures (Brown & Toadvine 2003). This engagement is situated in a kind of middle ground of relationality, a space that is neither purely objective, because it is reciprocally constituted by a diversity of lived experiences motivating the movements of countless organisms, nor purely subjective, because it is nonetheless a field of material relationships between bodies. It is governed exclusively neither by causality, nor by intentionality. In this space of in-betweenness, phenomenology can overcome its inaugural opposition to naturalism. David Abram explains Merleau-Ponty's concept of "flesh" (chair) as "the mysterious tissue or matrix that underlies and gives rise to both the perceiver and the perceived as interdependent aspects of its spontaneous activity", and he identifies this elemental matrix with the interdependent web of earthly life. This concept unites subject and object dialectically as determinations within a more primordial reality, which Merleau-Ponty calls "the flesh" and which Abram refers to variously as "the animate earth", "the breathing biosphere" or "the more-than-human natural world". Yet this is not nature or the biosphere conceived as a complex set of objects and objective processes, but rather "the biosphere as it is experienced and lived from within by the intelligent body — by the attentive human animal who is entirely a part of the world that he or she experiences. Merleau-Ponty's ecophenemonology with its emphasis on holistic dialog within the larger-than-human world also has implications for the ontogenesis and phylogenesis of language; indeed he states that "language is the very voice of the trees, the waves and the forest". Merleau-Ponty himself refers to "that primordial being which is not yet the subject-being nor the object-being and which in every respect baffles reflection. From this primordial being to us, there is no derivation, nor any break..." Among the many working notes found on his desk at the time of his death, and published with the half-complete manuscript of The Visible and the Invisible, several make it evident that Merleau-Ponty himself recognized a deep affinity between his notion of a primordial "flesh" and a radically transformed understanding of "nature". Hence, in November 1960 he writes: "Do a psychoanalysis of Nature: it is the flesh, the mother." And in the last published working note, written in March 1961, he writes: "Nature as the other side of humanity (as flesh, nowise as 'matter')." This resonates with the conception of space, place, dwelling, and embodiment (in the flesh and physical, vs. virtual and cybernetic), especially as they are addressed against the background of the unfolding of the essence of modern technology. Such analytics figure in a Heideggerian take on “econtology” as an extension of Heidegger's consideration of the question of being (Seinsfrage) by way of the fourfold (Das Geviert) of earth-sky-mortals-divinities (Erde und Himmel, Sterblichen und Göttlichen). In this strand of “ecophenomenology”, ecology is co-entangled with ontology, whereby the worldly existential analytics are grounded in earthiness, and environmentalism is orientated by ontological thinking. Bibliography The following table gives a selection of Merleau-Ponty's works in French and English translation. See also Gestalt psychology Process philosophy Embodied cognition Enactivism Difference (philosophy) Virtuality (philosophy) Field (physics) Hylomorphism Autopoiesis Emergence Umwelt Habit Body schema Affordance Perspectivism Reflexivity Invagination (philosophy) Incarnation Notes References Abram, D. (1988). "Merleau-Ponty and the Voice of the Earth" Environmental Ethics 10, no. 2 (Summer 1988): 101–20. Alloa, E. (2017) Resistance of the Sensible World. An Introduction to Merleau-Ponty, New York: Fordham University Press. Alloa,E., F. Chouraqui & R. Kaushik, (2019) (eds.) Merleau-Ponty and Contemporary Philosophy, Albany: SUNY Press. Barbaras, R. (2004) The Being of the Phenomenon. Merleau-Ponty's Ontology Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Carbone, M. (2004) The Thinking of the Sensible. Merleau-Ponty's A-Philosophy, Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Clark, A. (1997) Being There: Putting Brain, Body, and World Together Again. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Dillon, M. C. (1997) Merleau-Ponty's Ontology. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Gallagher, S. (2003) How the Body Shapes the Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Guilherme, Alexandre and Morgan, W. John, 'Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961)-dialogue as being present to the other'. Chapter 6 in Philosophy, Dialogue, and Education: Nine modern European philosophers, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 89–108, . Johnson, G., Smith, M. B. (eds.) (1993) The Merleau-Ponty Aesthetics Reader: Philosophy and Painting, Chicago: Northwestern UP 1993. Landes, D. (2013) Merleau-Ponty and the Paradoxes of Expression, New York-London: Bloomsbury. Lawlor, L., Evans, F. (eds.) (2000) Chiasms: Merleau-Ponty's Notion of Flesh, Albany: SUNY Press. Petitot, J., Varela, F., Pachoud, B. and Roy, J-M. (eds.) (1999) Naturalizing Phenomenology: Issues in Contemporary Phenomenology and Cognitive Science. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Toadvine, T. (2009) Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy of Nature. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Tilliette, X. (1970) Maurice Merleau-Ponty ou la mesure de l'homme, Seghers, 1970. Varela, F. J., Thompson, E. and Rosch, E. (1991) The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience. Cambridge: MIT Press. External links Maurice Merleau-Ponty at 18 from the French Government website English Translations of Merleau-Ponty's Work Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Maurice Merleau-Ponty by Jack Reynolds Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Maurice Merleau-Ponty by Ted Toadvine The Merleau-Ponty Circle — Association of scholars interested in the works of Merleau-Ponty Maurice Merleau-Ponty page at Mythos & Logos Chiasmi International — Studies Concerning the Thought of Maurice Merleau-Ponty in English, French and Italian O’Loughlin, Marjorie, 1995, "Intelligent Bodies and Ecological Subjectivities: Merleau-Ponty’s Corrective to Postmodernism’s “Subjects” of Education." Popen, Shari, 1995, "Merleau-Ponty Confronts Postmodernism: A Reply to O’Loughlin." Merleau-Ponty: Reckoning with the Possibility of an 'Other.' The Journal of French Philosophy — the online home of the Bulletin de la Société Américaine de Philosophie de Langue Française Online Merleau-Ponty Bibliography at PhilPapers.org 1908 births 1961 deaths 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French philosophers Action theorists Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Collège de France faculty Consciousness researchers and theorists Continental philosophers Cultural critics École Normale Supérieure alumni Ecophenomenologists Enactive cognition Environmental philosophers Epistemologists Existentialists French communists French socialists French humanists French male non-fiction writers French male writers Lycée Carnot teachers Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni Marxist theorists Moral philosophers Ontologists People from Rochefort, Charente-Maritime Phenomenologists Philosophers of art Philosophers of culture Philosophers of education Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of language Philosophers of mind Philosophers of psychology Philosophers of science Philosophy writers Political philosophers Social critics Social philosophers University of Lyon faculty University of Paris faculty French magazine founders	true	[ "In game theory, a repeated game is an extensive form game that consists of a number of repetitions of some base game (called a stage game). The stage game is usually one of the well-studied 2-person games. Repeated games capture the idea that a player will have to take into account the impact of his or her current action on the future actions of other players; this impact is sometimes called his or her reputation. Single stage game or single shot game are names for non-repeated games.\n\nFor the real-life example of a repeated game, consider two gas stations that are adjacent to one another. They compete by publicly posting pricing and have the same and constant marginal cost c (the wholesale price of gasoline). Assume that when they both charge p = 10, their joint profit is maximized, resulting in a high profit for everyone. Despite the fact that this is the best outcome for them, they are motivated to deviate. By modestly lowering the price, anyone can steal all of their competitors' consumers, doubling their revenues (nearly). P = c, where their profit is zero, is the only price without this profit deviation. In other words, in the pricing competition game, the only Nash equilibrium is inefficient (for gas stations) that both charge p = c. This is more of a rule than an exception: in a staged game, the Nash equilibrium is the only result that an agent can consistently acquire in an interaction, and it is usually inefficient for them. This is because the agents are just concerned with their own personal interests and are unconcerned about the benefits or costs that their actions bring to competitors. On the other hand, gas stations make a profit even if there is another gas station adjacent. One of the most crucial reasons is that their interaction is not one-off. This condition is portrayed by repeated games, in which two gas stations compete for pricing (stage games) across an indefinite time range t = 0, 1, 2,....\n\nFinitely vs infinitely repeated games\n\nRepeated games may be broadly divided into two classes, finite and infinite, depending on how long the game is being played for. \n\n Finite games are those in which both players know that the game is being played a specific (and finite) number of rounds, and that the game ends for certain after that many rounds have been played. In general, finite games can be solved by backwards induction.\n Infinite games are those in which the game is being played an infinite number of times. A game with an infinite number of rounds is also equivalent (in terms of strategies to play) to a game in which the players in the game do not know for how many rounds the game is being played. Infinite games (or games that are being repeated an unknown number of times) cannot be solved by backwards induction as there is no \"last round\" to start the backwards induction from.\n\nEven if the game being played in each round is identical, repeating that game a finite or an infinite number of times can, in general, lead to very different outcomes (equilibria), as well as very different optimal strategies.\n\nInfinitely repeated games\n\nThe most widely studied repeated games are games that are repeated an infinite number of times. In iterated prisoner's dilemma games, it is found that the preferred strategy is not to play a Nash strategy of the stage game, but to cooperate and play a socially optimum strategy. An essential part of strategies in infinitely repeated game is punishing players who deviate from this cooperative strategy. The punishment may be playing a strategy which leads to reduced payoff to both players for the rest of the game (called a trigger strategy). A player may normally choose to act selfishly to increase their own reward rather than play the socially optimum strategy. However, if it is known that the other player is following a trigger strategy, then the player expects to receive reduced payoffs in the future if they deviate at this stage. An effective trigger strategy ensures that cooperating has more utility to the player than acting selfishly now and facing the other player's punishment in the future.\n\nThere are many results in theorems which deal with how to achieve and maintain a socially optimal equilibrium in repeated games. These results are collectively called \"Folk Theorems\". An important feature of a repeated game is the way in which a player's preferences may be modeled.\nThere are many different ways in which a preference relation may be modeled in an infinitely repeated game, but two key ones are :\n Limit of means - If the game results in a path of outcomes and player i has the basic-game utility function , player i'''s utility is:\n\nDiscounting - If player i's valuation of the game diminishes with time depending on a discount factor , then player is utility is: \n\nFor sufficiently patient players (e.g. those with high enough values of ), it can be proved that every strategy that has a payoff greater than the minmax payoff can be a Nash equilibrium - a very large set of strategies.\n\nFinitely repeated games\n\nRepeated games allow for the study of the interaction between immediate gains and long-term incentives. A finitely repeated game is a game in which the same one-shot stage game is played repeatedly over a number of discrete time periods, or rounds. Each time period is indexed by 0 < t ≤ T where T is the total number of periods. A player's final payoff is the sum of their payoffs from each round.\n\nFor those repeated games with a fixed and known number of time periods, if the stage game has a unique Nash equilibrium, then the repeated game has a unique subgame perfect Nash equilibrium strategy profile of playing the stage game equilibrium in each round. This can be deduced through backward induction. The unique stage game Nash equilibrium must be played in the last round regardless of what happened in earlier rounds. Knowing this, players have no incentive to deviate from the unique stage game Nash equilibrium in the second-to-last round, and so on this logic is applied back to the first round of the game. This ‘unraveling’ of a game from its endpoint can be observed in the Chainstore paradox.\n\nIf the stage game has more than one Nash equilibrium, the repeated game may have multiple subgame perfect Nash equilibria. While a Nash equilibrium must be played in the last round, the presence of multiple equilibria introduces the possibility of reward and punishment strategies that can be used to support deviation from stage game Nash equilibria in earlier rounds.\n\nFinitely repeated games with an unknown or indeterminate number of time periods, on the other hand, are regarded as if they were an infinitely repeated game. It is not possible to apply backward induction to these games.\n\n Examples of cooperation in finitely repeated games \n\nExample 1: Two-Stage Repeated Game with Multiple Nash EquilibriaExample 1 shows a two-stage repeated game with multiple pure strategy Nash equilibria. Because these equilibria differ markedly in terms of payoffs for Player 2, Player 1 can propose a strategy over multiple stages of the game that incorporates the possibility for punishment or reward for Player 2. For example, Player 1 might propose that they play (A, X) in the first round. If Player 2 complies in round one, Player 1 will reward them by playing the equilibrium (A, Z) in round two, yielding a total payoff over two rounds of (7, 9).\n\nIf Player 2 deviates to (A, Z) in round one instead of playing the agreed-upon (A, X), Player 1 can threaten to punish them by playing the (B, Y) equilibrium in round two. This latter situation yields payoff (5, 7), leaving both players worse off.\n\nIn this way, the threat of punishment in a future round incentivizes a collaborative, non-equilibrium strategy in the first round. Because the final round of any finitely repeated game, by its very nature, removes the threat of future punishment, the optimal strategy in the last round will always be one of the game's equilibria. It is the payoff differential between equilibria in the game represented in Example 1 that makes a punishment/reward strategy viable (for more on the influence of punishment and reward on game strategy, see 'Public Goods Game with Punishment and for Reward').\n\nExample 2: Two-Stage Repeated Game with Unique Nash EquilibriumExample 2' shows a two-stage repeated game with a unique Nash equilibrium. Because there is only one equilibrium here, there is no mechanism for either player to threaten punishment or promise reward in the game's second round. As such, the only strategy that can be supported as a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium is that of playing the game's unique Nash equilibrium strategy (D, N) every round. In this case, that means playing (D, N) each stage for two stages (n=2), but it would be true for any finite number of stages n''. To interpret: this result means that the very presence of a known, finite time horizon sabotages cooperation in every single round of the game. Cooperation in iterated games is only possible when the number of rounds is infinite or unknown.\n\nSolving repeated games\n\nIn general, repeated games are easily solved using strategies provided by folk theorems. Complex repeated games can be solved using various techniques most of which rely heavily on linear algebra and the concepts expressed in fictitious play.\nIt may be deducted that you can determine the characterization of equilibrium payoffs in infinitely repeated games. Through alternation between two payoffs, say a and f, the average payoff profile may be a weighted average between a and f.\n\nIncomplete information\nRepeated games can include incomplete information. Repeated games with incomplete information were pioneered by Aumann and Maschler. While it is easier to treat a situation where one player is informed and the other not, and when information received by each player is independent, it is possible to deal with zero-sum games with incomplete information on both sides and signals that are not independent.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nGame-Theoretic Solution to Poker Using Fictitious Play\nGame Theory notes on Repeated games\non Repeated Games and the Chainstore Paradox\n\nGame theory game classes", "Arcanum joviale, in pre-modern medicine, is a preparation made of an amalgam of mercury and tin, digested in spirit of nitre. The nitre being drawn off, the remaining matter is wetted with spirit of wine, and the spirit burnt away. This is repeated several times till the pungent taste is gone. What remains was used much with the same intentions as antihecticum poterii, and was recommended by some as a sudorific.\n\nReferences\n\nAlchemical substances\nTraditional medicine" ]
[ "Maurice Merleau-Ponty", "Art", "Did he create art?", "Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression.", "What are the distinctions between them?", "sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language", "What is repeated?", "distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression." ]	C_ab5979e60f144e2d9121eb1b0a2f4bc1_0	What are these modes of expression?	4	What are primary and secondary modes of expression?	Maurice Merleau-Ponty	Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression. This distinction appears in Phenomenology of Perception (p. 207, 2nd note [Fr. ed.]) and is sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language (le langage parle et le langage parlant) (The Prose of the World, p. 10). Spoken language (le langage parle), or secondary expression, returns to our linguistic baggage, to the cultural heritage that we have acquired, as well as the brute mass of relationships between signs and significations. Speaking language (le langage parlant), or primary expression, such as it is, is language in the production of a sense, language at the advent of a thought, at the moment where it makes itself an advent of sense. It is speaking language, that is to say, primary expression, that interests Merleau-Ponty and which keeps his attention through his treatment of the nature of production and the reception of expressions, a subject which also overlaps with an analysis of action, of intentionality, of perception, as well as the links between freedom and external conditions. The notion of style occupies an important place in "Indirect Language and the Voices of Silence". In spite of certain similarities with Andre Malraux, Merleau-Ponty distinguishes himself from Malraux in respect to three conceptions of style, the last of which is employed in Malraux's The Voices of Silence. Merleau-Ponty remarks that in this work "style" is sometimes used by Malraux in a highly subjective sense, understood as a projection of the artist's individuality. Sometimes it is used, on the contrary, in a very metaphysical sense (in Merleau-Ponty's opinion, a mystical sense), in which style is connected with a conception of an "uber-artist" expressing "the Spirit of Painting". Finally, it sometimes is reduced to simply designating a categorization of an artistic school or movement. (However, this account of Malraux's notion of style--a key element in his thinking--is open to serious question.) For Merleau-Ponty, it is these uses of the notion of style that lead Malraux to postulate a cleavage between the objectivity of Italian Renaissance painting and the subjectivity of painting in his own time, a conclusion that Merleau-Ponty disputes. According to Merleau-Ponty, it is important to consider the heart of this problematic, by recognizing that style is first of all a demand owed to the primacy of perception, which also implies taking into consideration the dimensions of historicity and intersubjectivity. (However, Merleau-Ponty's reading of Malraux has been questioned in a recent major study of Malraux's theory of art which argues that Merleau-Ponty seriously misunderstood Malraux.) For Merleau-Ponty, style is born of the interaction between two or more fields of being. Rather than being exclusive to individual human consciousness, consciousness is born of the pre-conscious style of the world, of Nature. CANNOTANSWER	CANNOTANSWER	Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty (; 14 March 1908 – 3 May 1961) was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The constitution of meaning in human experience was his main interest and he wrote on perception, art, politics, religion, biology, psychology, psychoanalysis, language, nature, and history. He was the lead editor of Les Temps modernes, the leftist magazine he established with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir in 1945. At the core of Merleau-Ponty's philosophy is a sustained argument for the foundational role perception plays in our experience of the world. Merleau-Ponty understands perception to be an ongoing dialogue between one's lived body and the world which it perceives, in which perceivers passively and actively strive to express the perceived world in concert with others. He was the only major phenomenologist of the first half of the twentieth century to engage extensively with the sciences and especially with Gestalt psychology. It is through this engagement that his writings became influential in the project of naturalizing phenomenology, in which phenomenologists use the results of psychology and cognitive science. Merleau-Ponty emphasized the body as the primary site of knowing the world, a corrective to the long philosophical tradition of placing consciousness as the source of knowledge, and maintained that the body and that which it perceived could not be disentangled from each other. The articulation of the primacy of embodiment (corporéité) led him away from phenomenology towards what he was to call “indirect ontology” or the ontology of “the flesh of the world” (la chair du monde), seen in his final and incomplete work, The Visible and Invisible, and his last published essay, “Eye and Mind”. Merleau-Ponty engaged with Marxism throughout his career. His 1947 book, Humanism and Terror, has been widely (mis)understood as a defence of the Soviet show trials. In fact, this text avoids the definitive endorsement of a view on the Soviet Union, but instead engages with the Marxist theory of history as a critique of liberalism, in order to reveal an unresolved antinomy in modern politics, between humanism and terror: if human values can only be achieved through violent force, and if liberal ideas hide illiberal realities, how is just political action to be decided? Merleau-Ponty maintained an engaged though critical relationship to the Marxist left until the end of his life, particularly during his time as the political editor of the journal Les Temps Modernes. Life Maurice Merleau-Ponty was born in 1908 in Rochefort-sur-Mer, Charente-Inférieure (now Charente-Maritime), France. His father died in 1913 when Merleau-Ponty was five years old. After secondary schooling at the lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, Merleau-Ponty became a student at the École Normale Supérieure, where he studied alongside Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Simone Weil, Jean Hyppolite, and Jean Wahl. As Beauvoir recounts in her autobiography, she developed a close friendship with Merleau-Ponty and became smitten with him, but ultimately found him too well-adjusted to bourgeois life and values for her taste. He attended Edmund Husserl's "Paris Lectures" in February 1929. In 1929, Merleau-Ponty received his DES degree (, roughly equivalent to an MA thesis) from the University of Paris, on the basis of the (now-lost) thesis La Notion de multiple intelligible chez Plotin ("Plotinus's Notion of the Intelligible Many"), directed by Émile Bréhier. He passed the agrégation in philosophy in 1930. Merleau-Ponty was raised as a Catholic. He was friends with the Christian existentialist Gabriel Marcel, and he wrote articles for the Christian leftist journal Esprit, but he left the Church in 1937 because he felt his socialist politics were not compatible with the social and political teaching of the Catholic Church. An article published in French newspaper Le Monde in October 2014 makes the case of recent discoveries about Merleau-Ponty's likely authorship of the novel Nord. Récit de l'arctique (Grasset, 1928). Convergent sources from close friends (Beauvoir, Elisabeth "Zaza" Lacoin) seem to leave little doubt that Jacques Heller was a pseudonym of the 20-year-old Merleau-Ponty. Merleau-Ponty taught first at the Lycée de Beauvais (1931–33) and then got a fellowship to do research from the . From 1934 to 1935 he taught at the Lycée de Chartres. He then in 1935 became a tutor at the École Normale Supérieure, where he tutored a young Michel Foucault and Trần Đức Thảo and was awarded his doctorate on the basis of two important books: La structure du comportement (1942) and Phénoménologie de la Perception (1945). During this time, he attended Alexandre Kojeve's influential seminars on Hegel and Aron Gurwitsch's lectures on Gestalt psychology. In the spring of 1939, he was the first foreign visitor to the newly established Husserl Archives, where he consulted Husserl's unpublished manuscripts and met Eugen Fink and Father Hermann Van Breda. In the summer of 1939, as France entered war against Germany, he served on the frontlines in the French army, where he was wounded in battle in June 1940. Upon returning to Paris in the fall of 1940, he married Suzanne Jolibois, a Lacanian psychoanalyst, and founded an underground resistance group with Jean-Paul Sartre called "Under the Boot". He participated in an armed demonstration against the Nazis during the Liberation of Paris. After teaching at the University of Lyon from 1945 to 1948, Merleau-Ponty lectured on child psychology and education at the Sorbonne from 1949 to 1952. He was awarded the Chair of Philosophy at the Collège de France from 1952 until his death in 1961, making him the youngest person to have been elected to a chair. Besides his teaching, Merleau-Ponty was also political editor for the leftist Les Temps modernes from the founding of the journal in October 1945 until December 1952. In his youth he had read Karl Marx's writings and Sartre even claimed that Merleau-Ponty converted him to Marxism. While he was not a member of the French Communist Party and did not identify as a Communist, he laid out an argument justifying the Soviet show trials and violence for progressive ends in general in the work Humanism and Terror in 1947. However, about three years later, he renounced his earlier support for political violence, and he rejected Marxism and advocated a liberal left position in Adventures of the Dialectic (1955). His friendship with Sartre and work with Les Temps modernes ended because of that, since Sartre still had a more favourable attitude towards Soviet communism. Merleau-Ponty was subsequently active in the French non-communist left and in particular in the Union of the Democratic Forces. Merleau-Ponty died suddenly of a stroke in 1961 at age 53, apparently while preparing for a class on René Descartes, leaving an unfinished manuscript which was posthumously published in 1964, along with a selection of Merleau-Ponty's working notes, by Claude Lefort as The Visible and the Invisible. He is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris with his mother Louise, his wife Suzanne and their daughter Marianne. Thought Consciousness In his Phenomenology of Perception (first published in French in 1945), Merleau-Ponty develops the concept of the body-subject (le corps propre) as an alternative to the Cartesian "cogito". This distinction is especially important in that Merleau-Ponty perceives the essences of the world existentially. Consciousness, the world, and the human body as a perceiving thing are intricately intertwined and mutually "engaged". The phenomenal thing is not the unchanging object of the natural sciences, but a correlate of our body and its sensory-motor functions. Taking up and "communing with" (Merleau-Ponty's phrase) the sensible qualities it encounters, the body as incarnated subjectivity intentionally elaborates things within an ever-present world frame, through use of its pre-conscious, pre-predicative understanding of the world's makeup. The elaboration, however, is "inexhaustible" (the hallmark of any perception according to Merleau-Ponty). Things are that upon which our body has a "grip" (prise), while the grip itself is a function of our connaturality with the world's things. The world and the sense of self are emergent phenomena in an ongoing "becoming". The essential partiality of our view of things, their being given only in a certain perspective and at a certain moment in time does not diminish their reality, but on the contrary establishes it, as there is no other way for things to be copresent with us and with other things than through such "Abschattungen" (sketches, faint outlines, adumbrations). The thing transcends our view, but is manifest precisely by presenting itself to a range of possible views. The object of perception is immanently tied to its background—to the nexus of meaningful relations among objects within the world. Because the object is inextricably within the world of meaningful relations, each object reflects the other (much in the style of Leibniz's monads). Through involvement in the world – being-in-the-world – the perceiver tacitly experiences all the perspectives upon that object coming from all the surrounding things of its environment, as well as the potential perspectives that that object has upon the beings around it. Each object is a "mirror of all others". Our perception of the object through all perspectives is not that of a propositional, or clearly delineated, perception; rather, it is an ambiguous perception founded upon the body's primordial involvement and understanding of the world and of the meanings that constitute the landscape's perceptual Gestalt. Only after we have been integrated within the environment so as to perceive objects as such can we turn our attention toward particular objects within the landscape so as to define them more clearly. This attention, however, does not operate by clarifying what is already seen, but by constructing a new Gestalt oriented toward a particular object. Because our bodily involvement with things is always provisional and indeterminate, we encounter meaningful things in a unified though ever open-ended world. The primacy of perception From the time of writing Structure of Behavior and Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty wanted to show, in opposition to the idea that drove the tradition beginning with John Locke, that perception was not the causal product of atomic sensations. This atomist-causal conception was being perpetuated in certain psychological currents of the time, particularly in behaviourism. According to Merleau-Ponty, perception has an active dimension, in that it is a primordial openness to the lifeworld (the "Lebenswelt"). This primordial openness is at the heart of his thesis of the primacy of perception. The slogan of Husserl's phenomenology is "all consciousness is consciousness of something", which implies a distinction between "acts of thought" (the noesis) and "intentional objects of thought" (the noema). Thus, the correlation between noesis and noema becomes the first step in the constitution of analyses of consciousness. However, in studying the posthumous manuscripts of Husserl, who remained one of his major influences, Merleau-Ponty remarked that, in their evolution, Husserl's work brings to light phenomena which are not assimilable to noesis–noema correlation. This is particularly the case when one attends to the phenomena of the body (which is at once body-subject and body-object), subjective time (the consciousness of time is neither an act of consciousness nor an object of thought) and the other (the first considerations of the other in Husserl led to solipsism). The distinction between "acts of thought" (noesis) and "intentional objects of thought" (noema) does not seem, therefore, to constitute an irreducible ground. It appears rather at a higher level of analysis. Thus, Merleau-Ponty does not postulate that "all consciousness is consciousness of something", which supposes at the outset a noetic-noematic ground. Instead, he develops the thesis according to which "all consciousness is perceptual consciousness". In doing so, he establishes a significant turn in the development of phenomenology, indicating that its conceptualisations should be re-examined in the light of the primacy of perception, in weighing up the philosophical consequences of this thesis. Corporeity Taking the study of perception as his point of departure, Merleau-Ponty was led to recognize that one's own body (le corps propre) is not only a thing, a potential object of study for science, but is also a permanent condition of experience, a constituent of the perceptual openness to the world. He therefore underlines the fact that there is an inherence of consciousness and of the body of which the analysis of perception should take account. The primacy of perception signifies a primacy of experience, so to speak, insofar as perception becomes an active and constitutive dimension. Merleau-Ponty demonstrates a corporeity of consciousness as much as an intentionality of the body, and so stands in contrast with the dualist ontology of mind and body in Descartes, a philosopher to whom Merleau-Ponty continually returned, despite the important differences that separate them. In the Phenomenology of Perception Merleau-Ponty wrote: “Insofar as I have hands, feet, a body, I sustain around me intentions which are not dependent on my decisions and which affect my surroundings in a way that I do not choose” (1962, p. 440). Spatiality The question concerning corporeity connects also with Merleau-Ponty's reflections on space (l'espace) and the primacy of the dimension of depth (la profondeur) as implied in the notion of being in the world (être au monde; to echo Heidegger's In-der-Welt-sein) and of one's own body (le corps propre). Reflections on spatiality in phenomenology are also central to the advanced philosophical deliberations in architectural theory. Language The highlighting of the fact that corporeity intrinsically has a dimension of expressivity which proves to be fundamental to the constitution of the ego is one of the conclusions of The Structure of Behavior that is constantly reiterated in Merleau-Ponty's later works. Following this theme of expressivity, he goes on to examine how an incarnate subject is in a position to undertake actions that transcend the organic level of the body, such as in intellectual operations and the products of one's cultural life. He carefully considers language, then, as the core of culture, by examining in particular the connections between the unfolding of thought and sense—enriching his perspective not only by an analysis of the acquisition of language and the expressivity of the body, but also by taking into account pathologies of language, painting, cinema, literature, poetry and song. This work deals mainly with language, beginning with the reflection on artistic expression in The Structure of Behavior—which contains a passage on El Greco (p. 203ff) that prefigures the remarks that he develops in "Cézanne's Doubt" (1945) and follows the discussion in Phenomenology of Perception. The work, undertaken while serving as the Chair of Child Psychology and Pedagogy at the University of the Sorbonne, is not a departure from his philosophical and phenomenological works, but rather an important continuation in the development of his thought. As the course outlines of his Sorbonne lectures indicate, during this period he continues a dialogue between phenomenology and the diverse work carried out in psychology, all in order to return to the study of the acquisition of language in children, as well as to broadly take advantage of the contribution of Ferdinand de Saussure to linguistics, and to work on the notion of structure through a discussion of work in psychology, linguistics and social anthropology. Art Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression. This distinction appears in Phenomenology of Perception (p. 207, 2nd note [Fr. ed.]) and is sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language () (The Prose of the World, p. 10). Spoken language (), or secondary expression, returns to our linguistic baggage, to the cultural heritage that we have acquired, as well as the brute mass of relationships between signs and significations. Speaking language (), or primary expression, such as it is, is language in the production of a sense, language at the advent of a thought, at the moment where it makes itself an advent of sense. It is speaking language, that is to say, primary expression, that interests Merleau-Ponty and which keeps his attention through his treatment of the nature of production and the reception of expressions, a subject which also overlaps with an analysis of action, of intentionality, of perception, as well as the links between freedom and external conditions. The notion of style occupies an important place in "Indirect Language and the Voices of Silence". In spite of certain similarities with André Malraux, Merleau-Ponty distinguishes himself from Malraux in respect to three conceptions of style, the last of which is employed in Malraux's The Voices of Silence. Merleau-Ponty remarks that in this work "style" is sometimes used by Malraux in a highly subjective sense, understood as a projection of the artist's individuality. Sometimes it is used, on the contrary, in a very metaphysical sense (in Merleau-Ponty's opinion, a mystical sense), in which style is connected with a conception of an "über-artist" expressing "the Spirit of Painting". Finally, it sometimes is reduced to simply designating a categorization of an artistic school or movement. (However, this account of Malraux's notion of style—a key element in his thinking—is open to serious question.) For Merleau-Ponty, it is these uses of the notion of style that lead Malraux to postulate a cleavage between the objectivity of Italian Renaissance painting and the subjectivity of painting in his own time, a conclusion that Merleau-Ponty disputes. According to Merleau-Ponty, it is important to consider the heart of this problematic, by recognizing that style is first of all a demand owed to the primacy of perception, which also implies taking into consideration the dimensions of historicity and intersubjectivity. (However, Merleau-Ponty's reading of Malraux has been questioned in a recent major study of Malraux's theory of art which argues that Merleau-Ponty seriously misunderstood Malraux.) For Merleau-Ponty, style is born of the interaction between two or more fields of being. Rather than being exclusive to individual human consciousness, consciousness is born of the pre-conscious style of the world, of Nature. Science In his essay "Cézanne's Doubt", in which he identifies Paul Cézanne's impressionistic theory of painting as analogous to his own concept of radical reflection, the attempt to return to, and reflect on, prereflective consciousness, Merleau-Ponty identifies science as the opposite of art. In Merleau-Ponty's account, whereas art is an attempt to capture an individual's perception, science is anti-individualistic. In the preface to his Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty presents a phenomenological objection to positivism: that it can tell us nothing about human subjectivity. All that a scientific text can explain is the particular individual experience of that scientist, which cannot be transcended. For Merleau-Ponty, science neglects the depth and profundity of the phenomena that it endeavors to explain. Merleau-Ponty understood science to be an ex post facto abstraction. Causal and physiological accounts of perception, for example, explain perception in terms that are arrived at only after abstracting from the phenomenon itself. Merleau-Ponty chastised science for taking itself to be the area in which a complete account of nature may be given. The subjective depth of phenomena cannot be given in science as it is. This characterizes Merleau-Ponty's attempt to ground science in phenomenological objectivity and, in essence, to institute a "return to the phenomena". Influence Anticognitivist cognitive science Merleau-Ponty's critical position with respect to science was stated in his Preface to the Phenomenology: he described scientific points of view as "always both naive and at the same time dishonest". Despite, or perhaps because of, this view, his work influenced and anticipated the strands of modern psychology known as post-cognitivism. Hubert Dreyfus has been instrumental in emphasising the relevance of Merleau-Ponty's work to current post-cognitive research, and its criticism of the traditional view of cognitive science. Dreyfus's seminal critique of cognitivism (or the computational account of the mind), What Computers Can't Do, consciously replays Merleau-Ponty's critique of intellectualist psychology to argue for the irreducibility of corporeal know-how to discrete, syntactic processes. Through the influence of Dreyfus's critique and neurophysiological alternative, Merleau-Ponty became associated with neurophysiological, connectionist accounts of cognition. With the publication in 1991 of The Embodied Mind by Francisco Varela, Evan Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch, this association was extended, if only partially, to another strand of "anti-cognitivist" or post-representationalist cognitive science: embodied or enactive cognitive science, and later in the decade, to neurophenomenology. In addition, Merleau-Ponty's work has also influenced researchers trying to integrate neuroscience with the principles of chaos theory. It was through this relationship with Merleau-Ponty's work that cognitive science's affair with phenomenology was born, which is represented by a growing number of works, including Ron McClamrock's Existential Cognition: Computational Minds in the World (1995), Andy Clark's Being There (1997), Naturalizing Phenomenology edited by Petitot et al. (1999), Alva Noë's Action in Perception (2004), Shaun Gallagher's How the Body Shapes the Mind (2005), Grammont, Franck Dorothée Legrand, and Pierre Livet (eds.) 2010, Naturalizing Intention in Action, MIT Press 2010 . The journal Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. Feminist philosophy Merleau-Ponty has also been picked up by Australian and Nordic philosophers inspired by the French feminist tradition, including Rosalyn Diprose and . Heinämaa has argued for a rereading of Merleau-Ponty's influence on Simone de Beauvoir. (She has also challenged Dreyfus's reading of Merleau-Ponty as behaviorist, and as neglecting the importance of the phenomenological reduction to Merleau-Ponty's thought.) Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of the body has also been taken up by Iris Young in her essay "Throwing Like a Girl," and its follow-up, "'Throwing Like a Girl': Twenty Years Later". Young analyzes the particular modalities of feminine bodily comportment as they differ from that of men. Young observes that while a man who throws a ball puts his whole body into the motion, a woman throwing a ball generally restricts her own movements as she makes them, and that, generally, in sports, women move in a more tentative, reactive way. Merleau-Ponty argues that we experience the world in terms of the "I can" – that is, oriented towards certain projects based on our capacity and habituality. Young's thesis is that in women, this intentionality is inhibited and ambivalent, rather than confident, experienced as an "I cannot". Ecophenomenology Ecophenomenology can be described as the pursuit of the relationalities of worldly engagement, both human and those of other creatures (Brown & Toadvine 2003). This engagement is situated in a kind of middle ground of relationality, a space that is neither purely objective, because it is reciprocally constituted by a diversity of lived experiences motivating the movements of countless organisms, nor purely subjective, because it is nonetheless a field of material relationships between bodies. It is governed exclusively neither by causality, nor by intentionality. In this space of in-betweenness, phenomenology can overcome its inaugural opposition to naturalism. David Abram explains Merleau-Ponty's concept of "flesh" (chair) as "the mysterious tissue or matrix that underlies and gives rise to both the perceiver and the perceived as interdependent aspects of its spontaneous activity", and he identifies this elemental matrix with the interdependent web of earthly life. This concept unites subject and object dialectically as determinations within a more primordial reality, which Merleau-Ponty calls "the flesh" and which Abram refers to variously as "the animate earth", "the breathing biosphere" or "the more-than-human natural world". Yet this is not nature or the biosphere conceived as a complex set of objects and objective processes, but rather "the biosphere as it is experienced and lived from within by the intelligent body — by the attentive human animal who is entirely a part of the world that he or she experiences. Merleau-Ponty's ecophenemonology with its emphasis on holistic dialog within the larger-than-human world also has implications for the ontogenesis and phylogenesis of language; indeed he states that "language is the very voice of the trees, the waves and the forest". Merleau-Ponty himself refers to "that primordial being which is not yet the subject-being nor the object-being and which in every respect baffles reflection. From this primordial being to us, there is no derivation, nor any break..." Among the many working notes found on his desk at the time of his death, and published with the half-complete manuscript of The Visible and the Invisible, several make it evident that Merleau-Ponty himself recognized a deep affinity between his notion of a primordial "flesh" and a radically transformed understanding of "nature". Hence, in November 1960 he writes: "Do a psychoanalysis of Nature: it is the flesh, the mother." And in the last published working note, written in March 1961, he writes: "Nature as the other side of humanity (as flesh, nowise as 'matter')." This resonates with the conception of space, place, dwelling, and embodiment (in the flesh and physical, vs. virtual and cybernetic), especially as they are addressed against the background of the unfolding of the essence of modern technology. Such analytics figure in a Heideggerian take on “econtology” as an extension of Heidegger's consideration of the question of being (Seinsfrage) by way of the fourfold (Das Geviert) of earth-sky-mortals-divinities (Erde und Himmel, Sterblichen und Göttlichen). In this strand of “ecophenomenology”, ecology is co-entangled with ontology, whereby the worldly existential analytics are grounded in earthiness, and environmentalism is orientated by ontological thinking. Bibliography The following table gives a selection of Merleau-Ponty's works in French and English translation. See also Gestalt psychology Process philosophy Embodied cognition Enactivism Difference (philosophy) Virtuality (philosophy) Field (physics) Hylomorphism Autopoiesis Emergence Umwelt Habit Body schema Affordance Perspectivism Reflexivity Invagination (philosophy) Incarnation Notes References Abram, D. (1988). "Merleau-Ponty and the Voice of the Earth" Environmental Ethics 10, no. 2 (Summer 1988): 101–20. Alloa, E. (2017) Resistance of the Sensible World. An Introduction to Merleau-Ponty, New York: Fordham University Press. Alloa,E., F. Chouraqui & R. Kaushik, (2019) (eds.) Merleau-Ponty and Contemporary Philosophy, Albany: SUNY Press. Barbaras, R. (2004) The Being of the Phenomenon. Merleau-Ponty's Ontology Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Carbone, M. (2004) The Thinking of the Sensible. Merleau-Ponty's A-Philosophy, Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Clark, A. (1997) Being There: Putting Brain, Body, and World Together Again. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Dillon, M. C. (1997) Merleau-Ponty's Ontology. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Gallagher, S. (2003) How the Body Shapes the Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Guilherme, Alexandre and Morgan, W. John, 'Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961)-dialogue as being present to the other'. Chapter 6 in Philosophy, Dialogue, and Education: Nine modern European philosophers, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 89–108, . Johnson, G., Smith, M. B. (eds.) (1993) The Merleau-Ponty Aesthetics Reader: Philosophy and Painting, Chicago: Northwestern UP 1993. Landes, D. (2013) Merleau-Ponty and the Paradoxes of Expression, New York-London: Bloomsbury. Lawlor, L., Evans, F. (eds.) (2000) Chiasms: Merleau-Ponty's Notion of Flesh, Albany: SUNY Press. Petitot, J., Varela, F., Pachoud, B. and Roy, J-M. (eds.) (1999) Naturalizing Phenomenology: Issues in Contemporary Phenomenology and Cognitive Science. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Toadvine, T. (2009) Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy of Nature. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Tilliette, X. (1970) Maurice Merleau-Ponty ou la mesure de l'homme, Seghers, 1970. Varela, F. J., Thompson, E. and Rosch, E. (1991) The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience. Cambridge: MIT Press. External links Maurice Merleau-Ponty at 18 from the French Government website English Translations of Merleau-Ponty's Work Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Maurice Merleau-Ponty by Jack Reynolds Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Maurice Merleau-Ponty by Ted Toadvine The Merleau-Ponty Circle — Association of scholars interested in the works of Merleau-Ponty Maurice Merleau-Ponty page at Mythos & Logos Chiasmi International — Studies Concerning the Thought of Maurice Merleau-Ponty in English, French and Italian O’Loughlin, Marjorie, 1995, "Intelligent Bodies and Ecological Subjectivities: Merleau-Ponty’s Corrective to Postmodernism’s “Subjects” of Education." Popen, Shari, 1995, "Merleau-Ponty Confronts Postmodernism: A Reply to O’Loughlin." Merleau-Ponty: Reckoning with the Possibility of an 'Other.' The Journal of French Philosophy — the online home of the Bulletin de la Société Américaine de Philosophie de Langue Française Online Merleau-Ponty Bibliography at PhilPapers.org 1908 births 1961 deaths 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French philosophers Action theorists Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Collège de France faculty Consciousness researchers and theorists Continental philosophers Cultural critics École Normale Supérieure alumni Ecophenomenologists Enactive cognition Environmental philosophers Epistemologists Existentialists French communists French socialists French humanists French male non-fiction writers French male writers Lycée Carnot teachers Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni Marxist theorists Moral philosophers Ontologists People from Rochefort, Charente-Maritime Phenomenologists Philosophers of art Philosophers of culture Philosophers of education Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of language Philosophers of mind Philosophers of psychology Philosophers of science Philosophy writers Political philosophers Social critics Social philosophers University of Lyon faculty University of Paris faculty French magazine founders	false	[ "Coronal seismology is a technique of studying the plasma of the Sun's corona with the use of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves and oscillations. Magnetohydrodynamics studies the dynamics of electrically conducting fluids - in this case the fluid is the coronal plasma. Observed properties of the waves (e.g. period, wavelength, amplitude, temporal and spatial signatures (what is the shape of the wave perturbation?), characteristic scenarios of the wave evolution (is the wave damped?), combined with a theoretical modelling of the wave phenomena (dispersion relations, evolutionary equations, etc.), may reflect physical parameters of the corona which are not accessible in situ, such as the coronal magnetic field strength and Alfvén velocity \n and coronal dissipative coefficients. Originally, the method of MHD coronal seismology was suggested by Y. Uchida in 1970 for propagating waves, and B. Roberts et al. in 1984 for standing waves, but was not practically applied until the late 90s due to a lack of necessary observational resolution.\nPhilosophically, coronal seismology is similar to the Earth's seismology, helioseismology, and MHD spectroscopy of laboratory plasma devices. In all these approaches, waves of various kind are used to probe a medium.\n\nThe theoretical foundation of coronal seismology is the dispersion relation of MHD modes of a plasma cylinder: a plasma structure which is nonuniform in the transverse direction and extended along the magnetic field. This model works well for the description of a number of plasma structures observed in the solar corona: e.g. coronal loops, prominence fibrils, plumes, various filaments. Such a structure acts as a waveguide of MHD waves.\n\nThis discussion is adapted from Nakariakov & Verwichte (2009).\n\nModes\nThere are several distinct kinds of MHD modes which have quite different dispersive, polarisation, and propagation properties.\n\nKink modes\nKink (or transverse) modes, which are oblique fast magnetoacoustic (also known as magnetosonic waves) guided by the plasma structure; the mode causes the displacement of the axis of the plasma structure. These modes are weakly compressible, but could nevertheless be observed with imaging instruments as periodic standing or propagating displacements of coronal structures, e.g. coronal loops. The frequency of transverse or \"kink\" modes is given by the following expression:\n\nFor kink modes the parameter the azimuthal wave number in a cylindrical model of a loop, is equal to 1, meaning that the cylinder is swaying with fixed ends.\n\nSausage modes\nSausage modes, which are also oblique fast magnetoacoustic waves guided by the plasma structure; the mode causes expansions and contractions of the plasma structure, but does not displace its axis. These modes are compressible and cause significant variation of the absolute value of the magnetic field in the oscillating structure. The frequency of sausage modes is given by the following expression:\n\nFor sausage modes the parameter is equal to 0; this would be interpreted as a \"breathing\" in and out, again with fixed endpoints.\n\nLongitudinal modes\nLongitudinal (or slow, or acoustic) modes, which are slow magnetoacoustic waves propagating mainly along the magnetic field in the plasma structure; these mode are essentially compressible. The magnetic field perturbation in these modes is negligible. The frequency of slow modes is given by the following expression:\n\nWhere we define as the sound speed and as the Alfvén velocity.\n\nTorsional modes\nTorsional (Alfvén or twist) modes are incompressible transverse perturbations of the magnetic field along certain individual magnetic surfaces. In contrast with kink modes, torsional modes cannot be observed with imaging instruments, as they do not cause the displacement of either the structure axis or its boundary.\n\nObservations\n\nWave and oscillatory phenomena are observed in the hot plasma of the corona mainly in EUV, optical and microwave bands with a number of spaceborne and ground-based instruments, e.g. the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE), the Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH, see the Nobeyama radio observatory). Phenomenologically, researchers distinguish between compressible waves in polar plumes and in legs of large coronal loops, flare-generated transverse oscillations of loops, acoustic oscillations of loops, propagating kink waves in loops and in structures above arcades (an arcade being a close collection of loops in a cylindrical structure, see image to right), sausage oscillations of flaring loops, and oscillations of prominences and fibrils (see solar prominence), and this list is continuously updated.\n\nCoronal seismology is one of the aims of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) mission.\n\nA mission to send a spacecraft as close as 9 solar radii from the sun, Parker Solar Probe, was launched in 2018 with aims to provide in-situ measurements of the solar magnetic field, solar wind and corona. It includes a magnetometer and plasma wave sensor, allowing unprecedented observations for coronal seismology.\n\nConclusions\nThe potential of coronal seismology in the estimation of the coronal magnetic field, density scale height, \"fine structure\" (by which is meant the variation in structure of an inhomogeneous structure such as an inhomogeneous coronal loop) and heating has been demonstrated by different research groups. Work relating to the coronal magnetic field was mentioned earlier.\nIt has been shown that sufficiently broadband slow magnetoacoustic waves, consistent with currently available observations in the low frequency part of the spectrum, could provide the rate of heat deposition sufficient to heat a coronal loop.\n Regarding the density scale height, transverse oscillations of coronal loops that have both variable circular cross-sectional area and plasma density in the longitudinal direction have been studied theoretically. A second order ordinary differential equation has been derived describing the displacement of the loop axis. Together with boundary conditions, solving this equation determines the eigenfrequencies and eigenmodes. The coronal density scale height could then be estimated by using the observed ratio of the fundamental frequency and first overtone of loop kink oscillations. Little is known of coronal fine structure. Doppler shift oscillations in hot active region loops obtained with the Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation instrument (SUMER) aboard SOHO have been studied. The spectra were recorded along a 300 arcsec slit placed at a fixed position in the corona above the active regions. Some oscillations showed phase propagation along the slit in one or both directions with apparent speeds in the range of 8–102 km per second, together with distinctly different intensity and line width distributions along the slit. These features can be explained by the excitation of the oscillation at a footpoint of an inhomogeneous coronal loop, e.g. a loop with fine structure.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nRoberts, B., Nakariakov, V.M., \"Coronal seismology – a new science\", Frontiers 15, 2003\nVerwichte, E., Plasma diagnostics using MHD waves\nStepanov, A.V., Zaitsev, V.V. and Nakariakov, V.M., \"Coronal Seismology\" Wiley-VCH 2012 \n\nSun\nSolar phenomena\nSpace plasmas\nPlasma physics\nWaves in plasmas", "A fiction-writing mode is a manner of writing with its own set of conventions regarding how, when, and where it should be used.\n\nFiction is a form of narrative, one of the four rhetorical modes of discourse. Fiction-writing also has distinct forms of expression, or modes, each with its own purposes and conventions. Currently, there is no consensus within the writing community regarding the number and composition of fiction-writing modes and their uses. Some writing modes suggested include action, dialogue, thoughts, summary, scene, description, background, exposition and transition.\n\nOverview\nThe concept goes back at least as far as Aristotle who, in Poetics, referred to narration and action as different modes or manner of representing something. For many years, fiction writing was described as having two types: narration and dialogue. Evan Marshall, in The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing (1998) noted that writers should know what they are doing at all times. He described what he called fiction-writing modes—the types of writing of which all fiction is made. He listed five modes: action, summary, dialogue, feelings/thoughts, and background, each with its own set of conventions regarding how, when, and where it should be used.\n\nJessica Page Morrell, in Between the Lines: Master the Subtle Elements of Fiction Writing (2006), mentioned six delivery modes: action, exposition, description, dialogue, summary, and transition.\nPeter Selgin, in By Cunning and Craft: Sound Advice and Practical Wisdom for Fiction Writers (2007), mentioned five writing methods: action, dialogue, thoughts, summary, and description.\nMike Klaassen, in Fiction-Writing Modes: Eleven Essential Tools for Bringing Your Story to Life (2015), addressed eleven modes: action, summarization, narration, description, exposition, transition, conversation (dialogue), sensation, introspection, emotion, and recollection.\n\nNarration\n\nIn Poetics, Aristotle mentions narration as a mode, or manner of representing something. As a fiction-writing mode, narration is how the narrator communicates directly to the reader. This contrasts with the use of the term \"narration\" as a rhetorical mode of discourse, where it has a broader meaning which encompasses all written fiction.\n\nDescription\nDescription is the fiction-writing mode for transmitting a mental image of the particulars of a story. Together with dialogue, narration, exposition, and summarization, description is one of the most widely recognized of the fiction-writing modes. Description is more than the amassing of details, it is bringing a scene to life by carefully choosing and arranging words and phrases to produce the desired effect.\n\nExposition\n\nBroadly defined, exposition is one of four rhetorical modes of discourse. Within the context of fiction-writing modes, exposition is used to convey information. Exposition may be used to add drama to a story, but too much exposition at one time may slow the pace of the story.\n\nSummarization\nSummarization, or narrative summary, condenses events to convey, rather than to show, what happens within a story. The \"tell\" in the axiom \"Show, don't tell\" is often in the form of summarization. Summarization may be used to:\n\n connect parts of a story\n report details of less important events\n skip events that are irrelevant to the plot\n convey an emotional state over an extended period of time\n vary the rhythm and texture of the writing\n\nThe main advantage of summary is that it takes up less space than other fiction-writing modes. Effective use of summarization requires a balance between showing and telling, action and summary, with rhythm, pace and tone playing a role.\n\nIntrospection\n\nIntrospection (also referred to as internal dialogue, interior monologue, or self-talk) is the fiction-writing mode used to convey the thoughts of a character, allowing the expression of normally unexpressed thoughts. Introspection may also be used to:\n enhance a story by allowing the character's thoughts to deepen characterisation\n increase tension\n widen the scope of a story \n play a critical role in both scene and sequel\n\nRecollection\nRecollection is the fiction-writing mode whereby a character remembers a detail or event. It plays a vital role in conveying backstory by allowing writers to convey information from earlier in the story or from before the beginning of the story. Although recollection is not widely recognized as a distinct mode of fiction-writing, it is a common tool. Recollection could be considered a subset of introspection, but its role in developing backstory separates it from the other thoughts of a character. Effective presentation of recollection has its own unique issues and challenges. For example, timing a recollection to avoid implausible-seeming memories (such as when a character must make a key decision) can be difficult, and should be prompted by a recent plot event.\n\nSensation\nSensation is used to portray a character's perceptions. It can help draw the reader in by conveying the actual sensations of things comprising the story, breathing life into its physical world. Since the reader has experienced only a portion of the sensations experienced by the character, the author aims to either provoke recall from the reader, or convey the experience, drawing the reader in and maintaining interest in the story.\n\nEmotion\nThe fiction-writing mode of emotion conveys the feelings of the character, and is a vital component of creative writing. Connecting the character to his or her own emotions allows the author to connect with the reader on an emotional level.\n\nAction\nIn Poetics, Aristotle refers to action as a mode, or manner of representing something. Action is the demonstration of events as they are happening in a story, and may help readers feel as if they were participating in the plot.\n\nTransition\nTransitions in fiction are words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or punctuation that may be used to signal various changes in a story, including changes in time, location, point-of-view character, mood, tone, emotion, and pace.\n\nCategories\nFiction-writing modes may be classified into categories of modes with common features. \n Interiority includes modes that reflect the inner workings of the character's mind: introspection, recollection, emotion, and sensation.\n Exteriority includes modes that represent what is outside the character's mind: narration, description, exposition, and transition.\n Dialogue represents a character's speech: conversation.\n Activity includes modes used to portray story events: action and summarization.\n\nSee also\nExposition\nNarrative mode\nScene and sequel\nStyle\nWriting\n\nFootnotes\n\nReferences\n\nAristotle (1996). Poetics. New York, NY: Penguin Books. .\n\nKlaassen, M (2015). Fiction-Writing Modes: Eleven Essential Tools for Bringing Your Story to Life. Pennsauken, NJ: Bookbaby. .\n\nScofield, S (2007). The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer. New York, NY: Penguin Books. .\n\n \nRhetoric\nNarratology" ]
[ "Maurice Merleau-Ponty", "Art", "Did he create art?", "Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression.", "What are the distinctions between them?", "sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language", "What is repeated?", "distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression.", "What are these modes of expression?", "I don't know." ]	C_ab5979e60f144e2d9121eb1b0a2f4bc1_0	Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?	5	Besides Maurice Merleau-Ponty's distinguishing between primary and secondary modes of expression, are there any other interesting aspects about this article?	Maurice Merleau-Ponty	Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression. This distinction appears in Phenomenology of Perception (p. 207, 2nd note [Fr. ed.]) and is sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language (le langage parle et le langage parlant) (The Prose of the World, p. 10). Spoken language (le langage parle), or secondary expression, returns to our linguistic baggage, to the cultural heritage that we have acquired, as well as the brute mass of relationships between signs and significations. Speaking language (le langage parlant), or primary expression, such as it is, is language in the production of a sense, language at the advent of a thought, at the moment where it makes itself an advent of sense. It is speaking language, that is to say, primary expression, that interests Merleau-Ponty and which keeps his attention through his treatment of the nature of production and the reception of expressions, a subject which also overlaps with an analysis of action, of intentionality, of perception, as well as the links between freedom and external conditions. The notion of style occupies an important place in "Indirect Language and the Voices of Silence". In spite of certain similarities with Andre Malraux, Merleau-Ponty distinguishes himself from Malraux in respect to three conceptions of style, the last of which is employed in Malraux's The Voices of Silence. Merleau-Ponty remarks that in this work "style" is sometimes used by Malraux in a highly subjective sense, understood as a projection of the artist's individuality. Sometimes it is used, on the contrary, in a very metaphysical sense (in Merleau-Ponty's opinion, a mystical sense), in which style is connected with a conception of an "uber-artist" expressing "the Spirit of Painting". Finally, it sometimes is reduced to simply designating a categorization of an artistic school or movement. (However, this account of Malraux's notion of style--a key element in his thinking--is open to serious question.) For Merleau-Ponty, it is these uses of the notion of style that lead Malraux to postulate a cleavage between the objectivity of Italian Renaissance painting and the subjectivity of painting in his own time, a conclusion that Merleau-Ponty disputes. According to Merleau-Ponty, it is important to consider the heart of this problematic, by recognizing that style is first of all a demand owed to the primacy of perception, which also implies taking into consideration the dimensions of historicity and intersubjectivity. (However, Merleau-Ponty's reading of Malraux has been questioned in a recent major study of Malraux's theory of art which argues that Merleau-Ponty seriously misunderstood Malraux.) For Merleau-Ponty, style is born of the interaction between two or more fields of being. Rather than being exclusive to individual human consciousness, consciousness is born of the pre-conscious style of the world, of Nature. CANNOTANSWER	It is speaking language, that is to say, primary expression, that interests Merleau-Ponty	Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty (; 14 March 1908 – 3 May 1961) was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The constitution of meaning in human experience was his main interest and he wrote on perception, art, politics, religion, biology, psychology, psychoanalysis, language, nature, and history. He was the lead editor of Les Temps modernes, the leftist magazine he established with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir in 1945. At the core of Merleau-Ponty's philosophy is a sustained argument for the foundational role perception plays in our experience of the world. Merleau-Ponty understands perception to be an ongoing dialogue between one's lived body and the world which it perceives, in which perceivers passively and actively strive to express the perceived world in concert with others. He was the only major phenomenologist of the first half of the twentieth century to engage extensively with the sciences and especially with Gestalt psychology. It is through this engagement that his writings became influential in the project of naturalizing phenomenology, in which phenomenologists use the results of psychology and cognitive science. Merleau-Ponty emphasized the body as the primary site of knowing the world, a corrective to the long philosophical tradition of placing consciousness as the source of knowledge, and maintained that the body and that which it perceived could not be disentangled from each other. The articulation of the primacy of embodiment (corporéité) led him away from phenomenology towards what he was to call “indirect ontology” or the ontology of “the flesh of the world” (la chair du monde), seen in his final and incomplete work, The Visible and Invisible, and his last published essay, “Eye and Mind”. Merleau-Ponty engaged with Marxism throughout his career. His 1947 book, Humanism and Terror, has been widely (mis)understood as a defence of the Soviet show trials. In fact, this text avoids the definitive endorsement of a view on the Soviet Union, but instead engages with the Marxist theory of history as a critique of liberalism, in order to reveal an unresolved antinomy in modern politics, between humanism and terror: if human values can only be achieved through violent force, and if liberal ideas hide illiberal realities, how is just political action to be decided? Merleau-Ponty maintained an engaged though critical relationship to the Marxist left until the end of his life, particularly during his time as the political editor of the journal Les Temps Modernes. Life Maurice Merleau-Ponty was born in 1908 in Rochefort-sur-Mer, Charente-Inférieure (now Charente-Maritime), France. His father died in 1913 when Merleau-Ponty was five years old. After secondary schooling at the lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, Merleau-Ponty became a student at the École Normale Supérieure, where he studied alongside Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Simone Weil, Jean Hyppolite, and Jean Wahl. As Beauvoir recounts in her autobiography, she developed a close friendship with Merleau-Ponty and became smitten with him, but ultimately found him too well-adjusted to bourgeois life and values for her taste. He attended Edmund Husserl's "Paris Lectures" in February 1929. In 1929, Merleau-Ponty received his DES degree (, roughly equivalent to an MA thesis) from the University of Paris, on the basis of the (now-lost) thesis La Notion de multiple intelligible chez Plotin ("Plotinus's Notion of the Intelligible Many"), directed by Émile Bréhier. He passed the agrégation in philosophy in 1930. Merleau-Ponty was raised as a Catholic. He was friends with the Christian existentialist Gabriel Marcel, and he wrote articles for the Christian leftist journal Esprit, but he left the Church in 1937 because he felt his socialist politics were not compatible with the social and political teaching of the Catholic Church. An article published in French newspaper Le Monde in October 2014 makes the case of recent discoveries about Merleau-Ponty's likely authorship of the novel Nord. Récit de l'arctique (Grasset, 1928). Convergent sources from close friends (Beauvoir, Elisabeth "Zaza" Lacoin) seem to leave little doubt that Jacques Heller was a pseudonym of the 20-year-old Merleau-Ponty. Merleau-Ponty taught first at the Lycée de Beauvais (1931–33) and then got a fellowship to do research from the . From 1934 to 1935 he taught at the Lycée de Chartres. He then in 1935 became a tutor at the École Normale Supérieure, where he tutored a young Michel Foucault and Trần Đức Thảo and was awarded his doctorate on the basis of two important books: La structure du comportement (1942) and Phénoménologie de la Perception (1945). During this time, he attended Alexandre Kojeve's influential seminars on Hegel and Aron Gurwitsch's lectures on Gestalt psychology. In the spring of 1939, he was the first foreign visitor to the newly established Husserl Archives, where he consulted Husserl's unpublished manuscripts and met Eugen Fink and Father Hermann Van Breda. In the summer of 1939, as France entered war against Germany, he served on the frontlines in the French army, where he was wounded in battle in June 1940. Upon returning to Paris in the fall of 1940, he married Suzanne Jolibois, a Lacanian psychoanalyst, and founded an underground resistance group with Jean-Paul Sartre called "Under the Boot". He participated in an armed demonstration against the Nazis during the Liberation of Paris. After teaching at the University of Lyon from 1945 to 1948, Merleau-Ponty lectured on child psychology and education at the Sorbonne from 1949 to 1952. He was awarded the Chair of Philosophy at the Collège de France from 1952 until his death in 1961, making him the youngest person to have been elected to a chair. Besides his teaching, Merleau-Ponty was also political editor for the leftist Les Temps modernes from the founding of the journal in October 1945 until December 1952. In his youth he had read Karl Marx's writings and Sartre even claimed that Merleau-Ponty converted him to Marxism. While he was not a member of the French Communist Party and did not identify as a Communist, he laid out an argument justifying the Soviet show trials and violence for progressive ends in general in the work Humanism and Terror in 1947. However, about three years later, he renounced his earlier support for political violence, and he rejected Marxism and advocated a liberal left position in Adventures of the Dialectic (1955). His friendship with Sartre and work with Les Temps modernes ended because of that, since Sartre still had a more favourable attitude towards Soviet communism. Merleau-Ponty was subsequently active in the French non-communist left and in particular in the Union of the Democratic Forces. Merleau-Ponty died suddenly of a stroke in 1961 at age 53, apparently while preparing for a class on René Descartes, leaving an unfinished manuscript which was posthumously published in 1964, along with a selection of Merleau-Ponty's working notes, by Claude Lefort as The Visible and the Invisible. He is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris with his mother Louise, his wife Suzanne and their daughter Marianne. Thought Consciousness In his Phenomenology of Perception (first published in French in 1945), Merleau-Ponty develops the concept of the body-subject (le corps propre) as an alternative to the Cartesian "cogito". This distinction is especially important in that Merleau-Ponty perceives the essences of the world existentially. Consciousness, the world, and the human body as a perceiving thing are intricately intertwined and mutually "engaged". The phenomenal thing is not the unchanging object of the natural sciences, but a correlate of our body and its sensory-motor functions. Taking up and "communing with" (Merleau-Ponty's phrase) the sensible qualities it encounters, the body as incarnated subjectivity intentionally elaborates things within an ever-present world frame, through use of its pre-conscious, pre-predicative understanding of the world's makeup. The elaboration, however, is "inexhaustible" (the hallmark of any perception according to Merleau-Ponty). Things are that upon which our body has a "grip" (prise), while the grip itself is a function of our connaturality with the world's things. The world and the sense of self are emergent phenomena in an ongoing "becoming". The essential partiality of our view of things, their being given only in a certain perspective and at a certain moment in time does not diminish their reality, but on the contrary establishes it, as there is no other way for things to be copresent with us and with other things than through such "Abschattungen" (sketches, faint outlines, adumbrations). The thing transcends our view, but is manifest precisely by presenting itself to a range of possible views. The object of perception is immanently tied to its background—to the nexus of meaningful relations among objects within the world. Because the object is inextricably within the world of meaningful relations, each object reflects the other (much in the style of Leibniz's monads). Through involvement in the world – being-in-the-world – the perceiver tacitly experiences all the perspectives upon that object coming from all the surrounding things of its environment, as well as the potential perspectives that that object has upon the beings around it. Each object is a "mirror of all others". Our perception of the object through all perspectives is not that of a propositional, or clearly delineated, perception; rather, it is an ambiguous perception founded upon the body's primordial involvement and understanding of the world and of the meanings that constitute the landscape's perceptual Gestalt. Only after we have been integrated within the environment so as to perceive objects as such can we turn our attention toward particular objects within the landscape so as to define them more clearly. This attention, however, does not operate by clarifying what is already seen, but by constructing a new Gestalt oriented toward a particular object. Because our bodily involvement with things is always provisional and indeterminate, we encounter meaningful things in a unified though ever open-ended world. The primacy of perception From the time of writing Structure of Behavior and Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty wanted to show, in opposition to the idea that drove the tradition beginning with John Locke, that perception was not the causal product of atomic sensations. This atomist-causal conception was being perpetuated in certain psychological currents of the time, particularly in behaviourism. According to Merleau-Ponty, perception has an active dimension, in that it is a primordial openness to the lifeworld (the "Lebenswelt"). This primordial openness is at the heart of his thesis of the primacy of perception. The slogan of Husserl's phenomenology is "all consciousness is consciousness of something", which implies a distinction between "acts of thought" (the noesis) and "intentional objects of thought" (the noema). Thus, the correlation between noesis and noema becomes the first step in the constitution of analyses of consciousness. However, in studying the posthumous manuscripts of Husserl, who remained one of his major influences, Merleau-Ponty remarked that, in their evolution, Husserl's work brings to light phenomena which are not assimilable to noesis–noema correlation. This is particularly the case when one attends to the phenomena of the body (which is at once body-subject and body-object), subjective time (the consciousness of time is neither an act of consciousness nor an object of thought) and the other (the first considerations of the other in Husserl led to solipsism). The distinction between "acts of thought" (noesis) and "intentional objects of thought" (noema) does not seem, therefore, to constitute an irreducible ground. It appears rather at a higher level of analysis. Thus, Merleau-Ponty does not postulate that "all consciousness is consciousness of something", which supposes at the outset a noetic-noematic ground. Instead, he develops the thesis according to which "all consciousness is perceptual consciousness". In doing so, he establishes a significant turn in the development of phenomenology, indicating that its conceptualisations should be re-examined in the light of the primacy of perception, in weighing up the philosophical consequences of this thesis. Corporeity Taking the study of perception as his point of departure, Merleau-Ponty was led to recognize that one's own body (le corps propre) is not only a thing, a potential object of study for science, but is also a permanent condition of experience, a constituent of the perceptual openness to the world. He therefore underlines the fact that there is an inherence of consciousness and of the body of which the analysis of perception should take account. The primacy of perception signifies a primacy of experience, so to speak, insofar as perception becomes an active and constitutive dimension. Merleau-Ponty demonstrates a corporeity of consciousness as much as an intentionality of the body, and so stands in contrast with the dualist ontology of mind and body in Descartes, a philosopher to whom Merleau-Ponty continually returned, despite the important differences that separate them. In the Phenomenology of Perception Merleau-Ponty wrote: “Insofar as I have hands, feet, a body, I sustain around me intentions which are not dependent on my decisions and which affect my surroundings in a way that I do not choose” (1962, p. 440). Spatiality The question concerning corporeity connects also with Merleau-Ponty's reflections on space (l'espace) and the primacy of the dimension of depth (la profondeur) as implied in the notion of being in the world (être au monde; to echo Heidegger's In-der-Welt-sein) and of one's own body (le corps propre). Reflections on spatiality in phenomenology are also central to the advanced philosophical deliberations in architectural theory. Language The highlighting of the fact that corporeity intrinsically has a dimension of expressivity which proves to be fundamental to the constitution of the ego is one of the conclusions of The Structure of Behavior that is constantly reiterated in Merleau-Ponty's later works. Following this theme of expressivity, he goes on to examine how an incarnate subject is in a position to undertake actions that transcend the organic level of the body, such as in intellectual operations and the products of one's cultural life. He carefully considers language, then, as the core of culture, by examining in particular the connections between the unfolding of thought and sense—enriching his perspective not only by an analysis of the acquisition of language and the expressivity of the body, but also by taking into account pathologies of language, painting, cinema, literature, poetry and song. This work deals mainly with language, beginning with the reflection on artistic expression in The Structure of Behavior—which contains a passage on El Greco (p. 203ff) that prefigures the remarks that he develops in "Cézanne's Doubt" (1945) and follows the discussion in Phenomenology of Perception. The work, undertaken while serving as the Chair of Child Psychology and Pedagogy at the University of the Sorbonne, is not a departure from his philosophical and phenomenological works, but rather an important continuation in the development of his thought. As the course outlines of his Sorbonne lectures indicate, during this period he continues a dialogue between phenomenology and the diverse work carried out in psychology, all in order to return to the study of the acquisition of language in children, as well as to broadly take advantage of the contribution of Ferdinand de Saussure to linguistics, and to work on the notion of structure through a discussion of work in psychology, linguistics and social anthropology. Art Merleau-Ponty distinguishes between primary and secondary modes of expression. This distinction appears in Phenomenology of Perception (p. 207, 2nd note [Fr. ed.]) and is sometimes repeated in terms of spoken and speaking language () (The Prose of the World, p. 10). Spoken language (), or secondary expression, returns to our linguistic baggage, to the cultural heritage that we have acquired, as well as the brute mass of relationships between signs and significations. Speaking language (), or primary expression, such as it is, is language in the production of a sense, language at the advent of a thought, at the moment where it makes itself an advent of sense. It is speaking language, that is to say, primary expression, that interests Merleau-Ponty and which keeps his attention through his treatment of the nature of production and the reception of expressions, a subject which also overlaps with an analysis of action, of intentionality, of perception, as well as the links between freedom and external conditions. The notion of style occupies an important place in "Indirect Language and the Voices of Silence". In spite of certain similarities with André Malraux, Merleau-Ponty distinguishes himself from Malraux in respect to three conceptions of style, the last of which is employed in Malraux's The Voices of Silence. Merleau-Ponty remarks that in this work "style" is sometimes used by Malraux in a highly subjective sense, understood as a projection of the artist's individuality. Sometimes it is used, on the contrary, in a very metaphysical sense (in Merleau-Ponty's opinion, a mystical sense), in which style is connected with a conception of an "über-artist" expressing "the Spirit of Painting". Finally, it sometimes is reduced to simply designating a categorization of an artistic school or movement. (However, this account of Malraux's notion of style—a key element in his thinking—is open to serious question.) For Merleau-Ponty, it is these uses of the notion of style that lead Malraux to postulate a cleavage between the objectivity of Italian Renaissance painting and the subjectivity of painting in his own time, a conclusion that Merleau-Ponty disputes. According to Merleau-Ponty, it is important to consider the heart of this problematic, by recognizing that style is first of all a demand owed to the primacy of perception, which also implies taking into consideration the dimensions of historicity and intersubjectivity. (However, Merleau-Ponty's reading of Malraux has been questioned in a recent major study of Malraux's theory of art which argues that Merleau-Ponty seriously misunderstood Malraux.) For Merleau-Ponty, style is born of the interaction between two or more fields of being. Rather than being exclusive to individual human consciousness, consciousness is born of the pre-conscious style of the world, of Nature. Science In his essay "Cézanne's Doubt", in which he identifies Paul Cézanne's impressionistic theory of painting as analogous to his own concept of radical reflection, the attempt to return to, and reflect on, prereflective consciousness, Merleau-Ponty identifies science as the opposite of art. In Merleau-Ponty's account, whereas art is an attempt to capture an individual's perception, science is anti-individualistic. In the preface to his Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty presents a phenomenological objection to positivism: that it can tell us nothing about human subjectivity. All that a scientific text can explain is the particular individual experience of that scientist, which cannot be transcended. For Merleau-Ponty, science neglects the depth and profundity of the phenomena that it endeavors to explain. Merleau-Ponty understood science to be an ex post facto abstraction. Causal and physiological accounts of perception, for example, explain perception in terms that are arrived at only after abstracting from the phenomenon itself. Merleau-Ponty chastised science for taking itself to be the area in which a complete account of nature may be given. The subjective depth of phenomena cannot be given in science as it is. This characterizes Merleau-Ponty's attempt to ground science in phenomenological objectivity and, in essence, to institute a "return to the phenomena". Influence Anticognitivist cognitive science Merleau-Ponty's critical position with respect to science was stated in his Preface to the Phenomenology: he described scientific points of view as "always both naive and at the same time dishonest". Despite, or perhaps because of, this view, his work influenced and anticipated the strands of modern psychology known as post-cognitivism. Hubert Dreyfus has been instrumental in emphasising the relevance of Merleau-Ponty's work to current post-cognitive research, and its criticism of the traditional view of cognitive science. Dreyfus's seminal critique of cognitivism (or the computational account of the mind), What Computers Can't Do, consciously replays Merleau-Ponty's critique of intellectualist psychology to argue for the irreducibility of corporeal know-how to discrete, syntactic processes. Through the influence of Dreyfus's critique and neurophysiological alternative, Merleau-Ponty became associated with neurophysiological, connectionist accounts of cognition. With the publication in 1991 of The Embodied Mind by Francisco Varela, Evan Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch, this association was extended, if only partially, to another strand of "anti-cognitivist" or post-representationalist cognitive science: embodied or enactive cognitive science, and later in the decade, to neurophenomenology. In addition, Merleau-Ponty's work has also influenced researchers trying to integrate neuroscience with the principles of chaos theory. It was through this relationship with Merleau-Ponty's work that cognitive science's affair with phenomenology was born, which is represented by a growing number of works, including Ron McClamrock's Existential Cognition: Computational Minds in the World (1995), Andy Clark's Being There (1997), Naturalizing Phenomenology edited by Petitot et al. (1999), Alva Noë's Action in Perception (2004), Shaun Gallagher's How the Body Shapes the Mind (2005), Grammont, Franck Dorothée Legrand, and Pierre Livet (eds.) 2010, Naturalizing Intention in Action, MIT Press 2010 . The journal Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. Feminist philosophy Merleau-Ponty has also been picked up by Australian and Nordic philosophers inspired by the French feminist tradition, including Rosalyn Diprose and . Heinämaa has argued for a rereading of Merleau-Ponty's influence on Simone de Beauvoir. (She has also challenged Dreyfus's reading of Merleau-Ponty as behaviorist, and as neglecting the importance of the phenomenological reduction to Merleau-Ponty's thought.) Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of the body has also been taken up by Iris Young in her essay "Throwing Like a Girl," and its follow-up, "'Throwing Like a Girl': Twenty Years Later". Young analyzes the particular modalities of feminine bodily comportment as they differ from that of men. Young observes that while a man who throws a ball puts his whole body into the motion, a woman throwing a ball generally restricts her own movements as she makes them, and that, generally, in sports, women move in a more tentative, reactive way. Merleau-Ponty argues that we experience the world in terms of the "I can" – that is, oriented towards certain projects based on our capacity and habituality. Young's thesis is that in women, this intentionality is inhibited and ambivalent, rather than confident, experienced as an "I cannot". Ecophenomenology Ecophenomenology can be described as the pursuit of the relationalities of worldly engagement, both human and those of other creatures (Brown & Toadvine 2003). This engagement is situated in a kind of middle ground of relationality, a space that is neither purely objective, because it is reciprocally constituted by a diversity of lived experiences motivating the movements of countless organisms, nor purely subjective, because it is nonetheless a field of material relationships between bodies. It is governed exclusively neither by causality, nor by intentionality. In this space of in-betweenness, phenomenology can overcome its inaugural opposition to naturalism. David Abram explains Merleau-Ponty's concept of "flesh" (chair) as "the mysterious tissue or matrix that underlies and gives rise to both the perceiver and the perceived as interdependent aspects of its spontaneous activity", and he identifies this elemental matrix with the interdependent web of earthly life. This concept unites subject and object dialectically as determinations within a more primordial reality, which Merleau-Ponty calls "the flesh" and which Abram refers to variously as "the animate earth", "the breathing biosphere" or "the more-than-human natural world". Yet this is not nature or the biosphere conceived as a complex set of objects and objective processes, but rather "the biosphere as it is experienced and lived from within by the intelligent body — by the attentive human animal who is entirely a part of the world that he or she experiences. Merleau-Ponty's ecophenemonology with its emphasis on holistic dialog within the larger-than-human world also has implications for the ontogenesis and phylogenesis of language; indeed he states that "language is the very voice of the trees, the waves and the forest". Merleau-Ponty himself refers to "that primordial being which is not yet the subject-being nor the object-being and which in every respect baffles reflection. From this primordial being to us, there is no derivation, nor any break..." Among the many working notes found on his desk at the time of his death, and published with the half-complete manuscript of The Visible and the Invisible, several make it evident that Merleau-Ponty himself recognized a deep affinity between his notion of a primordial "flesh" and a radically transformed understanding of "nature". Hence, in November 1960 he writes: "Do a psychoanalysis of Nature: it is the flesh, the mother." And in the last published working note, written in March 1961, he writes: "Nature as the other side of humanity (as flesh, nowise as 'matter')." This resonates with the conception of space, place, dwelling, and embodiment (in the flesh and physical, vs. virtual and cybernetic), especially as they are addressed against the background of the unfolding of the essence of modern technology. Such analytics figure in a Heideggerian take on “econtology” as an extension of Heidegger's consideration of the question of being (Seinsfrage) by way of the fourfold (Das Geviert) of earth-sky-mortals-divinities (Erde und Himmel, Sterblichen und Göttlichen). In this strand of “ecophenomenology”, ecology is co-entangled with ontology, whereby the worldly existential analytics are grounded in earthiness, and environmentalism is orientated by ontological thinking. Bibliography The following table gives a selection of Merleau-Ponty's works in French and English translation. See also Gestalt psychology Process philosophy Embodied cognition Enactivism Difference (philosophy) Virtuality (philosophy) Field (physics) Hylomorphism Autopoiesis Emergence Umwelt Habit Body schema Affordance Perspectivism Reflexivity Invagination (philosophy) Incarnation Notes References Abram, D. (1988). "Merleau-Ponty and the Voice of the Earth" Environmental Ethics 10, no. 2 (Summer 1988): 101–20. Alloa, E. (2017) Resistance of the Sensible World. An Introduction to Merleau-Ponty, New York: Fordham University Press. Alloa,E., F. Chouraqui & R. Kaushik, (2019) (eds.) Merleau-Ponty and Contemporary Philosophy, Albany: SUNY Press. Barbaras, R. (2004) The Being of the Phenomenon. Merleau-Ponty's Ontology Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Carbone, M. (2004) The Thinking of the Sensible. Merleau-Ponty's A-Philosophy, Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Clark, A. (1997) Being There: Putting Brain, Body, and World Together Again. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Dillon, M. C. (1997) Merleau-Ponty's Ontology. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Gallagher, S. (2003) How the Body Shapes the Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Guilherme, Alexandre and Morgan, W. John, 'Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961)-dialogue as being present to the other'. Chapter 6 in Philosophy, Dialogue, and Education: Nine modern European philosophers, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 89–108, . Johnson, G., Smith, M. B. (eds.) (1993) The Merleau-Ponty Aesthetics Reader: Philosophy and Painting, Chicago: Northwestern UP 1993. Landes, D. (2013) Merleau-Ponty and the Paradoxes of Expression, New York-London: Bloomsbury. Lawlor, L., Evans, F. (eds.) (2000) Chiasms: Merleau-Ponty's Notion of Flesh, Albany: SUNY Press. Petitot, J., Varela, F., Pachoud, B. and Roy, J-M. (eds.) (1999) Naturalizing Phenomenology: Issues in Contemporary Phenomenology and Cognitive Science. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Toadvine, T. (2009) Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy of Nature. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Tilliette, X. (1970) Maurice Merleau-Ponty ou la mesure de l'homme, Seghers, 1970. Varela, F. J., Thompson, E. and Rosch, E. (1991) The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience. Cambridge: MIT Press. External links Maurice Merleau-Ponty at 18 from the French Government website English Translations of Merleau-Ponty's Work Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Maurice Merleau-Ponty by Jack Reynolds Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Maurice Merleau-Ponty by Ted Toadvine The Merleau-Ponty Circle — Association of scholars interested in the works of Merleau-Ponty Maurice Merleau-Ponty page at Mythos & Logos Chiasmi International — Studies Concerning the Thought of Maurice Merleau-Ponty in English, French and Italian O’Loughlin, Marjorie, 1995, "Intelligent Bodies and Ecological Subjectivities: Merleau-Ponty’s Corrective to Postmodernism’s “Subjects” of Education." Popen, Shari, 1995, "Merleau-Ponty Confronts Postmodernism: A Reply to O’Loughlin." Merleau-Ponty: Reckoning with the Possibility of an 'Other.' The Journal of French Philosophy — the online home of the Bulletin de la Société Américaine de Philosophie de Langue Française Online Merleau-Ponty Bibliography at PhilPapers.org 1908 births 1961 deaths 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French philosophers Action theorists Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Collège de France faculty Consciousness researchers and theorists Continental philosophers Cultural critics École Normale Supérieure alumni Ecophenomenologists Enactive cognition Environmental philosophers Epistemologists Existentialists French communists French socialists French humanists French male non-fiction writers French male writers Lycée Carnot teachers Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni Marxist theorists Moral philosophers Ontologists People from Rochefort, Charente-Maritime Phenomenologists Philosophers of art Philosophers of culture Philosophers of education Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of language Philosophers of mind Philosophers of psychology Philosophers of science Philosophy writers Political philosophers Social critics Social philosophers University of Lyon faculty University of Paris faculty French magazine founders	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" ]

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